I can now write off all book purchases as parenting expenses.

I had what I would consider my first conversation with Jack today.



The day went very well. He logged close to ten hours of sleep (too bad the dogs wanted to eat around 4:30) so was charming and well rested in the morning, which admittedly is fairly typical.

Jack's burbling has become rather experimental in its range. I wouldn't go so far as to say he's parroting anything we do but perhaps it is some latent mimicry buried in his subconscious. Ah well, now I'm rambling.

After his dinner o' sweeto potaytoes, Jack and I were sticking our tongues out at each other making noises. As usual, he paused when I made a noise to listen, and then would go back to the droolfest of slurps as is his wont. However, there's something in his eyes that suggests a synthesis of thought. I dare say he not only paused, but after the thought entered his mind, he considered it. It is a first order brain activity that separates we primates from almost all the rest of our animal relatives.

Getting Jack to literacy is pretty much my major goal of parenthood after using the toilet, so I'm exercising ever-diminishing patience for him to reciprocate. I know the state of literacy in this nation. As long as I keep our family library enormous, continue to read at a voracious pace myself, and ensure the digital media of our times doesn't dominate his world, I have no worries.

first food, first thanksgiving

cousins

i have great memories of playing with my cousins lori & michael. we loved playing barbies, dress up and recording our voices on a tape recorder. lori hated to go home and cried when auntie said it was time to go. we enjoyed sleep overs until we were in high school. my hope is that gracie and jack have fond memories of their childhood together. this picture was taken on gracie's 3rd birthday. i just think it's the cutest.

six months old

jack is changing daily. his hair is growing long, his legs are getting stronger! at his regular appointment, he weighed in at 16 pounds 15 ounces (50th percentile) and his length is 27.5" (90th percentile). jack is a great baby. he is photogenic and probably the cutest baby at daycare, and beyond. he likes to watch me dance in the kitchen while making dinner and he loves to listen to patrick's learnings from the day (they are vast).it is great to have an addition to the family! the best new thing is that jack loves to hug me and put his mouth to my cheek. rosey and abby are now interested in him. rosey thinks he can play with her and her various toys and abby sees him as a source of food.

it's still halloween

here is the skull onsie that patrick was talking about that we got at a fancy boutique in traverse city.

jack loves to watch rosey and abby. the dogs are interested in the cereal jack eats at night, all the time wondering when they get to lick the bowl. i really don't know where they learned their manners! puppies and babies, what's cuter?

Jachronicles

Jack woke up with his usual Zen calm today. Nicole plopped him on my chest as I stole five more minutes of sleep after feeding Abby. When he's well-rested, you can see him just trying to grasp what the science he is.

What am I? Those unblinking eyes present infinite possibility to me. And that's it - Jack is a trillion possibilities, that is what makes people fawn over babies in general.

He fell asleep as usual on the way to daycare as usual and elected not to get up for the hand off.

When I came home late from getting a haircut and doing some chores, Jack seemed to recognize me from about fifteen feet away. I imagine his vision is good enough to see that far, but I imagine many other contextual cues such as Nicole's behavior, my voice, the dogs' enthusiasm and his super-baby sense of smell probably helped.

Jack had to change into his Skullsie this afternoon. I'm determined to have him wear it at least twice a week until he bursts under its ever-diminishing use. Nicole brought home an old keyboard from work to play with since he's taken to tapping on ours when we hold him near the computer.

We gave him a bath. Well, I managed logistics and custodial work and helped hold him for final washings, Nicole did the heavy lifting in the bath. He enjoys splashing now, and will furious kick his legs to experience the water. Bath was a bit hot - he sorta shivered when we first put him in and had to cool it down.

I played Peek-a-boo with him after bathtime. I've been trying to teach him how to pull the blanket off himself - I think he derives more pleasure out of the game when he's rewarded (with a smile) for doing the action. It's never too late to imprint meritocratic principles on him!

My one great task as a Father is to help him stand on his own feet, to value his independence. I suppose it's a bit ostentatious to say I need to start that now, but I can only be the Father I know how to be. I figure I just love him and the rest will sort itself out.

Here's hoping he sleeps through the night. The reversion to standard time has been helpful, he's 2 for 3 since the changeover.