Santa?

Jack and I had some guy time this morning. We hit the loop and drank coffee and chocolate milk. (The milk was mine.) On our sidewalk stroll, jumping over the 'walk of fame' stars, Jack made a shocking discovery. He spotted the cart pushing older, somewhat portly, bearded gentleman who sells bongs and other head-shop accouterment. He shouted: "HI, SANTA!"
The man responded warmly and then Jack got nervous. As I picked him up I said, "No, Jack, Santa's high." We left and jumped over more stars.

My Kid is Smarter Than Your Kid

Snow Day!

Jack quickly learned that snow was tasty for lunch.

Pie Night!

Here are a few photos from our first pie night (a tradition ripped off from the Kirkland family who had TWENTY-THREE pies this year!).


As you can see, the kids loved pie night.



And after pie they all piled on John's lap for a story. What you don't see is that just a few days later all of these children came down with the same killer cough & fever. Bummer.

You know your kid's sick when...

They refuse to eat ice cream for dinner. True story.

At least he tells the truth with a smile

The following is a conversation I had with Jack this morning after picking him up from school.

Me: What did you do at school today?
Jack: I cried.

Sad, but true. That's what he did at school. He said the same thing when John asked him about school. But, all with a smile.

Le Thomas de Engie Tanket

John here:

In New York, you can see anything on the subway.
Riding back to New Jersey on friday, the train door opened and in came two parents with a toddler about Jack's age in a stroller. They bent down and chatted with him playfully. As I heard the boy respond, I realized the little guy had a French accent. I then immediately noticed that his parents were speaking sing-songy French to him. All of the young boy's words and sounds were the same cadence as Jack's, but En Francais. I couldn't understand anything they were saying, though I suspected it was the same kind of conversations we have with Jack now. But, then he pulled out a "Thomas the Tank Engine" toy and showed it to his mom and said "Mama, Choo-Choo!" She said "Oui, Oui, le Choo Choo!"

Some things are the same in any language. I smiled all the way home, missing my little boy.

Our Trip

John & I went to New York this weekend. I was surprised with a ticket to go see Cyrano DeBergerac with Laura starring....are you ready?...JENNIFER GARNER and Kevin Klein. Yes, JG, my favorite person in Hollywood. It was fantastic. Laura & I sat with binoculars to our eyes the whole time.

We had such a good weekend, but it felt like too long to be away from Jack. I missed him so much. He had fun with the grandparents & wept when they left. So much for missing mom & dad! Next time we go were planning on taking Jack. That should be a real adventure.

Hero of the Day!

Kevin, after finishing the NY Marathon today. Rock Star.

Baby Dreams

I was just eavesdropping on Jack talking in his sleep. He moaned, "I want that." and then, "Mine. Mine!"

Sounds about right. His sleep talk sounds suspiciously like his wake talk.

Show me some love people!

Seriously. If you love me & are reading this, today would be a good day to tell me. This might be your last chance as I'm 95% sure that Jack is plotting my demise as I write this. Can you kill a mother with a full week of grouchiness, demands to be held & temper tantrums? I think so.

Add this to the fact that my kitchen just exploded dirty dishes everywhere. And the clean clothes are multiplying in my bedroom- when are we getting the dryer that folds the clothes? Or just a maid. And I'm feeling especially frumpalicious these days (ack! I'm a frumpy mom!!!) thanks in part to a shizy haircut that makes me look like (and these are my words folks, don't go stealing them) "a shaggy dog ass face". If you don't know what that looks like, come take a look at my hair. And, if I don't find a new pair of shoes soon, I'm going to be spending the winter barefoot & with frostbites on my toes. Seriously, why do all sensible shoes look as if they were made for an 80 year old woman?

AND John is super busy with good work, but a lot of work all at once. So we're all just snippy at the Hendrix house.

That's my rant for today. If you see any of the three of us, we could probably all use a hug.

MINE!

This photo doesn't match this post, I just thought it was cute. Yes, that is a ring of chocolate around Jack's mouth. And check out his cool surfer dude hair.

Jack is going through the mine stage. Everything is his. MY BOOK! MY CUP! MY GUITAR! MINE, MINE, MINE!!!

It kind of drives me crazy. He yells when he says it & grabs things.

But, today I was glad to hear mine. We were leaving the grocery store & he laid his head on my shoulder, gave my back a pat & whispered, "My mama".

I love this kid. He knew just what I needed to hear.

What's the deal with farm animals?

Parents As Teachers is a national organization that sends a Parent Educator to your home about every 2 months to help make sure your child is developmentally on track & to help the parents with educational activites. We love PAT. They've helped us with sleep, food, and fun. They have play groups & lots of fun activities throughout the year. And, we love our parent educator Angela. Jack loves her too.

That being said, Anglea was here about a month ago. She was playing a game with Jack where he would pull different objects out of a can & name them. It was to test his speech more than his vocabulary. (Yes, this story gets better, hang in there...)

Most of the items in the can were animals of some sort. Jack wouldn't name any of them. He mooed at the cow, but that was about it.

When she left I freaked & told John that we needed to work on animals with Jack. But then I thought, what the heck is the deal with all the farm animals??? Big deal, Jack won't identify a pig. Show the kid a saxophone & he'll walk around all day yelling "SAXOPHONE"! He can also name a clarinet, flute, piano, guitar, drum & bassoon.

All you parents out there need to help stop the farm animal madness with me.

Reflections of Me

It's scary when you realize that your children are reflecting you back to yourself- the good stuff & the bad. John & I have discovered that he had little to do with the DNA of Jack- he's almost entirely me. That's scary to me!

Not only does he look exactly like me, but all of his mannerisims and the way he talks are reflections of me. He's shy in new situations & takes a while to warm up...just like me. He loves to pout & resists being cheered up...just like me. He's so, so stubborn...just like me. He has a fiery hot temper...just like me. He thinks poop is really funny...just like...well...me. He's grouchy when he wakes up...just like me. He's compassionate & emotional...just like me. He likes to steal his friend's toys...oh wait, not like me. And I could go on & on.

Sometimes, when I get frustrated with Jack, I sit back & realize that he is reacting exactly the way I would like to react & probably would react if I had no impulse control. I hope the fact that we are so similar will make me a better mom to him. Poor John has to live with two of us in the same house!

Ribbon Dance!

As promised, here is Jack's ribbon dance. I just want to know who the moron is that filmed it sideways. Oh wait, that's me.

Cock your head to the side & enjoy! He really gets going in the 2nd half.

Blogging Blahs

If you haven't already noticed, I haven't been blogging much lately. I apologize to my two faithful fans. It's not for lack of ideas (I'm bubbling over), or lack of time (although my time has been sparse lately). Mostly, lack of motivation. When John started school the laptop went with him, so in order to blog I have to (GASP!) climb the stairs to the attic. Easy access is the key to my successful blogging life.

But, as of right now, I'm recommiting myself to posting more regularly.

Here are just a few things you can look forward to very, very soon:

-A rockin' dance video of Jack complete with multi-colored dance ribbons
-How to make your grouchy toddler happy (note:this involves having house guests named Kbo & Lola, aka: The Toddler Tamers)
-How to use your blog to get invited to a beautiful wedding & kickin' reception of people you've never met (thanks Jane & John!)
-And, without a doubt, more shoe & purse posts

So, stay tuned, there's more on the way!

Shoe Envy

John typing - We bought Jack some 'back to school' (read: fall) shoes, and boy do I want a pair of my own! Does everyone do this to their children? As in, dress them like we wish to dress ouselves? See post below for confessions of shallow parents.

We did buy matching zip-up hoodies for the Hendrix boys. Waiting for that first snap of cold with baited breath...

Fashion Faux-Pas

I was embarrassed to go out in public with Jack today. He dug a very ugly pair of sandals that had been handed down to us out of the closet & insisted on wearing them with white socks. He looked like a miniature tourist.

I know this is not bad. He could have put on a sparkly tu-tu & tiara to wear to the store (neither of which we have in our house, but if we did, I am sure he would wear them 24-7). But still, I tried to convince him to wear different shoes & I even put his crocs in the diaper bag hoping that he would see them & want to wear them.

No such luck.

Obviously, I need some perspective. I'm not even sure this is worth a blog entry except to show how vain I really am!

My Biggest Fan

I have a few more pictures of my opening (Yes, this is John, not Andrea. Sorry, ok!) on my blog. But I had to post this one that Warren took. He was so cute wandering around in the gallery! Yes, he was mostly flirting with his friend AvaBelle, and not really admiring my work as I instructed him. But, of all the things in that room, I was most proud of him. So cliche, and so very true. (Attn Mgmt: I'd like 4 more of him, please.)

The Hamster Wheel

Lately I feel like I've been living my life on a hamster wheel. Running & running, but not getting anywhere. There is always more to be done that never happens. I clean the house & about 10 seconds later it looks like a bomb went off again. Even now, at 9:30 at night, there is still more to do. Loads of laundry to be folded, dishes to be done, not to mention the big stuff to be cleaned. All I really want to do is read my book and go to bed. I think that is life with a toddler.