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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Fire Man Jack

On our way to and from the small school play ground in our neighborhood we walk past the fire station.  Jackson waits with anticipation as we approach asking if we will see the the fire trucks.  Yesterday the station was all opened up and two trucks were parked outside. 

"Woah, Mommy look at the fire trucks"

So we stopped to take a closer up kind of look and the firemen were super-duper nice.  They gave us a tour of the trucks and the station which Jackson absolutely loved.

 He bucked himself in and asked us to close the door ready for a ride



Thanks to the Bloomfield Fire Department for dedicating yourselves to the service of our community and for making this little kids day special!


Sunday, April 24, 2011

Hoppy Easter

After church this morning we headed (almost) immediately to the zoo to beat the crowds.  It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day and the animals were all pretty easily spot able.   Jack really seemed to understand the Easter Bunny thing this year, telling us all weekend how the Easter Bunny was coming to bring him chocolates.  He proved himself by showing virtually no interest in animal sightings, but by practicing his "hopping" skills....just like the Easter Bunny.  Up and down, double jumping (both legs at the same time) all the way.  Saying "hop, hop, hop".  We must have bunnies on the brain around here these days.




 "Hop"

 "Hop"

The other highlight of the day, was that every time Babci was out of sight he noticed right away saying, "where is MY Babci?"  and "where did MY Babci go?"

A very Hoppy Easter from our family to yours!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Crocs

Crocs.  They are controversial in our home.  Jack loves them is obsessed with them, Frank strongly dislikes them (for himself) but loves them for Jack, and I fall somewhere in between.   I like them in warm weather, especially pool weather.  They are great for a quick, I need something to slip on real fast type of shoe.  That being said, I do own one pair strictly contained to the sun porch and used only for gardening (they are simply not my style, no offense if you are Croc wearing lover).  The cons of the Crocs?  Some would argue there are few to none.  Me? I struggle with the ever more progressively affluent toddler who insists demands to wear his Crocs anytime he leaves the house.  Yes.  Even on a wet and sloppy 40 degree day.....that day with no socks.  Cold, wet feet = serious cringing. 

But the best (worst?) part?  I am getting to that.  He is no longer satisfied with just wearing a pair of Crocs. 

 He is now a Croc mixer-matcher



They are even better with Elmo socks and a monster bowl of sweet potato fries.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Bella, Bunnies And An Ice Cream Cone

Here is the second part of our afternoon that I posted about last week...that I am finally getting around to posting....I am on vacation you know...  Aunt Gail dressed Bella up in her Easter dress to take some pictures, for which she still didn't smile, but it didn't matter, because she is beautiful just like her name says she is!





Then, upon walking out of their house to go and get ice cream, Jack and I noticed a bunny hopping around the yard.  Very Easteresque.  I thought how perfect this bunny that would have been to see and capture (on film...I mean digital image)  a half an hour before.  Jackson of course wanted to chase (and actually capture) the bunny, but I held him tight and continued toward the car, startled by the sight of four newborn rabbits on the sidewalk.  It was so sad to see those bunnies grasping for life laying on the sidewalk, but also an amazing sight.







We waited a little while to see if their mother was coming back, and when she didn't Uncle Joe called animal welfare and they came and rescued them.  The man even put those precious little babies in his shirt against his skin to keep them warm.  As, Gail said, 'that's love'.

We were all a little shaken after that, but what can you do?  When you promise a toddler ice cream, this Momma knows you better follow through.

 Bella's first ice cream cone

 mmmm.....satisfaction

 Going....

 going....


GONE.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

I Love Trash

I love warm sunny days at the park.  And, what a tease, we got one warm sunny day last week, so to the park we went to meet Aunt Gail and Bella to take few pictures and enjoy the afternoon.   We spent quite a bit of time playing on the basketball courts looking for 'tweasures'.  And treasures he managed to find in the shape of old balls (ok that sounds bad....) identifiable as perhaps old tennis balls or baseballs?  Not sure.  But, it did keep him occupied for awhile....





until he threw one in the trash...

Mmmmm....I love trash

I know I will pay dearly in the upcoming years for posting this picture.  I will never hear the end of how I 'let Jack play by and touch the trash can', but I really couldn't resist.

 I will share my ball with you Bella....I will teach you to love trash too!

Here are a few more pictures from the park


 This picture reminds me of a greeting card circa 1965


 stoic baby






Stay tuned for part two of our afternoon, involving a bunny, an Easter outfit (not related....) and Bella's first taste of ice cream.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Alphabet

I have been trying for a very, VERY long time (well ok, maybe it just seems that way to me) to get Jackson to sing.  Anything.  He won't.   On occasion he will ask Frank or I to sing and he is very specific as to what he wants to hear and who he wants to hear it from.  Typically my 'singing time' with him is in the car on the way to work in the morning.  He can't escape me, so I belt out everything from children's songs and nursery rhymes, to Broadway, to anything the music teacher and/or the free spirit in me feels like singing.  Sometimes I am received with "STOP MOMMY, STOP", or "sing it again, Mommy", but he never joins in.  Not EVER.  Not to Elmo's Song, The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Theme, Caillou's Song, Hot Potato (one of our very favorites because it's flexibility the opportunity for unending creativity),  not even the ABC's.   So the other day I decided to implore a little bit.

 "Do you want to sing?"
 "No."
  "Why don't you want to sing"

Silence...we stop at a light and I look back at him to see him pouting.  He really looks like he is contemplating this one.... I include an encouraging

"You can do it!"
"NO!  Mommy Sing!"
"O.K. what should I sing?"
(spoken very quickly) "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ...YOU DO IT MOMMY!"

Imagine my shock....I just kept driving mouth open, stunned.  He has never even once attempted to sing the alphabet let alone say the entire thing, or even repeat us letter for letter in a very long time.  WTF?????  Still in disbelief I did the only thing I could do.....I sang the alphabet.

That is the way this kid works.  Taking it all in....contemplating the weight of the world.....





I love you little independent minded, strong-willed son of mine.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Spring Photo Shoots

I have been wanting to do this for so long!  That is, do a photo shoot and do a blog post about it!  Thank you so much to the wonderful Mattle family (who are kinda like family to us....at least Jack and Mimi are like siblings) for allowing me the opportunity to shoot your beautiful children!  I will let the pictures speak for themselves. 

Please bear with me, there are quite a few.


























And now, some of my own little nugget who #1 is not so little (and easy to catch) anymore... don't know what I was thinking I am totally, out of mind mind crazy for bringing him along to take pictures.  I did get some good shots of him too though, and he had a good time.....most of the time.

except here

















I hope you enjoyed looking at my photos as much as I enjoyed taking them!  I am seriously hoping to do more...much, much more!