Five Alarm Fourth of July

From Jack's Birthday Celebrations

Jack has been celebrating his birthday for several weeks now starting with our block party a week before his birthday. The second annual summer block party was a blast complete with moon bounce (which Jack refused to go in again this year).

The fun continued with dinner at Los Tios on Jack's actual birthday and lunch with Aunt Lynne the next day when Jack got his tricycle.

The big celebration was this weekend though. We hosted a cookout on the Fourth to celebrate my birthday (July 1), Grandpa's birthday (July 2), and Jack's birthday (June 26). We had a great turnout of friends and family. Grandpa and Alice drove in from South Carolina for the festivities and helped make the party a great success.

The main attraction at the party (besides Jack) was the fire engine cake, which was quite the production. Last year, we had Jack's birthday cake made by a great local baker, but she was busy this year (along with the three fellow bakers she referred me to). So, I "googled" fire engine cake and found a video about how to make one. How hard could it be? Well, it turns out it's quite hard to get white icing to turn red, even after an entire bottle of food coloring! The fire engine was almost hot pink until I got a tip on Wilton's food coloring gel at Michael's craft store. Crisis averted! Aunt Niki was a big help in the cake decorating adventure, including designing the hoses on the side. The red icing was a big mess (as you'll see in the pictures), but Jack loved it, and most importantly, it also tasted pretty good!

From Jack's Birthday Celebrations

We finished the night by walking up the hill in our neighborhood to watch the fireworks across the river in DC. It's not a bad view for not being downtown, although the weather was so (uncharacteristically) lovely it would have been a nice night to go into the city.

Many thanks to all who brought or sent Jack gifts for one of his many birthday celebrations this year. He is so lucky to have so many people who care about him.

Jack's Birthday Celebrations

Jack's 2!

From I'm 2!

Our boy turned 2 today. We can hardly believe that the baby we brought home two years ago is now such a big boy. So much has changed since last year:

From June Baby

A year ago, Jack wasn't walking or talking. Today, he practically runs wherever he goes. And he says something new everyday. Jack's "likes" at two years old include:

• Nightly walks around the block, picking clover flowers along the way, each time saying "That for Mama."
• Singing songs in broken baby English (see Twi Twi Twi Little Star).
  
• Naming every vehicle he sees - "Car! Airpwane! Twuck! Mo-cycle!"

So far, the 2's aren't terrible at all, despite a few tantrums here and there (and a few bites!). We're having so much fun watching Jack learn and grow.

From Knee High by the 4th of July

Happy Birthday Son!

Our Little Star

Jack may not be the next American Idol, but we're enjoying his singing, all the same.

Memorial Day in Ohio

From Memorial Day 09

Last weekend, we traveled to Ohio to visit Grandma and Poppy for Memorial Day. It was the last flight Jack could fly for free since we've got to start paying for him when he turns two next month. Jack was a prince during the plane ride (not so much in the security line).  He loves all types of vehicles these days, including airplanes.  The whole ride to the airport, through security, and to our gate, Jack just kept saying "airplane, airplane, airplane!"  He was downright ecstatic watching airplanes take off and land from the window of our airplane while we waited to take off.     

The fun continued when we got to Grandma and Poppy's house.  We had a full house with Amy, Jacob, Sam, and Gavynn visiting from Rhode Island too.  They hadn't seen him since Christmas, so Jack enjoyed showing off all his new tricks. Lately, he's been trying to say everyone's names like "Aunt Ni."  He didn't quite figure out how to say Poppy while we were there, but he still can't stop talking about "Grandma Boop."  Amy's kids, Sam and Gavynn, have been calling my mom Grandma Boop for awhile - a reference to her liking Betty Boop.  Jack thought saying Grandma Boop was hilarious, but most of all he liked spending some quality time with his Grandma.

From Memorial Day 09

Grandma and Poppy put on a great party for the family on Saturday in their big backyard.  Jack had a lot of fun running around their acre-plus lot and it was nice to see everyone.  Other highlights of the weekend include hitting the playground at the beach at Lakeview Park and driving by Lorain High, scheduled to be torn down later this summer.  Jack also got a trim from his favorite barber Joe, who gave him his first haircut last Labor Day.  We also had a run-in with Lorain's finest ("How fast were we going, officer?), but luckily we know a guy...

Enjoy the pics from the weekend below.  We also added some pics from a recent trip to the zoo, Jack's first, with Alex and Matt a few weekends ago in DC.

Memorial Day 09

Out of the Mouths of Toddlers

In the last three months, Jack has gone from saying two words ("no" and "more") to saying two-word phrases ("no way") to trying to repeat nearly everything we say.  This means we have to be much more careful about our choice of words these days!  Jack's vocabulary has grown so much that we can no longer keep count of all his new words - although many still probably only make sense to us.  He tends to shorten his words to one syllable ("app" for "apple") although he has tried a few multi-syllable words lately ("wa-mel" for "watermelon" and "tatpill" for "caterpillar").  He's also getting better with using his words to tell us what he wants like "watch show" when he wants to watch Baby Einstein (He really loves that "tatpill" at the beginning!). Sometimes, we think he might be mocking us like when he yells "sit down" while standing precariously on the couch or yelling "no no" while drawing on the wall with a blue marker.  He clearly knows what we would say in the situation, but it doesn't seem to stop him! 

Still a voracious reader, we're starting to understand just how much Jack knows about his books.  He can name pictures out loud now; he actually tried to say "Mater Tow Truck" and "McQueen" today in his Cars book.  He also seems to know the first word on each page of many of his books.  If you don't keep reading fast enough, he will say the first word for you to get you started.  He also likes to fill in the words while you read.  Jack said his first full sentence last week while reading a Mercer Mayer book - a gift from Aunt Pam when he was born.  I read: "I wanted to keep some frogs in the bathtub, but Mom wouldn't let me." To which Jack correctly answered: "I so mad" minus the "was."  It's become his new catchphrase (along with "no way") and we hear him saying it on his own now.   This would be the sentence that our independent-minded son picked up from this book!         

Easter in DC

From Easter Weekend in DC

Last weekend, the whole Buening family came to DC to celebrate Easter.  There were 14 of us total spanning in age from 1 to 93!  Aunt Lynne was the ultimate hostess.  Most of the clan stayed at her house where she served up amazing food and fun all weekend long.  

Nonnie and Grandpa stayed at our house - and helped us get the place ready for Nana's first visit to the place on Sunday. We're grateful for the help hanging pictures and curtains that have been waiting to go up for longer than we'd like to admit.

Highlights from the trip include a guided driving tour of DC chauffeured by Michael to see the monuments downtown.  Our guests missed the cherry blossoms by a week, but they enjoyed the tour anyway.   The (not-so) young parents - Michael, Jen, Karin and Dave - also enjoyed a night out at a DC hotspot in Dupont Circle where we joined Niki and her posse to celebrate her birthday.  

The big highlight though was the Easter egg hunt at our house on Sunday.  Michael hid 72 eggs in the backyard, each one filled with loose change by Aunt Lynne (ranging from 13-cents to $1). Sanjay hid some decorated eggs in their yard too and we opened the gates for a two-yard egg-stravaganza.  Ethan and Zane led the way while the little kids - Jack, Mike, Sonja and Ellie - mostly toddled around the yard. Between them, they found most of the eggs in short order, but there were still a few cleverly-hidden ones that required a helpful hint.

The Easter Bunny also stopped by with baskets full of candy for the kids and the adults alike. Thanks Aunt Lynne for letting him know where to find us!  Jack also received an early shipment from the Easter Bunny last week sent by way of Grandma and Poppy in Ohio.

A great weekend was had by all.  Enjoy the pictures by clicking the album link below.   

Easter Weekend in DC

Hillbilly Roots

Thank goodness Jen got us back on track with last few posts. We're going to keep them coming, because Jack is in such a great phase right now: the word explosion, the tireless running around, the obsession with cars, trucks and buses. It's all so much fun.

On Sunday, Josh and Jenn brought Austin over and we all walked down to a restaurant in Del Ray called Fireflies. They have a regular calendar of small bands that play in the restaurant and a standing Sunday Brunch featuring bluegrass music.  Turns out, Jack inherited his mother's "hillbilly" roots-- and loved the Big Hillbilly Bluegrass band. Enjoy the video:

Look Who's Talking

After a laid-back start to talking, Jack has moved on to using two-word phrases this week.  His first was uttered at the playground.  Jack was standing near the fence watching the cars and buses and garbage trucks go by (as usual) when Kamala asked him if he wanted to go play with Sonja. To which Jack responded: "No way!"

Since then he has said "turn page" and "the end" while reading.  We taught him to say "again" (instead of whining) when he wants to read a book again, to which we usually say okay.  He now will bring us a book and say: "Again? Okay!"

He also said "upstairs" and "brush teeth" tonight when heading up to bed - and "all done" when he was finished.  Some of his words and phrases are really clear like "no way," but some are best understood by his parents for now.

In other news: Jack also developed new attachments this week.  He now takes naps and goes to bed with his stuffed kitty, which was the first gift I bought for him when I was pregnant. He really had no use for it until this week though!  He now usually carries one or more Hotwheels around with him most of the day.  But his biggest crush is on... Sonja!  

From Building Blocks

For a long time, I've asked Jack, "Who did you dream about?" when he wakes up.  He's not had an answer for me before so I usually start down the list of his daily interactions, "Did you dream about Mommy? Daddy? Kamala?  Sonja?"  Every day this week, when I've asked the question, Jack immediately says, "Son," his name for Sonja!  Kamala also reports that Jack landed a kiss on Sonja this week too.  They always fall for the "girl next door."

Life's a Beach!

From Sarasota

Last weekend, we traveled down to Sarasota for Michael's cousin's wedding reception. We missed the main event in Antigua, but Rusty and Courtney's parents threw a great party to celebrate the happy couple.  This was Jack's first time meeting the Florida Tatone clan too. Jack had a lot of fun running around at the party - and dancing to Uncle Steve's rendition of some Neil Diamond classics.  Check out this video:

Jack also went to the beach for the first time on this trip.  He loved it!  We hadn't expected to actually go into the water.  The temperature was in the 70s but the water was still cold.  That didn't stop Jack.  He ran right into the water with his clothes on!  We couldn't keep him out - check out this video too:

Jack loved the sand as much as the water.  We are definitely going to plan a beach trip for this summer.  Here are some more pics from a great weekend:

Sarasota

Christmas Time Was Here...

We've got some new pictures to post from our mini-vacation to Florida this past weekend, but we are still overdue on holiday posts.  As our loyal readers already know, Jack made his second annual trip to Ohio for Christmas. 

From Christmas Part I

He was a better traveler than last year, but that's not saying much!  We've got friends who also made long treks for the holidays, but when we tried to share tales of travel woes with them, they told us that their kids slept half the way there.  That is not how Jack rolls.  We did buy a DVD player this year, which kept him busy for about 15 minutes at a time, but Jack prefers live entertainment, so we had a stash of toys, books, and snacks to fill the eight hours to Northern Ohio.

Once there, Jack had a great time though.  Jack was spoiled by all of his grandparents as you'll see in the pictures.  He also met up with the same Santa from last year.  They must have made a good connection since Jack got everything he wanted and more this year.

Enjoy these pics from Christmas, Part I in Vermilion and Lorain.  We accidentally used Nonnie and Grandpa's camera when taking pics for Christmas, Part II in Dayton, which we haven't retrieved yet, but look for those down the road (maybe summertime?)

Christmas Part I