Happy Sunday...

Jack is sound asleep after a long day. His Grandpa George and Grandma Linda were visiting for the weekend and we had a lot of fun. They brought him new blocks, which made his day. We went to the park and we had lots of running around.

Hope you are all enjoying the end of the weekend.

Love Mark, Jeff and Jack!

Space Invader of the Great Dane variety...

We were at the park today and a lovely woman brought her very (VERY) large great dane. Jack was amused by the horse-sized animal licking his face.....

GGGooooooaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllll !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jack is practicing his signature howl for some date in the future when his soccer team of choice scores a goal of specific importance or great magnitude.

I think he's doing pretty well given that he's only 15 mos in this picture and he looks like most of the guys watching soccer on the big scree, with the benefit of several cheap beers!

We will keep you posted as to what team(s) he support......

The DC version of the Eskimo nose touch...

Very early on in his life, Jack and I developed this means of showing affection - the head touch. You swoop in close, slow waaaayyy down and then lightly touch noggins. If it is a particularly meaningful head-touch, you may rub your foreheads back and forth to show an extra level of oneness.

I could eat him up.

Seriously competing with basketballs..

are balloons......

Jack calls them "boons." He is endlessly fascinated by them. Having had the bejeepers scared out of us about children and balloons, we did the background check and mylar balloons are OK. (Apparently, the latex versions can be a choking hazard when they burst.)

Bottom line: This boy loves his balloons.

He now identifies them whereever he sees them...including when he sees the kind that Grandpa Ray flies, hot air balloons!

Basketballllll

Jack has a mystical connection to basketball at this point in his life.

Lest I be accused of hyperbole: At many of the playgrounds we visit there is a basketball court nearby. Inevitably Jack will hear the sound of the bouncing basketball. He will climb down off the slide or leave the swings and wander over to the fence until he can see the court. Then he looks for us with arms outstretched, his intent crystal clear: bring me over THERE! I need to be THERE!

We will mosey over and sit at the edge of the court. In the mornings, when we are there with Jack, the courts are fairly empty with just a few people shooting and messing around. There will be a random ball at the side of the court. It takes Jack less than a minute to find the unoccupied ball and then he begins his sweeping arcs toward the ball.

He will move away from us toward the ball and then veer back, just checking on us. The next swing gets him further away from us but closer to the ball, and then back for a quick check to his home base. Finally, on the third swing towards the ball, he breaks free of our gravitational pull and heads for the BALL.

At this point, we pick him and the ball up and put them on the side of the court out of harm's way. j He will sit, spread-legged, with the ball between and his hands on either side as if he's reading the magical vibrations coming from the ball. In his hands, the ball appears to be more of a Ouija board than sphere.

To preserve our back story that he is the perfect child who never complains, I will save for another post, what leaving the bball court is like. Let's just say for now that it is loud, full of protest, and great umbrage is taken.

Have a good night!

Jack and i are watching Federer and Rafa...Jack is VERY happy...as you will hear

Jack's Back Flip

Another day, another park....

Our weekend schedules are pretty much as follows:

1. Wake up
2. Bathe
3. Eat
4. Go to the park
5. Come home and take a nap
6. Get up and eat
7. Go to the park
8. Come home
9. Take a nap
10. Wake up and go to the park
11. Come home
12. Eat
13. Put Jack to to bed.

For Jack, the joy of this routine is immeasurable. He absolutely LIVES for the park. It's not just time for him to slide down the slide or swing. There is something deeper and constitutional there for him. It is as if he's free to just BE and yet it also serves as time for him to recharge his joy batteries at the same time. When its time to go home, he understands and willingly gets into the stroller - no fuss, no muss.

The pics below was taken last weekend. I think you can see what I mean about the joy thing in his eyes....

Jack at the Zoo at the Pizza Place

At the National Zoo, they have a play area based on a huge pizza. There are mushrooms and olives and tomatoes. Jack (and most other children that get anywhere near this playground) LOVE it. It's all formed from soft but durable materials so the kids can climb and play and only incur a minimal amount of damage.

As you can see, he was having a pretty good time!

Jeff and Jack at the Park

Pay no attention to the fact that they are dressed alike. Jeff regretted it pretty much the instant we got out in public. DO pay attention to how Jeff is mimicking Jack's playtime. We figured if they were dressed alike, we should get some shots of them playing alike. They are handsome men aren't they!

Joy, joy, JOY!!!!!

I mean, seriously, is there anythign better than fingers, sticky with syrup; a belly full of pancakes and at least 2 types of breakfast meats; a veritable parade of urbanistas recovering from their Friday night festivities and stumbling into my restaurant; and the undivided attention of my dads drilled in on me like a Klieg light? I think NOT!

Diner, My Diner, I love thee!

Another one bites the dust....

Mr. Froggy met the end of his days. Later that night, Tucker threw up Mr. Froggy's parts on the rug.

Anyone interested in a brown Jack Russell named Tucker. Or, as my brother Mike and Margarita call him, El Diablito.

Every morning, we start with the reading...

Jack identifies various items in the book. He is quite enamored of airplanes and armor, socks and shoes, and of course, balls, ducks and dogs.

Jack's cousin, Lincoln

Happy and sweet and loved, loved, loved.

Meet Lincoln David Dygert.

Sorry, computer virus took the blog offline a couple of days....

More posting soon!

Quick updates:

• Grandma Ruth is in town for Mother's Day.
• Jack has a new cousin named Lincoln David (Jeff's brother, Greg and sister in law, Danielle are the happy new parents!)
• Jack's cousin Nick is in the Alabama State Soccer Championships today.
• Jack's cousin Katie is tearing up the skies in her helicopter.
• Jack's cousin Haley just finished his senior project at NYU, a play he wrote, produced and starred in.
• Jack is working hard at adding the following words to his vocabulary: flower, gorilla, dirt, umbrella, nares (spanish for nose).
  

(This is Jack's favorite morning pasttime. He crawls into bed with us and reads his book. We ask him to identify things on the page and he points. Then it is off to Goodnight Gorilla or Things that Go.)