Epic achievement at the Dygert-Seiferts

Pee Pee in the Potty !!!

Another milestone of epic proportions in Jack's life

You are viewing a digital photograph of the very moment of Jack's first taste of Taco Bell.

To know that the moment is preserved for the future millenia brings a certain comfort to my soul. The doughy flour tortilla, the not-of-this-world orangish colored rice, the pale fleshy refried beans, the chicken that almost but not quite has some taste to it...

This is an historic occasion and we captured it.

Oh yeah. One more thing. I think it is pretty safe to say that this was not his LAST Grilled Stuft Chicken Burrito....

Have a good night...

Jackson - Man of Mystery, Man of Action!

This is Jack in his new Jammies. They make him want to run around and go crazzzeeeee! Not really what we are going for at bedtime, but he seems happy, which is a plus!

Trucks!

Great excitement in our neighborhood this morning. A couple of big yellow trucks, including one with a cherry picker, were parked right in front of our house this morning. At about 8:00, they started taking down a tree across the street. Jack was mesmerized. He watched from our bedroom window until it was time to go downstairs for breakfast. Then he stationed himself on a chair in the front hall and watched until Margarita arrived and we had to move the chair to let her in the door. Very, very interesting.

Jack's first tree....

We got this mask in St. John during a fantastic Christmas trip.

This is the red car that actually made it onto the tree...

Finding your own happiness in holiday traditions

After the initial placement of the first ornament, Jack started to get the hang of it.

He and Daddy started on the low branches using unbreakable ornaments made of wood or straw or plastic.

This worked well until Jack saw two ornaments that his Grandma Ruth gave us before he was even born. They were two classic cars in bright Christmas red. Jack is a fool for cars, so he didn't understand why in the world we would put something like that up on a tree.

We reached a compromise. One on the tree and one in the panoply of cars that keep him happy and sassy all the day long.

Don't be surprised in a couple of years if you walk in and see a tree done completely in NASCAR paraphernalia.....

Traditions....

The other night, just as we are drifting off to sleep, Jeff rolls over and says "I think we should get a Christmas tree. I don't think Jack's too young..." I immediately leapt out of bed and started making lists.

I love putting up a tree in our house. Over the last 18 years, we have picked up an ornament from our various travels; a porcelain bell from Seina, a sun and a moon from our Christmas trip to St. John's, ornaments from our friends Kerrie and Kevin when they were living in Moscow, various iterations of flying pigs (don't ask). Unwrapping all of the ornaments is a fantastic trip back through those years.

At the beginning of the holiday season, we discussed it and decided that Jack was still just a little too young and a fully decorated tree would be too great a temptation and it would end up in a tragi-comic disaster that would put us off trees for years.

Knowing what a fool I am for a REAL tree - no fakes for me -- Jeff gave me the best gift of all. The picture below is Jack hanging his first ornament.

A very nice day in our household and one that I will take with me for years and years to come.

Thanks Jeff.

WInding down for the day...

Dinner is done. The house is quiet. We move into the living room and Dad and Jack sit on the floor to get in just one last spot of "play." To hear the vigor and joy and anticipation that Jack can pack into that one three-syllable word is amazing -- "puh-lay-EE?" Note the small white car in his hand. It's his "ambulancia" the Spanish version rolls off his tongue with ease and conviction. Sadly, the ambulancia has a battery, makes a horrific noise, including a voice-over from some crazed sounding person and the back wheels send the truck careening across the room. As such, the ambulancia finds itself on long missions to dark corners of linen drawers and canned food closets when we can't take it anymore.

All that said, it is one of the most peaceful times of our lives when it occurs. You can feel the stress slipping out the door, drifting away as a little boy gets sleepier.

EARLY one morning last weekend...

That's cheddar cheese in Jack's hand. It's part of the morning ritual (how very Euro of us...cheese for breakfast).

And the both the robes are courtesy Jeff's mom, who is one of the most thoughtful people we know. Last Christmas, we stayed with Ruth and Ray and they put us up in their casita (basically a small second house). It was absolutely beautiful and peaceful and sweet and delightful. When we walked in to the main room of the casita, she had three fluffy robes wrapped up in ribbons sitting out on the bed. I DARE anyone to try and take them from us. We spend waaaayyyy too much time in them on the weekends.

P-town Redux Continued

The Pain Has Receded

This evening, I was looking back through some pictures of our time in Provincetown back in August. There are some great shots of Jack. Many of them we didn't put up at the time because, as Mark and I agreed tonight, the little guy was such a pain in the butt for most of the time we were there. Now, with the benefit of some distance, we can appreciate again just how cute Jack is in these pictures. Cute enough to take back to P-town for vacation next year? Not sure about that yet. But they're still fun pictures.