'Til he POPS!

That's how much Grandma Ruth wants to hug him.

She's probably going to kill me for putting these pictures in, but I had to, given her unbridled joy. You can see how she's unable to keep her arms away from him, swooping him into a big fat hug.

Jack gets it. This is a rock, a safe place, a home plate, a safety zone, an overwhelming BOOM of love, Grandma Style!

He senses her joy and feeds on it. In a flash, he will be skipping around the garden, ready at a moment's notice to fling himself into her arms again.

Nice life, dontcha' think?

Rolling in the Building Museum

At one point, the running had become too much and so we decided to roll across the room. Again and again and again.

It's amazing what a two year old can get you to do if he puts his mind to it!

Daddy and Jack running.

Daddy and Jack played "Chase" in the suite of rooms.

Adventure at the National Building Museum

One day, Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Ray came to town. We all decided to go down to the Building Museum, which is always fun. On this day, the building was being used by the National Craft Fare (which is not nearly as horrendous as it might sound; quite the opposite - cool crafty things made by master artisans. Not a rug with dogs playing poker in sight). So we headed to the second floor with all the other urban parents with children. We found this empty suite of rooms. It apparently belonged to the building manager back in the day when the building was used for the War Pension fund (as in Civil War . . . .).

Jack saw it as a huge set of carpeted rooms where he could RUN...... This picture captures his first entrance into this magical land...

Jack's Bestie, Evan

So, I know this is Jack's blog. But Jack's world is rapidly expanding. This is one of Jack's bestie's, Evan. In the years to come, we expect to spend many fun times with Evan (and his parents Sarah and Tim).

What a good looking kid that Evan is. Personally, I think Ralph Lauren should be using him for his summer catalog!

Easter Egg Hunt at the Allen Powderlys

Sarah and Tim had a great Easter Egg Hunt the weekend before Easter. It was great fun. There were kids EVERYWHERE! Obviously some were more enchanted with the concept of hunting eggs than others. Is that Evan a sweet heart or what!

All in all, Jack thought it was the right time for lawn maintenance, a task he takes verrrryyy seriously.

You need to be prepared....

Because you never know when breakfast could get CRAZY! Cereal and milk flying, blueberries being launched, syrup spattering.

(Actually, we are trying to get him used to the idea of actually putting his entire face in WATER. Heaven forfend...).

Still no success on that front. But the goggles certainly make a statement.

Monkey see, monkey do

This past weekend, Jack and I went to the zoo on Saturday morning. After a year of frequent visits, it's still the park that keeps on giving. A couple of weeks ago, we (or at least I) discovered the lemur enclosure, tucked away behind the waterfall that we've looked at over and over, without wondering what was behind it. And this time, we found the cutest little sculpture garden beside the ape house. It's full of these neat, bronzes of chimps in all sorts of different poses and groupings. To begin with, Jack was a little wary of them. But soon, he was clambering over them and willingly posing for a picture.

Bubbles!

Many of the good things in Jack's life start with Margarita. The joys of a bubble bath are no exception. She put him into the bath with some bubbles recently on a rainy day, when they couldn't go outside. Not surprisingly, the bubbles were a huge hit and have now become part of our morning ritual. This was one of the first times. As you can see, he still had a few things to learn. Not to worry, though. He no longer makes this rookie mistake.

Hammer!!!

Yesterday, Jack and I were out walking, and we ran across our friends Tony and Kevin, who live at the end of the block. They had gotten this totally cool toy as a birthday gift for Jack. Jack was thrilled to receive a "presem" out of the clear blue like this and very eager to get it unwrapped when we got home. The wild thing was that he seemed to have an innate sense of what to do with it. The combination of a small hammer and colored wooden balls spoke to him on some deep, evolutionary, collective-subconscious level. As soon as we got it open, he went to work. We had several talks about how the hammer was only to be used on the balls -- not the dogs, the furniture or the walls. More later on how well that lesson stuck.