Happy July 4th!

 We had a nice holiday weekend - I was off work Monday AND Tuesday - can't beat that!  Sunday we celebrated with our friends at the Asher's house and had a nice time.  Jack got his first taste of fireworks, and he was generally pleased.  It's funny we had all kinds of fireworks going off near our house last weekend and he didn't even notice them and even yesterday for the first part of the day/evening he didn't notice them.  Then there was one loud boom that startled the group in the Ashers' garage (and there was some overreacting), so ever since then Jack has been slightly afraid.  Ugh!  We were free-sailing!  I guess it couldn't last forever.  He was still pretty good about them, but he wanted to be in our arms when they were going off and got a look of terror on his face during the loud ones.  And bedtime was pretty rough - we basically had to get him all the way asleep before we put him down because when we put him down awake, inevitably fireworks would go off in the distance and he'd want to be held again.  This holiday is not my favorite at this stage.  :)


How cute are these kids?!?  Nathan Mincher, Reghan Lade, Jack and Addison Asher

All the little legs

 The kids played outside in the garage for a long time and Jack got all hot and sweaty chasing around a ball.  Fun times!  He definitely gets his sweaty genes from Daddy.

 Cheeeeese.

 Playing ball with Steve & Greg

 Is that a look of concentration or what??

On Monday we decided to check out the O'Fallon festival with the Ashers.  There are rides, bands, carnival food and games.  They also had a kids area, which would thought would be great.  When we got there we realized all the bouncy castles and slides were filled with big kids that would have trampled our little ones.  There were also 3 kiddie rides, including a mini choo choo train.  Guess who wanted to ride that??  It was quite a conundrum though, they allowed adults to ride with the kids, but not pregnant adults (Melissa is pregnant too).  Jason was thinking of riding with them, but I honestly don't know if his legs would have fit.  SO, we paid our $4/kid (outrageous, right??) and decided to try just putting the two of them on there.  They did great!  Addi was excited the whole time, and Jack seemed a little unsure at first, but relaxed pretty quickly.  Both were sad when the ride was over.

After that we decided to leave and go to our neighborhood pool instead - it was surprisingly HOT!  We had the whole pool to ourselves, which was great!  

Then we made a pit stop at the Ashers' house on the way home to help them polish off their leftovers from their party the night before.  Jack and Addi had fun running back and forth from kitchen to living room.  Those two have such a great time together! 

Today Jack and I enjoyed my last day off with a trip to the Magic House.  He had fun exploring, as usual. 

Visit to the Farm

You may recall that Grandma & Grandpa Clayton have a farm in northern Missouri, which we visit from time to time.  On Father's Day weekend we took Jack for his third visit and had a nice weekend.  It was a quick trip - we went up Saturday morning and came back Sunday afternoon - but Jason got plenty of fishing in, which was the main goal.  Jack even got to do some fishing with Paw Paw and Dada.

(notice the teeny fish on their line in this one): 

Jack slept in a pack & play for the first time in months, and he did pretty well.  He needed some help falling asleep for his nap Saturday, so I had to rock him to sleep and then lie down in bed with him.  It was special snuggle time that I just don't get much these days, so I was not complaining!!  Then that night he fell asleep on his own in the pack & play after less than 10  minutes or so.  Better than I expected!


Jack took a bath in the kitchen sink, as is the tradition for the Clayton grand kids.  See how much he's grown in a year?

May 2010 - 9 Months Old

June 2011 - 22 Months Old

He loved it when Grandma squirted him with the faucet:

Jack and Dada on the lawn mower

 Jack "driving" the mule: 

 Going for a ride w/Dada and Paw Paw - they said he LOVED it!

 Happy guy!

 "Driving" Paw Paw's tractor 

On Sunday we went into town to a place where you can feed deer.  It was kind of hot, so for the most part the deer stayed in the shade rather than coming to get our corn, but Jack still loved it.  He kept yelling "Deer!  Deer!" trying to get them to come to us and loved throwing the corn into the fence.

Finally one came near us

 Nice family weekend - looking forward to our next farm visit.

Sparky Update - 29 Weeks

I had a doctor visit this week, so I figured it was time for a Sparky update.  I am 29 weeks along today and feeling pretty good.  Starting to get some aches and pains when I move too fast or do too much, and starting to lose a little of my energy, but generally, still doing well.  So far I've only had one crazy calf cramp, but I'm sure there are more of those to come.  The heartburn has continued as well - almost every morning around 4:00 I take 2 Tums, but I'm still falling right back asleep, so again, nothing to complain about.  I took my glucose test this week and they said no news is good news. Since it's now been 3 days, I'm assuming I'm in the clear.


We had an ultrasound at our visit this week and got a really good 3D picture of Sparky.  I think he/she looks just like Jack did in the womb.  

The heartbeat was 150, which according to Dr. Herrmann is a "dude."  Baby is getting very strong with lots of kicks and punches.  Sometimes we have to have a little chat about letting Mommy get some sleep.


Here's a picture of me today - getting big! 

Jack at 22 Months

We are quickly closing in on the end of Jack's second year, so I think it is time for an update on all his latest developments and skills.  This is a really fun, while occasionally challenging, age!  It's been so fun to watch him grow and learn - we've got a pretty bright little guy on our hands.

The most fun right now is the ability to carry on conversations with him.  His vocabulary has been increasing exponentially - I tried to count the number of words he says a few weeks ago and very easily got to 50, so I know he's well over that.  It seems like he's saying new words every day.  Some of his favorites are truck, bus, bike and plane, all of which he points out over and over again when we're in the car.  We routinely have some variation of the following conversation when we're in the car:

Jack:  Bike! (insert mode of transportation here)

Mama: Ooh a bike, I saw it too.

Jack: Where go?

Mama: I think it drove that way.

Jack: More

Mama: You want to see more bikes?

Jack: Yeah

Mama: Well, we'll have to just keep watching to see more of them.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that we can repeat this conversation 5 times in our 30-35 minute drive to work/school in the morning.


Other favorite words are the colors.  Jack is now able to identify and name blue (boo), green (geen), yellow (yeyyow), red (re), pink (pin), purple (pupple) black (back) and white (why); basically all the main colors with the exception of orange and brown.  We're still working on those two.  He is always identifying things by their colors - truck has now become white truck, etc.


He is also getting pretty good with his manners.  He often still needs to be reminded to say please, but very often will say thank you without being prompted.  We're so proud.  He also remembers to cover his mouth when he coughs about 1/3 of the time.  Pretty good progress for a little guy I think.


Jack's favorite playtime activity is playing choo choos.  He has a train table he received at Christmas, and he is constantly taking one or both of his parents by the hands to drag us into the toy room to play choo choos.  We are in the process of getting his big boy room ready (more on that in a later post), which includes a choo choo quilt on his new bed.  The first week we had the bed in there, the child didn't want to leave the room.  He calls it his choo choo room.  I was worried that I might regret choosing a somewhat childish theme for the new room, but given his current obsession, I'm happy with the choice.  We can always update it a few years down the road as he grows out of it.


Our little man is constantly imitating what we do, from gestures to postures to words we say to sounds we make.  Monkey see, monkey do!  It is a riot to watch him - sometimes he takes several minutes comparing his stance to ours, for example, to make sure he has it just right.  Here's a demo from tonight: sitting just like Dada was while they watched TV, hands on his feet and all.

He's becoming very independent, as all toddlers do.  My favorite example of this is his recent insistence on choosing the shoes he wears each day.  It started with him preferring flip flops to his tennis shoes and quickly moved on through his whole shoe line-up.  We've run numerous errands in our frog rain boots, have gone to the Ashers house in our snow boots  (when it was 90 degrees out) and even once wore Mama's flip flops into the post office (that added about 15 minutes onto our quick pit stop to check the business P.O. box since he could barely walk without them falling off his feet).  When we get comments, stares and laughs from passersby, my standard response is "you have to pick your battles, right?"  

He's also been enjoying wearing Mama's heels, which is quite a hoot.  Luckily he hasn't insisted on wearing those out of the house (yet!).

Along with Jack's independence has come the tendency to throw tantrums.  Lately when he doesn't like what we're telling him to do, he gets mad and then slowly and deliberately bangs his head on whatever is nearby - the wall, a chair, the floor, you name it.  He even gave himself a bloody nose on his crib the other day.  Hopefully this is a quick phase we can snap out of quickly.


I think that covers the basics.  All in all, things are great in our world.  We have a happy, loving little guy and we are enjoying every minute with him.

Race for the Cure

We participated in Race for the Cure Saturday with the Ashers and the Lades.  It was very crowded, as always, but the weather ended up being great after a full week of 95 degree days.  This year we opted for the 1 mile fun walk (instead of the 5K) since we had 3 toddlers with limited attention spans and two of us are 6 months pregnant.  It was just the right distance for us and all the kids were great (with a little help from fruit snacks, juice, etc).

Here are the kiddos enjoying a pre-race sucker (Jack, Addi & Reghan):

Our family:

Melissa, Addi & Greg:

Darrin, Reghan, Julie & Chrissy:

During the walk - people as far as you can see (and a LOT of pink):

Jack displaying his shirt, which said "My Grandma has BIG muscles.  She beat up cancer."

One Proud Mama

Jack made me very proud tonight - he went pee pee AND poo poo on the potty for the first time!!

We are by no means potty training him right now.  I realize most kids are too young at 21 months, especially boys.  But he has been curious the past few months, so we've had his little potty out in the bathroom for awhile. We read a few potty books regularly and he's sat on the big potty a couple times just for fun.

Tonight he kept tooting while he was taking his bath, so when I got him out I put him on the big potty.  Sure enough, he went pee pee almost immediately!!  I was so excited!!  Then he kept saying "more, more."  And I realized he was pushing - next thing you know he's going poo poo too!  What a big shot!  We celebrated with a popsicle (he requested a yeyyow one).

We won't be throwing away his diapers just yet, but at least now he knows what it feels like, which is a start!!

Fish Fry

I just turned in from a fun afternoon/evening with our friends.  We had a group over for a fish fry after Jason, Steve and Darrin caught a bunch of crappie over the past few weeks.  The food was delicious and we all had a nice time.  So many kids all the same age - such a fun play date!!

Nathan Mincher, Addi Asher, Reghan Lade and Jack (Sloan, Connor and Aidan in the background)

 Cheeeeeeeeeese:

 Aidan & Connor Neu:

 Jack after he enjoyed a cupcake.  Blue lips!!

 Aidan and Maggie Neu.  Check out Maggie's adorable curls!

 Jack, Reghan & Nathan playing in the next door neighbor's rock box (think sand box with pebbles in lieu of sand) - it was a HUGE hit!

 Neighbors: Nathan, Addi & Jack

 Jack & Sloan Schneider

Swim Lessons, Take II

You may recall that Jack took swim lessons about a year ago when he was 7-8 months old, which he really enjoyed.  We decided to sign him up again because a lot has changed in a year and we want him to be ready for pool weather when it finally gets here.  We have 2 pools in our subdivision, so we like to take quick jaunts up there in the summer to get our fill.


Jack was a little unsure what to think at our first class.  It is about 35 minutes long and he was very clingy for about the first 15 minutes.  Then he started to get more comfortable and had a good time.  We've now had 2 more classes and the child is turning into a little fish!  He kicks his legs when we're "swimming" through the lazy river and LOVES to jump off the side into my arms.  We're still working on blowing bubbles in the water - he forgets to close his mouth - yuck!  Bath time now suddenly includes some tummy time with him kicking his feet (he learned this at the zero-entry part of the pool and is so proud when he thinks to do it in the bath too).


The class is very repetitive, especially for 7 weeks in a row, but I'm glad we signed up.  Our last class is June 11, then we'll head outside to the pool to show off his new skills!!

This video shows the teacher trying to get Jack to blow bubbles when all he really wanted to do was jump off the step.  Addi is in the background too.

Field Trips

Jack has gone on a couple fun outings with his Maw Maw and Paw Paw recently.  First, they took him to the Magic House.  He had a great time exploring!

THEN a couple weeks later the lucky guy got to go to the Transportation Museum.  We went a few months ago, but it was cold out so we only got to check out the inside stuff.  Outside there are real trains you can climb on and a little train and a tram to ride on.  Apparently Jack was in heaven and according to my parents he must have said "choo choo" 500 times while they were there.  I can't wait to take him back there again this summer sometime.

Jack also helped clean up Maw Maw & Paw Paw's yard from the storm last Friday.  He has been a busy guy at their house!

Fun times!!

ER Visit

Two weeks ago, Jack and I had our first (and hopefully last!!) ambulance ride.  I will start by saying everyone is perfectly fine, but it was a scary morning.

I was dropping him off at day care and his teacher took him from me while I was filling out his form.  She was walking and tripped over a beach ball and both she and Jack fell to the floor.  I had my back to them, so didn't see exactly how he landed, but when I turned back around he was face down on the floor (awake).  He was really upset for 15 minutes or so and then mostly calmed down, but he seemed very pale and a little drowsy.  He wouldn't let me go, so I hung around for awhile and next thing I know he's vomiting.  That's when I lost it of course, but day care was already all over it - an ambulance was on its way.

We noticed a bruise on the top of Jack's left ear, so we assume he hit the side of his head, but his teacher who was the only one who saw how he landed was getting her knee looked at, so we weren't sure.  Jack and I rode in the ambulance with lights and sirens on while the paramedic looked in his eyes and tried to take his blood pressure (he wasn't having it).  He said his pupils looked good and the fact that he recognized the paramedics were strangers and didn't want anything to do with them was a good sign.  BUT Jack was dozing off during our 5 minute ambulance ride, which was pretty scary.  The paramedic kept waking him back up to make sure he could rouse him.

After we got to the ER they looked him over more thoroughly and he vomited again.  Then Daddy got there and they gave Jack some anti-nausea medicine and Motrin. Within about 30 minutes he started to perk up and was back to his normal self in no time, exploring the whole ER.  Turns out the St. John's has a nice pediatric ER (would have preferred to go my whole life without finding that out).  They wanted us to try to get him to calm down and ideally fall asleep so they could take a CT scan of him, but he wasn't interested in sitting still.  They weren't worried enough to sedate him to get the scan, so they fed him some graham crackers and apple juice and sent us on our way.

When we got home I gave him a bath to wash the vomit off and noticed a bruise on his left shoulder too.  That made me feel better - hopefully he landed more on his shoulder than his head.  I slept on his floor while he napped (they told me not to worry about waking him every so often, as long as he was breathing) and slept on his floor that night until my pregnant body couldn't take it any longer.

He is perfectly fine but could have been a lot worse - we are very lucky.  The nurse at the ER said it was a concussion, but his release papers simply say he was treated for "a fall and vomiting," so we're not sure it was an official diagnosis.

He looked awfully cute in his little hospital gown, so I had to snap a picture with my phone (this is after he was back to normal).  We took the gown home as a souvenir.  :)