Jack Hearts The Great Outdoors

Here are some pics from playing outside at home and at the park nearby. Jack could spend all day outdoors. At the park, the main attractions are the woodchips and anything he can climb.

At home, his favorite activities are pushing his popper up and down the driveway and picking up pine cones, pine straw, and flowers. He also loves to point at everything and brightly say, 'See?' (which actually sounds more like 'Tee?') Lately he's been very into picking up and throwing balls. In anticipation of picking up a ball, he walks like Frankenstein towards it (i.e. both arms are out to grasp it even if he's 1o feet away from it). Once he has it, he turns to you and says 'Ball.' Then he makes his granny shot.

Croup de grâce

Here is Kiddo giggling it up with Aunt Kathy last week. Poor kid had just been diagnosed with croup, but he could still find it in himself to laugh. For those who don't know, croup comes with that kind of dry cough that sounds like a seal barking...wholly unnatural and sad when it comes out of your little baby. The days weren't so bad, but we had a few nights of very poor sleep, including one where he never slept more than half an hour at a time. Mama hasn't done that kind of night duty since he was a few weeks old. This was harder. Jack was happy when he was awake at night those many moons ago. This time, he wanted desperately to sleep but he just couldn't.

Anyway, all is well now, save for a slightly stuffy nose. The weather's been great here, so everyday we spend the space between day care and dinner playing outside in the yard. Daddy taught Sweet Pea how to throw a ball. He prefers 'granny' throws. Hopefully we'll catch that on film soon...

The Cape Escape

Click the image to see a brief slideshow of our trip with Papaw and YoNanaManaw to Aunt Mimi's and Uncle David's Florida home. It was a fantastic long weekend...I can almost taste the strawberry pie and freshly-picked grapefruit as I type this.

Not only did Mama and Daddy actually relax for several days in a row (no one could believe we showed up sans laptops), but Jack may have had some of the best play time in his life.

The boy lives to be outside. Instead of spending perhaps 3 to 5 percent of his day outside like he does here in Georgia (which is up from the 1 or 2 percent we could manage in the Tucson heat) he spent practically all of his awake time outside. He even got to enjoy some outdoor sleepy time, as shown by the pic of nap time in the hammock with YoNanaMamaw.

What a lot of adventures for the boy...he spent hours playing with grass, shells, rocks, woodchips, and pods from the mahogany tree. Of course, the pool was a big hit. And he got to 'drive' the boat. He even managed to make friends with his four-legged cousin, Bo D, whose excitement used to make him a little nervous.

Playtime in the pool showed us that Jack has absolutely no fear of the water. He just doesn't yet know that he can't breathe it. The next adventure...probably swim lessons.

Thanks Aunt Mimi, Uncle David, Papaw, and YoNanaMamaw for one of the best vacations ever!