Happy 2nd Birthday Jack! His actual birthday is Thursday, but we had his party this weekend (I'll be in AZ with Grandma & a couple cousins next weekend). Here are a few highlights...

Time Out!

We taught Jack to say "No, thank you" when he doesn't want something. We've also been starting to put Jack in time out when he gets naughty, and it may be going a little too well....

A couple days ago, Jack and Trystin were not getting along very well. Trystin ignored what Jack was trying to tell him so Jack whacked him with a bat. I put Trystin on the couch and Jack in his naughty spot (the corner by the coat closet). When Jack's minute was up, I told him hitting was wrong and to tell Trystin sorry. Jack looked at me and said, "No, thank you." I told him he had to say sorry or he would get another time out. So he sat back down and stayed there perfectly still and quiet for another minute. When his minute timer went off, he looked at me again and said, "No, thank you." He was NOT going to tell Trystin sorry. So I marched him over to Trystin, and he finally told Trystin sorry, but not willingly...

Last night during bath Jack was not happy about having to get out of the tub (for months, he has been crying about bath time and last night he couldn't get enough!). He started yelling at me, "Not out time. No get out." I told him it was time because Max was already out and needed to get ready for bed. He yelled at me again, so I gave him and stern look and asked if he needed a time out. Jack gave me his best devilish grin and nodded yes. That little poop actually wanted a time out!

Luckily he has been a sweetheart so far today. He came over to my chair, grabbed the phone, and said "Daddy." So we called Dad. When Curtis got on the phone, Jack said "Hi Daddy" several times and then "Bye-bye." A little while later, he heard some thunder and thought it was daddy's truck. I explained that the sound was thunder from the rain. We opened up the front door to watch the rain and listen to all the sounds. He was very excited when a robin landed on the gravel. Jack yelled to it, "Tweet tweet!" Then we sang the "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" song to it. Jack also liked when he could hear the cars and trucks before he saw them. We probably sat it the doorway for a good 15 minutes.

Jack drew his first picture on Thursday! He was sitting at the table doodling away, and I asked if he was drawing a picture. He said, "Daddy and Mommy" and pointed to his creation on the paper. I was so surprised because he had never said what he was drawing before - he just doodled. So I asked him to draw Trystin. He scribbled on the paper a little more in a different spot and said "Tada!" Then I asked him to draw himself. He moved to another spot on the paper, drew some more, and said "Tada!" So I asked him to draw Max. Once again he moved to a separate space on his paper, made some scribbles, and said "There Max!" Later when Curtis came home and looked at his drawing, Jack was able to tell daddy exactly which scribble was who. He has been all about drawing pictures ever since.

Max can cruise! If I stand him at the coffee table, a minute later he has moved to a different edge. I can't turn my back on him for a second, or he is crawling away. Diaper changing is an olympic event at our house - Max is constantly moving so that you work up a sweat trying to keep him still long enough to undress him, take off the diaper, put on a new diaper, and redress him. Half the time, I don't even fully dress him anymore. As Curtis says, if you can dress an octopus, you're ready for Max....