Grin

During the Colin concert, Colin changed into lots of different costumes. Jack found this a new idea and was very interested in it.

Yesterday at lunch, Jack, Theo and myself were sitting at the table eating when Jack abruptly got up from the table ran to the other room and announced that he was going to put on a different costume. He returned about a minute later, and the only costume he was wearing was a huge grin - yes, he was completely naked. Rest assured this was NOT one of Colin's costumes.

A follow up to Happy Father's Day

We were on the phone with my mom wishing her a happy birthday when Jack asked that I tell her the story about going to Pizza Hut and Theo biting the crayon and having to leave. Jack was still a bit upset about the whole thing, even a day later.

I told my Mom the story. Then my mom sympathetically told Jack that she was sorry we had to leave Pizza Hut, but that maybe we could go there when she comes to visit in a couple of weeks. Jack was very enthusiastic about this idea. He quickly piped up 'yes, and Grandad (long pause, we all think he is getting ready to say that Grandad can come too... but no) can stay home with Theo.'

Too funny. Clearly (and pretty accurately) Jack had ascertained that the reason we had to leave Pizza Hut was due to Theo and that without Theo we would have been just fine.

Maybe we will go when my parents are here. The verdict is still out on whether Grandad and Theo will get to come....

Happy Father's Day

After the boys got up from their nap we had planned an outing to the park and then dinner at Pizza Hut. The park was great, but unfortunately, we cannot say the same about Pizza Hut. It was very crowed(we had called ahead for reservations though)and they seated us in a booth, which really doesn't work with an eleven month old. We were wondering how we were going to feed Theo, eat ourselves, and keep him from not falling off. Right after he bit one crayon in half, we made the decision that we should leave. Jack was really upset because he had been looking forward to Pizza Hut. We headed for the next best option, McDonalds. We had a good time at McDonalds and then headed across the parking lot to Krispy Kremes (very rare for London to have both in one location). Both the boys loved Krispy Kremes. Yes, we said BOTH. This was Theo's first taste of a donut, or appropriately Krispy Kremes. I think it is fair to say he liked it. I'll let you watch the video and be the judge.



And here are some pictures from the park:

Transitioning

Theo is almost on the move which means Jack is almost in for a rude awakening. Up until now Theo has been a very easy to love brother. He sits there and plays with what you put in front of him. But just recently Theo has started to shuffle his way around the room and has found some of 'Jack's toys'.

The other day I was in the kitchen and Jack came in and told me that Theo was getting into his stuff. I stopped what I was doing and told Jack that Theo was getting to a new age and that Jack needed to be really good at sharing and that for the VERY few things that Jack had that were not safe for Theo then Jack should be sure to put them up high (I even gave him an example - 'like on the couch') so that Theo could not get to them. I heard Jack go back into the room and a minute later I heard Theo calling out a bit discontentedly. I returned to the room they were in and saw this:



Jack had put every single one of the toys up on the couch! Theo did not have one single toy on his level. I laughed to myself, thought of how selfishness is so ingrained in all of us, took this picture quickly, and then of course(!) told Jack that this was unacceptable and that Theo should be able to play with some of the toys.

Colin in Concert

This past Saturday night we were fortunate enough to go see Colin Buchanan in concert. If you read this blog regularly, you will know that Jack is a huge Colin fan. This was the first time he has been to England since we joined his fan club. This was Jack's first concert and he had a little bit of trouble with the concept. When we were getting in the car to go, we realized that Jack thought we were going to Colin's house for dinner! We quickly explained that it would not be Colin's house, it would be a church and that Colin had invited 200 of his closest friends.

At the end of the concert, Colin very kindly stays after to talk with each kid and signs something if they want. We waited in line for about an hour. However, when we got up there to see him, there was no way you could be cross because he was just the nicest man and gave us so much attention. In fact, when we got up to meet Colin, Jack quickly asked Colin where Mitch Farmer was. You see, Mitch Farmer is the drummer on Colin's music. Colin did not bring his band from Australian which was a little disappointing to Jack. You could tell Colin was a bit shocked by the question, but he quickly followed up by telling Jack that Mitch Farmer was a great drummer but importantly he was a man who loved Jesus. Jack was very satisfied when Colin said he would tell Mitch Farmer that Jack in London says hi. I bet Jack is the only three year old that is more interested in the back up instrument than the main act.

Needless to say, we had been looking forward to the concert for months. And it did not disappoint us. Here are a couple of pictures, and the only video I took was actually meant to be a picture so I ask that you please be patient with my video/picture skills.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my mom's birthday. Here is a little video to say happy birthday to Grandmother. Jack was very keen to do the song - but he only wanted to drum so you will have to live with my singing. Theo is on the guitar.

Laughing Theo

Theo was really in a good mood after his nap today which is apparent by this video. Jack was just goofing around and Theo thought it was the best thing ever. This is the deepest belly laugh I have seen from Theo. Enjoy!

The Head of Theo Part V

We went for a head appointment today and Theo now has a difference of 8 mm (started at 17 mm). Our goal was to cut the difference by 50% so we are there and we are thrilled! The consultant advised us that she thinks he could very possibly get to 7 mm in the next couple of weeks so we decided to keep the helmet on a bit longer. We are committed to having the helmet off for good by his first birthday - 30 July, but it looks like we will probably now have it off in mid-July. We will get a before and after scan at the next visit which will be really fun to see.

KC Royals

We were getting ready to go to the farm today (a little amusement park with kids' activities) when Jack announced that he was going to wear his KC Royals baseball hat to the farm so that everyone would know that he is an American (I refrained myself from adding and bad taste in baseball teams!).

He has just recently gotten really into the fact that he is an American (although you wouldn't necessarily know by his speech).

Fletcher

There was a picture on Jack's peg at pre-school when I picked him up on Friday. I quickly took the picture, loaded Jack and Theo in the car and headed home. Jack has never been into art so I didn't really even look at the picture initially. It was only when I got home and both boys were in bed that I noticed that it was a drawing of a body and then underneath the pre-school helper had written 'Fletcher'. When Jack got up from his nap we had the following conversation:

ERIN: Who is Fletcher? (I didn't even have the picture with me.)
JACK (with a huge grin on his face): I am. I am Fletcher.
ERIN: What? Who calls you Fletcher?
JACK: Grace and my other friends at pre-school. They call me Fletcher or Fletch. (Note: Grace is a good friend, but she doesn't even go to pre-school on the same day as Jack.)
ERIN: Why?
JACK: Because I like it. I told them to call me Fletcher.
ERIN: Do you want me to call you Fletcher?
JACK: No, you are my mommy. You can call me whatever you like.

We know no one named Fletcher. I think it's kind of a cute name, but I have no idea where it came from. I am sure it is a passing thing, but I am holding onto the picture just in case Jack turns into a famous artist and uses Fletcher as his pseudonym. His first self-portrait! Little did I know!

Bump!

So one of the secondary benefits of Theo's helmet is that it keeps his head protected from the normal bumps associated with being a ten-month-old who wants to move (not quite on the move yet!). One night when he had his helmet off he bumped his head on the dishwasher. Right away it was obvious that he was very startled by the bump on an area of his head he hadn't felt bumps before. He then started to bump his head against the dishwasher intentionally to see if it would feel the same way again. It was really hilarious. After Charles and I realized what was happening, I ran to get the camera. Since it had been a minute of bumping he wasn't doing it so hard as the original couple of bumps(hopefully a sign of intelligence!). Here is the result!

Book Reading Gone Bad Oops!

I don't know if anyone else will find this video as funny as I do, but I thought I would post it anyway. Here is a video of Jack reading one of Theo's favourite books to him - Red Hat, Blue Hat, Oops written by Sandra Boynton. First, it seems as though Jack is reading it to the National Hearing Impaired Society as you will see by his yelling. Second, it might be that Jack is also reading to the National Colour Blind Society by the way he messes up his colours (which he doesn't do often, but I will keep a watch on him given the challenges of his father!). Third, it looks as if Jack is also reading to the National Language Translation Society in how he says trousers instead of pants. The book actually says pants; he is translating for Theo's sake!. Fourth, based on Theo's enthusiasm throughout the distractions listed above, you would think Theo might be the founding member of the The National Oblivion Society. Theo looks like he is truly enjoying the book reading, especially the 'oops'. After taking this video, my main thought was 'Oops, why did I decide to video that?' Hope you enjoy.

Stacking Cars

Theo had a lot of fun stacking cars (well really knocking them down) the other day. Hope you enjoy this video. He is at a really fun age.

Fun with Grandma and Papa

So as I mentioned before we had a great time with Charles's parents visiting. The boys loved having them around. Here are a couple of pictures from their visit. Enjoy.

Bow Tie

I was playing a made-up dice rolling game with Jack the other day. It has become one of his favourite. He has just gotten the concept down - the one who rolls the highest number gets the dice and the other person's dice as well. We have an odd number of dice so on the last roll, the winner gets the other person's dice and the last dice as a 'bonus'. Jack has been very interested in this concept of 'bonus', realizing that it is a more significant roll because you end up with three dice instead of two. Another thing this game has taught him is about ties - when we both roll the same number. He loves it when we have a tie and have to roll again. It is a very simple game, but it has started to teach him some fun new things. Needless to say, you can imagine we play it a lot right now. Well, yesterday before church we were playing it and he started to explain to me at the end that this was the special roll where we get the extra dice if we win. He finished, and then said, when this happens it is called a Bow-tie. It seems he has gotten BOnus and a Tie a bit confused.