Celebrating Almost New Years

Thanks Uncle Colin and Aunt Sissy!!

I love Legos, but I think Dad loves them more...

Kissing Elmo. Pretty much the cutest thing ever.

It's good!! Look at that form. He's a pro!

Snow Day!

We were all snowed in today...a much-needed snow day for everyone in the entire state (basically!) Jack took the opportunity to enjoy some fun in the white stuff. He loved every minute of it! I was shocked. I figured he'd hate being cold, wet, and bundled ... but he surprised me! Big thanks to Granddoc for shoveling the walkway (twice) and for Gigi for the awesome pictures :)

 

Brrrr!

18 inches and counting!

Blizzard Time

It is not unusual that we get big snow storms here in Massachusetts; in fact, they happen about three or four times a season. However, it's pretty rare that we get a real "blizzard" with the Governor declaring a State of Emergency and 20+ inches of snow projected.

That's what we are in the middle of now! Luckily, the Crosby grandparents made it into Logan Airport this morning, because if they had been coming in after 6pm, their flight definitely would have been cancelled.

Justin is lucky to have off work this coming week, and daycare is closed. I am the unlucky one that will be making my way into work tomorrow... if the streets will allow. We are supposed to get a steady inch an hour until 7am. Here's to hoping it all passes quickly!!

Much love from snowy Boston...

(I just realized that this is going to change with our weather daily - oh well...)

Merry Christmas!

We had a very Merry Christmas here at the Crosby house, except for the fact that everyone was either sick (Daddy), getting sick (Jack), or getting over being sick (Mommy). We made a valiant effort, however, at having a fun holiday, and Jack was super excited to leave cookies for Santa:

 

We started Christmas morning with awesome stuffed stockings! Jack loved his, he got a matchbox car, candy necklaces, mittens, stickers, and lots of candy.

Then we started opening presents. Jack must have been a VERY good boy, because he got a push car, a little people garage, a ball-making kit, legos, a ball popper, and lots of books. He thought it was awesome!

 

Then we chowed down on breakfast - eggs, sausage, and biscuits. It was also a hit! We spent the day watching "A Christmas Story" and "Toy Story 3." Hopefully everyone will feel better tomorrow for Grandma and Grandpa Crosby - and the 18 inches of snow on the way!!

Nom nom nom!

Toddler One Report Card

We ended 2010 today with Jack's report card. Here is what his teachers, Ms. Corinne and Ms. Kate, had to say:

• Jack seems to be very comfortable, not only in the Toddler One environment, but also in other environments with different teachers. Jack accepts verbal & physical redirection from his teachers. For example, Jack enjoys the challenge of climbing on the lunch table. When verbally redirected to the slide, he will comply. Jack reacts to another child's emotions by looking at or walking over to them. Jack engages in parallel play with his classmates. He plays side by side with them, not necessarily one on one.
• Jack experiments with different ways of moving. He is able to walk, walk fast, climb, push, & pull. Jack is able to manipulate balls or similar objects with stiff body movement. Jack is able to grasp and hold objects, such as the tripod grasp to place pegs in a pegboard.
• Jack is able to identify familiar people, animals, and objects. He follows simple requests not accompanied by gestures. Jack uses words and word like sounds when communicating. Jack responds to speech by looking at the speaker. He watches for signs of being understood when communicating and will let you know if you did not properly understand him.
• Jack looks for familiar people when they are named and is able to relate objects to events. Jack often builds peg towers at least ten pegs high and he is able to build tall block towers.
• Jack shows interest in books and songs. He demonstrates emergent writing skills through scribbling with crayons, markers, or chalk.

Overall, it's a very good report card. A+ Little Man!!!

Snowy Day

Mom gave me a cupcake while Dad was away.  I really like cupcakes!

In my winter duds.

Mom and I stepped through the snow.

I was not dressed warm enough to get soaked...so all done.

 

17 Months and Picture Montage...

I am a little early, but I figure that Christmas Eve will probably be busy, so in advance.... on December 24, Jack will be 17 months old!! He is turning into a regular little man. Some of his favorite things include spaghetti (see below!), birds, balls, books, Ma-mo (Elmo), cars, Thomas the train, Gogurt (yogurt in popsicle form, he's a huge fan), and Chipolte kids meals. (OK maybe he is just like his parents...)

He calls all liquids "milk," even though 99.9% of the time, he's asking for juice or water and not milk, but I always offer that first. He says "more" and does that sign when he's hungry. He has a very adamant "no" down pat. He loves looking at all the Christmas lights and I think he understands that all of the white stuff on the ground is "snow" (or "no" as he calls it.) He still loves bathtime and will stay in there as long as you let him, even after the water is cold and he's so tired he is rubbing his eyes. He sleeps consistently from 7pm - 6:30am, and has gotten much better at putting himself to sleep.

He has separation anxiety from me, mostly. He hates it when I leave for work and some mornings I have to drag myself away as he screams and cries (it's really hard.) He loves school and they are still doing art projects every day! We learned that Jack likes "alone time" sometimes when the other kids are overwhelming him in class, and will give himself "time out" in the corner to regroup. He loves gym time and will happily push bigger and older kids over to get to the toys he wants (I asked if he was an instigator and they kind of gave me a very non-committal "um, not really..." so I don't know what to think! I guess I should be happy that he can hold his own and not be intimidated, especially because he's so small.)

Here are a few recent pictures (courtesy of Annette Crosby!)

 

Spaghetti!!! YAY!!!

I will run into anyone's lap who has a book!

Happy family picture...maybe?

My grandparents made me this super cool house!

"Whoaaaa"

Cheese.

Fascinated by the lights...

I am pretty short, but don't mess with me!

Basketball!

Sometimes I even read to myself.

Talk talk talk!!!

"Birds"

As a continuation of the words post, Jack has recently (since our trip down south) become totally enamored with birds. We have an Audubon New England wildlife book that he carries around like it's his blankie. (It's pocket sized, I guess for the avid bird watcher, but also for a toddler!) It has lots of pictures of brightly colored birds, and he's a pro at turning to those pages and saying "b-b-bird" over and over. It has other animals too, like fish, snakes, turtles, whales, and bugs, but he is not interested in any of those. He only likes the bird pages! He's so funny sometimes!


Mommy stayed home today with flu-like symptoms, but Jack happily went onto daycare, feeling just fine. To further assure us that he is feeling just fine, he ate (yes, this is true, and no, I am not lying):

• 1 entire packet of cranberry oatmeal + baby cereal
• 1 blueberry waffle
• 1 banana
• 5 blackberries
• 15 blueberries
• 10 raspberries
• 1 whole grilled cheese sandwich
• 1 packet of guacamole (prob 5 oz worth)
• 15 wheat thins to dip in the guac
• 6 grapes
• one baby twizzler (those toddler fruit sticks, I have no idea what they are really called!)
• and he topped it all off with 14 OUNCES of milk and 16 OUNCES of water / juice!!!!

I don't know where this kid's appetite today came from, but wow!! He must be hitting a growth spurt. He is definitely getting some back teeth (maybe those molars that he's months behind on now) because he has been gnawing on everything and everyone (oops) and drooling like he was three months old again.


We are looking forward to Santa's visit this Friday night!

New Words

They were amazed at daycare on Monday when Jack came back with all new vocabulary from our trip to Georgia. Unfortunately he still can't say "y'all" but we are working on that! He is a little mime and tries to mimic lots of words we say.

Some new things he's picked up include:

• "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh" whenever he sees something he likes. I have no idea how he learned this but listening to Justin and I, we say it more than we think. His favorite is driving home at night looking at all the Christmas lights on our neighbor's houses and going "ohhhhhhhh"
• "Dog," "woof," "moo," and "bird" ... these are old favorites that have reappeared in a much clearer form.
• "Two" --- it's the only number he knows, but he can point it out and knows (I think) that is always comes after one.
• "Car" (he's starting to say it normal now, instead of the Boston "cah" that he started with.) He points to them on the road.
• He's always been obsessed with Elmo, but now he goes out to the living room in the morning and points at the TV and says "Ma mo! Ma mo!" until I turn on Sesame Street.
• "Bar" -- he gets a toddler cereal bar most mornings before school so he points at the pantry and says "bar" until I give him one. Now that I think about it, he's very demanding!
• "Fisssshhhhhh" - he struggles with this one but loves to say it.
• He's a pro at "basketball," "baseball," and "foooooootball."
• He's also now awesome at pointing to his body parts and repeating their names. He does eyes, ears, hair, teeth, tongue, mouth, nose, belly, hands, and feet very well. We are now teaching him harder ones like knees and elbows.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Colin Farrell!!

We had a great wedding weekend on St. Simons with Colin & Ashley's wedding party! I will post more pictures when I get them uploaded...for now, here are a few teasers :)

Colin's groomsmen

Jack, me, and the beautiful bride!

Jack thinks Aunt Sissy looks amazingly beautiful!

Jack, me, and Susu!!

Today we went to the park in St. Simons. My SueSue thought it was cold, but I told her I am tough because I am from New England.

The slide is pretty much my favorite.

Happy family on the pier.

I enjoyed running off the birds, and yelling b-bird. For some reason I think bird is a two syllable word, but I am really excited when I see one.

Watching the Noles!

Jack loves watching his Noles! He is even learning the "oohhhh oh oh oh" and the (two arm) chop :)

Happy Rivalry Day!

Here at the Crosby house we (well, Jack and I) are very excited for Rivalry Day... go Jackets and go Noles!! Jack is gearing up for a big afternoon of football watching by taking a nap. This morning, however, we had to get in our visit with Santa (Santa needed to know what Jack wants for Christmas!!)

First, here is the "official" (read: $24.99) picture:

"No really, why did you hand me to this guy??"

Last year, Jack was amazing. He had a great time visiting with Santa and loved every second of his time on Santa's lap. This year was a different story.

Daddy taking me to see the super cool helicopter at Brookstone.

Waiting on Santa...apprehensi ve of this whole thing.

"Daddy, why are you handing me off like a football??"

"Santa may be alright if he reads me stories."

Refusing to smile.

Daddy took me on the carousel to make up for being mean
and handing me off to Santa.

Mommy tried to get good pictures, but the horses
were moving very fast!!

Hopefully next year we get a smiley Jack. I was convinced that he would scream and kick and thrash - so at least he isn't yelling! :) Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and let's hope for some good games today!