Too smart for his own good...

Earlier today, Jack was being AWFUL quiet in his room, which is usually a very bad sign. I walked in and this is what I found...let's just say it's a good thing I found him when I did, because this could have gotten very expensive quickly. The best part is his fake attempt at blowing his nose. :)

Also, enjoy our "baby flowers" ... which are no longer babies!!!

Mr. Philip the Music Man!

Today I did something that I have always wanted to do, but never had the chance. I went to see Jack's class (and three other classes) host Mr. Philip the Music Man at school. I heard that the kids loved him but I didn't know how much until I got to witness it firsthand!

Waiting for the fun to begin.

"Mr. Philip, that's a pretty cool guitar..."

Learning to hold hands with his friends.

Circle time.

Really - can his face BE any more excited???

The kids really got into it. The only snafu was when Mr. Philip asked all of the children to find an adult "buddy" to sit on their legs for a horse song. Jack was SUPER mad that other kids wanted to sit on my legs and he basically threw a temper tantrum that gave the name "terrible twos" justice. I was so embarassed! His teachers were shocked, they said he never acts like that at school. But he was so jealous that other kids loved his Mommy! He kept yelling, "my Mommy! my school!!" Poor kid. :)

Here are some videos. Enjoy!

Days Go By

He's got his animal sounds down!!

24-hour stomach flu made Jack a very tired boy. This was at about 11am.

Things are rapidly progressing here in the Crosby house. Friday, May 6 is Jack's last day of daycare at Mountainside and we are so sad to see him leave the wonderful family there. It has been so wonderful for him and I only hope I can find a place that enriches his life, and ours, so much in California.

I will post more next week about our plans and our travel and moving schedule! For now, enjoy Jack...

On Marriage

At the risk of sounding sappy, romantic, and a little heartsick, Justin and I are about to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary and it's amazing to me how fast the time has gone! As I was telling my parents when they were here, we are going through a very stressful time and because we have chosen to uproot our lives and move 3,300 miles away from our home and friends here in Boston, and our family in Georgia. It's a huge step and we didn't make the decision lightly. However, it has really brought us closer (although ironically, geographically we are much further apart for now), our marriage is stronger than ever. I think daily to myself that there is no one else on this planet that I would rather be married to, or going through this time with, than Justin.

Our first dance at our wedding was to a song that was very special to us: "Better Together" by Jack Johnson. It described our life at the time (graduating, moving to Boston, leaving everyone dear to us):

There's no combination of words
that I could put on the back of a postcard.
No song that I could sing
But I can try for your heart.
Our dreams; they are made out of real things,
Like a shoebox of photographs
With sepiatone loving.
Love is the answer
At least for most of the questions in my heart ,
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy,
And sometimes life can be deceiving,
But I'll tell you one thing,
its always better when we're together.

I believe in memories
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
Hey now, and when, and when I wake up,
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing,
We're better together.


Marriage is a funny thing. I feel like we've done it long enough now to know that it has ups and downs, highs and lows. You get really tired and irritated with the other person, and sometimes you just need a break. But it's times like these, when we are apart and things are exciting and new and stressful, that I am very thankful for what we have.
 
There is a new song out (well maybe not so new, but I just heard it for the first time a few days ago.) It has beautiful words and it reminds me of Justin and that warm May day when we said our vows. I can only hope that our next 5, 10, 20, 50 years are this good!
 
Forever can never be long enough for me
To feel like I've had long enough with you
Forget the world now we won't let them see
But there's one thing left to do
Now that the weight has lifted
Love has surely shifted my way
Marry Me
Today and every day
Marry Me
If I ever get the nerve to say
Hello in this cafe
Say you will

Together can never be close enough for me
To feel like I am close enough to you
You wear white and I'll wear out the words I love you
And you're beautiful
Now that the wait is over
And love and has finally shown her my way
Marry me
Today and every day
Marry me
If I ever get the nerve to say
Hello in this cafe
Say you will

Easter Weekend

We missed all of our family this Easter, including Daddy, but we had a fun weekend with Gigi. Especially playing outside in the rain puddles!! It finally warmed up enough for Jack to get out and play in shorts and a t-shirt (it felt sooo good after a long and horrible winter!) He loved splashing around in the puddles in his "froggie boots" (I will have to get a video of him saying "boot," he sounds vaguely Russian. No idea where that came from!) Let's hope this warm weather persists and it stays dry. We have all of our home inspections next week and we all depart to California on Sunday, May 8. What a great Mother's Day present ... my boys together!!



Easter 2011

Even though our life is in a state of turmoil at the moment, we still had to take a few minutes to get our picture taken with the Easter Bunny! I thought this would be the classic screaming baby picture, but nope. Jack took the same approach as he did with Santa in December - quiet, serious contemplation. He wasn't excited, but he wasn't freaking out either. So we got yet another picture with the look of, "Mom, what the hell are you doing to me??"...

Easter Bunny 2011

Left: Santa 2010. Right: Easter Bunny 2011. Same look of consternation!!

We also took some time to play outside for the 2.5 seconds that it hasn't been raining this week. Jack loves his froggie rain boots and will take any chance he can get to wear them and splash around in puddles. :)

Spring Party @ Toddler 2!

Yesterday Jack's class celebrated spring with a party in his class. Gigi Crosby was lucky enough to fly in just before it started, so she got to join in the festivities with all the kids! She also took some great pictures of our little man.

Decorating my flower pot with Mommy and Eamon.

Putting stickers on the pot.

Putting dirt in the pot...

"Who you lookin' at?"

"No, Zoe, that's MY DIRT!!"

Packing the dirt down.

I earned a cookie!

Putting sprinkles on my cookie with Miss Becky's help.

This could be a commercial for Milk!



Mommy & Me... Day 1!

So today was my first official day as a stay-at-home-mom. Scary? A bit. Justin and I are both hesitant about giving up the security of a second income, but we both know that we will work this out in the long run however it's needed for our family. For now, I have two jobs: 1. Jack, and 2. Get out house packed, sold, and get out to Cali!

I am actually cheating because Jack will be in daycare for the next 2-3 weeks. But today was a Massachusetts state holiday with it being Marathon Monday, so daycare was closed. Jack and I had a great day hanging out together. We started the day off by going grocery shopping, and then came home to enjoy inside time while it warmed up enough to go out. Jack was super excited about the "bunny kit" (the egg-dying kit that had a picture of the Easter bunny on it.) So I boiled up some eggs and let him get to work:

Carefully (at first) putting eggs in each cup.

Trying to use the metal egg mover.

still trying...poor kid...

"Mom, I'm giving up and using my hands!"

He really liked putting them in all different colors and watching them change.

Yellow to blue to green...

Jack's very pretty creations!

After the egg-dying fun, lunch, and a NAP, we headed to the big park on Central Street. It is still a little chilly out, but it was a good day to be running around. Jack loved running the bases on the baseball diamond and he went down the slide about 10,000 times.

Pointing at ... guess what?? A bird.

Purposefully striding to the slides.

Mr. Serious.

He had no use for Mommy or her camera!

He really, really did love the swings though :) Until next time...

Toddler 2 Gazette, April 2011 Edition

Here's the news from Jack's class!

"March was a busy month in Toddler Two. The kids created many masterpieces with cars, sponges, animals, flowers, and brushes to paint a rainbow of colors. They also used crayons, markers, and chalk on paper, plates, wax paper, and other mediums. They got to help create a collage that's on display in the hallway using sticky paper, tissue paper, pom poms, shapes, stickers, and straws.

In the sensory table we explored pasta, packing chips, shaving cream, and rice with measuring cups. They have also been busy in the play kitchen cooking up yummies like browines and cookies.

In the gym, the toddlers have been running, jumping, and walking on the balance beam. The cars are popular and the bikes are starting to be pedaled as well [Jack's a champ!!] The climbing structure is always busy, as are the big bouncy balls. As the weather got nicer, we were able to go outside where the children dig in the sand, play in the tree house, and run run run! We have also gone on walks where we see lots of big trucks.

We continue to practice our signs, and we have been learning animals this month. We have also become good at singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." We read many books every day. [Jack's favorite is How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Numbers?]

The newest area of our room is a hit as the dress-up area is taking shape and the toddlers love it.

Becky & Jessica"

Sleeping for the first time in his big boy bed. :) I am so proud of him!

I told him that the buds of daffodils were "baby flowers"
that needed "nice petting" to grow up big and strong. (Because
he kept trying to yank them out of the ground.) Now he is
obsessed with "baby flowers" and pets them everywhere :)

Had a little bug and felt very sick!! Poor boy!

Talking Machine

Jack has made signficant strides lately in his language skills. He now uses sentences of two or three words instead of just one word. It's really amazing to hear the way his little mind works. As you know, we watch Bedtime with Elmo or Babies before bed every night. Sometimes Jack makes me stay in there with him and sometimes he watches it on his own.

Lately, for the past few nights, I will put on the movie and get him arranged in the bed, and he points to or pats the other side and says "right there, Momma. Right there." It's so funny and I can never resist. He also says things like "all done milky" as he hands me his sippy cup (he still calls milk/juice/water all 'milky'...wonder when that will stop?) and he says things like "Momma's milky, right there" and points at the water bottle I am drinking from.

He is also much more advanced in telling you what he doesn't want. If you offer him a yogurt, for example, he says "no no thank you no no yogurt" ... clearly meaning he doesn't want that. (At least he's very polite!!) He also comes up with very strange things, like this morning on the way to school he said "Momma, shark. ROOOAAARRR!!! Momma, owl. HOOOOOOMMMMMMM" and when Justin got on Skype the other morning with messed up bed head, Jack clearly said "Dada, shower. Dad shower now."

I am enjoying every single second of my new entertainment and I love hearing the things he comes up with. I keep meaning to start keeping a list...maybe once we get to Cali! I am just very sad that Justin isn't getting to see this huge transition up close and personal. It's been so sudden and so exciting!

Big Boy Bed!

We have been talking for awhile about making the transition from Jack's crib to his toddler bed, but the timing never seemed right. It did seem a bit crazy to me to do this now, while Justin's away and our whole life is in turmoil, but we are facing the chance that the temporary furnished apartment the relocation company provides won't have a crib but only a toddler bed (for liability reasons.) So I figured we should make the transition now, while he's still comfortable in his room, before we have to go somewhere completely new and he has to sleep in a brand new kind of bed.

Anyway, I spent a very long Saturday morning fixing the crib. (It turns out those things are harder to put together / take apart / put back together than you think!!) But I was finally successful and Jack took an instant liking to his new freedom.

It turns out that he is definitely a mature and big enough boy for this! He surprised me by climbing in and out, arranging all of his toys and taggies, and jumping up and down on his new bed. Naptime yesterday was a bit hard, but that's not really anything unusual as naptime at home is always rough. He ended up sleeping for 2.5 hours on his daycare mat on his bedroom floor, but oh well.

Bedtime went much better!! We did the regular routine of dinner, bathtime, Bedtime with Elmo, and then off to bed. He didn't try to climb out once. He rolled around, got his blankets just right, and drifted off to sleep. (I was shocked, especially because I was watching all of it on the monitor!) This morning, he woke up, laid there for a little while, and then climbed out to play with the toys I had left on his floor. What a good boy!! He constantly amazes me. :) Other moms, have faith. Your kids will be fine!

Here are some videos of his first experiences in his new big boy bed...



Slacking in the Blogging Department!!!

Bathtime markers = coolest invention ever.

Naptime for two tired boys.

Playing outside, in the snow, in the spring. Sigh!

Sorry, my loyal fans. I have been a slacker lately! It's been tough to be a single mom with a 20-month-old, and still have a full time job, and be coordinating a cross-country move and selling our house!

We had a wonderful weekend visiting with Pop Pop and Susu these past few days. I think everyone enjoyed a relaxing, restful time at home with lots of good homecooked meals and early bedtimes!! Jack and Pop Pop got along famously and they even spent most of Tuesday playing like two toddlers. :) Jack loved every second of it. He is back at school today and we are back to our routine, at least for a little while longer.

Our relocation is going pretty well. I got a little stressed out (fed up?) with the various inspectors and other people calling me every five minutes to set up times for various things, and today I made the decision that all of this will be pushed back until after April 15, which is my last official day in the office. I think I will be much better equipped to handle these things when I am not also balancing the day-to-day responsibilities at work.

Before we know it, we will all be out in sunny California enjoying the summer. Now if only someone wants to buy a beautiful house on a bunch of acres in gorgeous Southborough, Massachusetts.... :) :)

Signing off for now!