Happy Easter!

We got all dressed up for church last Sunday, battled the crowds, and then, as my Grandma Sophia says, Jack tried to leave all of his devil behind at church. He was awful! There was a pregnant woman and her husband behind us, and I guarantee she was thinking, "I will never let my child behave that way in church." It's funny now, of course, but it wasn't so much at the time. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

After church, Jack was an angel. He had a great time running around the yard finding the few eggs we hid for him. We were even able to snap a few family pictures.

What, Mom? I don't have any candy in my mouth.

As most two-year-olds, Jack is FULL of energy. Luckily, sometimes all it takes to burn off that energy is some good old fashioned tickling and wrestling.

And finally, we might have an athlete on our hands.

Spring Fever (and lots of videos)

Happy Spring! I hope you all have had as beautiful weather as we have in Denver. It's actually cold today (and will be tomorrow), but we've had several weeks of sunny 75-degree days that have led to lots of playing outside. Jack loves spending time doing yardwork with Jeff. He keeps himself entertained while Jeff works, and it gives Nike time to herself in a quiet house. We live close to the Denver Zoo (about a 10-15 minute walk), and Jack loves going now more than he ever has. The downside is that we also drive by the zoo on our way to and from work and school, so sometimes we have crying when he doesn't understand that we can't go at 7:30 on a Tuesday morning or 5:30 on a Thursday night! But usually it's just a good opportunity to practice naming our animals.

Jack has moved up to the older toddler room at day care--his last stop before preschool next year. He's doing really well with the older kids, and even feeling some peer pressure to sit on the potty. We haven't pushed the issue much at home, but he's starting to show some interest. We had his two-year check-up a couple of weeks ago. He's in the 65th percentile for height and 45th for weight. He can be kind of a picky eater, so it was reassuring to know that he's growing right on schedule.

We have lots of videos to post this time. This first one is of Jack playing with his water table (thanks Grandma Jane and Grandpa Randy!). For a few days he was very focused on watering "Daddy's leaves." He didn't want to play with any of his toys--he just wanted to dump water.



This next video was a couple of weeks ago at breakfast. Jack began combining his yogurt with his applesauce, and at first took a couple of bites. He quickly realized it didn't taste very good but that it was fun to mix them.



There have been several birthdays in Jack's class in the last few weeks, so he's been singing "Happy Birthday" on his own. I caught him playing with his stacking toys and singing to himself the other day.

Finally, this is Jack on his new bike! A HUGE thank you to the Mitchells for his new Stryder bike. These next two videos are from the first time he tried to ride it.

Happy birthday, Jack!!

We have a two-year-old! I can't believe our little man is two already. How fast these two years have gone! We are so blessed with such a happy little guy. He is definitely feeling his way around how much he can push his limits and what he can get away with. As frustrating as it can be, it's also fascinating to watch his mind work as he tests us. He's talking like crazy, learning new words every day. He can be pretty serious--he gets very focused when he's playing and learning--but is also quick to laugh and giggle. We were blessed with a beautiful weather weekend, and Jeff and Jack spent most of Sunday outside in the yard. We had him open presents right after his nap on Saturday, so you can see from the pictures below he was a little skeptical at first. On Sunday, though, he was so excited to play with his new lawn mower and water table.

A few more snow pics

The snow is already melting--yet another reason we love Denver. Jeff and Jack spent some time outside today to enjoy it while it lasts and to build a snowman. Looks pretty good to me!

Blizzard!

SNOW DAY!! For the first time since we've moved to Denver, we had a true snow day, where no one had to work or go to day care! It's been fabulous. We changed out of our PJs for a little while to play outside and then put them right back on again. We may shower later, but then we'll just put clean PJs on after that. We're feeling very blessed for our warm home, good food to eat, and an extra day to play together. Jack is getting a kick out of the snow and had fun playing outside. He was a total trooper when we stuck him in the snow up to his waist (see video below) to see how deep it was. I would imagine we have 14 or 15 inches, and we're supposed to get another 4 or 5 before it stops tonight. Jeff and I are hoping to head up to Winter Park with Kacie and Jack for a day of skiing for us and a day of playing at the Mitchells for Kacie and Jack. Wish us luck as we take our out-of-shape legs onto the mountain!

Even Kacie got in on the fun!

Getting Jack "positioned."

 Stuck!

 Swinging.

 Helping Daddy shovel . . .

Snow angels! 

And video . . .

National Western Stock Show

The post-holiday blues are short-lived for us Denver residents because January brings the National Western Stock Show! It's the biggest stock show in the country--think state fair, but with lots more cowboys. We love going every year, and it was even more fun with Jack being a little older this year. Here's a picture of Jack and Jeff at last year's show:

 

This year he was big enough to go in the petting zoo. He wasn't sure what to think--and it was pretty crowded--but we think he got a kick out of it.

He really liked watching the horses ride around the stadium but wasn't really a fan when we tried to get him to sit on a saddle of his own.

In other news, we're getting settled back into a routine again. Nike's cousin Kacie has come to live with us. She started classes at University of Colorado Denver and staying with us while she learns her way around town. It's been great to have a live-in baby-sitter, and she loves spending time with Jack. We're looking forward to many more date nights in the months to come!

Happy New Year!

Hello friends and family! Our apologies for the lack of posts in the last couple of months. As many of you know by now, we had some rough news this holiday season: Jeff's mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer the second week of December. You can follow her progress at janefleming.blogspot.com. The short story is that it's stage 3, which is scary news, but since the original diagnosis we've had nothing but positive news. She had surgery on December 28 and has recovered well. Her follow-up appointment with the oncologist is tomorrow, and we'll know more about her chemo schedule then. Feel free to follow her blog and leave comments for her. She's had an amazing outpouring of support so far, and she's going to need it to continue for the new few months. Even if you don't know her, but you know us, don't hesitate to leave her a note. She loves hearing from everyone.

As for us, we're back in Denver, trying to get settled into a routine again. Nike was home in Iowa with Jack for almost three weeks over the holidays, so it was nice to get back to work and get Jack back in day care. Although the holidays were tough, they were also really wonderful at the same time. We are so thankful for the time we got to spend with our families. Jack is doing great. He is learning new words every day and is starting to repeat what we say (yikes!). He is so much fun to be around these days. Below are some pictures and videos from the past couple of months.

This was Jack with his cousin Connor, reading a book with Aunt Ann Marie:

This is Jack doing "cartwheels" with Uncle Jimmy. He wanted to do them after he saw Teagan doing them. His version is a bit different than hers.

Finally, this is Jack with his new toolbox. We didn't open his presents from us until we got home after New Year's, but this is definitely his new favorite.

And here's a few of our favorite pictures: