December 21, 2009

• Party Time

  Last night, we went to a holiday party hosted by Milena and Michael (Marcus' parents). The party was at Michael's house, which had an awesome playroom. Jack had a great time. I'm sure he doesn't remember the frequent playdates he had with Marcus when we were living in West LA, but the two of them certainly interacted like long-lost friends. They talked to each other and took turns with toys. It was the first time I'd seen Jack talk to another toddler. They were taking turns pushing each other in a toy car, and Jack would say, "Marcus push Jack?" when it was his turn to sit in the car, then "OK, Marcus turn! Jack push Marcus!" when the time came to switch. Marcus would reply in kind. Very cool.

  This was during one of the "Jack push Marcus" moments

  Jack loved playing with Marcus' awesome trike

  

  Inflatable pool filled with rubber balls ... genius idea for indoor winter play!

  Meanwhile, I watched from the floor with Derek, who's on the verge of independent sitting

  Milena, Derek and I

  

  Family shot!
  

  This next picture is from before the party, but it show's Jack full get-up (we had to take off the awesome sweater once we got there because the playroom was so warm!) and his freshly gelled hair.

  

  We've been having merry times here at home, too. The boys are very sweet with each other.

  Totally unprompted, Jack went over to Derek one afternoon and inserted Derek's "fire" in his mouth. Look at Derek's expression!
  

  Another unprompted sweet moment
  

  Jack is also very encouraging of Derek's accomplishments. Whenever Derek successfully makes the toy bar on his bouncy seat light up, Jack claps and says, "Good job!"

  Derek's like, "Please, can I have a turn?"
  

  My cousin sent a package last week with Christmas gifts for the boys -- hand-knit hat for Jack and booties for Derek. Here's Jack modeling his hat.

  

  In that picture, he's eating a post-dinner dessert of Asian pear and persimmons. He loves persimmons. He's always liked them, but recently he's gotten obsessive. We have to use them like treats, otherwise he would just eat them all day long. Yesterday he ate a whole one (cut up, but it added up to a whole persimmon), half an apple, half a large Asian pear, and a banana. I swear, fruit trees are going to start growing out of his tummy.

  Finally, last week, we met Santa on "Candy Cane Lane" in El Segundo. This was actually Jack's second time this year meeting Santa. He was still starstruck. While waiting in line, Jack kept telling us what he was going to say to Santa (much talk of James and Edward trains, also a little self-introduction in which Jack was going to say, "Hi, Santa! Jack! Two!"). Alas, once he got on Santa's lap, he could only grin sheepishly, pick his nose and stare at Santa.

  

  "I, uh, I forgot what I was going to say!"

  

  Santa was very patient, and at last Jack whispered that he would like James and Edward. That night, after we put Jack to bed, we heard him talking to himself. We opened the door to find him standing up on the bed, in front of his window. He had lifted up the curtain edge, and was saying, "Santa? Santa?" as he looked outside. When Jack turned around and saw us in his doorway, he said, "No Santa out there." So cute.

  Only four more days left! Hope everyone's having a great week.

  p.s. Please send some good luggage vibes to June. She and Charles are spending Christmas break in London and Paris. It's their first time there, and lo and behold, Northwest has lost their luggage. They took a connecting flight from Minneapolis to Heathrow. We know the luggage made it for sure to Minneapolis. When they got to London, they were told that their luggage didn't make it, and that "maybe it's in Amsterdam, or maybe not." I've been calling Northwest for her, and as of now, more than 12 hours after she landed at Heathrow, they still don't know where it is. I was just told five minutes ago that it "could be in Minneapolis. Or Amsterdam. Or maybe London. Or elsewhere." They're only in London for five days, so please send them some positive energy. Maybe we can will their luggage into existence. Poor June had her contacts in her bag, so she only has her glasses. Charles opted to put his heavy winter coat in his luggage and only wear a medium-weight one on board (yes, we did tell him that was not a good idea). It sucks to go on vacation and know you have a limited amount of time, and to spend the first few days of that worrying about your luggage. Ugh.

  • 6:51 pm
  • 7 Comments