Footloose and Paci Free!

I am pleased to announce that Mr. Jack has been pacifier-free since Monday (today is Saturday). He hasn't even had one to go to bed at night. That does mean a little more fussing when he goes to bed, but he was back to crying for it in the middle of the night, so we've eliminated that problem. I can't believe how much more grown up he seems without that piece of plastic in his mouth all the time.

We're also having so much fun with him these days! On Thursday I picked him up early from daycare and took him and the baby to the mall since our lights were out at home. I tried to get him to ride the little rides but he was having no part of that, so I let him play on the playground (for the first time...I've been hesitant as there are always wild, unsupervised kids running amuck all over that thing). He took right to it! First he crawled through the tunnel to surprise me about 50,000 times and then he decided to climb on the little rubber frogs they had...you could tell he felt really big. I sure wish I had my camera! He even decided to climb the stairs into the treehouse, but the pushy older kids at the top scared him (they scared me, too). Some kids have no manners. But he was brave and did it a couple more times. He probably would have come down the slide if it hadn't been for the pushy kids!

Today, Jack went to fitness testing with Daddy. He ran around with the guys who are too injured to test right now and apparently had a blast! Then he got to go to Walmart, Sam's, and Toys R Us with Daddy and he ate some donut holes! Whew...what a morning! When they got back, he played dinosaurs with Mom and read a couple of books. This kid LOVES to look at books and have books read to him. He's so cute when he brings you one and then backs into your lap! After a great nap with Daddy, we set up his new play set and tunnels (those pop up kind) complete with plastic ball pit. He had a great time throwing the balls in and out to Mommy and Daddy and crawling through the tunnels. Then we went for a wagon ride in the yard, followed by dinner and then another wagon right around the block. This time, though, our big dog Gordon pulled the wagon! Seriously...I have video that I will post on Monday. Jack loved it! Needless to say, he was one tired little guy and went right to sleep at bedtime.

I think it's safe to say we're past the frustration of having a new baby sister and getting on with being the sweetest, funnest, most hilarious kid on the planet! Gosh he's growing up so fast and we love him more and more every day.