Smooth Operator

While the adults were enjoying a dignified evening of duck, mushroom and English pea risotto followed by pear and chestnut crumble a la Sam, the kids were getting to know each other a little better - on the floor.

Here's an excerpt of how it went:

Photo 1: Jack - "OK, check this out. You see that beautiful baby over there? I'm gonna do my thing. Just sit back and watch me work."

Photo 2: Jack - "Hey, baby..." [Muttering to himself - "Oh, now THAT'S original."]

Photo 3: Jasmine - "You're an idiot, but you're kinda cute..."

The Hangover

Jack spent two hours in Target today (!!) while his car was across the street in the shop. This is bascially the perfect set-up for Stephanie: a forced march to Target with only the auto mechanics to stop the clock. Jack loved Target, as you can see from photo #1, and he was exhausted by Target, as you can see from photo #2. :)

Peking Gourmet Inn

What kind of china does a Chinese restaurant have? Well, Jack wanted to know, so upon sitting down to his first ever meal in a Chinese restaurant (a very good one), he immmediately began inspecting the plates. Turns out they were made in China!

While his parents and Grandpa Lowell feasted on spare ribs, shrimp dumplings, Peking Duck, scallops in a spicy black bean sauce, and beef with snow peas, Jack had milk and mixed veg with cereal. His fortune said, "Happiness is not pleasure, it's victory." (OK, that was daddy's fortune, Jack's was something lame about a bird in the hand being better than a bird in the air.)

Christmas Shark

CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE
Presents come in all sizes, but Jack comes in only one: eight months old. So there were some hilarious moments when he was literally eclipsed by some of his presents, including this one (his first car). But true to form, he was predatory in the presence of presents. To be viewed with the theme from Jaws.

Sunny Day

Or should we say "Sonya Day"? Sonya is Jack's nanny and this is indicative of the party they have every day all day when mom and dad are at work (riiight). Seriously, we are lucky to have Sonya and Jack is too!

All Presents and Accounted For

Jack demonstrates that the gravitational pull of Christmas presents is indeed genetic, as he went for his SECOND early helping yesterday, this time with his mama - whose genes gave him this proclivity in the first place - sanctioning the move. Actual Christmas Day footage coming up!

Early Christmas!

Jack got his hands on a present yesterday, liberating it from under the tree with both hands and banging on it like a drum. With a little help and a lot of glee, he ripped it open and, voila, Jack's first Christmas present! Hope this tides you over until we can post photos of the real thing. (Apologies, I'm not wearing any pants.) Jack was up at 6:45am this morning and smiling and laughing at just about everything.

Editor's note: Last night on a walk, Jack discovered the moon. It's hard to take a picture of that, but wanted to share it. He was craning up at it the whole way, pointing to it, and babbling at it - a perfect half moon. He was mesmerized, and I was too.

Snow Angel

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Snowy Day

Record snowfall in DC yesterday, measured at 13.5 inches at Dulles, but 16 inches around here. The occasion afforded us our first bona fide opportunity to tortue Jack by layering him up and then taking him out into the deluge for no apparent reason - at least none that was apparent to him. Here we see the three distinct stages of the relationship bewteen an infant and a snowstorm: 1) Unaware, 2) Miserable and hot, but still unaware, 3) Unsure as to what this is all about or why he was assigned these particular guardians. We did manage to get some smiles out of him a bit later - stay tuned for the next post.

You've Got Mail!

And wearing it on his head. Fry guy? Navy man? Nope, mail room kid, all the way. Jack's skills so far include opening the mail, waving it around, then tasting it, then destroying it. "Hey, there's no check in this one!"

Eight Mile?

No, Eight Months! Jack turned eight months old today, and to commemorate the occasion, his mom made him wear these Christmas pajamas. Festive, eh? Here, Jack asks for a moment before the camera starts clicking, fixing his hair before flashing his baby blues. Happy birthday, Juicy Butt!

The Bird House, Part II

Here is Jack, on his own, demonstrating that his birds, despite being stuffed, and despite having disproved his theory by crash landing on the floor, 3,373 times (so far), can indeed fly. This has created confusion among the dogs, who are, after all, bird dogs (and, to be fair, somewhat easily confused). More than once, Parker has been discovered in the corner, literally trembling with excitement, with one of the birds at his feet, under his watchful, fretful eye.

The Bird House, Part I

Jack loves his new bird house toy, complete with four colorful birds. Thanks, Grandma Sue! Jack loves to talk to the birds in his (tropical) bird voice(s) and to put the birds in, and take the birds out, of their bird home. He generally does this only after the birds fail to come out based his staring at them and making heavy breathing sounds.

O' Christmas Tree

While I am always reminded of Rick Moranis saying (on SCTV), "You silly Christian, why do you put a tree in your living room?" it is nonetheless a special time of year when we get our Fraser Fir because it makes Stephanie happy and now it makes Jack happy, too. Plus he loves to touch new things (we are still working on how to be gentle with the nice tree).