Mac 'n' Cheese, Please

Jack's first true DNA test: How would he take to mac 'n' cheese, one of his mom's favorite food groups? Mixed results. A few down the hatch, a few to the dogs, but ultimatley we think we have a winner because he was motivated enough to get his own spoon going (no, that's not an Elvis impersonation in the middle photo).

Quiet, Genius at Work

Well, sort of. Here Jack shows he has a way to go before hitting the "gifted child" milestone, failing to even count to one on his friend Teddy's abacus. Instead of getting an early start on his arithmetic, he hit it with a plastic gear from another toy. Way to go, Bug.

Gato!

Jack's first mano-e-gato experience was met with characteristic indifference by the feline. Here Jack can be seen making his appeal and then turning to us to ask why cats don't seem to respond to his cuteness the way girls do.

Boys in the Bubble

Bubble mirror. Jack loves to take a moment for reflection - his own. It confirms how much fun he's having and he can practice his repertoire of clapping, smiling and generally being a happy kid. This particular mirror, encountered here on a warm and sunny MLK Day, is on our walk to and from Friendship Heights.

American Idol

Jack bundled up today for an afternoon walk, blue eyes sparkling in the winter sun.

Tiger Pail

Jack accompanied his mama to the Container Store on Saturday (aka, the Contain-Her Store), where he picked out this tiger garbage pail all by himself. For some reason we look like we're going scuba diving.

Slap Happy

Another priceless moment from the holidays in which Jack and Ed took turns slapping the Christmas Dinner table and sharing a laugh. It's hard to say who got the game started, but Jack loved it. It was his seventh or eighth straight hour without a nap that day. Who says infants don't get Christmas?

Climber

Well, almost. Jack's commando style crawling gives him access to every square inch of the floor he's on, but not the floor up or down. The other day he stopped at the bottom of the stairs and peered up, wondering what it would take. Stay tuned...

Reading with Grandpa Lowell

There are still a few gems in the 2009 holiday vault, and here's one of them: Jack reading Discovery Farm with Grandpa Lowell.

8 Months, 3 Weeks and Counting

We braved the 'burbs yesterday for a birthday party, where Jack discovered ... balloons! Favorite thing to do with them - get bonked on the head and laugh. Then do it again. We thought you'd all be as amazed as we were by the little boy these photos revealed. What they say is true, the days are long, but the weeks and months are fast.

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

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How about you, you, you. You can come too, too, too. We're going to the zoo, zoo, ZOO! Or something like that. :) (This concludes your morning transmission of Raffi.)

Jack made his first visit to the zoo over the break, stopping by to see the pandas, the elephants, the small mammals (of which he is one), and the primates (of which he is also one).

Jack was mildly perplexed by the pandas but enthralled by the elephants, who were out on a warm day putting on a "trunk show." He loved being up close and personal with the small mammals, including tamarins and meerkats. And he was very curious about the oranguntans and thier pensive faces. (Yes, I had to look up the spellings of all three of those animals.)

Jack in the Box

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Jack decided to empty his box of toys this morning, presumably so he could get into it, which he did (with a little help from his dad). He also does not seem to mind (terribly) having his Pail Pets bucket put on his head like an English Bobby.

Smooth Operator III

In the third and final installment of Smooth Operator, Jack shows he has crazy range. Here he attracts the affections of an older woman - in a cafe. (OK, that's Ines, but still!)

Smooth Operator II

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Continuing a theme, Jack followed up his successful dinner date with Jasmine with an even hotter lunch date with Chase. Dear readers will recall Jack put the moves on Chase early on in "Thrill of the Chase," six months ago already!

This time she was a little more responsive, talking with Jack (photo 1) and accepting a kiss (photo 2). She does seem delighted (photo 3) - or is that astonshiment? Then Jack says, "That was awesome!" (photo 4). Dad is proud, of course, because his son has kissed a girl some 15 years before he did.