Tarzan

So this morning Jack decides he's going to go sleeveless - but only on one arm. And he does this all by himself. Stayed that way the whole morning until naptime. What a crack up. Given what a proficient climber he is (not to mention the tropical bird and monkey sounds), maybe he's got some Tarzan in him. That archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani "Great apes"...

Friday Night Pizze

Jack's third trip to 2 Amys last night, the most irresistable pizzeria there is. First, he hails the waitress and orders. Then, he waits patiently, as mom reassures him his food will be here soon. Then it comes. Bread for an appetizer, followed by some banging on the table, then pizza. The pizza never stood a chance. Then he washes it all down with a swig of beer from his baby flagon (OK, it was water). Our little Renaissance man.

Schwing

Hard to tell if he's a thrill seeker or just your typical adventurous kid, but you can add flying to Jack's list of dangerous pursuits. (The others are outlet fingering, grate exploration, sharp object seeking, head hitting, stairclimbing, threatening to nosedive off the edge of the bed, entering into repeated and ill-advised battles of will with mom, and - his latest gambit - trying to stand up in the tub.) P.S. If you look closely, you can see Parker in the backround.

Hat Trick

Jack's new hat helps him look good while eating a cheese stick and carrying a fish toy. Here you get the look with teeth look and without. We just can't get enough of Jack in his hat.

Slip Slidin' Away

By request: more playground fun.

Park Ranger

Here's Jack riding high on his horsey, surveying the lower playground at Lafayette Park. Note the crocodiles on his shorts (and the tennis courts in the background) - he's ready for the club! Thanks for the preppy pants, Maija!

Climber

Another installment of the boy climber. Jack actually tried to scale the sheer face of a window display at a Pottery Barn this weekend, slapping his hands on the windows and actually pulling himself up with the suction created by the moisture from his little hands. You may think I am making this up, but I am not. Here, Jack challenges the climbing wall at Lafayette Park. He didn't think twice about it and was over the top in seconds (causing daddy to smack his head on the overhang).

A is for Apple

As in, my very own apple. Jack decided to tackle an apple whole on Saturday morning and he did pretty well considering within a few minutes it was covered in drool and difficult to grip. Jack later made more inroads, but here it is after the morning session. Boy 1, Apple 0.

WALL-E II

A couple months ago, Jack made the connection between light switches and lights. Turning them on and off has become a favorite thing to do. He also understands he can really f-up our television by pushing each and every button on the remote. But we were pretty surprised when he started pointing at the control console for WALL-E. And that when we gave it to him, he wasted no time in manipulating WALL-E's every move.

WALL-E I

This might be a little ahead of schedule, but Jack has discovered WALL-E, an animatronic robot that can do hundreds of different things. Or more accurately, Paul discovered WALL-E (on the bookshelf). He got it down, turned it on, and terrorized the children. And now they are fascinated. Jack woke up this morning and pointed at it. We couldn't tell if he was afraid or wanting to play with it. He was unsure at first, but here he overcoming his uncertainty. About five minutes later, he did something else (see above).

Tunnel Vision

Had to get this at IKEA today. Jack loves his tunnel.

Forklift

We went looking for countertops today, somewhere near Springfield, VA. In the back lot of "Granitech," there was some heavy equipment, including a forklift - which of course boys are genetically predisposed to get very excited about. As it turns out, they may be born knowing how to operate them. Naturally, the doors were unlocked. So Jack hopped in and fired it up. OK, he didn't fire it up, but he sure did enjoy sitting in the driver's seat and directing traffic.