The blue monster

A strange little monster came to visit yesterday--he had blue fur, three eyes, four arms, and a spotted green tummy.

Dad and Jack...not looking enthused about his costume.

Yesterday the park across from our house hosted a Halloween event, and our friends Shannon and Sammy Murante came and brought their 2 boys Luke (3 1/2) and Sammy (1 1/2). Sammy is the cute little monkey below.

The Murantes also came to a Halloween event with us last year--here are Jack and Sammy back then.


A couple videos of Jack in the pumpkin patch. He started busting out his dance moves a little to the music in the background. His skills attracted the attention of a little girl, but Jack played hard to get when she came over.




At the petting zoo we saw some goats,

cute little pigs!

and a soft bunny rabbit.

Jack also petted the truck next to the zoo.

Luke showed Jack how to play ski-ball.


"I've fallen, and I can't get up!" All the padding in Sammy's costume was quite cumbersome.

Later yesterday afternoon, Jack and I went to see Aunt Lisa, who was working at a race in Lincoln Park. Jack wasn't sure what to think of the strange lady who looked like a mouse.

All stitched up

(No, I am not so camera crazy that I brought it with us to the hospital; Andy took these with his phone.) Jack woke up with only a runny nose this morning, so we were able to go ahead with the surgery. His cold probably turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because his appetite has been lower than usual; especially in the mornings. We were at the hospital around 8:00, but he didn't get into the OR until 10:45. He hadn't been allowed to eat anything since last night, and couldn't drink anything after 6:30 this morning. Normally he would have been ravenous and most likely screaming his head off, but between his decreased appetite and all the interesting things to look at in the hospital, Jack was fine.

While we were in the pre-op section, Jack had a cool car to play with, and even light switches that were his height. He was a big hit with the nurses, as he kept waving and kissing at them. Apparently Jack is turning into quite the flirt.

Jack also provided us with some comic relief in the minutes before they took him away. He had been given some drugs, which they warned us would make him "drunk." For a while he wasn't phased at all, and I was beginning to wonder if the drugs would kick in before they came to take him. Then all of a sudden, his tongue became very fascinating. He got a little silly...

A little more silly....

And out-of-control silly! He probably would have been over the legal limit on the breathalizer at this point. His antics were definitely a nice distraction so Andy and I couldn't build up as much anxiety in the anticipation of him being taken away.


The surgery took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Jack was crying when we got to the recovery room, but he calmed down once I held him. I gave him a bottle of sugar water, but after a while he took matters into his own hands and started chugging.


The patient is groggy, but recovering nicely at home. He's all snuggled up watching one of his videos. Thanks for all the cards and other well wishes!

Surgery tomorrow (hopefully)

Jack is scheduled to have his surgery tomorrow at 8:30 am. However, he's been feeling a little crummy the past few days, and if he wakes up tomorrow and has a fever, then we'll have to reschedule. He hasn't had a fever so far during this illness; he's mostly just congested and grumpy. I think he just has a bad cold. We'll see what happens!

On an unrelated note, here's a cute video from this weekend of Jack dancing.

We'll miss you, Coco

Late last night Aunt Lisa had to bid a sudden and unexpected farewell to her beloved dog, Coco. It won't be the same without Coco at all our family gatherings and our thoughts go out to Lisa as we know she is missing her friend.

Last night, before things happened with Coco, Grandma and Grandpa Nold, and Aunt Lisa came over. We enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa before they left for Florida. As I'm writing this, they are already happy and warm down there while we're freezing our butts off in Chicago. Here's a cute picture of Jack with his Aunt Lisa:

Jack pulled all his toys out and played to his heart's content with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa kept trying to get Jack to wear his Michigan hat, but Jack had enough sense to keep taking it off.


Jack loves this toy that his cousin Alexis got him. He had to show both Grandma and Grandpa how he's learned to get all the animals to pop up now.




Stay-Puft baby


Jack watched his second Chicago Marathon this morning (our house is a block away from where the runners pass mile 14). Unfortunately for us and the runners, it was a lot colder than last year. I tried to get Jack to clap for the runners, but he literally couldn't move his arms close enough together to clap his hands. Oh well, at least I had no doubts he was warm. Here's a picture from last year's marathon--how different he looks!

One of my employees ran in the marathon, and I was able to snag a picture with her as she went by.

The first wheelchair marathoners that went by. I believe the guy in 2nd place there went on to win.

And finally, a quick shot of the men's lead pack. I don't think the sound is good enough quality for you to pick it up, but there was a dog near us that would howl ever time people cheered "woo!". It was nice to see all the species supporting the runners.

Hypnotized

We don't let Jack watch TV that often, but when we do, he's a total zombie. He absolutely loves those Baby Einstein videos. I took a few pictures of him last night while he was watching a video--you can see that except for his face, his body stayed completely motionless the whole time. No wonder Americans have such a weight problem!

Apparently Baby Einstein is mesmerizing...

Funny...

Suspenseful?


Here's Jack during one of his favorite segments of a video. (Lou was being very noisy in the background, chewing and snapping on his toy.)


Tomorrow we have to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Nold, since they're getting ready to head down to Florida for the winter. We'll miss getting to see them so often!

How to squash a dog

As I write this, Jack is upstairs screaming his lungs out in his crib. He's been a bit more tempermental than usual lately, and I'm wondering if we're entering the terrible twos. He pitched an absolute fit before and during preparations for his nap today. Hopefully he'll be in a better mood when he wakes up.

Earlier this morning, Jack put on a show of his climbing skills, though as usual his entertainment was at Lou's expense.






Poor Lou. Jack also showed off his flexibility and balance skills.


He had to take a little rest afterward.


Here are a few pictures from when Jack stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Nold this week. Grandma took Jack to a cool indoor playground. At one point he was not a happy camper, but he calmed down and managed to have fun. They said he really liked the slides.

Lazy weekend at the lake

We took the boat out for one last time yesterday. Jack "helped" Andy fish, though all he managed to catch was water. Today the boat and our dock will be taken out and stored until the spring. After we leave the lake house today, I'll be dropping Jack off at Grandma and Grandpa Nold's house so they can watch him while I have to travel for work to Springfield, Illoinois (very exciting place) for 3 days.

Jack still isn't talking, but he has started to make some more interesting babbling sounds lately. I managed to catch a few seconds of him doing it this morning:


While we were eating dinner on the porch last night, a local aviator was having fun practicing his water take-offs and landings with his float plane (I think that's what they're called?). He probably took off and landed 15-20 times while we were out there. Jack loved it! Here's a recording of one of the take-offs: