Jack's Birthday Party

Jack had an awesome time at his birthday party this weekend! It was at My Gym, a local kids' gym. Jack and all his friends had the place to themselves as they climbed, jumped, and ran around like crazy!



The gym staff did a really great job at making Jack feel special. Here he is getting a birthday ride on the parachute.

Love the tongue!



Everyone had fun in the balls.

Even the "big kids!"

So cute!

Charlotte was in 7th heaven, being able to climb all over stuff to her heart's content.


Can't believe we were actually able to get Charlotte and Whitney both to smile for the camera!

Jack had fun on the trampolene with some of his newer friends, Eleanor and Thaddeus.


Cute picture of Chloe!

Jack and Will.

And since Will was there, you knew there was also going to be a hockey stick!


When it was cake time, Jack got wheeled out on the big birthday car. Here he is waving to all his adoring fans.

Curious George cake.

This was actually the first year he's been able to blow out the candle by himself, and without getting spit all over the cake!

Toward the end of the party, they got out the zipline--brought back memories of Costa Rica for Andy and me. This zipline was not quite as big as the ones Andy and I went down :) I think just about all the kids braved a turn on it, even Charlotte and Whitney! I have some cute videos of Jack and Charlotte that Aunt Lisa took, but I have to figure out how to convert their format to put on the blog. Here's Hannah:


The grand finale was tons of bubbles blown by a fan. Jack was pretty excited by the bubbles at first, but then he had to go check out the fan.

This is a little blurry, but you can still see Charlotte's expression of pure delight at all the bubbles.

And finally, Jack led the kids out of the playroom in a train.


Thanks to everyone for coming to Jack's party--we had such a great time! And more importantly, Jack had a blast and got to fully experience being the special birthday boy.

Happy Birthday Jack!

Also a shout-out to all our family March birthdays: cousins Alexis and Lori earlier this week, Grandpa Nold on the 9th, and Aunt Lisa on the 14th!

How can it have been 4 years already since that bitter and snowy March day in 2008 when Jackson Alexander was born?

Jack has grown and matured so much this past year; in many ways I feel like he's a completely different little boy than he was on his 3-year old birthday. Over the last year, he started preschool, became potty-trained, and has had some significant changes in his personal life--learning to deal with a mobile little sister, and adjusting to a new au pair. As you can see, the new au pair adjustment was not a problem at all :)

It's been amazing to see the effect that preschool has had on Jack and his social skills. While I could do without some of the things he picks up at school ("don't look at me!", etc.), I've been so happy to see how he enjoys playing with and talking to the other kids. Whenever we're out where there are other children; not just at school, Jack initiates contact with others, talks to them, and they play well together. It's hard to believe this is the same child who as a 2-year old was always in his own little world when there were other kids around, and who on his first day of playschool, wouldn't move the entire day from his chair at the table. Jack's teachers say he is always very polite, shares, and takes turns with his classmates (if only we could get him to do the same with his sister at home.)

And I know every parent thinks their child is the most clever and intelligent, but I'll still go ahead and say that I think he's one of the smartest 4-year old boys I've ever met. His math skills are impressive--he can almost count to 100, he can do some backwards counting, and he's even learning some basic addition/subtraction. Jack LOVES spelling. He's constantly asking how to spell words, and he can sound and spell many short words all by himself. (Downside to spelling and recognizing words--makes it harder for me to skip around when I'm reading to him.)

Jack still has a passion for all things ceiling-related. If there's a ceiling fan nearby, on a TV commercial, inside a store that we're driving by, he'll find it. He can also immediately walk into a room and point out where and how many light bulbs are burned out.

And while he may have his more exasperating moments, he's still the sweetest, cutest, and most loving little boy ever. I'm not looking forward to that day in the future when he decides he doesn't like to sit on my lap anymore or want to snuggle on the couch together.

Jack, we love you more than words can say. We've been so proud of you over this past year, and we can't wait to see the great things you'll do while you're 4. I'll never forget that night in 2008 when you made us parents for the first time. Happy birthday my beautiful boy!

Here are some random photos I've taken over the last month:

Yes, occasionally Jack and Charlotte get along. But the moments don't always happen very often, so I had to get out the camera for this one.

Here's Jack modeling a new hat Andy bought for him. (Is it just me or does he look way too grown up in this picture?)


And Miss Charlotte, sitting pretty in her bean bag.

Sprawled out on Lou's bed. She wasn't feeling well this day.

Hawks game

Last weekend, Andy's work hosted another hockey game. This time the whole family came--Jack, Charlotte, and even Sarah and a friend! This was Charlotte's first game, and as you can see by the huge smile on her face, she loved it.

Not sure which she liked the most--hockey, or climbing up the stairs and all over the seats.

We were very happy that Jack braved going out of the suite this time. He didn't hang out here for too long, but he seemed to enjoy it.

Another family pic.

The Johnstons were also at the game--Will is a huge hockey fan :) Here's a cute picture of him and Jack. This is also a before shot of Jack and his Blackhawks cookie.

And here's the after. Black icing, ugh.

We also got to hang out with the Cavanaughs, who we hadn't seen in a while.

Charlotte and Whitney demolished the fruit plate, while Jack stuck to a steady diet of chips and cookie.

I took Charlotte out of the suite a couple times to burn off some energy. This may have been her favorite part of the day--running up and down the hallway.

Valentines

I know this is a few days late, but I wanted to show off our Valentine's card from the kids. It was such a nice surprise to get home from work last Tuesday and see this beautiful card that Sarah and the kids had made for us (though I think the only part the kids really "helped" with was putting some stickers on). Sarah also found a cute Valentine's frame and put some photos of the kids in it, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

Here's the inside. What a wonderful gift! I know we will keep this for a long time. Thanks so much to Sarah for all the work she put into it!

Jack was very proud of this heart he painted all by himself at school. He also came home with a bunch of Valentines from his school classmates...unfortunately he'd been out sick the week before so we didn't get the notice about the card exchange, and it slipped my mind that they'd probably be doing that at school. So I guess Jack was giving off the playing hard to get vibe--taking Valentines without giving any in return. Whoops.