Indeed the nurse papparazzi decided to break out the polaroid to get an updated picture of Jack today for the wall of graduates.  It was a nice visit and it reminded me that these amazing women did so much for us, the least we can do is show them the result of all their hard work and skill.

Then, we all went and had a nice a beer.

******************************

This past weekend we went to Smith Playhouse for the first of two birthday parties for Jack. Since he has so many grandparents, we do our best to accomodate (ahem, take advantage of) their desire to shower the child with gifts.  Jack, needless to say, cleaned up. The big hits include an easel from my Mom, some wooden balls from my dad and a bag that says “trust fund baby” from my mom’s friend Deb, that Jack has taken to carrying around like a purse.

He also had a LOT of sugar:

And went down Smith’s famous wooden slide many, many times:

Oh wait, actually I am going to totally punt and just post some  pictures (we finally got a new camera after months of agonizing, Canon, Nikon, Canon, Nikon? A question for the ages…)those who know me well know that I am oddly, and to a fault, decisive so just guess who the waffler was? go on, guess.

On to the main event:

What?! This is how everyone drives in Brooklyn

Out in front.

Bedroom eyes

Mommy, out.

While much has changed, one thing remains the same – We live our lives with this feeling of amazing gratitude because everyday, we get to wake up to this:

Could you really ask for much more?

He won’t even let the kid play in peace! I wonder what will happen when he gets his NEW camara?

That’s right. Jack has recently learned the word, “no.” I understand that many parents are dismayed when this happens, (and that it usually happens much earlier), but us? We’re delighted.

It used to be that if Jack wanted something we’d play a guessing game, a looong drawn up guessing game. “Would you like juice, or milk?” was often met with an exasperated look and then perhaps some flinging of the offending item. Today I asked Jack if he wanted Juice and he shook his head “no,” so I prodded him a bit more (I am that kind of Mom after all), “juice?” I asked again, all innocent…and there it was clear as day, emphatic even, “NO.”  I kissed him.

Despite the 37% delay he’s getting much better at telling us what he wants. We were reading The Little Engine that Could this weekend and we passed the page talking about the oranges and apples and creamy milk (with peppermints and lollipops for dessert) when Jack removed the book from my hands and returned to the milk page. I didn’t get it at first so I read it to him again and then turned the page. He did it again, pulled the book away and turned it back to the milk page. So I asked,  ”Jack, would you like some milk” and he signed “yes, milk” and then he spoke… ”prreeaze.”

We have entered tantrum land here. The first one or two were pretty alarming, Jack is so snuggly that not being able to touch him as he freaks the eff’ out is a little weird.  The tantrums go for about 20 minutes and involve a lot of sideways angry glances towards me. 2 hours later we get hugs.

Maybe my son is a teenage girl?

He’s also become a bit of a brute. He pushes back from the table with a lot of force, and throws his hands up in the air, aggressively signing “all done!” (well, aggressive as ASL lets you get).  He threw a wooden ball at Sidney’s head the other day and the THWOCK!!! sound was heard all the way at the other end of the apartment.  

It’s amazing to us that the 2 pound 3 ounce preemie is now a big boy. With opinions, and such.

This week, Odin woke up and was having trouble seeing out of his right eye. Over the past several days, it’s become clear that he is in serious danger of having a retinal detachment, which leads to blindness. Sarah and I have been thinking about Odin all week, and we’re sending all our good vibes his way.

The thing thats scary about this is that Odin is 4 years old. And as Eric, Odin’s dad, eloquently put it: “day 1464: the long arm of prematurity reaches out and sucker punches us.”

That’s what really gets me. It may be years before we fully understand all the effects of Jack’s prematurity. And even as I strive to put it behind us and move on with the normal worries of parenthood, the reality is that there are unknown effects of prematurity that can take years to manifest. 

I recognize that all parents worry about their kids. I get that. I mean, my mom says, “Just wait ’till he asks you for the car keys and says he’ll be home by 3:00am. Now that’s worry!”

But I feel like for us, there is another layer. We get to worry about all that normal parent stuff, plus we have to try not to obsess or project our preemie worries onto Jack. 

Last thought.  Snowdeal posse, we’re wishing you the best of luck, and reminding you that Odin is a very very tough cookie.

So, this will be the only mention we make about potty training.

Today, Jack used a potty for the first time.

Mainly because his parents forgot to go get him new diapers.

We rock.

The end.

So, a couple of items to note:

• Soon, very soon, we will no longer be calling the island of Manhattan home. I think it’s kind of awesome…although I believe I have mentioned that my fictional middle name is ambivalence.
• Soon, very soon, we will bid a not so fond farewell to the UWS and the “I LOVE  YOU” dude on the street corner and the crappy ass elevator in our building. I will miss our closet space, and perhaps the water pressure (Arch, did you check the water pressure in the new place?!), and not much else.
• Work? It’s better-ish. Some days I still do consider running out of the building – and I have recently learned I am not alone in that feeling…safety in numbers I suppose.
• Jack? Well. He’s got a ball, see? and we talk about it a lot, see? It’s all BALL, BALL, BALL, BALL, BALL – followed by id’ing where Sidney is in the room, followed by further declarative statements regarding said BALL.  I am willing my son to speak because I want to know what the eff is going on his head.

Anyway interwebs, I think you’re kind of nifty and I don’t want you to take  my silence to mean I don’t like you, it’s just, you know, there is stuff happening and we don’t really blog about it. Oh also? We’ve lost our little camera so that’s why you don’t have any pictures. We’re working on fixing that problem ASAP.

Your friend,

Sarah

This is a related clip from the classic American film, Caddyshack. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the name of decency, I thought better of taking pictures of this magnanimous event, but here is another  bath-time picture so that you can see the scene of the crime. Please note the look on Jacks face. It clearly says, “Who me? I would never… ever… poop in the bath.”

Yeah right.

The good news is that he was none the wiser and aside from a thorough rinse-down he seems to have escaped unscathed.