A few words about Jack

This is Em, hijacking the blog for a bit. On our vacation up to Oregon this year, it was brought to our attention that we don't mention Jack nearly enough in this blog. We also, apparently, neglect to take pictures of him. As the third child, I know all too well that second and third siblings sometimes get the shaft when it comes to attention (ahem...still waiting for my baby book, Mom). Seriously, though, the problem is Jack hardly ever stays still long enough to get a decent picture of him. Personally, I think Jack gets plenty of attention. In fact, I sometimes worry that Jack is such a dynamo that poor sweet, gentle Finn gets short-changed, but we try our best to love them both to pieces. Still, in the interest of playing fair and making sure that Jack is well known to those of you who may be far away, here is a little bit about Jack:

Let me start by saying that Jack was the perfect baby. I don't mean a good baby, that kid was perfect. I remember him getting upset three times in his entire first year - that's how rare and memorable Jack's crying was. He ate well. He slept well. He was just very even keel and even tempered. Nothing seemed to phase him. The only hint of trouble at all was when his babysitter told us at 4-months that Jack was trying to stand up. I laughed, I thought she meant he was pushing himself up a little bit, but she wasn't kidding. He was standing not long after that and at 7 months his daycare found him trying to rock climb the front of their fireplace. He was walking - no, make that running - well before one and he pretty much hasn't stopped since.

He is still mostly very cheerful and easy going. He's just starting to show a hint of the drama that happens if things don't go exactly the way his three-year-old heart expects them to, but, unlike his brother, we can almost always distract Jack pretty quickly. Finn is such a sweet, sensitive soul, but man that kid can hold a grudge. (Bell and Mom - I have absolutely no idea where Finn got that from and I don't know what you're talking about.) Jack is a funny mixture of daring and tenderness. Poor Finn sits and tries to read his books while Jack races around and pounces on him like the Wild Thing that he is, but at the same time, Jack is very loving - especially towards his brother. Although Jack calls Finn "Bwuther" (his first word) he names all of his stuffed animals "Finn". Finn the dog, Finn the Shark, Finn the monkey, etc.

The only exception to this naming convention is Jack's very well-loved (i.e. extremely shabby) bunny, Bun-buns - who came with his name. Finn originally had Bun-buns, but he was somewhat indifferent to him. Jack came across Bun-buns when he was a couple of months old and never let him go. Well...okay, he DID let him go once at the zoo and now Bun-buns number #1 is really Bun-buns #2, but that's another story we'll tell Jack about when he's much much older - shhh. (In case you can't tell, this is a picture of Bun-buns tucked into bed at Great Pee-pa Hank's house. What can I say, I told you he was a little bedraggled.)

At any rate, I really get a kick out of Jack. I'm not quite sure how so much personality got packed into one little body, but Jack is just such a funny character, he never ceases to make me laugh. He's more of a handful than Finn and he's got a mischievous little twinkle in his eye that I know is going to cause us many a sleepless night during his teenage years, but he comes by it honestly enough from certain members of the family who will remain nameless (Bell and Mike, I'm talking to you.) After growing up in a family of three girls, it is interesting and entertaining to be surrounded by boys - especially one who is such a bundle of unbridled male energy. Jack's favorite thing to do in all the world is to dangle. He dangles off door handles. He dangles off tree branches and poles and occasionally people. If you let him, I'm sure he would be more than happy to dangle off of you. And if you do let him dangle, he'll probably tell you that he loves you...all the way up to the moon and back.

Some funny Jack quotes:

Upon seeing me in a dress for the first time in probably ever: "Momma! I always knew you were a princess!"

About a cheerio he bit in half, right after he turned 2. "Look Momma, it's a moon! It's a rainbow! It's a bridge! It's a c!"

To Grandma Molly at Farm Fest. "Grandma Molly?" Molly: "Yes, Jack?" "Um...um...uh...um...uh...um...um...uh...um...I wub you."

We all love you too, Jack. All the way up to the moon and back.