A New Year... and Jack is crawling!!

Money is the root of all evil... and a great way to get your baby to crawl! Yesterday, I was doing some end-of-the-year organizing. Rocky was occupied and Jack was finishing his bottle and assumedly immobile, so I thought it was safe to go through the jewelry box and clean out drawers. Brightly colored objects and shapes were strewn everywhere, but off to the side was some cash I'd been collecting in a drawer. Jack caught sight of it, threw down his bottle, flipped over, lifted himself onto his knees and determinedly crawled his way to, you guessed it, the cash...a good 5 feet away! He clutched the wad of cash with a triumphant grin on his face! It's all about the benjamins.

Interestingly, the other night when Rocky ended up in bed with us, he tossed in his sleep and exclaimed with panic, "I need money!" I just about died of laughter. I swear that Rich and I don't talk about money all the time... or maybe we do. Something to look into. Well, Santa knows what to get the kids next year.


P.S. You're probably wondering why I've had so much time to catch up on blog posts this morning. Answer: Rich got an Xbox 360 for Christmas...

The Year of Jack

So I asked Rich what the best part about 2008 was, and he said, "That it's over." He had a point. Other than the family-filled finale, this year has been a tough one, between a sick pregnancy, rough recovery, rough economy, the loss of my grandpa and Jack's sleepless nights. So this year we had Jack and did jack. Double meaning. Not that we are ungrateful... it's just that we hope this next year is a little healthier and happier. You can always hope, right? But the year did go out with a bang!
A couple days ago, we had Grandpa Rick and Grandma Pam over for a late Christmas celebration.

Then last night, we brought in the new year with the Myers family and some good old fashion Guitar Hero jamming!

Rocky loves Santa

Santa came to our house while we were in San Diego, so when we got home Rocky discovered a few surprises waiting for him in the living room. His face was priceless. It contained a permanent toothy grin for the remainder of the evening.

Since then, Santa has become his favorite person. Over the last few days, out of the blue, he will get a starry eyed look in his face and say out loud in a voice of awe and reverence "Thank you Santa." We've had to "call" him on the phone a few times to let him know our appreciation, since Santa didn't get the loving hug of thanks that he was able to give his grandparents or the kiss he blew Grandma K's face while chatting on the computer. He looks at the sky when he thanks Santa, though, so maybe he correlates him with God, or Jesus, since it was HIS birthday. That was a little confusing for him. When I explained Christmas, Rocky asked, "Is it Jesus' birthday or Santa's? Who is Santa? Does Jesus bring toys? Why does Santa bring me toys?" Good question. I'm still trying to figure that out. So Santa is cool because he brought toys (not that I blame him for that.. he did find him a Toy Story Woody doll... not easy), while mom and dad gave him the boring stuff like bed sheets, socks and underwear. Next year, we will be the cool ones. Watch out Santa.

(Rich is sporting the new hat I bought him for Christmas. My plan to turn him into a "newsie" is almost complete!)

Santa brought Jack some of Rocky's old toys I had boxed up a year ago. Apparently, one year is the limit of Rocky's memory because he was equally excited about Jack's gifts. He kept saying "Wow Jack!" and debated who's toys he preferred. I'm going to continue this recycled toy plan next year. Sorry Jack.