Guys & Dolls

A quick rant:

Why is it so hard to find a baby doll for a boy? I have a few things I'd like to get Jack for his birthday -- things that are important for him at this developmental stage (blocks, push toys, a puzzle or two). I'd also like to get him a doll. I want my son to learn that it's good to be affectionate and gentle and to be able to mimic some of Mick's and my caregiving.

But do you think I can find a doll anywhere that would be appropriate for Jack? Maybe a little baby boy doll (not something dressed in pink from head to toe)?

No.

I've looked at multiple stores: Target, Babies R Us, Toys R Us, Buy Buy Baby, and online of course. (My only criteria is that the doll be washable/can get wet; hence a Cabbage Patch Kid won't work. It does not have to be anatomically correct.) On Tuesday, I was at Buy Buy Baby and I asked if they had baby dolls for boys. The salesperson gave me a blank stare. Then she said "Oh, like an Elmo doll?" Um, no.

So I walked to the doll aisle. Pink overload. I thought, "maybe I can just get one of these and remove its clothes and put a diaper on and something tiny Jack wore as a newborn." But these dolls (I'm talking baby dolls, not Barbies) look like they have makeup (!) on. They have super rosey cheeks and dark, long eyelashes. Seriously.

I understand there may not be a major market for this, but you'd think that in this day & age there'd be more options available for little boys who may want to play with things other than trucks and balls. I always said I was going to try to raise my kids without gender biases. I want Jack to know that it's entirely appropriate (and expected) for Daddy to do the cooking (I'm a disaster in the kitchen & Mick's a great cook!) and to change diapers and that Mummy can handle the finances and car maintenance. But this doll thing looks like it's going to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be.

Transitions

Today is July 29. One year ago today was my due date. Granted, Jack didn't arrive for another 15 days, but I remember what a special day July 29, 2008 was. It felt so momentous and I was just sure that our baby (remember, I didn't know if we were having a boy or girl!?!?) would know it was supposed to be born then. That day feels to me as if it were yesterday, as if I could just turn around and be right back there.

Alas, we are quickly approaching Jack's first birthday. This impending milestone feels bittersweet to me. Jack has become my favorite person with whom to hang out. Sometimes, when he sleeps, I miss him and can't wait until he wakes up so we can play again.

I am stunned by his growing capacity to mimic what we do (he chews when I show him my teeth going up and down, he brushes his hair when I am getting ready in the morning) and to take brave new risks (standing alone, crawling through the water at the community pool, climbing over any & everything he can, including Shergar). I want to hold onto this precious time forever, and to my little baby. Many people have pointed out how much he looks like a big boy now, not a baby anymore. My heart swells with pride when I hear that, but I shed a silent tear too. The time really does fly.

We've had some exciting transitions these past few days. We installed his big boy car seat on Sunday and had it inspected by the police tonight (installed correctly, phew!). He's adjusting well to it which is good because we have a loooong drive to Michigan next week.

Also, as of tonight, he has tried milk for the first time. He had 2 ounces before bed tonight and sucked it right down.

So time marches on...

Pictures Galore!

Enjoying the Hebden Bridge Playground

Watching the Ducks in Chipping

In lieu of doing all of the jobs I should be doing today (washing the kitchen floor, organizing the HUGE pile on top of my dresser, cleaning the bathroom, folding laundry), I've decided to take the opportunity while Jack's napping to upload all of our photos since April (!) to Snapfish. I finally got a new camera the day before we left for England so hopefully I'll start capturing some of our summer fun on... media card (?). (I was going to say "capture it on film" but I guess that's a thing of the past.) So check out our group room on Snapfish for lots and lots of pictures.

The camera I bought takes a different kind of media card than I thought it would and so I ended up having to buy the right one halfway through our England trip. That means that all of my pictures only feature one side of the family (Mick's dad's side). There's no need for worry though as Mick's mum took dozens of pictures too (her house is seriously a shrine to Jack!) so I will get those from her soon and post them as well. **Update - Julie has sent me a few photos so I've added a couple here & put the rest in the album on Snapfish.

Mick pretty much said it all in his post about our trip: Jack is a phenomenal traveler and so incredibly adaptable to different beds, different environments, different people. He is such a happy baby - we count ourselves so lucky to have him as our son. Traveling internationally with an almost-toddler is not easy. There were a few times (mainly on the flight back) that I found myself wrought with stress. It took Jack 5 days to adapt to the 5-hour time difference, meaning we were up multiple times every night and often very early in the morning with him. However, seeing the family respond to Jack and he to them made it all worthwhile.

It's been a long time since I've been in England during the summer. I was actually quite surprised that there were a few days that were so warm (by English standards) and equally surprised at how fickle the weather could be: balmy with sunshine one minute, covered by black clouds and torrential rains the next. Mick and I were able to sneak away for two meals together without Jack: one at the the Inn at Whitewell (where the queen has eaten) and one for fish & chips in Hebden Bridge. One of the best things for me (truly!) about the trip was getting to watch some of the cricket and to finally learn the rules sufficiently enough to follow along and to understand what the scores mean (232 for 4 means 232 runs have been scored and there are essentially 4 outs (with 10 outs being the end of an "inning"). I still laugh though about the fact that cricket matches are stopped for tea & that the opposing teams take tea together. I could never imagine that happening between, say, Michigan and Ohio State. (Speaking of which, college football season starts in 50 days; I can hardly wait!)

Here are a few of the best photos from our time across the pond.

Great Granny Collins and Jack

Great Granny Angus and Jack

Great Grandad Angus and Jack

The family on Ed's 60th birthday

Jack with one of his biggest fans: Harry

Jack with Uncle Chris & Aunt Jan

Jack & Granny - Sporting the Same Hairdo

We're home for a few weeks before heading to Michigan for vacation with my family & then Mick will leave for Australia for business for about 10 days. And the summer rolls on...

National Lampoon's European Vacation

The family is just back from a vacation to England for my Dad's 60th birthday (which we celebrated in style with dinner out and a party the following day).

Jack was a travel trooper, flying for 14 hours and driving for 7 without melting down. He got to spend time with the grand- and great grand-parents while I golfed and watched the Ashes (bi-annual cricket contest between England and Australia)--it's one of my favorite sporting events but was disappointed to see England only manage a draw despite dominating 1 of the 5 days.

Jack continues to develop; he is almost at a point where he can stand without falling over, an art mastered by few of the Collins clan beyond 10pm. He loves to crawl, watch games of table tennis, and throw the ball around the room.

Will share photos shortly.

Long Overdue Post

I know it's been a while since our last post... and I think with good reason!

Quick story: we were away this past weekend visiting some friends in Richmond. When we arrived home on Sunday, we found lines (which I initially thought were electrical) down at the side and front of our house. Our neighbor informed us that a drunk driver hit the utility pole on Friday night bringing down phone, cable, and electrical lines. The electricity was apparently restored on Saturday but we have been without cable (so we've had zero TV as even our local channels require cable) and Internet until about 15 minutes ago. I've spent well over 3 hours (no exaggeration) on the phone with Comcast this week and have spoken with more supervisors and technicians than I care to remember. Suffice it to say that we are seriously considering the switch to another provider as Comcast no longer has a monopoly in our neighborhood. Anyway, it's good to be back in the land of technology! No Internet for five days is an absolute killer.

So to briefly update you on the goings on in our lives lately...

Jack and I flew to Michigan in mid-June to spend a week with my parents while Mick was in Las Vegas for work (truly, he tells me this was for work!). About four hours before we were scheduled to fly from DC to Grand Rapids, the three of us sat in the Urgent Care center awaiting news on whether or not poor little Jack could fly. We discovered that he had an ear infection, sinus infection, and ruptured eardrum. Poor thing! Given how good natured this kid is, neither Mick nor I knew he was sick until I noticed all of the goo coming from his ear. The doctor who saw us at urgent care is an ENT specialist and she said she had never seen a kid with an ear infection act as happy as Jack did. We were cleared to fly because luckily (??) his eardrum had already ruptured so the flight wasn't a problem. He and I were in the first row on the plane and wouldn't you know that he waved and smiled at every single person who boarded! No one even knew he was sick. Even the next day when I took him to the pediatrician in Michigan, he still had a smile on his face. Despite a fever and swollen sinuses, this is what Jack looked like while waiting for the doctor:
The one good thing that came out of Jack's illness (that sounds rather insensitive!) is that he started saying "mama." Hearing that word and knowing that it is now my name was truly music to my ears. I'm sure that there will be days during which I tire of hearing it (especially if it's said in a whiny voice as I hate whining!) but for now the novelty is sweet.

Mick flew into Michigan for Father's Day weekend and he spent his first holiday as a dad helping my dad (and brothers) paint the entire back of my parents' house. It was a scorching hot weekend and was not an easy job, but the guys worked together to get it done. For Father's Day, I bought Jack some pjs that said "My Dad Rocks" that he wore on Father's Day eve. I also gave Mick a digital picture frame with all of the pictures of he & Jack from the last 10 months loaded onto it.

The time in Michigan was great, as usual. I was able to spend a day in Ferndale with Andrea & Time and got to snuggle baby Luke (just 3 weeks old when I saw him!). Jack spent loads of time with Grammy & Papa and then was fortunate to see his aunts and uncles... and more importantly Marcus & Deagan over the weekend. The kids had so much fun together; I am constantly amazed at how good Marcus is with Jack. You'd think he'd be sick of babies given that Deagan is the same age but he always reminds us that he is Jack's "big brother-cousin" and takes excellent care of him. Deagan is fast - walking all over the place - and Jack had to crawl like grease-lightning to keep up. Oh, Jack also apparently figured out how to do steps on his own as we found him at one point in my parents' room (there are two steps down to get in there).

Here are a few pictures of Jack pretending he was a CEO in my dad's home office:


Jack also had his final Waterbabies swim class with Mick (post ear infection) and he received a certificate (now in his baby book) showing that he'd accomplished all they set out for him to learn. He is a HUGE fan of splashing and kicking (he knows the difference) and the price we now pay is that the nightly bath-giver gets drenched due to Jack's sheer thrill of being in water.

We spent last weekend in Richmond visiting Aughie & Colleen in their beautiful new home. Mick was able to play golf and Colleen and I took Jack to a petting zoo where he was able to pet the horns (is that what they're called?) of a goat and to see some big fish and turtles in the aquarium.


We gave Jack his fifth (or sixth?) haircut on Sunday night. I wonder how long his hair would be had we never cut it to begin with...?

We head off tomorrow to England for 10 days where we'll be able to do a little relaxing (we hope!) and to see family. I'm trying to be as laid back as possible about the jet lag and how it will affect Jack. He did okay in December but he was only four months old then and didn't have as set of a schedule as he has now. So we will just play things by ear. I am a little concerned about the flight (the flights there and back will be his 15th & 16th flights!) as he is so active and mobile and nosy these days, but again, having a good sense of humor and being calm about things like this (I'll have to take Mick's lead!) will be immensely helpful I'm sure.

I don't have many pictures to share as I haven't had a camera since mid-April. I just bought a new one today so hopefully I'll have some good photos after our trip. I did just find these random pictures on my iPhone that I took at the beginning of June. Jack loves to climb in and out and over and under anything he can find. This day, he climbed into his box of books... and then got stuck (posted in the order in which I took them... notice his look of glee change to a look of consternation):