Get Ready to Ride!

So, here's a recap of what happened at our house yesterday: after church and a short nap, I unpacked a new printer and got it installed. Our final big task of the day was to work on the missing piece of our potty training puzzle. Jack has been doing great, staying dry all day (even during naps and waking up dry most mornings). The poop has been our final hurdle. To quote Josh, "he's holding on to it like it's gold!" Our somewhat regular kid has gone to once every couple of days and those haven't taken place on the potty. Josh & I both thought we'd be able to catch him right before and then get him up there and praise the poop out of him, literally. It hadn't happened yet. So on Sunday he got a little encouragement (if you want the details I'll share, but in a different venue...somethings are even too much for this blog!), and managed to have his first successful poop on the potty.

I'm sure you remember the prize awaiting. Josh had actually planned to put it together earlier, but we both got sidetracked. So, I got Jack's tools and let him help. Josh got all the pieces out of the box and set to work. Jack kept saying, "where is it?" and looking in the empty box! Finally once Josh got the front wheel on his little mind (Jack's, that is) could see it taking shape. He grabbed the seat and got to work!

We took it for a spin outside. He already has the hang of the pedals, the steering is a different story. When we told him to turn he would lean his whole body over instead of actually moving the handle bars! Anyway, I'm most certain our poopy woes aren't over, but I do hope that with the first successful one behind us we can begin to make some progress now.

Busy Beach Bums

Not sure anyone has ever used the words busy and beach bums in the same sentence, but that's what I feel like we have been for the last several days. Last Tuesday afternoon we left town and headed to St. Simons Island for a few days of relaxation. Jack did okay the first couple of hours in the car, but the last couple of hours was pretty rough! Here's a picture of him enjoying a pickle while Josh and I eat a quick dinner during our road trip. He loves pickles!

We got in and got settled just in time to watch the women's olympics gymnastics coverage to begin. The next morning we set out for a hearty breakfast and had heard some good things about the Fourth of May Cafe in the village. It was great. I had blueberry pancakes. Josh had eggs, sausage and home fries. Jack tried his first grapefruit. It was pretty comical. The day was pretty rainy and cloudy. So, after some driving around, we headed to the pool. As always, Jack enjoyed his swim. Before long another downpour arrived. So, we all did some napping, reading and more olympics viewing. Dinner was at Barbara Jean's, which has the best crab cakes ever! It was growing dark once we got back to our condo, but not raining so we took Jack down to see the ocean real quick. It was neat, and his hair was blowing everywhere!

Thursday was still a bit overcast, but decided to introduce Jack to the beach. We started him out in the wet sand then moved him close enough to have a bit of water rise around him. He explored the sand extensively, which included tasting it. He was a little unsure about the ocean and wet sand. Later he tried some drier sand, which still didn't taste all that great. He did enjoy playing with his ball on the beach. In fact, later when we went and had some family pictures made he got pretty cranky since his afternoon nap was so short (I just had to go to the Bailey Boys store!). Anyway, the ball was the only thing that cheered him up. You can look at the whole mess of photos from our sitting (but, I'll warn you there are a quite a few!) Needless to say, the ball appears in several photos. Later at dinner, Jack wailed through our entire meal...not a happy boy!

Friday was our final full day at the beach before heading home and it was great! We started by renting bikes in the morning and touring the south end of the island. We biked to the lighthouse, village and Avenue of Oaks. It was great fun, although Jack didn't enjoy getting in and out of the seat on the bike. He didn't mind the ride too much...in fact on the way back to our condo he fell asleep on the bike. I'm not sure how this was even remotely comfortable.

Later we headed back to the beach for our final afternoon. The sun was finally out, but the breeze kept us comfortable. Jack just played with his ball most of the time, but did enjoy watching Josh chase a crab. We went to Chelsea for dinner. They consider themselves casual gourmet, and Josh and I agreed. It was comfortable casual dress (the waiters even wore shorts), but the food was 4-star. Josh tried the crab and/or shrimp bisque just about everywhere we dined and this was the best of the week! He had mahi mahi and I had salmon. It was fantastic...even our salads were great! It was a perfect way to end our trip! On Saturday we got up early and traveled back. Jack did a little better on the trip back. We got back in time to get started on the mound of laundry and get Jack off island time!

The Wheels on the Bike Go Round & Round

What a week it has been. Jack is such a funny boy. We are especially enjoying listening to all the new noises he is making these days. He loves to grunt and is beginning to make squealing type noises that almost sound like giggles. The funniest thing is when he makes these when we are not doing anything to provoke him! Another fun discovery has been himself...he is still enjoying watching himself in the mirror. It usually makes him laugh.

Warm temperatures this week allowed us to take frequent walks around the neighborhood. On Thursday, we even met Andrea, Andrew & Abigail (some friends from church) at the park for a walk around the track. Later we lunched on the square in Clarkesville. We have truly been enjoying the spring weather.

On Saturday afternoon we traveled to Athens to take in the annual Twilight Criterium bike races in downtown. The rain held off which was nice. Josh and I always attended the bike races in college and have tried to make it back as often as possible since then. It is a really fun event. Jack watched the bikes going by in the beginning, but as the night wore on and he grew tired, he was a little less interested in the bikes, noise and hoopla and more interested in finding a quiet place to rest his head. I got a real kick out of watching the kids take their lap. It made me think about what Jack will look like once he's riding his very own bike. We took in the event in the company of Stacie, Grandma Jan & Grandpa Blake.