New Train Station and Playground

New Train Station

Ben's boss, Brian (the CEO), gave us his now 10 year old son's train station.  We got this so long ago, maybe around the time Jack was 6 months old.  It had been sitting in Jack's closet since then.  Around April, Jack started to be more interested in trains and putting things together so we thought this would be the perfect time to get the train station out.  We had also remembered that Ben's nephew Grant had a Thomas the Train play table and asked if they still had that.  They did!

One Saturday, Ben went to get the train table, came back and put it together and put some of the train tracks out.  When Jack woke up from his nap we showed him the train.  At first he wasn't that interested in playing with it the "correct" way.  He just wanted to take apart the train tracks and try to put them back together but was unsuccessful.  

After Ben had assembled the train station a little better so that Jack could reach all of the things he wanted, Jack enjoyed it so much more.  The picture below shows Jack playing with the ambulance.  He would push the button on the ambulance but it would only make a noise every so often.  He then would say "need batteries" over and over.  Finally after about 2 weeks we got some batteries to put in it.

This must have been after a nap because he looks a little frazzled.  Playing with the firetruck.  Another of the trains that makes noise.

He loves to put the firetruck in the fire station.  Then you turn the black knob on the side and it opens the fire station doors and pops out the firetruck as a siren is going off.  

New Playground

For over a year now Ben's boss Brian had been talking about this large play-set that his kids had outgrown and the possibility of giving it to us.  This was exciting for us.  We had a smaller version of a play-set but was excited at the opportunity to get a larger one seeing that we were going to have 2 boys in the family now. 

Then back in July 2011, Ben's boss had a horrible tennis accident.  He ran head first into a pole full speed and had serious injuries because of it.  He had to go to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta for a few months where they specialize in spinal cord rehabilitation.  He was confined to a wheel chair but began regaining feeling and motion in his arms and legs.  After spending some time there, Brian came back to Texas to be able to be close to his family and do up to 6 hours a day of physical therapy.  Brian would come into the office once or twice a week for a couple of hours. 

One day this spring Brian came in and began discussing the play-set again with Ben.  I think he mentioned that his 10 year old son was hoping to put in an area to practice golf where the play-set currently was and they were ready to get it off there hands.  All we had to do was get it moved.  So after looking into this set and what it would cost to buy it new (thousands of dollars) we thought it was a great opportunity.  So Ben went out to see it himself and take some measurements.  By now we were sure there was no way we could disassemble it, move it and reassemble it ourselves/with help.  So we contacted a moving company specifically catering to moving large play-sets.  The price we paid to move the set and have it reassembled was a bargain.  We were also lucky to have found a home for our previous play-set. 

These pictures are from the first night it was assembled.  The two men who moved it all started at 9am and finished by 7:30pm that night.  Here is Jack telling us what the colors were on the climbing wall.

Jack crawling up the ramp.  We need to replace the rope that creates a hand rail.

Swinging on the swingset

Climbing the ladder to go down the slide.

"Look Daddy"  showing the third story of the play-set.  He has yet to go up there but he has plenty of years to explore everything.

Here is a comparison picture...The left is Jack's 1st Birthday party in 2011 and the right is his 2nd birthday party 2012.

*Update - June 1, 2012

This is a very sad update to include but I thought it was important.  On Memorial day, Ben, Jack and I were in San Antonio just beginning our 2nd half of our family vacation.  (I'll post on this vacation soon)  We had just arrived at our hotel resort and spent the afternoon swimming with Jack.  

We were driving to dinner when Ben got a call from his boss Dickie (the CFO).  Dickie called to tell Ben that Brian, Ben's other boss had just passed away.  This was horrible news and deeply affected Ben.  I had told a few people that I had never seen him this upset.  I think a big part was how sudden this was.  Ben later mentioned it was one of the first people he knew and was close to, that had passed away at an early age with so much life left to spend and "young" children being left behind.  

Another reason is there was so much hope in the office and I'm sure Brian's family the week prior to this tragic event.  Brian was just two days away from going down to Houston to complete a Physical Therapy program at the TIRR Center.  This was a very exclusive program where you only get picked to participate if they feel like you would be successful.  I know Brian and others were hoping at the end of this he would be walking.  So needless to say this was very sudden and so tragic.  Here is a copy of Brian's Obituary if you are interested in knowing what a great businessman, dad, and all around guy he was.

Rangers Game in the Rain

This was Jack's first Ranger game this season.  Ben had made a comment earlier in the week that since Jack has been alive, the Rangers have been the ALCS champions.  Anyway, I like to post pictures of Jack doing the same activity the year before to compare how much he has changed.  

June 2011                        May 2012

So this year Jack got a shirt that was just like Daddy's.  On the way to the ballpark, Jack was holding the umbrella and saying what sounded like a rain chant.  I was hoping it was a "rain, rain, go away chant".  He would also say "Go Rangers" which was super cute.  We parked in one of the farthest lots so we had a long way to walk.  Jack was so excited, he held both of our hands and practically ran to the stadium.  He'd also let out a scream of excitement here and there as well as a "Go Rangers!"  We'd ask him "Are you ok Jack, do we need to carry you?" because he was breathing so hard.  But each time he'd say "no!" and keep hustling.

Once inside (it was very crowded, the games were sold out all weekend) Ben carried Jack so that he wouldn't get lost.

We finally made it to our seats (3rd deck, but row 3 so it wasn't bad).  Jack was so excited as you can see by the picture above.  Once he had looked at everything around he asked to color.  So he colored as well as would look at the field.  The video below shows Jack taking it all in.  

Mommy and Jack

After sitting in our seats for about 15 minutes, the announcer came on and said there was a Thunderstorm threat in the Arlington area and people in the upper decks (that was us) should take cover.  So we waited about 5 more minutes then gathered our things and headed down one level. The picture below is of Jack and Ben at the top of the Stadium with the storm coming in behind them.  This picture doesn't do the storm justice.  It was a lot darker than this picture shows.  I guess that's what you get when you use an i-phone camera.

We got to a lower deck before the crowd rushed in.  After Ben got his hot dog, the rest of the stadium (so it seemed) crowded around where we were.  They had delayed the game due to rain.  So as the rain came pouring down and the wind blew like crazy we tried to keep Jack entertained.  We had heard we might have to do this for an hour, which at first freaked me out.  I thought there was no way Jack was going to be content with all of these people around for an hour.  We quickly found a table with empty seats to sit at.  Jack colored for a bit, then we got out the fruit snacks.  I knew this would keep him occupied for a little while.  Then he wanted to walk around.  So daddy took him for a few minutes then they returned.  Then we heard the storm should be dying down so we made the trek to the opposite side of the stadium to head back to our car.  By now it was 8:30 and probably the time we were going to leave anyway.

Ben carried Jack to the car at a faster pace than I could go.  So I kept the umbrella and walked at my own pace.  I just laughed the whole time so I decided to take a picture of me walking back to the car.  It had pretty much stopped raining halfway back to the car.

We didn't get Jack down for the night until about 9pm and they actually didn't resume the game until 9:30pm so it was a good thing we left when we did.  I told Ben on the way home that I wouldn't be surprised if Jack had a night terror tonight since he got to bed late.  And sure enough at 1am he had a night terror.  I will be glad when he grows out of these.

Bear Pictures

I've decided I'll just update this post and keep adding Jack's bear pictures each month to it.

3 days

1 week

2 weeks

3 weeks

1 Month

6 weeks

2 Months

2.5 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

13 Months

15 Months

16 Months

17 Months

18 months

19 Months

20 Months

21 Months

22 Months

23 Months

Easter 2012

Our Easter weekend began with a Pancake Breakfast at my childhood church with Mimi and Papa Steve.  So we began by eating pancakes.  Last year, Jack would eat some of the sausage; this year he wouldn't eat any of it.  No pancakes.  No sausage.  Anyway... afterwards we headed to Trinity Hall to wait for the Easter Egg Hunt to begin.

The Easter Bunny came into the room so kids could go up and give him a hug.  Jack was very unsure of this.  This is as close to the bunny as he would get.

This is Jack taking it all in.  There were lots of kids in the room and I think he gets a little overwhelmed with all of the noise and movement.

We had to get his Easter Basket in the picture

The egg hunt began and Jack was off...to a slow start.  It took him a little bit to get the idea that you wanted to put as many eggs in the basket as you could fit.

Jack picking up a basketball egg.  

Here is Jack eyeing his competition.  Not sure what to think about others picking up eggs that I'm sure Jack thought were "his".

Mimi and Jack are on a roll.  His basket is already full.

I'm watching and at some point I remember saying "mom, he has plenty of eggs" and she replied "so, that's not the point"  She was very competitive that day.  :)

Everything was going fine until this boy came into the picture.  Up until now, Jack had been in an area where no one else was.  Let me also preface this story to say that there were what seemed like thousands of eggs, plenty for each child to have more than enough.

Jack, after picking up the pink egg, has now noticed the boy.

I guess this boy got too close to Jack's territory. This is a "Mimi, that's my egg!" look on Jack's face. Also known as, Jack hasn't gotten the concept of sharing down.

We both try to tell him it's ok, he already has a lot of eggs and we are sharing.  Then this boy's grandma came over and gave Jack the egg the little boy had in his hand.  I'm sure she thought the little boy took it from Jack, but I tried to tell her it was ok.  Jack won't learn to share if he gets his way every time.

Easter Morning

I liked my table decorations so I thought I'd take a picture of it.  I didn't have any other Easter decorations out this year since our attic is stuffed and will be until I get out the old baby clothes/toys/gear for Kyle.

The Easter bunny came and brought Jack 12 mini Mickey Mouse books which he now loves.  This box has a handle and he loves to carry it around.  He also got a bubble blowing gun that lights up, two cute eggs with fruit snacks inside and a Big Bird and Abby to go with his Sesame Street house.  Funny story about Big Bird and Abby...Jack has had his Sesame Street house for so long now he does not feel like BB and Abby are allowed to play in the house.  Every time we try to put them in the house he takes them and throws them out.  Literally.  

Jack getting into his chair at the table and eyeing all of his goodies.

Jack loved the bubble machine.  We didn't realize how much soap would get on the floor once they popped.

Family Easter photo

We had lunch at KK and Papa's.  There they had a small egg hunt for the kiddos.  Jack got his own little area to hunt, otherwise the big kids would have gotten all of his eggs.

Jack showing KK all of his eggs that he found.