Storytime for Jack

On one particularly cranky evening, I started reading Jack nursery rhymes. He stopped crying and seemed to watch my mouth and listen intently to the rhythms of the rhymes. I got to 'hickory, dickory, dock' when Dave came in and relieved me of my bedtime reading duties.

He had Herb Brooks biography. Together, they only made it through a few pages, but Dave kept enunciating "Mariucci, say Mariucci."

Jack seemed just as intrigued as listening to cows jumping over a moon or a mouse running up a clock.

And if Jack's first word is Mariucci, it will make his Dad's day.

Navy is the new brown

Last week Dave and I got our 11th Save the Date. Yep, we've been invited to 11 weddings this year in Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and New York. The recession might've impacted the purchase of cars and houses, but it hasn't slowed down weddings or babies.

Dave and I are regularly teased because we seem to have a hobby of going to weddings. We can't help it. We are blessed to have friends scattered across the country, and weddings seem to be a good time.

Back in 2007, I attended at least six weddings where the primary color was brown. It was the hot neutral that people tried to work into their big event. I saw brown/pink, brown/aqua/green, and brown/green. If the Save the Dates are any indication, navy looks like it's the hot new wedding color followed perhaps by a purple tone.

When Dave and I got married, the new thing for Save the Dates was magnets with your picture on it. Well, the vendor messed up our order and we wound up getting over a thousand of them. We gave them to everyone. My aunt passed them out in my hometown. It's a running joke to hear where they've been spotted in SW Arkansas. Those picture magnets are still popular, but the traditional Date savers seem to be making a comeback too.

Of course, we can't attend all of these events but we'll blog about them when we do.

Kim and Payton visit

My good friend Kim and her year-old daughter Payton visited this past week. The weather was beautiful for the visit, and we took full advantage of it by going out on walks everyday.

In these pictures, we visited Minnehaha Park and the falls there.

We also toured the sculpture garden near the Walker Art Center, but in really we just went so Kim and Payton could

get their picture made by the Cherry and spoon with the skyline in the background.

While Minnesotans cringe when people refer to MOA as our big tourist attraction, no visit to the Twin Cities is complete without it. We wound up getting trapped there a bit longer than anticipated as we waited on rush hour to go away. Payton merely tolerated the place. Jack ignored it all together, until he just got fed up and started screaming for the rest of the time. I would say he takes to shopping malls like his father, but if you've ever been shopping with Dave you know that just isn't true. He's worse than a girl when it comes to browsing. If you don't believe me, go shopping for shoes with him.

And of course, we hit up my favorite cafe'. I think Payton liked it.

Jack's first Easter

Jack's first Easter came on the heels of one of the warmest month of March on Minnesota record. There's no snow, plus we experienced 80 degrees the previous week. People appreciate spring here unlike anywhere I've ever been, and we are all grateful for the early warmup.

So it was very important to document Jack's first Easter. H

e even sported another tie. His going-home-from-the-hospital outfit is still too big, but it fit better than it did one month ago.

I am happy to report Jack acted like the perfect angel in church... the perfect angel with hiccups. His hiccups were so small and cute that people couldn't quite figure out what the sound was, so they kept turning around and looking for a frog or something.

After services, we were lucky enough to be invited to a friend's house for Easter brunch. A new baby is always a novelty, and the two girls who were there were quite enamored with holding and playing with baby Jack. The food was delicious, and it was very special to celebrate the holiday with good friends. Thank you for the great holiday.

Presents, presents, everywhere!

We have been so blessed by so many friends and family since the arrival of Jack. Every gift has been appreciated. However, in another blog destined to only entertain family, I
wanted to share a few of the interesting and unusual gifts with you.

Here's an Alpaca sweater a coworker brought back from a vacation to Peru.

Here's a baby mug our doula, who is also a potter, made. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's teeny.

My friend who is easily one of the very talented with a knitting needle made this frog, who turns inside out into a turtle. This toy has been a favorite of visiting kids.

Of course, a sports guy who has a child has to get sports gear. We've gotten our fair share. There are at least 3 Razorback onesies that aren't in this picture.

Jack has Wild gear, but also a jersey to support his father's favorite team, the NY Rangers.

And Jack (in Hog gear) seems perplexed about the display of Mets paraphernalia. This came from someone at Dave's station, who went to the trouble to find a Nike onesie, bib, and socks.

Couture designs for a dapper Jack

Since Jack's birth, we've frequently received packages from friends and family. Dave and I have been so touched by the generosity of so many people.

Jack's first made-especially-for-him designer duds came from a friend of ours out of Texas, who goes by the blog handle Kellerwoman.

She created the cutest little outfits by sewing neckties on white onesies. She blogged about it too. Dave and I loved these. It's such a great idea.

There's also a pocket on his butt made out of the same fabric, but I don't have a picture of it because when he's asleep... I let him sleep.

Jack's first Seder

Jack celebrated his first Passover at 3 1/2 weeks old. Despite his overtired parents best

efforts to have all the traditional aspects of a Seder, Jack clearly seemed unimpressed.

He spent much of the meal screaming or at best, whimpering very loudly. I'm sure he didn't appreciate his parent laughing at his antics here.

The Seder also marked the first time Dave can remember spending passover away from home. We had a makeshift seder plate, a program downloaded off the internet, and most of the traditional foods. It worked for us, and I think by the end of the experience, it worked for Jack too.