Jack is 2½. Like most two-year olds, he loves trains and planes and cars.

• If asked, he’ll tell you his best friend is Anson. (But I secretly know his stuffed lion, Leonard is a close runner-up.)
• He’ll wear sunglasses, but not hats.
• He still winds down for sleep by chewing on a blanket. Luckily he’s not too particular about which blanket he snuggles with, so I’m able to rotate and wash them when he’s not looking. ;)
• He’s slowly learning new words and becoming more legible. He loves to play with Molly at speech class and loves to say “hi!” to everyone we pass in the grocery store.
• This little boy loves to cuddle, and will gladly take any opportunity to climb into an empty lap.
• His favorite show is Super Why, but Timmy Time makes him giggle the most.
• Jack Jack started smiling at five weeks old and hasn’t stopped since. He has “the best laugh” – I get told this at least three times a week by strangers and friends, so it must be true, right?
• He is very obedient and has a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong.
• He gets anxious around big crowds, and is skeptical of new places. It’s quite obvious he inherited this from me.
• He’s an excellent eater. He especially loves noodles, oatmeal, roasted broccoli, cucumbers, hummus, peanut butter & honey sandwiches, cookies, apples, smoothies, edamame, blueberries and nuts. I cook new recipes all the time and no matter how foreign, I can’t even recall the last time he refused to try something I put in front of him.
• He loves to be outside playing in his water table, but doesn’t like the water at the beach.
• He is a great sleeper, and still enjoys his 2-3 hour naps everyday.
• He’s recently started climbing into my lap and saying, “dee-dee?”  (“baby?”), and cradling himself in my arms while I rock him and sing to him. It’s the sweetest thing ever and I think I’d be okay if he did that til he was twelve.
• If he sticks his armpit in your face, he wants to be tickled. He really enjoys tickle and run-around time when Daddy gets home every night.
• The week he turned 2½ was the first-ever week we dropped him off at Sunday nursery without tears. Now the kid drags us over there and doesn’t even look back at us to say goodbye.
• Jack loves to read books to Leonard the lion, and to be read to. He’s especially good at i-spy books.
• He loves to sing and to dance. The kid often busts out some pretty sweet dance moves in the backseat of the car that I can’t even begin to compete with.
• He knows his entire alphabet and loves to point out letters on shirts, billboards, etc. He just barely started grasping some of the colors, like red, yellow and blue.
• He usually doesn’t like to get dirty. It’s always an “uh oh!” or an “all-done” when there’s something slimy around.
• He’s a great “little brother” and doesn’t mind one bit when older kids boss him around. He plays GREAT with four-year olds.

…basically Tyler and I love this kid to pieces. It’s sometimes hard for me to fully grasp why he wasn’t supposed to have a sibling yet, because honestly he would have been the PERFECT big brother. He’s kind and gentle, and so sweet and tender-hearted.

But nonetheless we’ve enjoyed the extension of our just-us-&-jack time. We make the greatest little family of three. We’re so glad you picked our family, Jack. We couldn’t imagine how boring and un-fulfilling our lives would have been without you. :)