Holiday Messages

Jack wants to wish all of you a wonderful holiday!

Wonderland Express

We took Jack to the Botanical Gardens last night to see the Wonderland Express, a huge train exhibit with Chicago landmarks. Jack was so excited that he kept asking for the choo-choo's all day. When we got there, he insisted on holding Nana and Papa's hands.The first exhibit was a gingerbread village with a train and as Jack walked up he was in such amazement all he could muster was "WOW!" In this picture he is trying to get a picture of his Rudolph shirt from Nana and Papa that actually lights up!
Jack LOVED it all!
It really was incredible. they constructed the skyline of Chicago!

Too Much of a Good Thing!

Mommy didn't plan things out very well last week when she scheduled cookie decorating at our house on the same day as Jack's school holiday party. Jack and his friends decorated, i.e. ate spoonfuls of frosting, in the morning.
In the afternoon, Jack ate powdered sugar cookies and cupcakes...

In the evening, he projectile vomited all over the kitchen!!! Mommy gets the "Mother of the Year" award!

Zoo Lights!

We took Jack to Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo again this year and he loved it! The zoo does such an amazing job covering every tree and the kids are truly amazed.
This was the first year that Jack was able to ride the choo-choo all by himself and he was so excited. Mommy and Daddy couldn't get over how grown-up (and cute!) he looked going around the track with all the other big kids.
Of course Jack insisted on getting a picture in front of the cow!
And we couldn't leave without a picture in front of Frosty the Snowman!

Hot Coc-@#&$

Jack has discovered a new snack that he loves--hot chocolate! The funny part is that he can't really say it correctly and ends of swearing every time he tries to say "hot chocolate". See for yourself...

Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah FINALLY Come to Chicago!

Jack's Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah finally made it to Chicago for a visit, and Jack had the best time. He really loves them (and it has nothing to do with the fact that they came bearing gifts like these maracas)!Jack and Uncle Mark were best buddies all weekend long, probably because Uncle Mark is so goofy and played with Jack's toys too!
Jack loves his Aunt Sarah too. She gives the best hugs :)
Jack was sad when they left and kept asking for them. Yesterday I asked Jack who was coming over to play because his friends were coming for cookie decorating (more on that later!) and he responded, "Mark and Sarah!" When I told him they weren't coming over he got a very sad face and said, "why Mommy?" Guess we'll have to go to New York very soon!

A New Baby!!!

With 4 feet, that is! This our new puppy Wrigley. She is a goldendoodle (golden retriever poodle mix) and she is super sweet.She is fitting into our family quite well and Jack and Milo are adjusting to having a little sister. They both think they are in charge but what neither of them realizes is that Wrigley will grow to be 55 pounds!!!
Jack calls her "Rilly" and he absolutely loves her.
She is a great addition to our family but Mommy and Daddy definitely feel like they have 3 small children right now!

The Future Mr. and Mrs.

When we were in Virginia, we FINALLY met Jack's future wife Maya Grace. She is the daughter of one of Mommy and Daddy's friends from high school and Jack was smitten. I mean how could you not love this face?At first Maya was not quite sure what do with Jack's obvious feelings....
but she eventually came around and the love grew!
After all that hugging there was nothing left to do but DANCE!!!

*Note--notice how much taller Jack is than Maya. Maya is only 4 months younger that Jack but because Jack is super duper tall, he kind of towers over her :)

The Next Tommy Lee...

Jack loves music, especially if he is the one making it. He frequently takes a pan and wooden spoon to make his own drum and proceeds to march throughout the house saying "March one two, march one two".

A few weeks ago we went to Pottery Barn Kids and Jack discovered the love of his life...a full child-sized drum set. He quickly sat down and picked up 2 pencils from the desk next to him and started banging on that set as if he'd been doing his whole life (all 27 months of it). He even knew how to use the pedal and to bang on the cymbal. Mommy and Daddy literally had to pry him off of it.

Mommy really thinks Daddy should convince a certain man in red to bring the drum set on Christmas morning but Daddy says that's just asking for trouble!

Thanksgiving

Sorry it took us so long to get these blog entries in. As you will see over the next few entries, things in Casa Spillman have been CRAZY!

We spent Thanksgiving in Charlottesville with Nana, Papa, Uncle Dwayne, Aunt Tricia and Chyann. Chyann is one of Jack's favorite people and when we are in Chicago he talks about her everyday. She will be in 5 in January yet they play like they are the same age and get along so well. Jack really looks up to her and wants to do whatever she is doing and she is so sweet and patient with him.

Daddy and Mommy have been wondering lately why we continue to spend money on toys because it is very obvious that all kids need for a fun time is a hardwood floor! Here Jack and Chyann are taking turns pushing each other across the floors at Nana's. As you can see, Chyann didn't move very far!While we were watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Jack and Chyann decided they wanted to play with makeup. Jack had never done this before and he was super excited to be pampered!
This is what happens when you let a 4 year old and 2 year old (and Aunt Tricia!) play with makeup...
Before dinner we took some time to take some family pictures. Unfortunately Nana and Papa were preoccupied so they didn't make it into any of them but here is a great one of the Mullins family.
Jack refused to look at the camera because Chyann was outside too so I don't think its frameable :(

Magnificent Mile Lights Festival

Sorry for being MIA the past few weeks. We have been super duper busy including a week-long trip back to Virginia , but we are back and have lots to catch up on!

Right before we left for Virginia, we took Jack to the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival which included a huge parade sponsored by Disney and a big fireworks display. There were over a million people there (think a smaller version of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade) and we were about 40 people deep...However, thanks to Daddy being super tall (6 ft 3 inches to be exact!) Jack had the best view around!
He loved every minute of it!

He's learning so much (kind of )...

Jack really loves his school and he is learning so much. On a daily basis I am amazed at what he is picking up and new concepts that he is grasping. He pretends all the time and his new favorite activities are pretending to walk on the moon and marching on beat throughout the house. He can even count to 8...sort of. We discovered that Jack really has something against multiples of 3. He counts like this---1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8. He NEVER EVER says 3 or 6. Its not that he can't say them, he just refuses. He also can't count higher than 8 so if he is counting something that has more than that, he counts like this---1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 7, 8, 7, 8. We were driving through a parking garage the other day and Jack decided to count the cars. I think he said "7, 8" approximately 100 times!!!

Remember when...

your baby would sleep anywhere at any time? Man, do I miss those days!
Jack is normally a GREAT sleeper and has been on a very good schedule for over a year. He goes to bed at 7:30pm, sleeps until 7 or 7:30am without ever waking up, and then takes a 2 hour nap EVERY day at 1pm. Well apparently Jack has decided that he doesn't like that schedule anymore and he is doing everything in his power to change it. How do I know he doesn't like it? Well for starters, he says "I don't like it. I don't like bed" whenever we talk about going night-night. An even bigger indication is that he has REFUSED to take a nap all week, despite being extremely tired. His teachers at preschool told me that on both Monday and Wednesday he was dancing during nap time, playing with diapers on the changing table, hiding under his blankie, and trying to wake up the other sleeping kids in his class. He did this for 2 whole hours. On Tuesday, I put him in his crib at 1pm, just like every other day, but he played in there for 2 hours--doing somersaults, head stands, and jumping like a frog. Today he did the same thing for 2 hours and right before I was getting ready to go in and get him, he decided to fall asleep!!

Of course because he isn't getting all the sleep he needs, he is cranky and can't handle any situation that doesn't go his way. He threw a 15 minute fit the other night because Daddy had the audacity to try to take his coat off. Then the very next morning he threw another 15 minute fit because we were so brazen as to think that he should put his coat on! I'm telling you, I will be completely gray before my next birthday!!!

We're Ready...

for winter!Jack kind of dressed himself, at least the accessories. He insisted on wearing his winter hat and his new Lightning McQueen rain boots!

Cooking!

Mischievous Mister Jack has struck again! He decided to "cook" in the kitchen using Milo's dog food and water. He poured all the dog food into a mixing bowl then took another mixing bowl and poured Milo's water into it. Next he took a handful of food and put it in the water and then used an oven mit to stir.
At least he helped clean up...

Roll...Tide!

This one's just for Grandpa Ed and Great Grandmother Martha :)

His Future Career

Jack got a hold of our camera last week and he wouldn't let go! Here is a small sampling of his masterpieces.

Practicing his art...

Its a Love/Hate Relationship

Normally Milo and Jack are the best of friends. Seriously, its quite the love affair. Most days, this is how they are:

Today though, that was not so much the case. We ran errands this morning which included a trip to Petco to buy Milo some dog food. While we were there, we let Jack pick out a new toy for Milo. Jack picked out a cute yellow dog chew toy but unfortunately he fell in love with it and wasn't too keen on the idea of sharing it with Milo. Milo on the other hand was definitely in the mood for sharing.
This did NOT make Jack happy...

The Kid With the Iron Mask!

Ready to hand out candy!

Even though there was a community organized trick-or-treating, we still got a lot of trick-or-treaters at our house (good thing Mommy bought a lot of candy!). Jack was so excited to help out!

Trick or Treat!

Jack discovered that he loves trick or treating and despite not taking a nap, he was in a fantastic mood. On the way to trick or treating Daddy taught Jack a new trick--turn your banana treat bag into hat!
Trick-or-treating in the big city is a little different than how Mommy and Daddy did it growing up in Virginia Beach. Here all the neighborhood stores and restaurants open their doors and the employees dress up to hand out candy. It is truly a unique and memorable thing to experience.

Jack got a TON of candy (much to Mommy and Daddy's happiness) and Jack was ecstatic that he made out with so many lollipops (his favorite). He definitely couldn't wait until he got home and actually was on his 4th or 5th by the time we made it there!