The Nutcracker!!

Our friend Mike is one of the physical therapists for the KC Ballet, so he got us tickets to The Nutcracker!

It was awesome!!! I sat very still through just about the whole 2 hours (I was a little wiggly at the end).

I really loved the music. I even got to go to the pit and talk to the musicians. The huge organ was my favorite, but the viola players were the friendliest.

Will I be a ballet dancer?--most likely not. But all the dancing and costumes and music sure were fun!

My 1st Polar Express

Preschool has a holiday program every year called "The Polar Express."

Each class gets to dress up and get on stage to sing a few songs.

Today was my first time with all this...

I wasn't so sure at first.

Here's my whole class and my teacher, Miss Rebecca.

I hid in the back for a while.

(I'm the third one in from the left, behind the girl in red and boy in green.)

But before long, I warmed up to the whole thing.

Several kids cried, but I just clapped along.

We "sang" Rudolph and Jingle Bells.

Hey, this is kinda fun!

Mom and Dad both came to see my first performance.

And Grandma came too!

After all that work, we had a pajama party in my room.

Oh, and did I mention there were treats?

It was really fun.

Can we have a Christmas Party every day?

(Check out my video too...)

Polar Express 2009--The Video

Mom's first attempt at compiling a video (LOVE the Mac)...enjoy!

(If you are viewing this in an email, click on the title and you will be taken to the video.)

"Christmas Park"

Tonight after dinner, we went to visit Christmas in the Park (or as I like to call it "Christmas Park") to see all the lights.

We went last year too, but I don't remember.

I got all dressed in my PJ's...

And we loaded into the truck!

This isn't the best picture, but you get the gist. LOTS of LIGHTS!

EVERYWHERE!

There were snowmen and elves waving, kids sledding down the hill, birds flying, carolers caroling...

And a TRAIN!!!

Needless to say, I was beyond excited.

When can we go back to Christmas Park???

A brief note from Mom:

I have to share how much fun the Christmas season has been thus far now that Jack is old enough to understand a little bit about what is going on. Seeing the joy and awe on his face whether it was when we went to my Christmas party and met Santa, had dinner on the Plaza and walked around to see the lights, or tonight at Christmas in the Park--it is something you can't explain. Christmas has definitely taken on a new meaning this year, enjoying for the first time through Jack's eyes. I hope the holiday season is as memorable for all of you!

My first Rudolph

We don't watch much TV at our house, so today when Mom and Dad suggested we watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Dad's favorite Christmas movie), I was more than a little excited...

As you can see from the picture, I was mesmerized!

Talkin' with Santa

Today was Mom's Christmas party. It was really fun. We ate lunch, made pipe-cleaner wreaths and candy cane reindeer, saw a magic show, picked out some new books, and then...I met with Santa! It didn't go very well last year (there was a lot of crying and a great picture of me screaming), but this year went great. I sat on his lap, we talked about trains, and he even said "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!" with me! I told him I've been good, so here's hoping I get everything I asked for!

Poopin' in the potty

WARNING: This may be TMI. Read at your own risk.

Well, this post is exactly what it says. Miss Rebecca at preschool asked us to start potty training last week since Jack is ready to move to the next class but can't be in diapers to go. Much to Mom and Dad's reluctance (isn't he too young??), we started yesterday. 1 accident yesterday--not too bad. 2 this evening. But, the day was totally saved when he went #2 for the first time ever in the potty (well, actually the second; there was a small occurrence at Grandma's today). Yea, Jack! Here's hoping this actually works!

Christmas at the library

We've been doing lots of great Christmas stuff lately.

We went to the Plaza and saw the lights. We decorated the tree. I'm learning lots of Christmas carols (Jingle Bells is my favorite).

And tonight, we went to a Christmas party at the library!

Mr. Stinky Feet was singing.

I wasn't so sure about it at first, but before long, I was clapping my hands...

And then I was up on my feet dancing away.

Pretty fun!

Then, when we were leaving, it was SNOWING!

Daddy and I tried to catch them in our mouths and in our hands.

Fun night!

By the light of the tree

We decorated the Christmas tree tonight.

It made for some nice ambiance to play with my trains.

Something is missing...

Here's the Nativity scene.

The shepherd is missing all his animal and appears to be looking for them.

Oh look! They are all on the parking garage ramp.

Jack thought they needed to go for a ride.

(He set all of this up. It was too funny not to share.)

Trains with Grandma J and Papa Mike!

Grandma and Papa came over this morning to take me to Union Station to see the trains.

How cool!

Here's me and Grandma, in front of the exhibit.

Papa and me posing with the reindeer.

There was even a train you could RIDE!!!

Papa held me up high so I could see all the action.

Then we went outside and guess what?

There were MORE TRAINS!

They went underneath the bridge we were standing on!

As if the trains weren't enough, then we went to McDonald's for lunch.

I had nuggets and fries, my favorite!

Thanks Grandma and Papa! I haven't stopped talking about it yet!

Jackism-Worm

I have a new friend. His name is Worm. He is a beanie-baby that Mom got in a Happy Meal a long time ago.

I really like to show Worm all the wonderous things I see. Conversations typically go like this:
"Look Worm! Christmas lights. RED Christmas lights. On the house."
Then I hold him up so he can see the lights on our house.

I tell him about things out the car window too:
"Look Worm, cows!. Milk come from cows."
"No train today, Worm." (as we go under the empty train bridge.)
"Worm like craisins. Worm have drink-a milk." (as I share my snack with him--I actually try to feed him.)
"Where raisins come from, Worm? From grapes! Did-you-know-that, Worm?"

Worm is really very smart. He usually already knows everything I tell him. Or at least he always seems to answer "Yep" when I ask if he knew that.

He's a pretty good companion. He sits on the counter and watches me eat. I put my feet on the table and then put them down and explain to Worm "No feet on table. Good manners, Worm." He watches me take a bath too. And I put him safely in Leo the Lion's arms when I sleep.

"I love Worm. Know that, Mama?" Yep.

My new tent

Mom and Dad got me a sleeping bag and tent for my birthday.

Tonight, we decided it was time to check them out.

First, I checked out the sleeping bag.

It's pretty comfy!

And it has LIGHTNING on it!

Then, it was time for the tent.

Did I mention it also has tunnels?

The excitement over the tent and tunnels is really not captured very well by the pictures.

There was much screeching, laughing, and crawling through the tunnels.

Mom and Dad have it on video too (if they can only figure out how to upload it).

I had to pause for a rest.

WAAAAY cool!

MORE CAKE!

Today was my real birthday.

You know what that means?

MORE CAKE!

I even got to blow out the candles one more time.

After a rousing song of "Happy Bird-day to me,"
Dad helped me blow them out.

Can you believe I'm already 2???

My 2nd Birthday Party!

My second birthday party was today.

It was WAY fun!

There were balloons and presents and candles and CAKE!!!

I LOVE CAKE!
Check out my birthday cake. I got to pick what kind of cake I would have, and I chose a train cake. A THOMAS train cake.

Amber made it for me.

Here is the other cake. For those who don't want all the icing.

All my favorite people were there.

Grandma P and Papa Kim, Aunt Mandy, Ashley, cousin Tim, Mikayla,

Papa Mike...

Uncle Pat, Aunt Kathy, Great Grandpa and Grandma Sweeney...

Amber (and Mike), Brad...

Austin, Uncle Adam, Grandma J, and Aunt Michelle.

After some dinner (my favorites--pizza and cheese dip with chips),

it was time for presents!

I REALLY liked the cards that played music!!!

They were almost as good as the gifts!

I got this really great train set from Grandma J and Papa Mike. Michelle and Adam thought it was so great, I actually got 2 of them!

There was even a working "ding-ding" train sign!

Aunt Mandy gave me the world's largest bag FILLED with Crayola stuff...

I almost got lost in the bag! There were markers, paints, chalk, coloring books...lots of stuff!

Mom and Dad got me this great stool for brushing my teeth!

Then, it was time for CAKE!!!

Mom helped me blow out the candles.

Then, it was time to dig in!

I used my fork the whole time, but I still managed to get icing everywhere.

The cake was so good, I didn't even notice everyone had left!

Grandma and Papa stuck around and helped me put together my train set.
It was waaaay cool!

Thanks everybody!!!

Hiding from the bath

It's not that I don't want to get in the bath.

It's that I love to play Hide-and-Seek.

This is a new part to my bedtime routine.

We come upstairs and I immediately dart off into Mom and Dad's room.

Tonight, I was buried in the closet.

Then, once they get all my clothes off, I run off again to my favorite spot...

under the desk.

Found me!