Guess where we went yesterday? Yep, back to the zoo. It had been 9 days since our last visit, and you would have thought it was 8 years. Jack was so excited on the way there he never stopped talking. And when Nick came for a visit yesterday afternoon, Jack walked right up to him and said “Zoo, animals, rhino, baboon.” While this isn’t exactly a sentence, it conveyed the message and for once I didn’t have to translate.

I took a few pictures just for fun. These next two are of the tortoises. Jack refuses to recognize them as anything other than turtles. I stood there explaining to him that turtles live in the water and these – the tortoises – live on land. He listened patiently, pointed back at the exhibit and shouted “turtles!” Some of the other moms were looking at me like I was crazy. I don’t care really. My child can differentiate an orangutan from a baboon from a monkey. I am proud of him.

On to the photos. Even though he called it a turtle, he still was able to point out that it was heavy.

























And in this picture he had just finished counting all five tortoises and then saying “Ah ah ah” like the Count on Sesame Street:
























Mostly he liked climbing on the fence though:

















We moved on to the capybara, one of my favorite animals. It is the world’s largest rodent, and has been relegated to the old alligator swamp. Their used to be an entire heard of capybara, but we only saw this one. Jack pointed out that he was sleepy:

























I tried very hard to get a good picture of the baby orangutan, but this was the best shot I got:


















He loves these animals and spends quite a bit of time pointing at them and saying “tay-tang” at the top of his little voice.

By the time we got to the zebra, Jack had figured out an inventive new way to view animals:




















This is fortunate for me, because holding him up has gotten more difficult.

Thank you all for your kind comments about my enormous belly. I’m starting to feel like a beached whale and I still have seven weeks to go!

Jack came down with pink eye this past weekend, and he and Joe have been passing it back and forth between them. Now Joe has the flu and I’m afraid he’s going to pass that around the house as well. Guido (the dog) hurt his leg. My only ailment is being 30 weeks pregnant, not getting enough sleep, and the general malaise involved with my condition. Hopefully everyone else will improve soon so I can get some rest.

Until then, here is the only good picture I’ve taken lately.















We are storing a piano as a favor for my mom, and Jack loves it. Sometimes he wants someone to sit with him and play, and sometimes he wants to be alone. I think he may be the next Beethoven.

And just because Mia asked, and her dad was brave enough to be shown on her blog with a shiny pink satin snuggly, here is the latest picture of my belly:


























That’s with our friend Nick on his birthday, so the belly is actually a few weeks bigger by now. Hopefully I can get a better shot soon.

And please note the new header, brought to you by my brother. Isn't it cool?

For an almost-two-year old boy who is obsessed with zoo animals, you just can’t get enough time at your favorite place. Yes, we went back to the zoo this week, and yes, he loved it just as much as the first time. I swear I have heard the word “Baboon” at least 5000 times, as Jack relates to me how much he adores this weird and sometimes scary animal.

Here you can see the large male Baboon approaching the glass.















A few seconds later he put his face right next to Jack and scared the sound right out of him. I didn’t get a photo because I was laughing too hard. He came back for another look, and of course for an opportunity to smile for the camera:















On that particular day I learned why so few of Jack’s clothes are white. He was filthy. I took him to the store and was embarrassed at the way he looked – almost as if I told him to use his shirt to wipe off his face all day long.

Another day this week we visited a local park. It is on the way home from his school, and since the weather is cooling off we spend as much time outside as we can. Here he was watching a bunch of older children play tag.















He tried to go join in:















But a little girl ended up knocking him over. He decided from then on to watch the fun from afar. He found a safe place out of their way to hang out:




























Today was quite a day for both of us. I took Jack to school this morning a little later than normal, and by noon I got a call that his allergies were bothering him again. His eyes were itchy and he was crying. By the time I got there, however, he was asleep. Looking back I should have just left him asleep and gotten him after his nap, but I thought I could get him to the car without waking him up.

Unfortunately, if he falls asleep even a tiny bit it completely ruins his napping. And his schedule is pretty much set now – he falls asleep at noon and gets up at two, and there’s no arguing with him. So he woke up when we got to the car, and wasn’t in any mood to go back to sleep. But he was so tired he didn’t know what to do with himself at home. So I dragged him off to the library, where at least he could run around and be distracted.

He started with the phone bank. I think the idea is that the kid sits here and listens to someone read a book, but usually Jack just picks up the phone and pretends like he’s having a conversation with the lady on the other end.















Then he went to play outside, and spent some time going in and out of this door:

























There are many rules at the kid’s library, fortunately opening and closing the door repeatedly is not forbidden.

Next he found a chair that was just his height and surveyed the scene. I think he looks so grown up here:















Just like his mom, he’s learning to multi-task. He’s got a book in one hand and a pen in the other.















It was a long day for both of us. Without a nap he was quite edgy – the smallest inconvenience would set him off. Luckily my parents stopped by and entertained us both for a while, or we may not have made it through the day.

The good news is he went to bed at seven. This is the earliest he has been to bed in weeks – typically we haven’t been able to get him to sleep before nine or so, which is far later than Dr. Weissbluth suggests.

Tomorrow he goes to visit Grandma Gloria and Grandpa Tom and of course Blondi. Joe and I will be resting in our quiet house. Too bad we can’t send the dogs away too!

We brought this box home from Costco last week and it has been a source of great entertainment for Jack. He especially likes to stand in it when he’s eating dinner. Here he is just out of the bath, taking a few minutes to play before he gets into bed:





















































It’s always funny to me when kids are surrounded by fancy toys that light up and sing, and yet it seems the favorite things are quite simple. Currently he is playing with a rock and an empty toothpaste box.

Today we went shopping for pumpkins at the Ranch Market, a local Latino grocery store that had a great selection last year. This year the selection was smaller but we had fun shopping anyway. If you recall, last year we took this photo of an almost-one-year-old Jack with his first Halloween pumpkin:


















This year we took a few extra shots of him posing with the pumpkin:















Here I told him to smile:















And finally, he tries to pick up the pumpkin, remarking that it is heavy:














We don't have many plans this week - the bigger I get the less we can do by ourselves. We are getting ready for the new baby, who will be here exactly 2 months from today. Hopefully we can figure out how to reassemble the crib!

As promised, here are pictures of two days Jack recently spent at the park:





















































































And our day today at the zoo was quite a success. The entire way there Jack was describing the animals he would see. When we pulled up in the parking lot he started to clap. I guess the zoo is a hit with him.

Here he is posing with his favorite animal:






























I couldn’t pick just one – they were both too cute. From there we visited the baboon exhibit. Jack and Ms. Baboon regarded one another for quite some time:















But Jack kept looking back at me to be certain I was watching what he was doing:














It’s hard to see in this picture, but there is a baby orangutan at the top of the screen. She is about nine months old, and this is the first time we’ve seen her playing by herself. Jack was enthralled. Here he is turning around to say “bay-beeee” to me, just so he can be sure I see the baby:































We visited the play area where Jack donned a swimsuit and then refused to go in the water. He also refused to go down the slide, although he insisted on climbing to the top repeatedly:


























He finally started to get tired, signaling the end of our visit:

More than one person has mentioned a level of disappointment in the infrequency of the Jack blog. I will admit it has gotten significantly more difficult to keep up-to-date. Joe suggested that I just post pictures without text, because that would be quicker. But honestly the writing part doesn’t take all that much time, and for me it is the way I can go back and look at what was going on at a particular time. Although I keep this blog updated so people can see what the little guy is up to, I also keep it as my own personal record of what is happening. So for now, there will still be words along with my photos.

As promised, here are some pictures of a recent visit to the zoo:













































































These were taken on the 23rd of September and we have been back to the zoo twice since then. We will be going again tomorrow. Jack has become obsessed with the zoo and the animals that live there. The giraffe and the rhino seem to be on top of the list of names he likes to say repeatedly. He still doesn’t speak in sentences, but when he says “Nine-oh” to a stranger I think he really means “Hey dude, I saw a cool rhino at the zoo the other day. You should check it out.”

We have also spent quite a bit of time outdoors playing in various water features around the valley. This one in Tempe is unfortunately now closed for the “winter”. Someone forgot to tell them that it is still pushing the 90s here.






























Of course, Jack had to take a break for a small snack. Running around in the sun can be tiring:


















Recently Jack has spent quite a bit of time visiting my parents. My dad’s camera is much fancier than mine, and I feel like his pictures always come out better. Here is Jack hanging out on the back patio:



























They are teaching him how to blow out candles so he will be ready for his birthday party.























































On another visit he was indulged with blackberries.



























And, of course, required a good cleaning afterwards:














This is a favorite of mine. Jack is obsessed with hammering, and my dad owns 14 hammers. Here he gave one to Jack along with a piece of wood.














Is he angry? Is he yelling? Nope. He’s just about to sneeze.

The next batch of pictures is already uploaded, so my next post should be forthcoming more quickly.

On the new baby front, I am in my final trimester. Only 67 days left until Mr. Yet-to-be-named arrives in the outside world. (In case you don’t want to do the math, that’s December 15th.) The crib is still in pieces, the dresser has not been organized, and our new house still looks like we moved in yesterday. Hopefully we will get our act together in the next month or so!