Another Jack Milestone : The Crib is History

From Annaka and Ja...

Today Kristen and I took the crib apart and put together Annaka's old toddler bed for Jack. While Jack has never tried to climb out of his crib, he probably could get out now if he wanted. I am going to miss the crib. A crib is sorta like a safety deposit box. Your child is safe inside and they need you to get them in or out.

Jack was actually pretty excited about going to bed tonight. Who knows? Maybe he realized he was now going to experience some new freedom that would allow him to get out of his bed in the middle of night to go visit his toys downstairs. I guess we will see.

Good Night!

From Annaka and Ja...

Jack's New Big Chair

From Annaka and Ja...

This week was a milestone weekend for Jack. We finally gave him his own big chair (Thanks IKEA) for the table. This is good for him and good for us. No more lifting him up each time for dinner. Now let's eat!

The Birthday Chair

Annaka got a special birthday celebration at dance class last week. She got to sit in the birthday chair.

Last free trip to Table Rock

Annaka and I hiked up Table Rock mountain today. We enjoyed wonderful weather and a clear winter induced sky that enabled one to see for miles on top of the mountain.

Annaka was sorta like Yoda perched on my back for most of the trip. She did hike some on her own, but mostly on the downhill stretch. I have done this trail since my freshman days at Clemson, but this was one involved the most ache. No pain, No gain is what they say right? I did tell Kristen that this was Annaka's last free trip up to the summit. Next time she is going to have to hike it herself.

A is out of Bed

We have been reading to both Annaka and Jack at the same time for the last couple of weeks. Annaka gets to pick out 3 books and we read them on Annaka's bed. Tonight, she really blew me away when we were reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. She stopped me from reading and she finished the entire last page of book perfectly. Wow.

The text from the last page:

A is out of bed,
and this what he said,
Dare double dare,
you can't catch me.
I'll beat you to the top
of the coconut tree
Chicka chicka
BOOM! BOOM!

Ethan's Baptism

From Annaka and Ja...

We had a fun time today celebrating Ethan's baptism in Columbia. Although today was Ethan's day, both Annaka and Jack really did like playing with William, especially in his cool jeep.

From Annaka and Ja...

Happy Birthday Annaka!

From Annaka and Ja...

Annaka celebrated her birthday yesterday. Four years have really flown by.

No work. No School. All Play : Snow Day 2007

We don't get much snow so when it does snow its pretty special. Today, we had a couple of inches of snow which was enough to shutdown the entire Upstate.

No work. No School. All Play. We explored the outside this morning. I don't think Jack had ever seen any snow.