Jack Smiles

We are getting more and more smiles out of Jack these days. He's a happy little boy and quite mellow. He slept through the night for the first time last night -- he went from 9:30 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., so Mama was quite happy. Here are a few of my favorite Jack laughs from the last month.

He is getting bigger and bigger by the day, almost 13 pounds. His two month appointment is today, I'll have to post some of his stats later.

Miles' Third Birthday "Rocketship" Party

I am a bit behind on blogging these days, we've had a busy September. Above are some photos from Miles' 3rd birthday party with his friends. We had it a few weeks after his actual birthday, so he is truly embracing the concept of a "birthday month" (a concept my Uncle Steve has wholeheartedly pioneered!).

Miles selected a space/rocketship theme, and we went with it, from the cake to the favors and games. Aunt Laura drew a beautiful space poster (see second photo above) that we used to play "Pin the Rocketship on the Moon" (a version of pin the tail on the donkey). And Jesse organized a rousing game of "Musical Space Placemats" to the music of Bon Jovi (a version of musical chairs). In the backyard, we also had out Miles' soccer ball pit (thanks Uncle Ken and Aunt Emmy!) and his basketball net. Miles also selected the menu of A&J's hot dogs, mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly and fruit (okay, I added the fruit part). His cake matched the paper goods and was, of course, all vanilla.

There are many more photos, there's a maximum of four that I can post, I will try to email more around later. We had beautiful weather and were so happy that his friends could come over! Miles had a blast, no pun intended.

Miles and Mollie Cookie Playdate

 

This is out of date order, but the photos were so cute, they were worth a belated post.  Miles had his best friend Mollie over for a play date a few weeks ago on a Tuesday afternoon while Mollie's mom was at yoga.  They made cookies, had dinner, ran around like maniacs, and then had a bath.  I thought I would share a few photos from the evening. (Somehow, Miles' head looks enormous in the last photo).  They have such fun together!

Bathtime with Cousin Bella

Miles and his cousin Bella have had a lot of baths together over the years. Bella came over for a visit yesterday and they finished off the evening with a bath. Bella is four and Miles is three in the top photo. I thought it would be fun to compare with an earlier shot of them from a few years ago (Miles was one, Bella was two). I'm sure they will hate me one day for posting these photos...

Grandma Amy Visits

We were lucky to have Grandma Amy in town this weekend (the original Amy Pannoni). She got to meet Jack and hung out with Miles, including a trip to the Paragon for lunch and to the Bostonian (the "big boy" barbershop) for a haircut. Jack was giving her a lot of smiles in the first photo (some of his first!). Miles got a new guitar from Amy and Russ (straight from Hawaii), as well as a cool Hawaiian outfit. Miles had Amy reading lots of books to him at the end of the evening. It was fun having her and hope to introduce Jack to Grandpa Russ when Russ and Amy come back through Seattle in early October!

Miles Turns Three!

Miles had his third birthday yesterday (September 2nd). He has been anticipating this day for months, and he had quite the day. It started with his usual 6:45 a.m. wake up, but instead of handing him the iPod touch and telling him to watch Sesame Street so we could sleep a little more, we gladly got up with him to open presents and have pancakes. [Mean Mama only usually lets him have syrup on Saturdays, because his clothes and hair end up coated in syrup and it is more then I can handle on a regular work/school day!]. We had promised that he could open just a few presents from Mimi and Papa, but he negotiated with us and opened a few from us too. In the first picture up there, he is about to open the present from Lindy and Leroy (legos -- it is amazing how well those dogs can shop).

He then left for school with his bike helmet, as he could finally ride the bike merry-go-round at school. You have to be 3 to ride it and you get to bring your helmet. (see second photo). Mama, Dada, Jack and Donna (Mollie's mom) came to school in the afternoon for cupcakes with his class, along with spiderman plates and napkins, selected by Miles. I think his favorite part was having everyone sing to him. He likes the idea of cupcakes better then the cupcakes themselves. He tends to not eat them, even when we give him his favorite vanilla (he claims to hate chocolate).

The party continued that evening, as Aunt Laura and Uncle Ryan came with us to dinner at Miles' birthday restaurant of choice, Via Tribunali. He consumed an entire salumi platter, pizza, sparkling Italian orange soda, and tiramisu (the kid has good/expensive taste). The third picture is him blowing out candles at the restaurant.

He was so sad at the end of the day that his birthday was over, he lay in bed with his arm over his eyes, muttering, "I can't believe my birthday is over." We assured him that he could continue to play with his presents, and he had a "rocketship birthday party" with some of his friends from school in about a week. That seemed to cheer him up. The last photo is of the Pannoni boys at the conclusion of the big birthday. Stay tuned for photos of his party with his friends from school -- we are having it on 9/13.

On behalf of Miles, thanks to everyone for his birthday wishes yesterday!

Jack -- One Month Old!

Jack was one month old yesterday (August 24th). I cannot believe that much time has passed already, but am grateful that I have three more months at home with him. He's getting big -- 9 pounds or so!