Jack's picks

With a newborn in the house, sadly, I sometimes feel Jack is a little neglected. He's been acting up lately: lots of time-outs and losses of patience on my part! A post only about my boy is sorely needed. Thus, I've put together a picture blog of his current favorite things.

Jack has a cr-razy imagination. Sometimes I can't believe the things he comes up with. Today, he put together his own little vehicle, complete with steering wheel, saying he was going to Carson City:

Our latest library find. He memorized it in a day. Which isn't surprising, since we probably read it a couple dozen times that day.

Ooooh! JELL-O Jigglers! I'd forgotten how much fun these are!

Jack is allll about the Lincoln Logs. Unfortunately, the parts inevitably end up strewn across the floor. And he's not quite skilled at the actual construction part, preferring to have his mom or dad build a barn or house for him. We'll get there.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Pat!

It's Grandma Pat's birthday today... 85 years young! The forever-busy matriarch of the Marshall family was born 50 years (and about two weeks) before Brian. Here she is with Jack and Kate this past July in New Mexico.

Our home away from home

This morning, we are the proud new owners of a 25-foot travel trailer! OK, well, the bank technically owns it... but it'll be all ours in three short years! We are excited to use it on all our road trips, as well as to offer it to our visitors as a place to rest their weary heads.

Welcome, baby cousin!

Kate is no longer the youngest in the Gibler family. Loie Elsa May was born to my brother Ryan and his wife Marisa yesterday. They had a home delivery, and everything went well. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces, and was 20 inches long. Big brother Avi looks so proud!

Two-month check

At two months old, Kate has been described using a variety of metaphors: Houdini because of her escape-artist tendencies; Elvis when she curls one side of her lips into a smile; a football when she's swaddled tight; and a popsicle when her two pudged legs emerge from the bottom of her swaddler (which they always do).
At her two-month checkup today, Kate endured a round of vaccinations, which made her bawl. It took awhile to console her, which reinforces my mom's opinion that Kate is more of the "poor-me" school of criers, like I was. She's following her brother's pattern--and the pattern of most other breast-fed babies, I've heard: they start out BIG! Here are the stats:

11 pounds, 4 ounces (73rd percentile)
22.5 inches long (50th percentile)
...and 15 inches for the head (47th percentile)

The test

Today is Day One. Today, for pretty much the first time, I am left alone all day with two children. No husband to help, no grandparents, no aunts or uncles or cousins or friends. I've had it easy the past two months since Kate was born. Now is the true test. Can I handle two kids on my own? Will I survive the blocks strewn across the living room, the whining and crying and timeouts upon timeouts, the messy feeding sessions, the constant changing of diapers? Time will tell...