Jack's Favorite Superhero

It is not surprising that with the addition of a new baby Jack has shown interest in his stuffed animals.  Jack likes his Dancing Elmo doll, has always cared for Scout (an original favorite since three months old), spends a lot of time with his Clifford the Red Dog doll but his absolute FAVORITE is his Daddy doll.  Jack's Daddy Doll is truly that...a 12 inch replica of his father.  One side shows Carl in a polo and khakis and the other is of Carl in his uniform.  

It has a speaker that when pushed Carl says "Daddy loves you Jack, that's right, I love you very much."  It was something we had made before Carl left in December, and, frankly, something we both thought Jack was too young to understand.  However, when Carl left this last time, Jack began holding this doll, hugging it and even asking to sleep with it.  Up until this point, Jack refused to have anything in his bed (including even a simple blanket).  When he asked, I thought let's see how it goes.  It has been over a month now, and Daddy has slept with Jack EVERY night. Before bed, I take Daddy out of the bed, I kiss the doll and say goodnight to Carl, and then hand him to Jack. Each morning, Jack carefully takes Daddy out of bed, and gently puts him on the side of the crib.  

After we put our Daddy doll down, we proceed to go into the kitchen and get our "juice." Within 20 minutes of starting our morning, I begin to see Jack motion to my phone.  "Daddy"..."Daddy TV"  and my morning of Carl begins...

Carl has taped many videos for Jack.  Some of them are of Jack and Carl before he left in December. Other videos Carl filmed in California for Jack. Most of them are of Carl playing with little trucks, cars and also showing Jack some of the old tanks and trucks at the base.  Jack LOVES these videos.  Not a day goes by without Jack asking for "Daddy TV."  I have posted many of the videos to Youtube so we can watch them on my phone and the computer. When asked, he now actually will pick to watch "Daddy TV" over Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Elmo.  That  is a BIG deal!  Carl is honored to be Jack's favorite superhero.

Believe it or not, these Blue crabs came out of the river in our backyard!

Carl and Jack were so proud that they caught them

Trying to get the crabs out of the trap was very hard work.  Jack was such a big helper, and wanted to spend every moment with Dad working on the crabs.

We couldn't believe how beautiful and large they were!

A true fisherman!

Carl was astonished at how the crabs made so many bubbles. Carl and Jack giggled about that for a while!

So proud of himself!

Enjoying the dinner. They were quite yummy!

After Carl left again, we started packing our schedule with activities to keep us busy.  The week after Carl left we went to Kingsley Lake with some of the Moms and kids from MOPS.  We had a blast!

This is Marley, our neighbor, enjoying lunch and some sun!

Sophie is hanging in the shade!

Elle playing with some beach toys!

Jack enjoying the Lake

Our Sweet Pea

Jack's hair is getting so blonde 

Loving my binky!

We moved Jack's chair into the living room. He loves having his chair in the  living room. He is such a big boy!

Sophie sitting on the floor watching Mommy and Jack play.

It is still debatable what color Sophie's eyes will be...they are still  much lighter than Jack's.  Some days they are blue, other green, and sometimes look hazel

Jack took the breast pump piece and tried to "pump" his belly button and then the swing.  No milk coming out of either one:)

We are so happy that Sophie is healthy again.  At her two month visit, Sophie was in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. Sophie was 23 1/4 inches long and 12lb 12 oz.  Her head circumference was in the 50th percentile.

We went blueberry picking with our neighbors.  

Jack held our pail.  He would eat one, then  pick another and put it in the pail.  It went on like that all day. Needless to say, we had a lot less blueberries than everyone else.

Eating one!

Picking another!

We have two and a half months left before Carl returns. We are keeping ourselves busy with different activities.  Carl sent us some new videos today. Jack, of course, loved them!  I don't know if Jack misses Carl more or if Carl misses him more but I know they are both looking forward to some boy time.