After a slight time out we are back.  It's been a long time unless you view it in historic trems in which case it's not even a blip on the radar screen of history.

ABCD......

Our first video with new camera from Aunt Patty. We love Aunt Patty.

Happy Birthday..

They say William Baker was one year old last month. I think he had a great time at his birthday party. Papa would write more about the event but he's been waiting so long for the picture he can't remember what happened.

I think there were about 90,000 people at the party and lots of Papa water being consumed. Wait... that was the Auburn Florida game in 1968--Auburn lost-- and it was Aunt Caroline's birthday.

Judging by the picture above maybe there was a hold-up during the party? No..I'd remember losing money. Then again maybe I didn't have any money left to lose. I think we did have one of Mimi's famous vanilla cakes?

One thing for sure, there was plenty of plastic in the form of toys floating around and some arguments as to who owned what toy. Okay, that was just a guess based on plastic being ankle high around this place. Lucky that no one fell over a stray toy and broke their neck; I would have remembered that. Then again maybe I fell on my head and this is why I can't remember?

Maybe we'll have the Easter Pictures in time for 4th of July? No rush, I've also forgotten Easter.

Miracle...

In Jack's bed without fussing.

Two step, three step.. four step MORE

We posted on December 4th that Baby Baker was scrawling. Well, now days he is walking around with that big old smile on his face. We started out with the two step and pushing around toys to mostly walking in about 10 days.

He is a happy boy unless he is hungry, needs a change or very tired.

Eat? Did somebody say eat? This kid beat all in that department. We're afraid he is going to pop. We feed him everything that the adults eat and hasn't had a reject yet-- there was some stringy avocado that papa tried to pawn off that no one would eat.

Our first word was Mama which is more like ma ma ma ma ma..you get the idea. We're also doing a lot of ah ah ah ah; sometimes as part of a trio with Jack and Papa.

Papa reported on Facebook that he sometimes uses the nick name Wee Willie Wallace for Baker. There were some comments that maybe he would want to loose that before to long. Not to worry, his teachers a school call him Bulldozer. Our boy moves along till he hits an obstacle then puts his head down, start grunting and keeps on pushing. I've seen him crawl right over Jack doing this little trick. It's hard to get mad at him because he keeps on smiling.

Mamoo Baker would be proud of Bulldozer with that big toothy smile and red hair. He's a real Irish throw back and would have fit in great with the MacMurphys 150 years ago.

First snow..

On Saturday Jack saw is first snow which was also the first one in Charleston in about 10 years. We walked around the neighborhood at about 9:00 PM while it was snowing. The next morning Uncle Clark came over and we built a snowman. After it was finished Jack used Frosty as a tackling dummy and Papa ate the nose. Baker didn't seem impressed with any of these activities.

Mr. Doo

Jack is in the know it all stage and will argue with a rock. You can say he is a real little man and he'll say, "NO! Jack, not a man, Jack is a boy." No amount of explaining will change his mind. It's not a argument we care to win because he is so cute and such a great little guy otherwise. Besides, he might as well win some now because it'll get harder in a few years.

All statements these days are ended by okay. He might say, "Jack want-a go outside, OKAY Mimi, OKAY Mimi, OKAY?" He'll keep saying okay until you say okay or pursue him into another course of action. Let me point out that if you hear something said enough times you'll start saying the same thing....Jack's okays have invaded all our speech patterns, OKAY? OKAY!

Do all kids know more these days? For a three year old Jack does some fairly complex thinking. We don't watch DVDs on school nights so he'll ask the day of the week to see if a little tube time is in order. He is always making jokes like putting Mimi in time-out, calling Papa a purple monkey or telling his mom she is hurting his peanut when she picks him up. He works the deal; it's not enough to get a treat anymore you have to negotiate the amount. Trust me, a half cookie treat doesn't get off the ground around here these days.

Jack likes to be called Scooby-doo. Papa will sometimes calls him Mr. Doo which is against Jack's policy. In a few years when Jack can read this blog Papa will be in trouble.

"Momma Momma look, I pee pee IN the big potty... oh, I pee pee ON the big potty!"

Jack, what is the meaning of life? "Mimi."

Hard day around the house...

When I run, I run fast.

When I play, I play hard.

When I eat, I eat big.

AND

When I stop, I fall asleep.

Our little guy is growing up in a hurry. He's into EVERYTHING these days...turn your back for a nano second and he has open the refrigerator or headed up the stairs.

Aunt Anne stays busy in the afternoons after school running after him, putting him down for a nap and feeding him--aside from pestering Jack eating is his favorite activity. He helps push the highchair out of the kitchen after his meal and picks up choos off the seat to eat while pushing.

His first word was Ma Ma which he repeats a lot when he is playing or otherwise happy. He likes to play with the magnets on the frig, which he takes off and puts back on again and I'm amazed he understands which side will stick.

His hair has a red tint which maybe a little of the Red Irish from Jennifer's Grandmother Baker.

It makes Jack mad when Baker tries to crawl over him on a way to get a toy but no matter the fuss he just lowers his head and bulls his way forward. Papa tells Jack that payback is hell.

Christmas Picture for 2009

We have lift off....

Wee Willie Wallace commomly know as Baker

One day he is laying there, the next day he is crawling around, the day after he is standing and a few days later he is pushing a baby chair around the house. Bad Boy Baby Baker is becoming a little man.

Best of all, at least from his perspective, he is driving his brother crazy. He grabs Jack's hair, won't let go and just giggles. Papa, under his breath so Mimi won't hear, "Pay back is hell!"

In early November Papa's sister Jan visited with her daughter Stella, Grandma Wallace and Stella's 13 month old son Rustin. We had one crawling, one running around into everything and two, a 3 year old and 85 year old, who wouldn't stop talking. Time for some Papa water!

When Mom went to Cape Canaveral to report the space shuttle launch for her Citadel Magazine, Mimi and Papa HAD to babysit. Both boys had been healthy until that point waiting on the opportunity to scare the old folks. Which they did..whatever happen to paregoric?

This kid can eat.

Funny Boy

Jack is growing up in a hurry. He's loads of fun to be around and keeps a smile on our face. When he wants us to do something--which is almost all the time--he calls his groupies "You Guys." He gets his way as follows: 1. with Mimi 100% of the time, 2. with Papa 90% of the time, 3. with Mom 60% of the time and 4. with Baby Baker 0% of the time.

One day Papa picked up a DVD at the library with cartoon Polar Bears and was excited about watching it with Jack. Jack asked if it had trains, trucks or cars in it? Since it didn't he reckoned he just watch Thomas the Train. The kids love all things mechanical.

Papa's sister's boy Cousin Travis, who is in Navy School at Charleston Navy Base, stayed with us Thanksgiving. He and Jack had a great visit. Everyone stayed up late watching "Ice Age" and we had a wonderful turkey dinner at Mimi's house. Travis had a look of relief by the time I dropped him back off in N. Charleston to be with his buddies.

The picture was taken at New Beginnings church school were Jack and his classmates did a Christmas program. Jennifer and Dolly gave it great reviews; Papa hung out at the house with BB. Papa and Baker did get several previews of Jingle Bells before the big night.

Poop Party has been a roller coaster ride. Everyone says it's a three year old thing. Papa is buying stock in a diaper company.

We've all had the Kiddy Cold which doesn't seem to go away this time of year but no major medical problems this fall. Keep your fingers crossed.

Shades of the future..

Playmates

Halloween 2009

Big Boy Bodacious Beautiful Baby Baker is a Wee Willie Wallace who has a winning smile. He smiles more than any kid I've ever seen but he also can be a bad baby. He loves the left hip. Baker has been crawling for about 10 days and doing 3 point setting for over a week-- which is fanny in a setting position using one hand as support. On Halloween he sat straight up for the first time. Then today he pulled up and was standing all by himself when I picked he up

from school.

In the mean time Jack has entered the world of three year olds. He is a great little guy except when he is tired which is when he does his best Aunt Caroline imitation. Every day we have one of those 'out of the mouth of children stories'. The other day we went down the street to see our friend Clark who loves to shop. Jack said, "Clark's car is gone, Clark not home." When I said he was a work Jack corrected me by saying, "Clark not at work, he at Costco!" He was probably right.

Jack can spell Jack, car, go, Wallace, boy, baby and a few more I can't remember.

Halloween was a big day. We went to a well attended neighborhood party over on Stocker Drive. All the kids wore their costumes along with a few of the adults--Papa thought the guy with the yellow hair was a little weird. There were games for the kids along with pedicab rides by Papa Pedicabman. Later Jennifer manned the door while Papa and Dolly took Jack around the immediate neighborhood to Trick or Treat at some of our friends houses. Jack was a big hit in his monkey suit. Later Jennifer and Kim took Jack over to Chadwick for an impromptu book club meeting where the girls got a little thirsty. When the Jello Shots came out Jack had to come home where he begged too much candy off of Papa. Later when Baby Baker woke up for his 9:30 PM topping off Jennifer had to come home and the partying was all over. Life in the fast lane.

Now he's a three year old..

He'll be driving a car before you know it. Speaking of CARS we've passed excessive and gone into the realm of bizarre..in addition to the 30 of so he already owns he got about 15 more plus, a car DVD, car sheets, car pj's, car books, car cards and Mack the Car Carrier which hauls around the star of the whole show...Lightning McQueen.

At times this car thing becomes a nightmare particularly with all the inventory control problems. Sarge--the jeep--has been AWOL for about a week and the source of lots of speculation, questions and searches. Will it never end?

Jennifer took a 1/2 day off Friday, she and Dolly took Jack to the beach. After which the boy took a nice nap a woke just in time for the party which was attended by Clark, Dolly Jennifer, Baby Baker, Papa and Birthday Boy. We had pizza and birthday cake. Baker enjoyed helping Jack open presents and eating the cake that Papa fed him. Papa says Jack is growing up and guesses he'll only have yearly birthdays from now on, which is kind of sad particularly since the 2 and a half year old was so much fun.

On Saturday, Jack and Jennifer had a play date with Kelly and her children. Later on Jack and Papa watched the Car DVD and Birthday Boy got to stay up passed bedtime. On Sunday night everybody went to bed early to rest up for next year.

September 2009

Jack is becoming a really little man, he is almost 39" tall. We're almost potty trained so just when Papa figured out the diaper drill he had to start dealing with poop in the cup--will it never end? Mean time, Jack has figured out some fairly complicated stuff on his own without being taught. Anytime we do something out of the ordinary he want to know what's going on. So that if Papa and Jack go for a walk and his mom's car is gone when we get home he want to know where she has gone and will offer his own ideas such as, "Mommy gone to work?"

He can spell his name and other simple words like car. He has his letters down and knows capital letters from lower case. He know the differences between a tugboat, container ship, jet ski, that he crosses the Ashley River and Cooper River to go to Mimi's house and that Mimi lives in Mt. Pleasant and he lives in Charleston. His vocabulary includes 'actually' and 'delicious'. When we go for a walk he says hello to Mr. Ted and the other neighbors. On walks he'll say, "Let's go left, Mimi!" and head in that direction. He runs so fast that Papa is in training to keep up.

Big boy beautiful baby Baker might be a little spoiled but that big smile of his makes up for when he fusses. He is a big strong baby who is about ready to start motoring around the house. Now that he is eating some solid food he sleeps good at night. He is so big it looks a little weird when he is nursing. Baker is about 28.5" tall.

This is a picture of Big Boy Baby Baker who is now 5 months old. He sleeps most of the night unless his mom is topping him off--he likes to eat. He is eating baby food and likes most foods except peas--really, who could eat of that stuff anyway without a little salt. His favorite thing to do is lay in Jack's bed when Jennifer reads books. He is also big on smiling, like to ride the BOB, play with Aunt Anne and ride in Papa's pedicab.

His big accomplishment to date was last night in the bath when he discovered his pee pee--he doesn't get a lot of time with it cause there is always the diaper. Mimi says he was looking for his feet--yeah right! This morning Jennifer walked in on him admiring himself in his crib mirror. Gotcha she said and startled him--then he went back to admiring himself.

This is one strong kid. You can hold him in a squat position and he'll extend his legs nearly jumping out of your arms and does this five or ten times. He'll be walk-in and talk-in before we know it.