The Strand with Uncle Jon and Gram

Dear Jack,

When we woke up this morning, your daddy was feeling much better (having slept something like sixteen hours) and we decided to go out to The Strand in Galveston with Uncle Jon and Gram.

Uncle Jon did push you around in your stroller quite a bit and he joked that there are so many pictures floating around the web of himself with you, your sister, Will and Jamie that some of his old high school friends were starting to ask when he had time to have so many kids.

Your favorite parts of The Strand, though, were the times out of the stroller. We found this fabulous phone booth and you and your sister played in it for a good twenty minutes.

I wish in retrospect that we had let you put some money in and call your Grandma, but I think she was probably in church at the time.

We also went in many shops and one of them, quite randomly, had a dolphin to ride.

I think one of the best parts, though, was going to Starbucks where you tried brie for the first time.


Your absolute least favorite part of the day, well, let's face it, it was also your dad and your Uncle Jonathan's least favorite part as well, was going to the old time picture place. Your sister and Gram and I liked the dressing up and Gram and I loved the pictures.

You boys, though, only did it because you love me so much.

I guess it's something that you are learning from your dad and your Uncle Jonathan. And really, following your Grandpa, your Great Grandpa and your Uncle James would teach you the same lesson... doing things to make Nolen women happy is a very important part of being a Nolen man.

So thanks for taking pictures for me, sweet boy, even though you obviously didn't want to. I appreciate it a lot.

Love,
Mom

Dinner at Nana's

Dear Jack,

I do not have a picture of you at Nana's where we went for dinner Saturday night.

I'm not sure you stopped moving long enough for me to take a picture. Well, except for the ten minutes or so when you ate a dozen strawberries, a handful of gold fish, some potato chips and an entire slice of lemon pound cake.

Perhaps that list of carbolicious sugary foods has something to do with your non-stop movement.

Or maybe it was that you had already been to the zoo and the bay with only a twenty minute nap on the way to dinner and you knew that if you stopped moving, you would fall asleep standing up.

Either way, you were a perpetual motion machine at Nana's house.

I feel bad for you and Nana. I keep bringing you to her house after long days out on the town. Maybe next time we'll come for breakfast and she can see the calmer side of you.

Because right now, I know she looks at pictures of you reading books and watching fish and ladybugs and cannot imagine how you stay still that long.

Seeing you at her house Saturday night, I cannot imagine it either.

Love,
Mom

Down by the Bay with Uncle Jon and Gram

Dear Jack,

After the zoo, we went to bay to look at the water, walk on the sand, and maybe get our feet wet.

I guess I should have explained the plan better.

Not that it would have helped. You saw those waves and you ran. Full speed. No fear. No reservation. No survival instinct or healthy wariness, which worries me a bit. You ran. I think you ran into the bay about a dozen times. You would run until the water slowed you down, you would face the waves and when they knocked you over, you trusted your mama to help you right yourself and never once cried or fussed over sensation of being completely submerged.

You did keep saying "fish? mouth?" as the ocean spray hit your face. I finally realized it was the taste of salt that you were referring to and explained as much. "Salt. Mouth" you said as you opened your mouth into the on-coming wave.

Sigh. Trying to put the recent gulf coast oil spill out of my mind as I think of you taking in filthy bay water. Oh well.

After the first half dozen ventures out, I was soaked and I decided to go ahead and change into my swim top. I left you with Uncle Mark since there was no keeping you from the waves. When I got back, you were up on the beach and Aunt Dani explained that you had become suddenly pensive and they weren't sure why.

I knew why. Your mama had left. My bold brave boy who faces waves with wild abandon cannot stand to have his mama leave him. Uncle Mark understood. His own sweet boy had divided the world into "Daddy" and "not the daddy" and so he knew he was "not the mama" and that was okay.

I love the mixture of braverism and security-seeking in you. That you can face anything with your mama behind you is endearing to me.

I love you and will always stand behind you when you need me to help you face the waves. Even when you are a great big boy like Uncle Jonathan.

Love,
Mom

Zoo with Uncle Jon and Gram

Dear Jack,

You know I like to plan things in advance. I have had our summer calendar ready since the first weekend of May. And really, I started it the month before. I like to plan. But when your Uncle Jonathan let us know that he was coming in this weekend, all plans were dropped and we made our way to Houston.

We met Uncle Jon at the Houston Zoo and while you weren't sure about the tall lanky man we kept reassuring you was your father's brother, you were very confident about the first stop we made at the zoo... the aquarium!

The aquarium at the Houston Zoo is really pretty small, but you made the circuit about a dozen times. I asked you at one point if you wanted to see the elephants. "No 'phant!" you said. I asked if you wanted to see the giraffes. "No 'raffes!" you said. "More fish!"

I do love that you are getting better and better at communicating your desires.

Your favorite fish this visit, though, was the ray. "Ray!" "Ray!" "Big ray!" you said over and over and over again.

The only other animals we actually saw were the monkeys. The zoo was crowded and your daddy didn't feel well, so we left after almost an hour at the fish and then an hour of walking through the primate area, riding the carousel twice (which you did let Uncle Jon take you on when your daddy bowed out and your mama wouldn't go around in circles even for you), and through the reptile house.


You had so much fun at the zoo and I'm glad that your Uncle Jon and your Gram were part of the experience, even if you really never left your mama's side.

Love,
Mom

Teacher of the Year

Dear Jack,

I know most of the time I write all about you, but today I have something that is really all about me.

My school chose me as "Teacher of the Year" this year. I guess in the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal... it wasn't like I was Teacher of the Year for the whole district, just my little elementary school. It's not the Nobel prize or the Heisman or anything like that.

But it's a really big deal to me.

I work very hard to be a good teacher and a lot of days, I'm afraid that I have taken something away from you and your sister and your dad and given it away to my students and my colleagues. I hate that.

But I don't know how to be a good teacher, much less an excellent one, without giving up at least a little something of myself.

So it was very important to me to know that a) I have become a good teacher, maybe even an excellent one, and that b) my peers acknowledge it.

It also felt really good to be in the company of so many wonderful teachers from Georgetown.

The district held a very nice luncheon for all of us and my principal, Nancy Bottlinger and superintendent, Mr. Joe Dan Lee were there.

Then tonight, at the board meeting, all of the teachers of the year were recognized again. You and your sister both stood there with me at different times and it made me so very proud to be there in front of you both and your dad.

I give a lot to my students and really, I believe that what I give makes a difference for them. But I also do it for you and your sister, to show you that anything worth doing is worth doing well, to show you that giving to others makes you a better person, to show you that every child should have the opportunities that you have.

And tonight, even though you won't remember it, I had the chance to prove to my entire family that what I give to my school is not only something of value, but that others can see the value.

So the next time I come home and am too tired to play, or have held some other little boy for so long that I need my personal space back to myself before I can hold you, I hope to feel a little less guilty.

I am the Teacher of the Year. I guess that means I am doing something right.

Love,
Mom

Jack's 2nd Birthday

Dear Jack,

This coming Tuesday, you will be two years old! For the last two years, we have fondly referred to you as "Jack-a-baby," a name which your sister gave you when you first came home from the hospital, or my version "Jack-my-baby" or sometimes just "Baby Jack." Recently, we have had to switch to "Jack-a-bee" and "Little Man Jack" because you are simply not a baby anymore.

Today we celebrated your birth, your life, your last two years, in a party that was all about you and the things you currently love: bugs, fish, and cars.

When your Grandma arrived last night from Houston, she came bearing a new pet for you... a fish of course! We told you it was a Beta fish, but you call it a "Baby" fish. I guess something in this house has to still be a baby!

For your party today, the plan was to play in the backyard and then come inside and do cake. To make the backyard even more exiting than it usually is, I had rented a bounce house. I thought you kids would really enjoy it, and you did, but there was something funny about a bounce house for a party which, including your sister and you, had three children in attendance.

I had purposefully planned a small party for you... you are still just two years old, you get overwhelmed by too many people, and honestly, these days, you play best either by yourself or next to friends who understand the meaning of "side by side" play and leave your side alone. Of course, I didn't quite plan it this small, but the Hazens represented two thirds of the kids outside of the family who were invited and they were sick, so there you go.

In addition to Andrew and his mom, your Grandma and Gram came, as did Mrs. Edwards. The Fords are on their babymoon and couldn't make it.


I was right, though, to have a small guest list. You pretty much played on your own the entire party and enjoyed the undivided attention of many special adults.


At one point, though, you and your sister were playing in the bounce house together with your dad and had a bit of a head bump. Mrs. Edwards took this picture and mentioned how tender a moment it was between you kids and your dad and how big and strong and yet how gentle your daddy's hands can be. She is so right and I love that she captured this moment on your birthday.


Your big birthday gift this year was (wait for it, Bob Barker) a brand... new... CAR!

Your daddy's family, Gram, Nana Roberts, Aunt Rachel, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Nolen, Grandpa and Nana Nolen ALL went in together to get you this power wheels for your birthday and you loved it!

At first you let Andrew and your sister drive you all around the backyard, but then you got bolder and decided to drive it yourself. You do very well and pushing the accelerator. I'm sure the steering will come later....

In the meantime, your dad and I walked around the yard course correcting for you and eventually you found that you could sit in the passenger seat and press the accelerator while your sister did the steering.

I am always giving your dad a hard time because as handy as he is, I'm always the one putting together Christmas and birthday gifts. It turns out, though, that he makes exceptions for all things automotive and seemed extraordinarily happy to have this little scene in the garage.

He also took the time to "pop the hood" and show you and Andrew the battery compartment, which both of you boys thought was just as cool as he did.

After about an hour of outdoor play, we went in to open the rest of the presents and eat cake.

Mrs. Edwards also got this photo of you and your dad and I have to say that it is one of my new favorites of the two of you... so sweet!

You had your choice between cupcakes and cookie cake and chose, no surprise here, both. You also kept sneaking tastes of icing off the rest of the cookie cake and seemed a little surprised that no one stopped you.

It was a lovely birthday party, and I so appreciate Andrew and his mom for coming, even though Andrew's party was later that day, and Mrs. Edwards for taking so many darling pictures of my darling boy, and mostly your grandmas for driving in from Houston just for you.

I know you enjoyed having time with them, especially.

After the party was "over" I took the requisite group photo... well, is three a group?

And the family photo... with you playing in the water table because by then you were beyond reasoning with and Mrs. Edwards wisely suggested that our family would look happier if we just let you play.



And then it was time for your nap. Obviously, it was going to be a challenge to get you to lay down after all of that fun and especially all of that sugar, so I started thinking....

One of the funny things about me is I really do love the outdoors; I just hate dirt, bugs, bright sunlight, wild animals, somewhat domesticated animals who lick too much, etc. So when I looked outside at that bounce house, that clean plastic, contained little bounce house, I thought, how nice would it be to take a nap in that!

EXTREMELY nice would be the answer! I love your dad, my final thought before drifting off was, "I hope Jeremy knows to take a picture... zzzzzzz."

After your nap you were refreshed and ready to play some more.

We had the bounce house for the entire day, so we stayed outside, going from the water table and the pool, to the car and the bounce house (with many outfit changes in between as the bounce house and car both needed to stay dry).

Your Gram had to go after the party, but Grandma stayed until late afternoon, so you got some more time in with her as well.

At 5 o'clock, an hour until the bounce house people came to pick up their house, the whole family got in the bounce house for bounce house last hurrah.

We bounced and played until we were all too tired to bounce any more. A family of tired Tiggers, I think.

It was a wonderful day, a magical day, a perfect day. I love the celebration of all things Jack, because I love all things Jack.

You are two, sweet boy, and you are a baby no more. My little man Jack, Jack-a-bee.

Love,
Mom