Bubbles!

The boys and I had quite the social weekend. Friday night, I had book club. Saturday we hit the Eagan-Bennett bash to hang out with Jack's buddy Andy (not to mention his parents). Let me tell you, there is something truly fabulous about going to a party at the house of someone with a kid Jack's age. Everything was baby-proofed, and there were more than enough cool toys for Jack to check out. Jack especially loved Andy's sandbox, but perhaps even more so, the cat. I was happy to see that Jack didn't completely traumatize the poor kitty and actually petted her in an appropriate and gentle manner. We had such a good time that we stayed later than we probably should have, which meant one worn-out Cub on the way home.
Sunday, we went to Ethan's 2nd birthday party. I bought Elmo wrapping paper for the gift, and Jack developed a fairly unhealthy obsession with it. First it was on the table, which was a mistake- Jack wouldn't eat, he was so excited about pointing at it and saying, "Mel-MO!" Then I hid it on top of the hutch, but he spotted it and would not shut up about it. Luckily, he was willing to surrender the gift, which was a bubble blowing puppy. The puppy was a huge hit with all of the toddlers, so obviously, we need to buy one. Jack was also pretty psyched about his party favor, a big rubber ball with his name written on it in big green letters. As we walked to the car, Jack alternated between exclaiming "bubbles!" "ball!" and "yay!" Then, yesterday morning, a groggy Jack took a swig of his milk, turned to me and said, "Bubbles."
Jack brought Roary the tiger to Ethan's party. He pretty much ran around clutcing Roary in one hand and using his free hand to gobble Teddy Grahams or to play with whatever else looked interesting. At one point, Jack set down the tiger, and Lucas, who is a few months younger, grabbed him. Jack totally lost his s-hit. He screamed, he wailed, tears ran down his face, until we finally got the tiger away from Lucas. Jack then found another stuffed animal and did his best to foist it on Lucas. Like, "Dude, you are so not getting my tiger, so take this instead." I'm going to make an effort to keep Roary at home when Jack is around other little kids. I totally respect that Roary is special and shouldn't be shared, but that's not fair to Jack's friends.
It occured to me this morning that it is probably no coincidence that Roary became so special when he did. Jack adopted him as his BFF while Steve was in Canada. I think on some level, Jack missed his dad and wanted a little extra security and love while Steve was away.