Video of Jake ...

Here's a (very large) file that has the Quicktime version of a video I did for Jake's grandparents on the holiday DVD. Alert: There's sound to this that is actually fairly important.

It's pretty funny, if you have the patience for the download. I recommend you right-click on the photo and "save target as" it to your desktop and watch it from there:



If you just click on the picture, it'll take a long time to load, but it's working, rest assured.

(Need an old-fashioned link? Here.)

The Sequel ...

Yes, the rumors are true.

Here's an ultrasound of Jake's little brother or sister, due in late July:



The little guy/gal is progressing nicely. Even did a little dance as we looked on during the ultrasound.

Father is doing fine. Mother is quite happy, yet sick as a dog.

Jake is currently unimpressed.

At the park ...

Once everybody went home Christmas Day, we went to the park, since it was such a beautiful day.


Here, Jake looks mean on the kiddie swing. He was much more mellow on the "big kid" variety.


An alternate method of sliding. (Note: Not as effective.)

Trail of Lights

On a chilly night (by Austin standards), the whole crew went out to see the sights at the "Trail of Lights." Jake was more into the people than the lights, but a good time was had by all.

Christmas Morning (or so)

First, we went to Andrew's, where he gave us a set a stackable animals that you can pull around with a string. Way cool. Thanks Andrew!


On Christmas morning, Santa brought a collection of musical instruments, including a tamborine, a fish wood block, a harmonica and a kazoo.


Though the harmonica was challenging, the kazoo was mastered in no time. (Note the red cheeks and nose from a recent cold.)



Also brought by Santa was an art easel, complete with markers and chalk!


Here, Jake unwraps what would prove to be the big winner of Christmas, 2005.


It's a pig! It shakes and makes oinking noises! How much more fun can that be??? Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Burnett!

Train Time ...

Setting up and playing with a train set that was a present from Grandpa and Grandma Thompson. The only thing more fun than letting the cars roll down the incline was the adrenal thrill obtained by crashing the whole assembly to the ground.

The parents had not the heart to shoot photos of the devastation, so here's some of the happier times:

Trick or Treating ...

With minimal commentary, the first OFFICIAL night of Trick or Treating:


On the way to the Zilker Elementary neighborhood. (Above)



Not to drop names, but this yard he's traipsing across belongs to world-reknowned musician Marcia Ball. (She gave good candy.)



Don't anybody try to take away my "Dots."




Happy (belated) Halloween!

Halloween Party ...

Here he is, fresh-faced and welcoming everybody to the Halloween Party we held Oct. 30:





Here he is after a few hotdog buns and yellow cups of water ... clearly the party is starting to get out of control ...





And then, well, things just sort of got out of hand, with friend Paisley doing her best not to look embarrassed:





Ah, well, a good time was hand by all, anyway.

Jake and his pal, Fritz

Not havin' a dog of his own, Jake is content with borrowing his Grandma and Grampa Burnett's boxer, Fritz, from time to time.

He even took 'em for a walk later:

Swingin' ...

As we all know, the greatest thing in entire world is swingin'.

Jake spent pretty much the entire time at the Habibi Halloween party swinging ... at least until the bigger kids came and started snaggin' the swings for themselves. Jake actually cooperated, which was nice ... even when the one girl insisted on "saving" one of the swings for a friend.

Note the tail dangling in the second photo:

In his father's shoes ...

Nothing too fancy ... just tryin' 'em on for size. Turns out he can even walk a few steps in 'em.

Pumpkin Hunt Pt. 3

After those two things (details below), we ended the day with a ride on a tractor cart and then a long, successful hunt for pumpkins, which had been hidden all around the Christmas tree patch.

We bagged our limit of three in no time flat. Indeed, we had to return many of the pumpkins, as it turns out.

Pumpkin Hunt Pt. 2

After the Bean Bag Toss, below ... we met a goat!

Pumpkin Hunt Pt. 1

On Sunday we headed over to Elgin, Texas, for the annual Pumpkin Hunt out at a Christmas Tree farm ... wayyyyy out in the boonies.

Great fun, of course ... starting with the Pumpkin bean bag toss:

Budding Rock Star

Sometimes, the photos speak for themselves:

Attack of the Dog People

These aliens are friendly, if a bit hard to understand. They just asked for graham crackers and then they went back to wherever it is they came from.

Jake and his friend ...

During Hurricane Rita, we ended up with some folks from the Houston area staying at our place for a couple days.

Anyway, bathtime got a little crowded, and ended on an unfortunate note that we won't discuss here. Suffice it to say, a few seconds after this picture was taken, folks got out of that tub FAST!

At any rate, it was fun having new friends over.

Jake on the phone

Jake has loved to listen on the phone for quite a while. This picture, however, captures the first time he let an unrestrained series of babbles go into the mouthpiece.

The surprised person on the other end of the line was his Grandma Thompson, who listened, bemused, as Jake rattled off a long series of diatribes on any number of subjects.

Many more to come, we're sure:

The Cold Day

The other day we had a freak cold front roll through town. Everybody predicted mid-to-upper 70s, what we got was more like mid-to-low 50s.

Jake went to daycare in his basic shorts and t-shirt, since everybody KNEW the temperature would climb high as soon as the sun came out. Again, though, that didn't happen, so the staff at his daycare (Habibi's Hutch) improvised.

(Here he wears the pajamas we sent, with another of his shirts over it, sweat pants -- not his -- and booties. Note particularly the masking tape used to keep the booties attached to the sweats.)

It did the trick. Jake was able to enjoy the great outdoors, despite the chilly temps, and not suffer any frost-related damages.

Habibi's strikes again!

Sincerest form of flattery?

Who does Jake look like in these pictures?





I can't tell, either.

Art ... Fun and it tastes GREAT

Don't get between Jake and his markers. It's a rule. He always enjoys a good "yellow," but as you can tell from the bottom picture, you can't beat a nice "blue" for general tastiness.

Day at the park

These are actually from a couple months ago, a particularly hot day at Auditorium Shores. We stuck to the shade whenever possible.

Jake likes corn ...

Perhaps even a little too much.

More pictures to come.

Hey all ...

In time, I intend this blog to provide background, information and general knowledge to my friends and family about what I'm up to and what I'm doing. (Or, if I acknowledge the wife and child, how THEY are doing, as well.)

Until then, here's a photo of a chihuaha in a Spider-man outfit. Enjoy.

Starting Over ...

Just because I'm leaving my current job, I have to pull the plug on my WILDLY successful OLD blog, "Pretty Flashing Lights" at Austin360.com.

So I have this, instead, and I'm not even planning on stealing my posts from my old blog, which is nice, because that would be wrong (and possibly actionable).

More as it happens (if it does).