Go Ahead, Make His Day

We had a wonderful, wonderful holiday filled with much family, as many friends as we could squeeze in, and plenty of good cheer. We returned to the west coast with a few extra bags and boxes, a few extra pounds, one enthusiastic new year's resolution, and lots of great memories. I want to get to all things Christmas at some point, I really do, but first, I need to say that this guy:

has come out of nowhere to claim the spotlight. And so, today, I'll write about him. No longer content to be the tag-a-long, Jack has become Mr. Attention Getter. Sometimes, it's good attention he's after -- talking up a blue streak, laughing with his big belly laugh, dancing:

yes, he's standing on a chair at the beginning of this. Little monkey would climb all day long if he could. 

Sometimes, it's the rather unfortunate kind of attention he's after -- a few swats to the lady's head, running and hiding, and, of course, the rather unfortunate (for me, anyway) and infamous fire alarm pulling incident (for which, for the record, I take full and terribly embarrassing responsibility. Many people in the restaurant second that motion based on comments overheard). Nonetheless, good, bad, or neutral attention-seeking aside, I'm really marveling at how my little baby Jack has turned into a big (literally) kid overnight. That proverbial switch got flipped sometime over the holidays and he became rather cunning and verbal in a previously unseen way. I think I'm enjoying it but given the amount of hits and hides I've seen in the last week, the jury is still out. My sweet, laid back guy is still there but there's a new edge to this boy wonder that makes life just that much more interesting and spicy. He has also decided that he has lots of questions and comments and certainly wishes and wants. He isn't so keen on redirection like he was before but that's fine -- his little monkey business lacks the drama that can otherwise be present so I'm at least taking consolation in that. I think others are still adjusting to this take-charge attitude so everyone is getting some more love and attention right now... or something like that. I'm interested to see how this all plays out, enjoying the funny and newly insightful comments and observations that are popping out of his mouth, trying to be diligent about turning away and hiding my laughter when the naughty-but-funny stuff crops up, and conveniently forgetting the really naughty stuff that he does at the end of the day. Thankfully, bedtime seems to have returned to (somewhat) normal since we've been back, which means my reset switch and rose-colored glasses have been returned at the end of the day. I usually need that time to recharge and assess what the heck happened all day. Who knows if this is a phase or if his true blue colors are coming out. Either way, I wanted to record the emergence of Jack "No More Always Mr. Nice Guy" Doyle so that in twenty years, I can look back and say that this was the moment when it all changed and his crackerjack ways will make a little more sense...