For Jack’s 10 month birthday, he got to take his very first plane ride. Southwest 737, powered by CFM56-3 engines. Louisville, SDF to Chicago, MDW.

It was a one hour, early morning flight, that was passed with readings of Brown Bear, Brown Bear and I’m A Little Teapot — over and over and over. The college kids who were headed to the city for St. Patrick’s Day festivities made me feel old.

In true fashion, there are no additional photos that captured this momentous occasion; but I promise, it happened and, not only did we survive, but we had fun. Thank you Jacki (and Trevor) for being such a fabulous hostess — indulging in Portillos, sharing the newborn cuddles and allowing me to play “cool aunt” to Analiese. Somehow, even though we were surrounded by 3 kids under 3, I still felt like we were 16.

In the days prior to leaving, Jack learned two very important things:

1. Waving; first witnessed by us as he waved to the Boone’s as we left Fiesta Time

2. Shaking, well, more like a refined bobble, his head ‘no’. To date, the rules in which we shake our heads ‘no’ are:

• putting hands in Molly’s water dish
• eating Molly’s food
• tasting the toilet bowl
• grasping for things in the fireplace

Both are ridiculously cute and have pushed us into a new era.

For me, the advent of these two things signaled the beginning of parenting. It’s hard to describe the feeling that comes about when you realize your kid grasps concepts and begins truly interacting with the world. Yes, it seems as if that parenting-thing should be ingrained the moment he arrived, but it didn’t, not really. I felt a lot like a blessed caretaker, the only duties involved making sure he was fed, had a clean diaper and generally survived. No longer are we part of the elite — the newborn club — wherein everyone says “you’re doing great” no matter what state they saw you in. We’ve entered the ranks of the masses. The masses whose child(ren) [insert humiliating event] in [insert public place].

Now, not only do we need to be caretakers, but shepherds — parents. Boundaries. Expectations. Honoring his curiosity. Nurturing his unique personality. Cultivating a little boy. God save the baby, indeed.

Oh, and on a lighter note… Jack discovered Jack Bauer. And the Goonies.