Train School!

The Zoological Society puts on classes for kids of various ages throughout the year, so we decided to sign Jake up for two of their two-year-old classes. Today we went to the first one, "Zoo Train" or as Jake and I called it "Train School." Jake had a blast! There were a bunch of art projects, including making his own train costume and decorating his own train whistle, circle time to talk about shapes and read a story about a train, and of course, the chance to ride the zoo train. Jake had a great time doing all the activities, and he loved going over his shapes during circle time (he even shouted out the right answer when Miss Emily the teacher asked "What shape is this?" - it was a rectangle). He did such a great job and had so much fun.

Here's Jake in his train costume. I didn't even have to ask him to pose for this one - he loves wearing it and blowing his train whistle.

Jake decorated his train with pictures of animals, as well as paint stampers and crayons. We even drew a giraffe on it! Here he is inspecting his whistle.

This is the train picture he painted. Didn't he do a great job? :)

We also got to string shapes on a piece of yarn. Jake wanted mostly trains with one star. He loves waving it around and making it flutter in the breeze!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub!

Ben's in the tub!

More quick updates and some new pictures

Here are the most recent headlines from the Parsons' house:

-Ryan was offered a clerkship with Judge Diane Sykes of the 7th Circuit Court/Federal Court of Appeals. He accepted gladly, as this is a very prestigious job and a fabulous opportunity. So he'll clerk for a year and then work for Foley.

-Lauren has two interviews lined up for pathology residency, one at MCW and one at University of Illinios-Chicago. Let's keep hoping for more!

-Jake gets to go to a train class at the zoo on Tuesday! He LOVES trains, especially Thomas the Tank Engine. He also took a trip to the library to get - you guessed it - Thomas books, and he loved it (and them too!).

-Ben is a chunky monkey at nearly 14lbs, putting him at the 95%for weight. He's also about 90% for length. And he smiles! Such a good little baby.

Ryan got a job!!

Hooray! What a blessing, and a testament to all of Ryan's hard work. This is almost old news, but about 10 days ago Ryan got a phone call from the recruiter at Foley and Lardner at which point he was offered a full-time associate position beginning in 2010! We feel truly blessed, and I feel incredibly proud (and relieved!), given the state of the economy and the legal job market. Many excellent candidates are getting passed over. Ryan's very excited to work with such a great group of people, one of whom emailed him to say "Never before has a summer associate been more deserving of an offer." Congratulations Ryan!!!

Quick Update

-Jake still likes Ben. A lot. Today he wanted to share the boppy with him. Jake also likes to show off his train tracks set to Ben - he pointed out the train and its color, and the animals around the track.
-Ben smiled and cooed today while Jake and I were playing with him. Super cute!
-Over the weekend we had a four-hour stretch two nights in a row. Now we're back to a three-hour stretch, but last night we had two three-hour stretches of sleep. Hooray!
-Two weeks ago Ben was 10lbs 10oz. If anyone out there's thinking about sending clothing, we're very grateful, but consider sending 3-6month sizes ;)
-Ben's next checkup is Sept 16th, I'll keep you all posted.
-No word on Ryan's job situation yet - we will also keep you posted on that.
-Residency applications officially opened up today. Yikes!