The Adventures of Jack and Bobby

Around this house, it’s much more fun to refer to things by their code names (most of which are made up by Jack)

• Messy gra-ola bar (he skips the N) = Sweet & Salty peanut granola bar.
• Squishy juice = Capri Sun.
• Jogging juice = Gatorade.
• Tomatoes = fruit snacks.  This one isn’t new, but for some reason it stuck.  His treat for going poo-poo on the potty.
• Itchy cream = Jack’s Aveeno eczema cream that we apply after his bath to moisturize and prevent [much less frequent now, thank goodness] outbreaks.   The other night Jack came out of his room after we put him to bed and said, “Mommy, I need some itchy cream.”  I went in, rubbed some relief into his elbow creases where he’d been scratching, after which he sighed and stated, “okay, I can sleep now.”
• Bumpy road = the gravel road we often cruise on the way to town, just for fun.
• “It’s on the moon” = “it’s lost”  If we can’t find a toy, Astronaut Jack likes the idea that it has relocated somewhere amazing.
• Puzzle magazines = Jack’s subscription to National Geographic Kids.  He’s obsessed with the picture find games and I’ve often found a magazine between his head and his pillow when I check on him before going to bed myself.
• Bobby snacks = learning-to-eat-food that Jack also likes to consume simply because Bobby does.
• Lips = Chapstick.
• Mosquito Biter = crane fly.
• Pond = breastfeeding pillow that Jack likes to clasp into a circle and then jump into, pretending it’s a body of water.
• Team shirt = the UVA football jersey I brought home for Jack from my recruiting field trip to Charlottesville.  He’s barely taken it off since.
• Magical healing cream = Neosporin.
• Streaking shoes = Jack’s new sneakers that arrived by mail and that he insisted he had to try on after he was already dressed in his footie pyjamas.  As such, we removed his pyjamas and let him slip barefoot into his fresh kicks with only a diaper.  At which point Daddy suggested streaking the neighborhood and removed Jack’s pull-up to let him jog au naturel down the sidewalk under the moonlight wearing, quite literally, only a pair of sneakers.  Jack could not have been happier and has referred fondly to his new shoes by this name ever since.
• The red store = Target.  The blue store = Costco.
• Sticky jam = jam (any flavor).
• Poop car = the matchbox cars he earns for taking himself to the potty and dropping some base.  He informed the woman behind us in line at Target where we went to buy Halloween ”Boo bags” and replacement vehicular incentives that the 10-pack of Hot Wheels were his “poop cars”.  She looked at Jack inquisitively until I explained, and also informed Jack that he didn’t have to tell everyone  what his nickname was for his potty training bonus.