21 Months

It is so hard to remember all the funny/silly/sweet things Jackson does each month. I try to keep a list of things I want to remember to blog about but I still always forget things!

It took a long time but I guess it was around 18 months that I could confidently say we were down to one nap a day. Little guy needed his beauty rest I guess, huh? Where he used to fall asleep in the car immediately after going to play at the gym while mommy worked out, now he stays awake even on the car ride home from lunch so we read stories before nap now. I can't tell you how many times he fell asleep and I'd have to wiggle him out of his carseat and carry him up to his crib keeping him asleep while also taking off his shoes and jacket! He will go down around 12:30 and typically sleeps until 3:30 or 4. Night time he goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes around 8 or 8:30am. He goes in phases but for a while wanted to sit on the floor in his room for us to read to him, then he went back to being cuddled up in our lap and now he sits on the ottoman while we sit in the big chair. He loves to choose which books we read and sometimes gets so excited about the next one that he'll close the one we were already reading. We love a new one we got called "I Love Stinky Face" and also a new alphabet book. He still sleeps with his Curious George doll every night. He has other stuffed animals and a blanket in his crib but he always pushes them to the bottom.

His canine teeth are finally coming in. The top two and one of the bottom ones have cut through. Another thing that magically stopped in the past month or two is his drooling! yay! Jackson had been a drooler since he was about 4 months old. Once he got older I passed on the bibs and just accepted that he would always have a wet shirt. It is so nice now that he stays dry!

One of the sweetest things he does is he always wants us to sit next to him. He will pat the seat of the sofa or floor or the next chair over at the island telling us he wants us to sit next to him.

He has learned how to lock the doors in the house and loves to close his bedroom door at night and locks it and then turns the knob to unlock it. Over and over and over! Time to find those little "keys" we got when we bought the new doorknobs in case he locks himself in! Lots of mornings I'll be in the shower and he will play upstairs and in his room but he has yet to close and lock himself in yet. *knock on wood*, I hope it doesn't happen anytime soon!

Jackson is still obsessed with keys and light switches. As soon as Jimmy walks in the door he runs over screaming "daddy!" but then says "keys" wanting his keys. We try to distract him and put the keys away before he notices so that he doesn't run off and play with them. He has already worn down the batteries in our clickers from constantly locking the cars. Oh and he knows which sets of keys work and won't play with an old one or some for a car that isn't here! I know this like every other stage will end soon. He used to grab my phone at any chance and now hardly pays attention to it. Oh, he is obsessed with credit cards right now too. He always wants to hold it and hand it to the cashier to pay when we are out. He carries our gym cards in and hands them to the front desk. What a big helper, huh? He loves helping in the kitchen stirring cookie batter or eggs or just playing pretend with his empty bowl and wisk.

He is still all about helping out and wants to put the cap back everything! He puts the cap on the milk jug (and even wants to put the milk jug back in the fridge - when its not all the way full!) He also puts the top of his sippy cup on and I tighten it for him. He's always coming into the office trying to find pens or markers laying on my desk. He loves to take the cap off and then put it back on. It is great for his hand eye coordination but I don't want accidental pen marks everywhere! One day I gave him dry spaghetti noodles and cheerios and he "threaded" the cheerios on.

His balance is always improving and he loves to walk up and down the stairs holding my hand or just holding onto the railings. He runs faster than ever before and loves practicing his jumping. He twirls round and around until he falls and then laughs and laughs before doing it all over again.

When Jackson was younger I always tried to make sure he had some independent play time. Thinking back I'm pretty sure he was never fond of that just as he isn't fond of it now. He wants me to sit and play with him. How can I resist when he walks up to me takes my hand and guides me to the playroom? Sure I have lots of things to get done and sometimes I do have to take care of things or finish a phone call but more often than not I sit and play with him. I'm sure one day I'll be sad that he never wants to play with me anymore! Jackson's attention span is pretty short but every now and then an activity will keep him occupied for more like 20-30 min instead of 5-10. I worry about it but in the end at this age they just don't have a long attention span. I am also considering starting speech therapy. He does say lots of words but I do think he could really benefit from it. I guess we will look into it and decide soon. People have told me if I have concerns starting earlier is better.

Overall we have lots of fun days and some hard days when I struggle to keep him entertained and happy. I guess that's the typical life of an almost 2 year old!

One day he had a runny nose and I asked him to go get a tissue. He did a good job! Might have gotten a little more than he needed!

Lots of Mr Potato Head playing. Please notice how one has 3 sets of eyes. Ha!

Locking the door

Loves his "big hands" i.e. oven mitts!

Such a good helper

We hung out with Nick and Sara (and met baby Cade) Jackson and EV had lots of fun and snuck a few kisses in.

Jimmy got Jax dressed one morning and a pair of my socks were in Jackson's drawer so he put them on him. I have no idea but he somehow even managed to put his tennis shoes on. When I went to get Jackson up from his nap I literally couldn't stop laughing when I saw the socks.

Mellow Mushroom pizza face

Go Falcons!

Jackson loves watching boo ball! (football)

Playing with his new workbench while drinking his morning milk

Loves loves loves to brush his teeth. I catch him in here probably 4 times a day!

Found some clean dog bowls in the cabinet and they were pure entertainment for at least 20 min!

Dancing

Last night we went to dinner at Adrienne's after our tennis match. Jimmy and I both lost our matches, but at least we put up a fight! She made her amazing baked ziti - so yummy! We all loved it.

We walked in to the end of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse at her house and Jackson started dancing. I love his little wiggles!

It's the Little Things

Jackson and I went to music class this morning. He's been sleeping later so we usually wind up rushing to eat, get dressed and get there by 9:30. He loves his class, especially playing with the instruments. He acts shy during class a lot but will usually go sit with Miss Mary for a rhythm pattern or to give her goodbye hugs. Today after class she had some music on while we were putting our shoes on. Jackson thought it was so funny to keep running away from me so I couldn't put his shoes on! So she started dancing with him and he totally loved it. He's got some unique dance moves! It was so cute, I wish I'd taken a picture or video of it.

Then we were off to meet my moms group for a Police Station tour and then lunch. Well we were way late for the tour so we just decided to run an errand and then go to lunch. We ran into Petsmart to get some stuff. I got a hand basket and Jackson wanted to carry it for me. He was so proud because he was being such a good helper. We stopped by to admire all the birds flying around in their cages. He said "bur" for bird which was the first time I'd heard that one! Then off to see the guinea pigs. He couldn't quite figure out what they were and I think was getting confused when I said the "pig" part! We went to get cans of cat food and Jackson helped fill the basket so intead of getting the 6 or 8 cans I needed we wound up with about 20! Oh well. We decided to get Cooper a toy and he saw all the dogs playing at doggie daycare. He watched them run around for probably close to 10 min!

We headed to Panera for some lunch with the other moms and kids. We finished lunch and by we I mean I did and he sucked down his squeezable yogurt but of course didn't touch his grilled cheese. We headed home and he fell asleep in the car. I transferred him to his crib and he must have been worn out because he is still snoozing! There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping toddler curled up on your shoulder while you carry him upstairs.

Sometimes I can't figure out where to start writing for some of my posts (hence me getting so behind) but days like today I just like to remember what we did and how sometimes the simplest things are exciting enough for a toddler :)

p.s. No, every day isn't an easy breezy day like this! We definitely have our fair share of tantrums with our almost 2 year old!

Drummin'

The best toys are always the ones you least expect! Jackson is obsessed with our wire whisks and will pull them out most every morning while we are making breakfast to stir up his own breakfast.

We had some huge boxes in the kitchen from a new craft table I ordered and realized I couldn't put it together solo after dragging both 65+ lb boxes inside. So after his nap Jackson found his whisks and started drumming away. I bet he's going to be a drummer just like his daddy!

NYE 2012

We celebrated NYE with a great group of friends this year. Everyone came over around 6ish. We had filets and chicken and everyone else brought the other dishes - veggie app, caprese salad skewers, delicious potato dish, salads and even dessert. The kids all played and the adults enjoyed dinner in the dining room and our new table! First time it was used. I actually put Jackson to bed right before we ate around 7:45. He had had a long day and was sleepy so I got to enjoy the evening without a toddler attached to my hip (where he is when he is tired and cranky!) Love drinking the bubbly but not crazy about how it makes my head feel the next day!

Some people stayed over and others left around 10:45 ish. We rang in the new year with our friends and then all went to bed by 12:30. Ha! Guess we are old now!

Fernbank Museum

We went back to Fernbank museum last week. We met my friend Nicole and her son Connor. Connor and Jackson are 2 weeks apart so its always fun to hang out and catch up on what the boys have been up to. I've known Nicole since 1st grade! Seems like an eternity ago - haha!

Jackson wasn't his normal self and was extremely clingy and whiny. I had given him some benedryl cold meds that morning to help clear up some of his congestion. I wonder if that had an effect on him. Anyways we still had a good time and explored the Nature Quest area and then went to have a snack.

This floor looks like water moving when you walk on it and fish swim around. Jackson was trying to catch the fish and then started dancing around

There was a dinosaur there that the kids could have their picture taken with. Jackson kept waving from our table but once we were up close he got shy so I got in the picture with him.

We continued to wander the museum and did the walk through Georgia and then moved on to the sensing nature room.

We had done the bubbles before and Jackson loved it. This time there were stools so the boys were on stools while we were making giant bubbles. They started swishing their hands around and next thing I knew Jackson had splashed bubbles on him and then proceeded to rub his eyes. Disaster!! We went in the bathroom and I splashed water in his eye and he helped wash it out with his tears. 15 min later his eye was much better and not very red anymore. Whew! I was worried but I'm sure the bubbles they use are non-toxic since its designed for kids to play with.

We had lunch and then headed home. Such a fun morning with our friends.

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality photos - these were all iphone photos and I feel like they were very grainy and blurry - operator error for sure!

20 Months

In just 4 short months my baby toddler will be 2. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how fast the past 20 months have gone by. From the beginning everyone always said don't wish the time away. While I tried not to do that it's really easy to think about what he would be doing in 2, 4 or 6 months and inevitably you are dreaming of the day they run up to you and scream "mommy" and give you a giant hug - even when they are just a couple months old. Now, I love all of those moments but I miss the days of him cuddling up on me all day and sleeping in my arms. I'm just glad I have all 5,000+ photos and my blog book to look back on :)

Anyways, as I wipe away my tears, I want to write about what Jackson has been up to the past couple of months. We went trick or treating and I was surprised at how quickly he grasped the concept of knocking on the door and waving hi = getting candy in your bucket. Especially when he didn't even know what candy was! We celebrated his cousin Connor's 2nd birthday. We saw Santa on more than one occasion, went to the Chattahoochee nature center on a beautiful fall day. We managed to get Jackson to sit still for a few min for some adorable family photos by Full Measure Photography. Jackson discovered his love for bubbles and and we had some fun times with Will, Bryce and Jackson together again. We went to several birthday parties, Stone Mountain and then celebrated Christmas.

Jackson's vocabulary has been increasing but he also continues to talk in his own language too. He started saying uh-oh and says it whenever anything drops, falls or is out of place. One day he pulled the towel down in the bathroom and Jimmy said "oh no" and now Jackson loves to say "no no". From about 4 months on anytime I gave Jackson anything I would say thank you. Now when I hand him his milk or breakfast or something he says "dant doo". So sweet :) He's slept with his Curious George doll for months now and calls him by name but it sounds more like Dordge. He also says choo choo, car, bebe for bye bye. I'm having a hard time remembering all his other ones right now, but he is definitely trying to repeat and mimic more and more. I love his sweet little voice and his unique language. It's amazing how much he understands even though he can't communicate it all back to us.

He is still a good eater but definitely pickier these days. His current faves are oatmeal with raisins, eggs, cereal with milk, any kind of fruit, grilled cheese, pb&j, turkey, any kind of chicken, steak, hamburgers, baked beans, pizza, peas, rice, cold pasta salad (but won't eat man n cheese or other pasta anymore), yogurt, applesauce (especially when he feeds himself). We love to go eat at Rising Roll after we go to the gym. He totally knows our routine and runs to find daddy as soon as we walk in. He is all about feeding himself with his fork and spoon and prefers to sit in a regular chair vs his high chair. Most times I put him in his high chair for meals and we eat snacks at the counter in the barstools. He still loves his milk and drinks 2 cups a day.

Jackson loves to help me and takes it upon himself to throw his dirty (wet) diapers away (after I've wrapped them up), he puts his clothes in the laundry hamper and helps me sweep and mop the floors. Recently he is better about putting away his toys too.

His attention span is getting longer and longer as he plays.  His favorite new toys to play with are his trains, Mr. Potato Head or grilling up burgers on his grill. He loves to play with all his cars too. His favorite books right now are "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You", "I am a Train", "Roadwork", "The Going to Bed Book" and "I Love You Through and Through" (Those last 2 have been favorites since he was just a few months old).

We snuggle up on the sofa in the morning while he drinks his milk and I have my coffee and we watch Curious George. As soon as I go to turn the TV on he starts asking for "Dordge". Oh I forgot he is also our little barista now! He always watched us make our coffee and now he wants to do it for us. We also occasionally watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I love spending my days with this sweet guy. Granted sometimes he's got the soon to be terrible two's tantrums but it's all worth it. We have lots of fun at play dates, music class, and especially just being lazy at home. I am one lucky mommy :)

Just so I can remember, years from now... he wears a size 5 shoe, 12-18 month clothing but some of them are starting to get too short. Size 3 or 4 diapers during the day and 4s at night.

 Playing drums with daddy

 Working hard

 Sitting in my old rocking chair :)

 Taking a test ride on a bicycle - too small still but he loved it!

 Snuggles with his Papa

 Playing with Mommy while I was preparing food for our Christmas party

Jackson loves playing with the salad spinner. I can't tell you how many mornings he is playing with this while we fix breakfast!