Jackson is such a loving, caring, well mannered and thoughtful little guy. He loves to snuggle up when we read and always wants one more kiss and hug good night or good bye if I am leaving the house. He still wants mommy to do so much for and with him. Often he still wants me to carry him downstairs in the morning or sit with him while he watches Curious George. Anytime he is playing with toys he wants mommy to play. The constant neediness does wear on me some and I definitely try to push him to be more independent and play by himself but sometimes I do just need to savor the time of him wanting me. Someday he won't want me to play with him or snuggle on the sofa with him. He's also trying to test boundaries and limits so he'll have extra whines or cry a little more seeing if we'll give in. Or if we ask him to do something or get something, he'll say no. We talk about listening to mommy and daddy and I tell him I can't understand him when he whines/cries. I also tell him if he wants to continue crying then he'll need to go to his room until he's done. He's a pretty typical 3 year old and while we have some rough days, the good days definitely outnumber the bad.
Jackson's speech continues to improve. Back in April he would say medoss (myself) and then he started saying mee-selss. He has a hard time with f's and v's. We took a break from speech therapy over the summer and I honestly see a lot of improvement. There are still some sounds he has trouble with but I'd like to see how he does at his preschool with the new teachers and new kids before going back to speech. Some funny things he's said recently:
"When Camden get bigger he can eat bacon and drink coffee. Yeah. When he bigger. And me get bigger and drink coffee too. But not till I'm older. Yeah"
When we were in Florida at Grandpa's house the sidewalk ends because next door is a vacant lot. He had to walk us over and show us. He said "I ate it"
"I so hungy" Said with a slight twang to it.
When we have a conversation we'll say something and ask a question and Jackson says, "I tink so" very emphatically with head nod and big arm movements.
He's been very complimentary lately. "Daddy, I like your blue shirt", "Mommy, I like your new car", one afternoon we went in the backyard after Jimmy mowed the grass "Wow, it looks really nice out here".
He'll ask us a question and we answer then he says "I just was asking".
Often times I tell him to be careful or to please come here and he is almost like a teenage in the way he looks at me and uses his arms and says "I am!"
He says I willnt for I won't. The first few times I had to keep asking him if he heard me when I asked him not to do something. I thought he was saying I will.
We are outside playing tennis in the driveway and he stops and says, "I love you mommy"
He says to Camden in the car one day "Its OK bear, It's OK sugar." Sometimes I call them sugarbear. He loves to repeat what I say.
He is always curious what car we are taking. When we take mine he says "Why not the Jeep?" "Why not Daddy's BMW?" He notices cars on the road and will point out Jeep and BMWs.
He loves to hide. He will tell us to wait to come upstairs until he's hid. And he tells us where he's hiding.
He gave detailed instructions to Jimmy one day as he and I were leaving to go to the store about how to put Camden down for his nap, "Take him upstairs, read 2 books, turn his music on, turn the lights off, sing songs - twinkle twinkle, ABC's, rockabye baby, humpty dumpty and itsy bitsy spider, close his door and make sure he goes night night"
He is so observant especially in the car. We'll be driving somewhere and he looks out his window and says "There's Dr Bergman's" or "That's where Camden gets his hair cut". He always notices his school when we pass it and when we are near our neighborhood. He even told us one time when we were going to the lake that we went the wrong way because he noticed where we usually turn but we were going a different way that time.
Jackson loves our book reading time. We typically read 2 books before nap and bedtime. He will choose the same books day after day and almost learns the stories. We have many books he can almost read to us. Although its mostly memorization not necessarily being able to read the words. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I Was So Mad, Going to the Firehouse, Curious George in the Big City. He is big into reading the "I Can Read" books right now and I like them because they are a great way for him to learn to start reading. We read Frog and Toad, Amelia Bedelia, Danny and the Dinosaur, Sammy the Seal, his I Spy books, Berenstein Bears. He also loves to sing our songs before bed too. Twinkle Twinkle, ABCs, Humpty Dumpty and The Itsy Bitsy Spider.
He's been waking up a lot earlier than he used to. We were pretty spoiled with him sleeping until 8 or even 8:30 some mornings! Now he's getting up at 6:30 or 7. I think part of it has to do with being potty trained and he probably realizes he needs to go or that he might have gone in his pull-up. He generally goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 and sleeps until about 7am. He naps from about 1:30 until 3:30 usually. For a while I was really struggling with getting him to go potty first thing but I realized that if I just put his underwear on right away I didn't care if he actually went to the bathroom or not. I knew he wouldn't go in his underwear. It's all about knowing which battles to fight, right?!
Jackson is very good with manners. He uses lots of please and thank yous and is also really good about referring to people as Mr or Ms. We started really early always saying everyone's name was Ms Megan or Mr Jimmy for example and he really is good about it.
I've been trying to teach Camden a little sign language and Jackson is very helpful, trying to help me teach him. When Camden is "talking" or crying in the car he'll say to him "I hear you Camden".
Jackson always wants to know so much... when he talks to Nana and Papa he asks where they are and what they are doing, he's always asking where we are going and knows if I change up the order or try to add another errand in I hadn't already mentioned. We are on the go a lot and every day when he wakes up he asks "Where's me going?" Maybe we need to stay home more! He's so excited Camden is growing up and starting to walk. "I didn't know Camden could walk!" He likes when I give him choices... Veggie sticks or goldfish, BMW jacket or fleece, etc.
He loves to make up games to play these days. He jumps over pillows in our room, builds castles downstairs with the sofa cushions, we toss and catch rubber spiders (from Halloween) in a bucket, jumps over the "river" in his bathroom to stay away from the shark. I love that his imagination is starting to really come alive.
3 has been a very challenging yet very fun age. I love that he can communicate with us and I love the conversations we have with him but with that comes his ability to tell us non stop what he wants or what he's crying about. He's busy testing the limits and learning what the boundaries are. I struggle with staying consistent with discipline but generally I pick the battles that are worth fighting. I give in to the things are aren't worth obsessing over. But I stand firm on the important behavior battles. It is so fun to see him experience things again that just make more sense to him now. And to go places where he gets so much out of it. We were just reading Danny and the Dinosaur and we're talking about dinosaurs and he wants to see them. I explain they are extinct but we can go to the museum to see them and he gets so excited and says "Mommy, do you want to go to the dinosaur museum?!" I love our sweet reading time in bed and I love singing songs with him, even though I have the worst voice! I tell him all the time I'm so lucky to be his mommy. My dad always asks me "did you ever know you could love something so much?" No, I didn't, but I love that these boys fill my heart with so much love. I'll put up with the occasional headache for that any day :)
Many of these photos are on other posts but I wanted to highlight some of my favorite photos of Jackson over the past 6 months.
Always running!
Showing off his muscles!
Bedhead!
He's a jeep boy!
Laying in mommy and daddy's bed watching Curious George in the morning
Hello? This phone actually works and he loves calling me on it from papa's office
So excited about his new rain jacket and rain boots
Heading to his first UGA game
2nd time at the dentist. He did such a good job!
First fish
Obsessed with tennis. He asks to play every single day!
So many amazing memories. We love you so very much Jackson and are so thankful to be your parents! Love, Mommy and Daddy.
