Chit Chat

Jackson continues to learn many new words and phrases each week and we are loving every minute of it.

A few of our favorites are:

• "Good job" --- he'll do something and we'll tell him "good job" and he'll repeat it to himself, like he's telling himself he did a good job.
• "Mac & Cheese" --- the way he says this is adorable
• "Silly Songs" --- we've been trying to get him to branch out from the Elmo birthday DVD and snuck a silly song DVD into the mix.  He has a lisp when he says both words and it's way too cute.
• "I do" --- this weekend he picked up this phrase.  When we ask him to do something, instead of just saying "yes" or "ok", he'll say "yes, I do [it]"

Speaking of, he still loves the letters in the bath and has gotten really good at remembering them and what they stand for.  There are about 10 letters that he knows what the letter, and another handful or two that he knows what that letter stands for (i.e. E is for "Elmo", I is for "ice cream"). 

His eating habits have improved over the past month or two, as well.  He typically has whatever we have to eat. He may not eat a lot of it, and may have some extra sides (typically fruit, which he LOVES), but he's much more open to trying things.  We always ask him to try one bite of everything we're eating and he does a pretty good job.  Back to the fruit - he has multiple bowls of blueberries ("blueburrrrrries" and "grapies" with a majority of his meals - he just can't get enough).

I can't believe he'll be two in less than two months!

Life Lately

I mentioned in my last post that lots of cute stuff had been going on around here, but didn't elaborate.  Now it's time to fill you in on that cuteness.

Jackson continues to discover all kinds of new words.  I still think he's coming home with at least a few new words each day.  He's also more aware of his surroundings and will point things out around us, using his new vocabulary.  I've taught him about red lights and that they mean stop, and green lights mean go.  So he will often yell "red stop!" or "green go!" while driving, though not always at the appropriate time.

He's telling us what he wants to eat sometimes (candy, yogurt, grapes are favorite things to tell us right now), and he continues to love watching his Elmo DVD.  We've started limiting it to one time at night, and two times a day on the weekends (once before nap, once later in the day).

When I pick him up from daycare, he runs and jumps into my arms for a hug, asking for "Elmo".  Then once in the car, we have this exact conversation numerous times on our way home:

J: Berfday!
Mom: You want to watch Elmo Birthday (his Elmo DVD of choice these days)?
J: One! (holding up one pointer finger)
Mom: Yes, you can watch it one time
J: Over!
Mom: Yes, you can watch until it's over.
J: All done! (said while using the "all done" sign)
Mom: Yep, then it's all done.

If I don't respond appropriately, he will whine until I play along. 

There's a whole process that we follow to get the DVD started, too.  He looks at each of the three DVDs as if debating which to watch.  He opens each up, says the name of that one, and then closes them before handing the two DVDs he's decided against back to me.  I'll get dinner started after that but if I have time while making dinner, I'll sit down on the couch and he cuddles up on my lap so we can watch together.

While he's watching TV, he still loves to collect all the books and bring them to the couch, reading each one slowly while watching his show. I recently made him a photo book of people he knows so while I'm making dinner, I'll hear him turning pages and saying names of the faces he recognizes. Speaking of recognizing...Sara has been able to come over every Monday (Bachelor date night!) after work, so she's been eating dinner with us those nights. The chair that she sits in has become her chair, which Jackson will tell me when he's helping set the table, even on nights she's not here.

One of my favorite things that he says is repeating "deal" after I tell him he can/have whatever it is he wants after he does what I need him to do.  For instance, if he wants to watch Elmo, I'll tell him that he can after he picks up all of his books and then I will say "deal?"  He'll confirm it's a "deal" and then do what I've asked quickly.

One of my favorite things that he does is give kisses.  He loves to give kisses and since I know it won't always be this way, I take full advantage.  Even if his interest is elsewhere but I ask for a kiss, he quickly leans in gently with a big smile and waits for you to meet him for a kiss.  Love it so much.

He likes to take our "tempa" (temperature) by putting the thermometer on our bellies or down the back of our shirt while hitting the on/off button (which makes a beeping sound that he loves).  Not sure where he picked this up.

He loves his Elmo stuffed animals that he sleeps with, and often brings them downstairs for breakfast.  We have to put them in a chair next to the table --- the little one sitting in the bigger one's lap.  Then before we go to school, they get dropped off in the shopping cart (vs. leaving them out where Roxy could get to them and destroy them).  (Speaking of destroy, she's on the naughty list --- three days after getting our new living room couch, she torn a hole in one of the arms. Luckily, it's in a spot that is covered by a throw pillow, but it still made me FURIOUS.)

That's enough for now.  I'll try not to go so long between updates so that I can keep these posts a little shorter!

Another New Trick

I'm feeling like a horrible momma - nearly two weeks and no new blog posts.  Life has been hectic - pure craziness at work (requiring me to work each night, and even more on the weekends), physical therapy (finally trying to fix my knee after nearly three years), lots of social plans, catching up on sleep after lots of late nights, etc.  But that's no excuse, because there's lots of cute stuff going on around these parts.

Take this video for example.  Our munchkin loves his letters in the tub, and loves it even more when you sing the ABCs.  And lately, he loves trying to sing along to them.  I witnessed this for the first time earlier this week in the car.  AHdorable.

Note: I truly apologize for my horrible singing.  The ony way to get him to sing along is for us to sing, or for us to play the song in the car on his kiddie CD.