Birthday Boy

 

It so hard to believe that our munchkin is TWO today!  Seriously, where have the last two years gone?  It is just shocking to think that two years ago we were welcoming Jackson into the world, and now he's a walking, talking, tantrum throwing machine.  Amazing.

I absolutely love being J's mom and getting to experience the world and all the things it has to offer through his eyes.  Everything is so much more fun and exciting from his perspective. 

He continues to amaze us daily with new words, phrases or things he's learned.  Tonight at dinner we were talking about how today he's "1" and tomorrow, he'll be "two" and he started talking about "Monday" and "Tuesday" (both said perfectly and in the right order).  We were shocked - we've never really talked much about days of the week, but I guess they must at school. 

He can truly have a conversation with us now and I just love listening to what he says, as well as the way he says things.  Tonight, he even kept me company by chatting while I cooked.

He's drinking out of a cup without a lid at meals now, and hasn't been asking for "help" (as he did the first week or so, even though he didn't really need it).  And hopefully it's a new trend, but over the last week or so, he's been much more accepting with new foods including asking for salad last night (after which he ate several pieces of lettuce, some carrots and every last tomato we could dig up from our own plates), beef from a fried rice dish last week, sausage in his soup tonight, to name a few.  For those of you who know Jackson, this is a huge improvement - the kid wouldn't touch protein other than dairy and tofu previously, and rarely ate any veggies outside of those that come in a pouch.

He's got a sweet tooth like his mama, occasionally asking for "ice ceam" or "candy" or "choc-o-LIT" and even talked us into a half gallon of strawberry ice cream at the store over the weekend.  Those of you who know me know he'll be polishing this one off on his own (with a little help from dad), as I am much more of a "choc-o-LIT" girl myself.

J's continues to sleep great --- goes down around 8 p.m. and wakes up between 7:00 and 7:30 on the weekends. He's still taking a 3-4 hour nap on the weekends as well (not going to lie - we love this and hope it continues for awhile...gives us so much time to do chores or even sneak in our own naps now and then). 

During the week, we've started to have to get him up earlier as he's gone from taking ~20 minutes to get out of the house in the a.m. to about 40 mins.  He has to do EVERYTHING on his own including brush his teeth, put gel in his hair, wash his hands, pick up all his "guys" and bring them downstairs, wash his dishes after he eats, gather our shoes, open the garage door, open his car door, buckle his seat belt, and the list goes on.  Mornings are definitely a test of my patience.  Well, let's be honest, a 2-year old in general is a test of this mama's patience.

Speaking of mornings, he's figured out our hand signals/commands for Roxy and in the a.m. has started to say "Roxy...Stay" in a very serious voice, with his hand up before he heads out of the house.  It's hilarious.

Above all, he continues to be a warm and caring little boy who will run up and give you a hug and kiss for no reason, will ask for a hug or kiss before bed, asks for cuddles or to read books any chance he gets, tells you multiple times throughout the day before you leave to "have fun", and in general, seems to enjoy life and all the fun it brings.

I couldn't ask for a more perfect little babe and I am so honored and proud to be his "mama".

Happy birthday to our BIG boy!