Because of Jackson's fear of being in the pool, I signed him up for swimming lessons and we had our first lesson this weekend at Tiger Mountain Aquatics.
He was a little nervous beforehand and took a little while to warm up to the idea of being in the pool, but after some coaxing from teacher and I, and some fun toys to play with, he let me carry him right in. (There were no tears, though!) It probably didn't hurt that he got to see the other kids having fun in the water first (by other kids, I mean the 7-month old triplets - they were the only other "students" this week).
He seemed to really enjoy himself, and there were lots of laughs and repeat requests for doing "Humpty Dumpty" off the side of the pool, for throwing the ball back and forth, and for riding around in his boat (i.e. floatie).
Looking forward to seeing him progress in the weeks to come.
Another first this weekend, was taking a dance class. The Massive Monkees, as seen on America's Best Dance Crew, have a studio in the International District and on Sundays, one of the dancers hosts a breaking dancing drop-in class for 2-6 year olds. With J's love of dancing, we thought it would be a great way to spend a weekend morning.
The teacher was great, and it was fun to see her moves, but the highlight of the class was seeing toddlers who'd been before show off their break-dancing. Some of them were pretty good!
J didn't take his turn dancing in the middle of the circle, but seemed to enjoy himself for the most part. He got a little tired and cranky towards the end, wanting to be held, or to hang all over me, but that aside, I'd consider his first dance class a success. Hopefully if we go back a few more times, he'll work up the courage to dance in the circle.
We just returned from a trip to Denver to visit Gina, Nick and Stellan, who moved there back in June for Nick's three-year residency. We had a wonderful time!
We weren't sure how Jackson would handle the plane ride, since he hasn't been on one since he was 10 months old, but he was an old pro. We were super prepared with snacks, every DVD he owns, a portable DVD player, books, and magazines (he loves to look at them and hold up each page and tell you to "Wook it!"), but he was a great traveler. The only rough patch was when we arrived at the airport to find that escalators (aka "moving stairs") scare the heck out of him, so elevators quickly became our friend.
Once we got to our gate, he got to enjoy some DVDs while we waited to board.
He was a little nervous on the flight (can you tell?) and definitely looked like he was going to cry a few times during takeoff, but with some snacks, his Elmo stuffed animals and his blanket, he was good to go. He even took a nap on my lap for half of the flight (haven't had him nap on me in ages - loved it!)
He enjoyed playing with Stellan, seeing their cat Tyson, and enjoying all of Stellan's toys. J made himself right at home, even deciding it was okay to empty an entire bookshelf of books to read.
Jackson didn't mind sharing Corey a bit, even when Stellan wanted Corey to hold him, which I had been a little worried about. Corey did a great job handling two kiddos at once...looks like he'll be a pro come January!
The first morning there, we woke up to head to breakfast and to the Children's Museum only to walk out of Gina and Nick's apartment and not see our car where we'd left it. It's quite a strange and scary feeling to know you parked your car exactly where there is now an empty spot in the lot and not know if it had been towed, or if it had been stolen. Lucky for us, it was just towed. Apparently their building management has gotten strict and because we didn't have a parking permit in our window, they towed us within hours of us arriving. After a call to the towing company, who couldn't tell us if they had our car yet and to call the police, who then told us that yes indeed, that towing company had our car, we were back in business and picking up our car in no time.
We didn't have time for the museum that day, but did still have time to make it to Snooze for breakfast - it was delicious. Even Jackson literally cleaned his plate, which included a side of bacon (apparently our vegetarian has decided bacon is okay to eat!).
We hit up two parks that afternoon and the boys had a blast. I couldn't believe how nice and big their parks are, with new playground equipment and acres and acres of grass. Amazing.
The following day, we headed to the Children's Museum, which was great. The Seattle one is nice, but the Denver one had many more interactive activities and J had a blast. That is until he decided to forget how to share and started hording balls and throwing tantrums when we wanted to move him along to the next activity. But, nothing a little Sassafrass milkshake afterwards couldn't fix. He even shared his milkshake with me, offering me "another sip?", followed by "mmmm" as I took a drink (he really does pick up on everything we do and say).
We wrapped up that day with a fun trip to our third and final park of the trip, which even resulted in a family photo op, which never happens! I can't remember the last time all three of us were in a picture.
Couldn't help but post this picture of Mr. Stellan playing at the park. He is such a cute, chunky monkey, complete with baby crack!
After the park, we stumbled across a music festival, which had Stellan clapping and J dancing. He even held hands and danced with me for awhile. Apparently we need to find more festivals to take him to - he had a blast.
We had such a great time with the Gordens and were thrilled J did so well on the flight, and with sleeping in a new place. It was great to catch up with Nick and Gina, relax, eat, and watch the boys play, laugh and interact with each other. Can't wait to see them grow up together.
Here's a quick recap - mostly in the form of photos and videos - of our weekend.
J had toast for breakfast on Saturday. Of course, we both learned how messy it could be when one slice had Nutella and one slice had PB&J (at his request).
J's getting quite the imagination. He kept "calling" his grandparents from his fake phones this weekend. Here he is, talking to "Gwamma Winda".
And here he is in action on his fake phone.
Today, Corey ran the MADD Dash at Magnuson with some of his co-workers. J and I tagged along to cheer him on. After lots of playground time, we headed to the finish to look for Corey. J could hear a local radio station's broadcast from where we stood, and took it upon himself to dance to the tunes blasting out of the speakers. Other spectators even commented on his "nice moves".
We enjoyed a Husky win yesterday, along with some of our neighbors that we invited over to watch the game, and a Seahawks win tonight. Hoping to squeeze into my Russell Wilson jersey for a few more games...
And I'll leave you with this. We are thinking about moving J into what is currently our office, which would be his "big boy" room. After telling him we'd move the furniture out, and replace it with a big boy bed, his toys and books, etc, he responded with "Sounds good!". I was expecting a lot more push back, but I'll take this any day!
I love the idea of a blog to capture milestones, major events, and all around fun times, allowing us to look back on and remember them; however, I've become a bit of a lazy blogger. I don't have much free time outside of work and life with my cute little family, but when I do, sometimes the last thing I feel like doing is getting back on my computer after a long day at the office to upload pics/videos and write up a post.
It's times like these that I find myself with many photos and videos on my phone that haven't been posted, and many cute stories that haven't been told, and I start to feel very guilty. I tell myself I will remember all these fun moments as Jackson grows up, but truth be told, I often forget some of the cute things he says or does, so I have to remind myself that this is exactly why the blog should be more of a priority.
So, here's a quick review of our life lately, according to my phone (the new Sony Xperia Z, for the record):
J's first 'smore - he loved it, but not the sticky hands.
A little cuddling, a little Zoodle time = a nice, lazy morning. (Zoodles is a great app full of videos, songs (there's one about primary colors that J loves, and he now knows his primary colors), games, and painting, all the while locking the rest of our phone from J's happy little fingers.)
Finally! Someone in this family loves Pirates Booty as much as me!
Blueberry picking a few weeks ago, when Corey was in Hawaii for work.
It takes a lot of concentration to pick the perfect blueberry.
My serious Red Rob date - he was actually very excited to go, regardless of what this photo conveys. And of course, you need to have all your essentials with you - sun glasses, favorite CDs and your water bottle.
Counting pumpkins outside QFC
A little Macklemore to jump start our weekend. He loves his song and loves doing the "hands up" part. If we're in the car, we must all do this together.
Happy (belated, by a day) birthday to the handsomest and best husband, and best daddy in the world! Much to Jackson's delight, Corey chose to celebrate his day with lots of yummy food, including breakfast at Sammamish Cafe (Jackson was very enthusiastic about the "pancakes!!!") and dinner at Red Robin (Jackson shrieked with excitement about "mac & cheese, oranges and milk!", which are his staples there).
Corey was spoiled by his family and mine, but received nothing from me...not by choice, though. He recently pulled the trigger and ordered a Tesla (his absolute dream car), and upon doing so, I kindly informed him that this meant birthday, Christmas and Father's Day gifts were taken care of for the next 12 years. (I may not stick to the full 12 years, but I definitely felt like his birthday gift was more than taken care of this year.) Lucky husband, I know, but it's very much deserved, and he's more than worth it.
Happy birthday, and happy Tesla driving (once you finally get the car next week), sweets!
