Elvis the Elf

Though the actual elf is a tad creepy looking, I loved the concept of Elf on the Shelf and thought Jackson would as well, so I purchased the set (book & elf) on Amazon last month. On December 1, Elvis (as Jackson named him) made his first appearance at our house, and has been stopping by each morning since.

While I don't think Jackson fully understands the whole concept (i.e. that the elf appears each day to essentially keep an eye on you and report back to Santa), he does like to find out what Elvis is up to each morning. The best part though, is that he doesn't enjoy Elvis' funny situations for long - he wants to quickly put his toys or whatever props Elvis is using, back in order. He'll stop and say "that silly Elvis!", and then quickly pick Elvis up, hand him over to us (he can't seem to remember that he isn't supposed to touch Elvis, at least according to the story) and ask us to put Elvis back on the counter (which is where he sits all day) so we can go back to our normal routine.

Here are a few of my favorite Elvis situations.

It's been fun coming up with a new spot to put Elvis each night before we go to bed, but we are definitely not as creative and crafty as some of the posts I've seen on Facebook or Pinterest. I figure we have a few years before we need to kick things up a notch.

Seeing Santa

Jackson's visit to see Santa this year went MUCH more smoothly than last year.

To avoid crowds and waiting in line, we just headed over to the Santa we'd heard was located near the Issaquah Target, rather than the U Village Santa as in years past, and he did not disappoint. We didn't have to wait more than five minutes, the Santa was very friendly, and Jackson hopped right up onto his lap, all posed and ready for his picture.

He and Santa had a brief chat, including discussing what he wanted for Christmas ("toys" (new ones, as he clarified for me earlier) and "books" (library books, as he told me several days ago)) and that Jackson was soon going to be a big brother to a littler brother. 

He scored a yummy candy cane, and we were on our way.  I'd say this year was definitely a Santa Success.

And for reference, here's last year's photo

J-A-C-K-S-O-N

Corey recently taught Jackson to spell his name and it is one of the cutest things. J is so proud of himself (rightly so!) each time he does it.

Family Photos

We don't get many opportunities to take photos with all three of us in them, so we decided a maternity shoot would be the perfect way to capture the growing bump (like we did before Jackson was born), but also score some shots of us as a family of three.

Our friend Jen recently started her own photography business and was willing to head out in the rain to capture some photos a few weeks back.  The forecast for the day we planned on had been decent all week, but of course, that morning, it started pouring.  Luckily Jen is a trooper and was willing to shoot rain or shine, and Jackson was a better subject than we could have imagined - he smiled on command and was happy throughout the (cold, wet) shoot, with only a few snack bribes.

Jen caught some amazing shots and we are so happy with the results.  Here are some of my favorites.

Thanks again, Jen!

Caspar Babypants

We'd heard great things about Caspar Babypants, but hadn't experienced him in person.  I noticed that he would be at Top Pot in Bellevue last one morning last weekend, and knowing how much Jackson loves music and dancing, we thought it would be a fun family activity.

As we'd hoped, Jackson loved the music, which he enjoyed from Corey's shoulders (it was a full house) and enjoyed the interactive parts where kids are asked to sing along and interact with certain songs.

So glad we took him and hope that we can go to more shows in the future.

 

Big Boy Room

In preparation for Baby #2, we officially moved Jackson to his "Big Boy Room" on Wednesday evening, which includes a big boy bed! 

To help prepare him for the move, we talked a lot about the room change, and that he'd be in a big boy bed, and would have to stay in it until we came and got him in the morning, but we weren't sure how he'd actually handle things when the room change actually took effect.

He loved his crib and never once tried to actually climb out of it.  During his 45-60 minutes of settling in before sleep at night (he's just like his daddy; I on the other hand fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow), he'd just lay there or roll around.  When he woke up, he'd often just lay or sit there, talking or singing.  He never stood and shook the sides of the crib or anything, so I was hoping for the best with his bed but of course didn't truly know what to expect, especially since he's been able to open doors since around the time he started walking.

But after 4 nights in his new space, I'm happy to announce he hasn't gotten out of bed once!

The only rough patch Jackson experienced was the first night, when he fell out of bed.  We heard a thud around midnight and looked at the monitor to see him on the ground.  He had managed to roll out of his bed, land on his face, and keep sleeping.  He didn't wake up even when Corey picked him up and put him back in bed, and said he didn't remember falling out of it when we asked him about it. 

Corey quickly put a bunch of extra pillows on the floor to protect him if he fell again, and made a midnight purchase of a bed rail on Amazon, which arrived yesterday.  Luckily J had no more spills before we receive the rail.  The funny thing is I had brought up the idea of a rail to Corey earlier and he mentioned something along the lines of, "nah, your body knows when it is about to fall, and he'll catch himself before he actually falls out".  Guess he better listen to his wifey next time, eh?  (I'm not normally right, so I have to milk this one for all it's worth.)

I hope Jackson continues to like his room, and stay in his bed all of course, even when Baby Brother takes over his old room.

Converting our old office into the Big Boy room.

 

 

Final product, complete with a big boy!

 

Ta da!  Hard to believe this is the same room that housed our computers, Corey's sneaker collection and a lot of office related junk.

 

Corey's midnight Facebook update, after our middle-of-the-night Amazon purchase.

 

Christmas "Whites"!

Jackson is even more interested in Christmas "whites" (aka lights) this year, so last weekend while he napped, Corey put our lights up.

By the time J woke up, it was just getting dark, so we told him we had a surprise for him outside.  We gave him a remote and walked outside so he could check out Daddy's work.

He loved them!  He also loves being able to turn them on and off himself each day. 

Say What?!

Nearly every day, Jackson cracks us up with a new phrase.  Sometimes he's stating something just slightly incorrectly, which is what makes it so cute.  Other times, he is saying the phrase properly but just hearing it come from his mouth for the first time makes us smile. 

Here are a few my recent favorites:

"Love you back" - we tell him we love him all the time, and sometimes he just says "uh huh" and other times, he'll say "love you" if we prompt him.  But the other night, Corey kissed him good night and told him he loved him, and J responded back with "Love you back!".  Not sure where he picked this up, but it was the cutest thing ever.  We've heard it a few times since, so hopefully it's a phrase we'll continue to hear.

"Oopsie daisy" - I didn't realize how much I say this until he started saying it, always in proper context (he's dropped something, etc).

"Look at all the frosting!" - It's been very cold this week, so one morning on the way to school, I pointed out how there was white stuff on the trees and grass, which was called frost.  We turned a corner and he was impressed by the amount of frost he could see.  If only it really were frosting, buddy.

"Actually", "probably" and "maybe" - always used in proper context.  Each day, he gets to choose our route home from school and there are times he'll say "left today...actually let's go straight".  Or "after dinner, I can have some candy maybe", and "daddy's probably watching Dora".

"I had a good sleep"/"I had a good nap" - we've asked him how he slept enough in his life, that now, unprompted, he will tell us this when he wakes up occasionally.

I love this kid more every single day.  Just can't get enough of him.

I couldn't end a blog without any photos, so here is one from our recent family photo shoot with our friend Jen (thanks again, Jen!!).  I am only sharing one for now, as I don't want to spoil our holiday card, which should be in a mailbox near you within a few weeks.

Our Dental Rock Star

Jackson had his first dentist visit yesterday and was a total super star. We talked a lot about the visit and I tried to set his expectations over the last week, but I had no idea what to expect.  I have to admin, I assumed the worst, but I'm happy to report that he greatly surpassed my expectations.  There were no tears, they were able to do a full cleaning, he didn't once say "I don't wanna say hi!", he talked to his hygienist, dentist and the receptionist, and it was all around an enjoyable visit (as enjoyable as having your teeth cleaned could be).  It helped that everyone was wearing their Seahawks jersey, which is something Jackson has just gotten really into (he hated his jerseys for awhile, and wouldn't even think about putting them on, but over the last few weeks, has begged to wear them multiple times throughout the week).

The hygienist was great - she started the appointment off by turning on Toy Story for him to watch, showing him all the tools (which all had special names, like "Mr. Thirsty" (i.e. the spit sucker) of course), and then letting him feel and touch the tools.  She mentioned that sometimes, they don't do anything more than this on the first visit, but Jackson willingly let her clean his teeth, including using the plaque scraper and floss.  He did a great job laying very still, keeping his mouth open wide and listening to her directions.  The dentist said everything looked good so far, and was impressed at how well behaved J was, considering many of the 2-year olds, especially boys, don't tend to cooperate much. 

I'd say the thing that made him the most nervous was when the hygienist went to tip the "big boy" chair back...he didn't quite know what to do, except sit straight up as the chair went back.  Oops.

His favorite part was using Mr. Thirsty - he loved that thing, mostly because I think it resembled a straw, which he thorough enjoys.

He was rewarded with his choice of toothbrush and bath toy, some jelly beans, and a trip to Starbucks before I took him into school for the day.  He must have known he was extra good and deserved a special treat, as he picked out chocolate milk with his mini scone (he normally just gets plain milk).  Poor kid - he definitely has his mama's sweet tooth. 

 

 

Happy (Belated) Halloween!

Clearly I'm a bit behind, but I figured it was better late than never to post about our Halloween, even though it feels like eons ago.

All in all, we had a great time. Jackson wore his costume (including the hat, which we were shocked about given how much he hates things on his head) during the fall festival at school and again for a few minutes at home while trick-or-treating. (Perhaps telling him that he had to wear the full costume in order to get candy helped?)

Leading up to Halloween, we'd practice saying "trick-or-treat" and saying "thank you", but he needed some reminding at each of the four houses we made it to. He definitely understood the concept much more than last year though, and was a lot less shy. After the fourth house, we headed home to enjoy some candy. He also enjoyed opening the door for the many trick-or-treaters we got.

Corey picked up gobs of candy this year, after we ran out last year in an hour with 100+ visitors, so we were much more prepared this year, but we just didn't see nearly as many trick-or-treaters as we expected.

Jackson, who enjoys desserts and sweets as much as his mama, has thoroughly enjoyed snacking on a bit of candy each day. The day after Halloween, he had to have a piece after breakfast, but luckily that hasn't become a habit (he's definitely learning the concept of a "special treat").

Holidays just get more and more fun the older he gets - I look forward to them even more now than I used to!