Pumpkin Patch 2013

With our recent busy weekends, I wasn't sure we'd be able to squeeze in trip to the pumpkin patch this year, but when we woke up on Saturday to no rain, Jackson and I decided an impromptu trip to Trinity Tree Farm was in order on our way to swimming (Corey had prior brunch plans so it was just my mini munchkin and I).

 

We'd had fun last year at Trinity, but I was hoping J would enjoy the experience more this year, now that he understands everything a little more.

 

He loved being able to pick out the pumpkins, and even liked helping push the wheel barrow (though only when it was empty - ha!).  He was still impressed by the rocks (see last year's post), and was eager to try out the "choo choo train", which we didn't have a chance to do last year.  He even asked about the bouncy house and slide, which surprised me after being very opposed to them at Fox Hollow Farm a few months ago, but we were running out of time before having to be at swimming.  Next time!

 

Yep, those rocks are almost as cool as the pumpkins.

Doesn't look like it, but he was very excited about the train, and getting to sit in the blue car.

 

Corey and Jackson carved one of the pumpkins last night, which was a first for Jackson.  He wasn't a huge fan of the slimy mess, but helped about as much as we expected.

Don't mind the uncarved, tipped over pumpkin in the back - oops.

 

We are looking forward to Halloween, and seeing Jackson dressed as a parrot!

So Cal Getaway

Last weekend, we headed to Newport Beach for our last weekend getaway before Baby #2 arrives.  We went with my parents and grandma, and met Corey's mom down there (she went a few days early to visit a friend).  We were excited for the time with family, to celebrate Joan's birthday, and to see Elliott and my aunt and uncle, who all live in the area.

We stayed with my parents and Joan in a villa at the Resort at Pelican Hill and it was amazing - highly recommended.  It was the perfect location for relaxing in the sun (75-80 degrees all four days), hitting up the beach, swimming, and eating lots of yummy meals.  We were even able to hit up a playground run at one of the nearby elementary schools, and I was able to sneak in a few naps in the sun on our deck.    

With the resort located in Newport Beach, we were just minutes from the beach, so we were excited to take J, who hadn't been on a beach since our trip to Hawaii almost two years ago.  He enjoyed digging in the sand, until a few sneaker waves surprised him and got his feet wet.  Oops.

We ate on site a few of the evenings, and at one of the restaurants, Corey spotted Nick Lachey, his wife and son - he has such good eyes. I'd seem them walk in but didn't pay enough attention to notice who it was.  We didn't ask for any autographs or photos, but did enjoy seeing him walk around right near us with his son on his shoulders. 

Our last there, we headed into Irvine for dinner at my aunt and uncle's and had a great time catching up.  J most enjoyed dancing for everyone, and throwing leaves in their pool (sorry, Gene!).

Jackson did great on both plane trips, and we were totally spoiled by my parents who sat with him both directions so we could sleep, read and relax.

We arrived back home on Sunday to 30 degree cooler weather, wishing we'd been able to enjoy more time in the sun. The next time we travel to find a beach and some sun, we'll be a family of four!

Sunset on our first night - amazing.

Daddy getting to enjoy swimming with J.

Not sure who was having more fun.

 

Deep in conversation in the kiddie pool.

 

Jackson has such great handwriting for a 2 year old (ha!).

2.5

Jackson's 2-1/2 years old today!

He's grown and developed in so many ways since his birthday just six months ago.  He has new hobbies and favorites, has SO many more words, moved past old fears, and continues to amaze us every day.

J still loves to watch his DVDs, but doesn't rely on them nearly as much, and there are days (and sometimes full weeks!) that we go without watching any of them.  When he does watch one, he has to turn everything on, put the DVD in and hit the "play" button. He's become quite independent.

We often take his big wheel to the mailbox but he still hasn't mastered steering.  I think we have a lot more work there - he's more into checking out all of his surroundings than keeping his eyes on the road.

Jackson loves playing with the Zoodles app on our phones (lots of games, videos and activities rolled into one), helping us around the house (often picking up my phone or anything else we may have lying around and saying "here you go, Mom!"), playing with his toy food and grocery cart, and sorting and counting out coins (and occasionally playing with credit cards, which we find in random spots around the house, where he's pretended to "scan" them in any crack he can find whether it's a door frame or window blinds).

He's started to enjoy playing fetch with Roxy, and loves to let her outside each day when we get home, and occasionally has been known to feed her on his own (we've had to set a rule that he has to ask us first, since the few times he's done this, she's already eaten).

J loves talking about seasons and what happens within each, for instance, in the fall the leaves change colors and then fall down, and in winter it's Christmas and baby brother comes, and his birthday is in the spring.  Speaking of birthdays, he doesn't care whose it is, he loves everything about them as they mean helping open presents, eat dessert and sing 'happy birthday'. 

He just started asking "why"  out of the blue, which was a word that he never seemed to understand.  Previously, when we'd ask him "why" when he wanted or didn't want something, he'd just respond with "yeah" and never actually used it himself.  That is, until we were walking out of the airport on our way back from California (more to come on that soon, promise), and I mentioned something about going home, only for him to ask "why"?  And the fun begins.  In general, he's quite the chatter box, often talking the entire car ride home from school about his day or random tidbits that he thinks up in the cute head of his.

Thankfully, J still loves cuddles, hugs (I get asked for a hug no fewer than 10 times in the few short hours we are together each evening), giving kisses and holding hands.

He's less shy around people like our neighbors (now running up and hugging some of them who used to make him cry by just looking at him), but more shy around others, often saying "I don't wanna say 'Hi'!" when we go somewhere new and he knows there will be new people there.  He's moved past his fear of haircuts (still doesn't love them, but doesn't scream through them anymore at least), past his fear of swimming and pools incredibly quickly, and his shyness in dance class about dancing in the middle. 

He can still be incredibly picky with his food, but then there are nights like tonight, where there are no arguments over trying new things (our rule is that he has to try a little of everything on his plate - if he doesn't like it after he tries it, he doesn't have to eat it, but he can't say he doesn't like it without trying it), or barters made over how many more bites are needed before he can have a snack.

Jackson still can't hold up two fingers yet to show how old he is (holding that pinkie and ring finger down with your thumb is hard work!).  Maybe if we start working on holding up three fingers now, he'll find success by the time his birthday rolls around.

Up next are all kinds of big milestones including moving into his "big boy room", getting a big boy bed, potty training (he's probably about ready to start --- he is dry nearly every night, and he likes to sit on the toilet (though he rarely ever goes), and of course, becoming a big brother. 

Looking forward to the wild ride that will be the next 6 months!

Life Lately

(according to my phone, and Corey's too)

One of the only things I enjoy about summer ending are the leaves changing colors.  J and I do a lot of admiring on our way home from school each day.

My bro really went all out on dressing up for my b'day dinner at Tutta Bella.  So fancy!

Our little family of 3 (+ a bump) after my b'day dinner.

I took the day before my birthday off work and did some shopping. J made out like a bandit - all kinds of new "back to school" clothes.  Love this shirt - he's looking like such a big boy.

Went to the Shawver's for dinner the other night, and loved watching J and Addy play together.  They had a blast!

My POV these days.

We enjoyed watching Corey's longtime friend Yuli get married over the weekend at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

They really couldn't have asked for a better day for the wedding - 60 degrees and sunny.  Had to snag a sunset shot.

J in dance class this week - decided he was a little more brave, and danced in the middle both times!

Baby (#2) Bump Update

It's been awhile, but just a quick post to share progress on the #2 bun in the oven. 

This pregnancy has been very much like my first - other than a little nausea at the beginning, and being extra tired throughout, it's been great, and I can't complain. 

This time around, I have felt the baby kick MUCH more than I did Jackson.  My doc mentioned that the second time around, your stomach has more room/stretches out more quickly, and thus baby can move around more.  I'm loving every second of it.  If this kiddo is anything like he is in the womb, he is going to be one active boy.

I woke up yesterday morning to both of my boys kicking - one in my tummy, and one in his crib.  They're already conspiring against their mama.  I'm in for trouble!

I have gotten to the point where I'm starting to feel big.  My stomach is starting to get in the way of things and my winter coats don't button (or at least not all the way).

Corey and I are still deciding on names - we have 3-4 that we like (and interestingly enough, we later realized that most were on the list of names we were considering when we decided on Jackson's name). 

We're also speculating on whether this kiddo will look like Jackson, will have as much hair, etc.  My guess is that he is going to be a mini J, will come out with a full head of hear, and we'll get to experience the crazy fro-hawk all over again.  Only time will tell, and we can't wait to find out!

A Weekend of Firsts

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Taking on the Mile High City





 

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.