Are kids born manipulators?

Are kids born manipulators? Sheesh! This kid has my number at bedtime. Mommy, hold you, he says with a sadface and sniffles (Okay, one more time) Covers! (well, he can't sleep without being covered) Say prayers again? (no but I'll give you kisses again) Mommy hold you! (I'm gonna get daddy to put the gate up). Jax is finally asleep. :-)

This is our routine almost every night.  Some nights it's annoying and others nights I can't help but smile about it.  He is so cute...even when he is manipulating me.

Thanksgiving

We always have a big group for Thanksgiving.  This year is was about 25 people at my sister's house.  It's always nice to see all the cousins, big and small.  Here is how it went down this year.

 

Here we are eating our turkey dinner

 

 Now it is time to go play

 Daddy helping Jax cross the balance beam

Giving Caleb a swat on the booty

 Have a grand ole time playing by himself

Looking at the planes with Ahma

  

The Ricciardo, Burgess, Taylor clan

All the little kiddies

Halloween and Veterans' Day Parade

I'm running behind on my holiday posts.  Here is a compilation of Halloween and the Veterans' Day Parade.

 

My little Fire Chief 

 

With daddy on the haystack

 

At the pumpkin patch

 

I'm a snow bunny

 With Ahma at the Veteran's Day Parade

 Waving his flag

 Waiting for the parade to start

 Watching the soldiers go by

 I love my little boy

Cute things he says

Jax is at the age where he's got a lot to say.  Most days it amazes me how much he can talk and communicate now.  Half the time I don't understand him because he just has so much to say but can't quite get the right words to come out. Most of the time if I can figure out 2 of the words, then I can figure out what he is trying to say.

Some things he says:

Mommy hold you = Hold me mommy.

Where'd dat come from? = What is that?

Say Prayas? = Say prayers mommy.

I frow it? = Can I throw this?

Bobble = Bottle

I pooted = I farted...I'm assuming someone at daycare says this because we call it a fart not a poot.  We get confused when he says it because we aren't sure if he means he farted or if he pooped since they sound so similar.

Move cars! Go! = Get out of our way cars, I want to go home!  He usually says this on the way home from daycare.

Dare she is! Dares Dora!  Hi Dora! = There's Dora!  Dora's on!  He gets so excited when he gets to watch her show.

Watch Dora on TV Please? =  Can I Watch Dora on TV Please?

Dats tasty! = That's tasty!  I don't knwo who taught him the word tasty but it is the cutest thing ever.

Mommy, help you! = He really means, Mommy help me, but he just can't get that concept yet.

Some things I've learned so far.

You really do forget all the pain of giving birth.  I was so medicated I felt nothing but I really don't remember the first few weeks after having a c-section and all the yuck and pain that went along with that. 

Poop stinks.  No matter how big or little, runny or firm, if it is your 1st or 1000th poopy diaper, it just stinks.  Sometimes the littlest poop is the deadliest and sometimes you don't know what you've got until you look.

Toddlers are bipolar. Happy go lucky one minute and a screaming, growling, running away like a crazy person freak show the next minute.

I now understand why parents watch their babies sleep.  They look more peaceful than I could ever imagine myself to be.  I love watching Jax sleep.  The last thing I do before I go to bed is look at him for a few minutes.

I never knew I could be friends with a 2 year old.  He is so funny and fun. 

I still love nap time.  I loved it as a kid and I love it as a mom for the same and different reasons.  He gives me an excuse to take naps now and if i don't, then I get a few minutes to myself.

I CAN survive on 6-7 hours of sleep.  Sometimes even 4 hours of sleep but it doesn't mean that I will never get back to sleeping 10 hours straight again.

Potty training is not fun.

He gets more fun and complicated every day.

Loves and stuff

Lately, I've noticed that Jax is ALL BOY.  He loves to wrestle and fall down. He loves jumping on and off the couch. He loves rough housing and when Tony throws him in the air and catches him.  He will run across the room and jump into your lap, and I mean literally run and jump so you better be ready to catch him or you are both gonna have a fat lip.  He is so full of energy.

He has started using his imagination quite a lot.  His dinosaurs have begun to roar more often and hide under the pillows on the floor.  His Dora doll got thirsty the other day, so he gave her a drink from his sippy cup. She can have water but only Jax can have milk.  He is reading aloud to himself a lot too.  He loves hiding his toys and asking you where they went.  We go from place to place looking for them.  Most of the time, he hides them under pillows.  I have to look in at least 3 places before I can find them or he makes me look some more.

He says hi to Dora when she comes on the screen as if she is real.  Maybe she is real to him.  I don't know how that works in his little head. 

He has a few hiding places now.  He will hide in my closet behind my clothes and say, I'm hiding mommy.  Where am I?  Or when he wants to be alone, he will hide in between the couch and chair.  He has made himself a little fort with some pillows over there.  He can also crawl behind the couch.

He loves us to chase him around our little circle from the living room to the dining room to the kitchen.  He is so fast.  It's so cute how his feet kick out the the sides when he runs.

He loves to watch people dancing on TV and he dances right along with them.  He loves to be tickled.  He has the cutest little laugh when you tickle him in the right spots.

He is growing up so fast right now.  So many words and sentences are coming out of his mouth.  His new word is Tasty.  I was chewing gum last night and he asked, What's that mommy?  I said gum.  He said is it tasty?  I said yes, yes it is.  So cute.  Tasty, where did he get that?

Nipples

Well, Jax asked about nipples last night.  Tony and I were watching TV and Jax kept getting out of bed so we let him stay up a little longer.  Tony didn't have a shirt on and Jax pointed to Tony's nipples.  Tony said those are my nipples.  You have them too.  We told him everyone has nipples. Then Jax started counting them. Daddy has 1 nipple, 2 nipples.  Jax has 1, 2 nipples and then he looks at me with sort of a questioning gaze.  I said yes mommy has nipples too. So he points to my boobs and says 1, 2 nipples. 

Can't wait for the more intimate and embarrassing questions that are sure to come soon.

Daddy do...Jax do

So Tony and I are sitting on the floor in the living room watching TV and all of a sudden Tony farts.  I get all disgusted and yell at him and Jax comes over to us and I say Jax, daddy farted!  Ewe, Yucky!  He looks at me and says daddy fart, Jax fart and he stands there and sticks his butt out and pushes out a fart, smiles and leaves the room.  Tony and I busted out laughing.  Tony was so proud and all I could think of was this is what my life is going to be like now.  Boys!!!

Pacifier and sleeping through the night

Somehow, after 2 years, we have maybe finally gotten rid of the pacifier.  Good thing too, because we only have 1 more of the kind that he likes and they don't make them anymore.  3 days ago I put him to bed without it and he didn't ask for it.  Then he took a nap the next day and didn't ask for it and so on and so forth.  I have heard it takes 2 weeks to kick a habit.
Maybe just maybe we have nipped it in the bud.  Fingers crossed.

Also, he has been sleeping through the night in his bed for the past 2 weeks.  We told him he was gonna have to stay in his bed until the sun woke up from now on.  It took a couple of nights to get adjusted but now he pretty much makes it all night until about 7am in his bed.  Then he wanders into our bed and either goes back to sleep for a bit or asks to watch Dora.  I miss him being next to me all night but finally after 2 years, we have our bed back.  Amen.

Acceptance

Not by choice, but over the past year, I have had to accept the fact that Jax will be our only child. It is only recently that I have really come to accept it.  It tears me up inside just writing about it because it makes it that much more real.  I really wanted him to have a sibling, someone that even when they didn't get along, they would always have that brotherly/sisterly bond and someone to be by them even when we are gone. I don't talk to my sister everyday or see her every week but I know if I needed her she would be there.  She knows things no one else knows about me for the simple fact that she is my sister.  We haven't always gotten along but we have a bond that is forever, no matter what.  I just wanted that for Jax but I can't give it to him and that sucks.  I wish he had a closer relationship with his cousins but that hasn't really happened yet.  I don't know if it is because he is younger or what, maybe when he is older they will hang out more.

When Jax was 3 months old, I tripped over the dog while holding him and I saved him from getting hurt and not me.  I got 3 bulging discs in my neck and back and have tried everything from Icy Hot to shots to massage and chiropractors and medication to take away my pain.  I had hoped that my pain would go away or we could find a solution to fix me but the only thing that works is medication.  Medication that I cannot stop.  If I do, I cannot pick up or play with my baby and I am in terrible pain 24 hours a day.  How can I get pregnant or be pregnant if I can't stop the meds?  The answer is I can't.  At this point, there is no end game to this medication.  I am on it for the long haul.  Adoption is not an option for us.  Some people are made to adopt and some people are not.  We are not.  So this is the situation we are in.

I have been trying to focus on the positives of having only one child.  We can spoil him (if we want).  We can send him to the best schools. He won't have to share our attention or clothes with anyone else.  We can be there for all the important stuff and not have to split it up or alternate between another kid.   We can save more money for our future and for his college.  He will be more independent.  I know there are more things, these are just some of them.

Jax is imperfect perfection to me...if that makes sense.  He is as stubborn as Tony and I put together and has my temper and hates vegetables, and is scared of loud noises and loves to throw things he's not supposed to but he also gives hugs and kisses and tells us he loves us and sleeps just like his daddy and has my chin and a giggle that makes me laugh so hard and I love all of it.  Every little bit of him, I love. 

If he is the only little baby I get to have, then I am blessed beyond what I deserve.  He is everything I hoped and prayed he would be.  He got the best and worst of Tony and I and I love all of it.

I am sad and happy right now.

First REAL haircut.

I had been putting Jax's haircut off for too long.  I tried to cut it a couple times at home but the sides have just gotten out of control.  So it was time for the real deal. We explained to him what was going to happen and he seemed okay with it.  He said no a few times but didn't put up a fuss when it was time to get it done.  

 We tried to have him sit in the chair by himself but he wasn't having any of that.  So mommy sat in the chair and Jax sat on my lap.  Tony was getting his hair cut right next to us which I think made it easier seeing daddy get it done too.  So I told the lady not to cut too much off, just clean him up a little.  So she started cutting and Jax just sat there and we talked and played while she cut away. 

 Jax did a great job and he looks so handsome and grown up now.  

Still my sweet cute little baby boy.

October 7, 2012  5:15pm

Gross story

Here is another gross story from the land of Jax.
Last night I was getting dinner ready so I told Jax to go play in his playroom for a little bit.  I went into the living room for a few minutes while the water was boiling and I realized I hadn't heard anything from Jax in a few minutes so I went to look in the playroom for him.  He wasn't there.  So I continued to look and I found him on the kitchen floor, squatting over the dog/cat water bowl with Sadie's chew bone.  I looked at him and asked him what he was doing?  I already knew the answer wasn't gonna be good.  He looked at me, took the chew bone, put it in the nasty water that I had asked Tony to change for the past week but he didn't, used the chew bone as a spoon, swirled it in the water and proceeded to put it in his mouth and suck it all in. This water was nasty as you can imagine. I almost puked right there.  He had probably been having a nice little drink for about 3-5 minutes before I found him. I immediately told him to stop what he was doing.  I got down to his level as I am still dry heaving and he proceeds to pull a wet dog hair out of his mouth. (Insert puke in mouth.) 

Why oh why is my kid obsessed with the dog's water bowl.  It can't taste good. Hopefully he can't contract any dog germs from it.  Ugh!  It still makes me sick just writing about it.

I have to wonder if this is just something that my kid does or is it a common occurrence?  I'm probably just lucky. ;-\

Videos

Waddle Waddle

I love you 

 

Sippy cups and pacifiers

We have a very particular boy.  He likes what he likes and will give you the stink eye and pitch a fit if you try to give him anything else.  We are are having a situation with sippy cups and pacifiers.  Throughout Jax's life, we have probably bought about 25 pacifiers, yet we can only find 3.  To make matters worse, the kind that Jax's likes are discontinued.  And when I say the kind that Jax likes, I really mean the only kind he will allow within a 5 foot perimeter of his mouth.  I have looked everywhere for these stupid things and I've come to find that they have changed the design.  There is only a slight difference in color and shape of holes on the sides but Jax is no dummy.  He knows if I try to give him one of the updated versions and he will through it across the room and yell at me if I even offer it.  Such a predicament.  Do we buy the last of his kind that are online or do we just decide this is the end of pacifiers once we lose these?  I think we are leaning more towards the latter but we got a preview of what no more pacifiers looks like and it ain't pretty.

Same thing with the sippy cups.  Jax likes a certain kind and they no longer sell it.  I tried buying him some with Dora and Elmo and Cars on it but he is smarter than I give him credit for.  Either the top is too hard or too soft or too big for his little mouth and he throws it on the floor.  He will go without drinking just so he doesn't have to drink out of those cups.  Such a particular little boy.  Such a little butthead! :-)  Gotta make it harder for us.  I really don't know what to do about this issue.  I guess he is gonna have to switch to big boy cups sooner than later.

I still wonder where all those pacifiers have gone.  I guess we will find them when we move in 20 years.  I'm certain the house has eaten them.

2nd birthday video

click on the link below and turn up your speakers for an awesome video of all the things Jax has been up to this past year. :-)
Jaxson's 2nd birthday video

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Two years ago, I became a mama.  It is the best job I have ever had.  I love being your mommy and everything that comes with it.  From the good night cuddles to the freak out of nowhere tantrums.  I love it all.  You are growing up way too fast.  But I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming.

This year we had a Mickey Mouse party for you. You woke up and saw the Mickey Mouse banner on the wall and you were so excited, you were jumping up and down yelling Mickey! Donald! Goofy! Like they were really there in front of you inperson. It was the sweetest thing. Once again, the wrapping paper was more exciting than your gifts at times but you really had fun playing with your new toys once things settled down. You were really excited to see everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 Happy Birthday Jaxson!

 

First Home Haircut

I have been debating on getting Jax's hair cut for a while now.  His little curls have been getting a bit out of control lately.  Although it is cute, I wanted him to have a clean up beofre his birthday.  So I decided to get his hair cut when I got mine cut today.  Well, he got sick a few days ago, so when it was time to go today, he just was not feeling it.  So I left him at home, much to my mom's rejoice.  My mom did not want me to cut his precious little baby curls off.  So she was a happy camper today.

When I got home, I decided, I would give it a go and see if he would et me cut it.  At first he said no and ran away, but once I offered him fishies if he let me cut it, he stand there and turned when I needed to get the back and sides like a pro.  He did such a good job and was so excited when we were done. 

I love his baby curls too, so I just gave t a trim and I think it turned out fine.  It just looks a little more cleaned up but he's still got his curls for the time being.

Without further adue...Here he is. :-)

Front

 Back

See, I did fine.  He still looks beautiful.

Potty

Well, Jax finally went potty on his potty in front of me last night.  He has gone for his Ahma and his Grandparents but not for us yet.  After his dinner, I decided to put him on the potty to see if he would go.  When I took his diaper off, it was pretty full so I didn't have much hope, but I put him on there anyway.  He said he wanted to take his shirt off too.  So he just sat there naked.  I gave him a book and then I started to read to him.  As I am reading to him I kept asking him if he had to go potty.  He just said potty back to me.  After reading the whole book, I asked him if he was done and he looked between his legs and said I see it!  And I looked and didn't see anything.  So, I told him to stay on the potty so I could put his clothes away and when I got back, he kept saying I see it, and pointing in the bowl.  So finally, I got down there and looked real close and shook the bowl and low and behold, there was pee in there.  Quite a bit too.  I got so excited and lifted him up and told him how proud I was of him.  He didn't seem to excited but he was proud of himself.  Once we got his diaper back on, he showed Tony what he did and Tony was pretty excited for him too.

So far he has gone 1-3x a day for the past couple of days. We aren't really pushing it yet.  We are taking it very slow.  We have to be careful because we have a very stubborn little boy on our hands and we don't want to mess this experience up.  He starts a new class at school in 2 weeks that handles potty breaks so we will pursue it more then if he hasn't gotten the hang of it by then.

I can not wait to be done with diapers.  I know it is still a ways off, but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Good job bubba.

23 months

Only a few more weeks and you will be 2 years old.  I can't believe it.  You are changing every day and turning from my little baby into this wonderful little boy.  You are so smart and quick to learn things.  You give great big hugs and kisses and love to cuddle in the morning.

• You sing your ABCs (or your ABs as you call them) in your own little order.  
• You can pick out letters from words.  You know them from sight.
• You can count to 12
• You know that one hand equals 5 and two hands equals 10.
• You learned to climb out of your crib, so now you are in your big boy bed.
• You love your big boy bed, but it is a big transition to sleep in there all night.  
• You still end up in our bed after a few hours.
• You share your fishies with anyone who wants one, even Sadie.
• You are wearing size 5 diapers, size 3T shirts, size 7 shoes, and size 2T shorts.  You are growing so fast.
• Your have learned that you get what you want more often if you say please.
• Your favorite foods are mac & cheese, turkey sandwich, bananas, grapes, watermelon, chicken, cheese, ham, mushroom rice, and chicken & rice soup from Panera
• Your hate mashed potatoes just like your daddy.
• You have peed on the potty 3x now.  
• You don't like loud noises.
• You saw daddy jump out of an airplane and fly down in a parachute.  Now you think there should be parachutes in the sky every time you see a plane.
• You are reading and singing to yourself all the time now.  It is so cute.
• Your favorite books are anything about Marley, Biscuit, Dora and Micky Mouse.
• You ask to say prayers every night and you tell me who to bless and then I fill in anybody you can't remember.  You love to say Amen at the end.
• You love stickers and fishies and we can now bribe you with them.  :-)
• You help me clean up your toys every night.  
• You help mommy and daddy put away the dishes from the dishwasher.  You love helping.

You are such a good kid.  We love you to pieces.  Can't wait to see what this month brings.

Dreams

My kid dreams about Micky Mouse and Dora the Explorer.  He wakes up in the middle of the night and yells for Micky Mouse! or Dora!  We have to settle him down and tell him they are sleeping and that he is okay before he will go back to sleep.  Now, does this mean he is watching too much of these cartoons or what?  Or should I just be grateful that his dreams are full of happy little cartoon characters and not scary ghosts or monsters.  I used to have terrible nightmares until I was a teenager.  I hope his subconscious can tell the different of what is real or not better than mine could.  I enjoy waking up with him in our bed right now as a baby but I don't want a teenager in our bed later on.

I love my kid.

Just the little things he does.

He wrinkles his nose into a little triangle, smiles a huge smile showing all his teeth and pulls my head to his head and we just sit there, heads touching for a few moments in our own little world....He loves his mama.

He points out Donald Duck in the book, and says Daisy Duck, knowing full well that it is Donald.  He waits for me to say no, that's Donald Duck.  Then he looks at me, squints his eyes, smiles real big, shakes his head and says no, Daisy.  This goes back and forth a few times until finally he says Donald and moves on to the next thing.....He's got a sense of humor.

We thought we lost the cat the other night.  We looked all over.  We went down the street looking for her yelling Joy! Joy! And Jax was right there with me, yelling as loud as he could for the whole 30 minutes until we finally found her laying on the guest room bed.  I've never heard him yell that loud.....He is caring and loves his pets.

He kisses this little elephant in the book that has no friends and gives him pats. He says awe! every time we get to that page.....He's so compassionate.

On the way home from school, when we get stopped in traffic, he says MOVE CARS! MOVE CARS! over and over until we start moving again.....He is a backseat driver.  

He says ishies instead of Fishies.....and he's got the cutest little lisp at the moment.

I love my kid.

22 months

This month you have lived up to the X in your name...EXTREME!  You have pretty much been doing the same things as last month but now you are definitely going extreme.

• Your vocabulary is blowing up. You are saying words I didn't even know you knew.  You are saying lots of 2-3 word sentences and we can pretty much hold a conversation and understand everything.
• We have to watch what we say now.  You are repeating what we say all the time now.  I said dangit yesterday and you just kept repeating it over and over especially after I told you not to say it because it is a bad word.  
• You like to mimic us.  If I cross my feet, you lean on something and cross your feet.  If I put my hands in my pockets, you try to put your hands in your non-existent pockets.
• You understand that things can have more than one name.  For pacifier, Ahma calls it a dummy, so when you are with her, you call it a dummy.  Daddy calls it a nip, so with him, you call it a nip.  I call it a pacifier, so when you are with me, you call it a paci.  You also think it is cute to switch it up with the wrong name to wrong person.
• You have a good sense of humor but when you are all done, you are really all done.
• You like to sit on your potty but you are no where near potty training yet.  We are not pushing it yet.
• You still get a nap and bedtime bottle.
• You love watching Mickey Mouse Club and Dora.  As soon as you see daddy after school, you start begging him to watch it with you.
• You have this A-Z puzzle.  You can empty all the letters out and put them back in the correct slot all by yourself.  
• You can count on your fingers 1-5.  You can count 1-10 all by yourself.  You like to count the animals in your books.  You are counting everything now.
• You know a couple of songs but are not a big singer yet.
• I think you like hip hop, dance music best.  That is what will get you dancing.
• You do pretty eyes.
• You sleep in our bed almost every night right now.
• When we are in the car, you always say Move Cars!  You are an impatient backseat driver.
• You weigh about 30 lbs, have all your teeth except you 2yr molars
• You wear size 2T-3T shirts, 2T shorts, and size 4 diapers.

Your personality is shining through so much lately.  You are such a sweet, happy, playful, fun little boy.  I love you so much.  You are the best thing I've ever done.

Up high

Jax's new obsession is being up high.  

So here he is...UP HIGH.

 He's so proud of himself.

We have such a cute baby. I just love him  :-)

Random things

Last night, Jax asked to say his prayers for the first time.  Usually, as I am feeding him before bed, I look at him and say, "Do you want to say prayers?"  He looks at me and smiles and then says "prayas" (somehow, I have a kid with a northern accent).  Then I begin saying the the prayer and at the end when we are blessing everyone, he has started to say who he wants to bless without me suggesting it.  It is so cute, last night he added Sadie in there.  At the end, right before I say Amen, he gets real excited, smiles, takes a deep breath and waits for me to say Amen.  Then he says AAAMENNNNNNN!.   Cutest thing ever.

For the past few weeks, when we are in the car, in traffic, he has been saying "Move cars!"  I wonder where he got that from?

We went to the park this weekend.  Last time we went, he was afraid of the slide.  This time, he went right to it, and went down like he had been doing it forever.  Then he got right back up and climbed up and did it again.  He went down ever slide they had.  No fear.  Good boy.

He is a big flirt.  He had 3 waitresses and a bartender come over to our table to flirt with him at TGI Friday's this weekend.  He danced in his chair and talked them.  They all fell in love with him. 

Sleepy baby

Jax skipped his nap, so he passed out at snack time.  Such a sweet baby.

Random freak outs

Here are a few of the random freak outs we have had lately.

The hotel at the beach was showing Happy Feet 2 on the big screen outside while we were there for Memorial Day.  We thought Jax would love it.  Not so much.  The penguins came on the screen singing and dancing and Jax started holding on real tight and looking at me like what the crap is going on.  Soon, he was in full freak out mode, he started crying and he was scared to death of those penguins. We had to leave about 7 minutes into the film.  Oh well, I guess he's not ready for the movies yet.

Yesterday, he was a little moody.  I asked him if he wanted his pacifier.  He said okay.  So I go get it, he follows me into the kitchen.  I decided to be cute and put the pacifier in my mouth so he can get take it from me.  Well, that didn't turn out too well.  He freaked the crap out.  He looked at me like I just killed his puppy and started screaming at the top of his lungs.  So I took it out of my mouth and tried to give it to him thinking he just wanted his paci back.  Well, he took it, put it in his mouth I guess to taste it and then threw it on the ground. like I put cooties on it.  I tried to get him to take it again, but he cried and refused and screamed at me.  So I decided to get him a different one, but he didn't trust me after that.  So I gave up and went into the living room to wait out the episode. I put both of the pacifiers on the entertainment center. He comes in crying such a pitiful cry, so I kneeled down next to him and asked him if he wanted his paci.  He said no.  I asked if he just wanted mommy to hold him, so he said Okay and climbed into my lap.  Then I picked up one of the pacifiers and gave it to him.  He inspected it and decided that the cooties were all gone and put it into his mouth. I just sat there and held him and rocked him and within a few minutes it was like it never happened.
Lesson learned: Never put my kids pacifier in my mouth trying to be cute.  It's not cute.

The fun times of having a toddler. 

21 months

I cannot believe that in 3 months my little bubba will be 2 years old.  That sounds so grown up and non baby to me.  But, even though he has shown us a bit of an independant streak this month, he also has shown us just how much of a baby he still is and how much he still needs us.

This month:

• You vocabulary is off the charts lately.  You are saying phrases now and I can understand about 85% of what you say or what you want.
• You say bless you when anyone sneezes or burps (including yourself) and excuse me when you fart. :-)
• You think farting is funny.
• You can say the alphabet all the way through and you can count to 10.  Most of the time we have to say the letter or number and you repeat it or you say the next letter or number by yourself.  You can say a few in a row all by yourself.
• You went to the beach and got knocked down by a wave.  Now you are scared of the ocean.  You are scared of the pool but once you get used to it, you are fine.
• You played in the sand.
• You played in the rain and now anytime it rains you want to go outside and play.
• You still wake up in the middle of the night and end up in our bed.  Sometimes you won't go to sleep until mommy does.  I don't mind you sleeping in our bed but you need to go to sleep at your bedtime so mommy and daddy can have some quality time.
• You are a wiggle worm when you sleep.
• You still love your bottle time and ask for it before bed.  I love the bonding we have when we do this. 
• You like saying prayers and saying peoples names that we are praying for.  You anticipate saying Amen with a big smile on your face.  You say AMEN! real loud when we are done.  So cute.
• You like waffles and blueberries.
• You can say everybody's name now.
• You are very stubborn.  You think we are joking when we tell you to stop doing certain things and you just keep right on doing them.  We are still figuring out how to discipline you.
• You are such a picky eater.  We have begun the bad habit of bribing you to eat sometimes.  You can't survive on fishies.
• I love the way you say daddy when he is playing with you.
• You are learning to pretend with your toys.  You will feed them and kiss their boo boos.
• You kiss boo boos if you accidentally hurt anyone.  You are such a sweet boy.
• You know how to be gentle.
• You get really animated about the Marley and the Two Kittens book.  You tell Marley No! No! when he is making a mess and being bad.
• You can almost reach the pedals enough to push your tricycle around.  I think by your birthday, you will be big enough.
• We have definitely reached the terrible twos.

You are such a fun lovable stubborn little boy. I love every part of you. You are growing up too fast. 

Bottle feeding

I feel conflicted that I still give Jax anywhere from 1-3 bottles of milk a day.  I know most people have stopped bottle feeding by 1-1.5 years old but it is such a sweet bonding experience that we both still enjoy.  Holding him, looking at each other, cuddling, we both just love it.  He takes milk and water from a sippy cup throughout the day but I still put him to bed with a bottle every night.  Maybe that's part of our problem with his sleeping habits but neither of us want to give it up yet.

We have started to do away with the morning and nap bottles but the night time bottle is just so hard to give up.  I don't understand why it's okay to breastfeed your baby all day until whatever age you want to stop, but giving your 2 year old a bottle is taboo.  I get the whole deal that it is bad for his teeth if we don't brush before going to bed.  But we have a good brushing system going on, (knock on wood). For the most part, it is society that is making me feel guilty about doing this.  I think whatever works for your family is all good...to a point.  But I see nothing wrong giving my 20 month old a bottle at night.

I'm going to try to stop beating myself up over it.  He's gonna grow up too fast soon enough, no need to push him faster than either of us are ready to go.

Farts

My mom is gonna love this post.

Jax officially thinks farting is funny.  Farting is funny, but once again, I didn't think he would pick up on that this early.  I don't know when he figured it out or if Tony has been secretly "working on it" with him but every time he farts now, he looks at me and smiles or laughs.  Then he will try to push another one out for good measure.  I can't help but laugh at him when he does this.  Tony thinks it is hilarious and is so proud of his boy.  I have been teaching him to at least say excuse me when he does it so it looks like we are teaching him some sort of manners.  I guess this is what I signed up for when I gave birth to a boy. 
Funny stuff.

ABCs and Rain

Here is jax saying his ABCs.  I think he is pretty dang smart. 

Here he is playig in the rain for the first time.  He enjoyed every sprinkle.

I love watching him discover new things everyday.  It is magical.

20 months

I can't believe that in 4 months, Jax will be 2 years old.  This year has been so full of new and fun experiences for all 3 of us.  Jax has been a busy little boy this month.

You know all the names of your friends in school.

You are a bit of a loner at times but are very interested in the other kids your age and like to play with them too.  You play well on your own and you are beginning to use your imagination with your toys.

You still love to read.  We are reading real stories now and not just pointing at objects on the page.  You listen and are learning patience.

I noticed that I had never heard you sing before.  So I started singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and you picked up the next verse and sang the melody in your own little language.  That seems to be the only song you know so far but we are working on others.

You have a very strong and stubborn personality.  I guess we shouldn't expect anything less.  Mommy and Daddy are both very stubborn so we are not surprised to see we passed this on to you. 

We are still trying to figure out the sleeping situation but you have had some good days recently so maybe we are on a roll.

We say the ABCs almost everyday.  You can repeat every letter and sometimes you say 3 letters in a row all by yourself. 

You are running very fast now.  You have also figured out how to jump correctly.  You also like to make yourself dizzy by turning around in circles. 

You love sitting at the computer with me, looking at pictures and videos of yourself or of other babies and kids.  When we are done, you always ask for more.  We do this almost every day.

You really love feeding Sadie any food you don't want or just giving her a treat or some of your snacks.  You guys have become good friends lately.  I think it is because you are sneaking her food all the time.

You are in a big throwing phase.  It's not fun for anybody but you and we are trying to get you to stop doing it.  But, like I said, you are stubborn and want to do what you want to do.

Your vocabulary has exploded.  I can't even keep up with all the new words you are saying on a daily basis anymore.  You are saying lots of 2 word sentences and a few 3 word sentences. 

Your favorite words right now are MINE, NO, and I DON'T KNOW (sounds like ow-no).

You have shown that you are empathetic.  Mommy got a boo boo yesterday and you cried for me and gave me a hug.  You will also kiss boo boos away, just like mama and daddy do.

You know which house is ours and whose car belongs to whom.

You are still a picky eater.  You will eat daddy's pb&j crust but you won't eat a pb&j sandwich.  Weird.

You don't know how to use the word YES correctly.  Your answer is pretty much NO to everything even if you mean YES.  We are working on it.

You have started to become interested in some cartoons lately.  But for the most part, you still don't have much interest in TV.

You are pushing your boundaries a lot lately.  When you are doing something you know you shouldn't be doing, you make sure we are watching and then you see how much you can get away with before you get in trouble.

You are still so sweet and lovable and cuddly and I hope you stay that way for a very long time.  You are showing your independance more and more but you still need your mommy and daddy for so much.  I love you so much.

My crazy haired baby

 Happy

Not so happy.  Look at all those teefies.



Bless you and other words

All of a sudden, Jax says bless you every time someone sneezes or coughs.  It is so cute.  I guess he just picked it up from us saying it because we haven't been working with him on it at all.  It sounds like beshoo when he says it.  If he sneezes and you don't say it to him, he will say it to himself. 

What a polite little boy we've got here.

He also started saying I don't know.  I will ask him where his car or train is and he will shrug his shoulders, open his eyes real wide and say I-o-no?  So freaking cute.

He is learning so many new words every day.  He busts out with words we don't even practice, all the time.  It is amazing. 

My favorite word of his right now is fishy, which he pronounces ishy.  His little mouth is so cute, he's got a little lisp when he says it.  And I love you is still wuv woo.  But I don't mind.  As long as he says it.

Rebellion

Does this look like the face of a rebellious stubborn child?

Hmm?

The answer is a big fat YES. I knew we would have a stubborn kid.  There was no way not to.  Tony and I are two of the most stubborn people I know.  I met my match when I met him.  So naturally we would pass that trait down to our lovely little boy.  Not that I have any idea of what is to come with raising a child but I just didn't think the rebellion would start so soon.   Stupid me.

For example:

He knows he is not supposed to climb on the ledge of the fireplace.  But he will look at me as he is lifting one foot up and wait until I see him and say no, get down.  Then he will pull himself up there as fast as he can and he smiles the whole time he is doing it.  Like he is egging me on.  What are you gonna do about it mama?

He know's he is not supposed to eat dog food but once again, he waits until I see him to steal some and put it into his mouth. He thinks it's a treat. It must taste gross but he seems to like it.  Or he will eat Sadie or Joy's food and run to me with a smile on his face and chew really loudly, showing me what is in his mouth.  Like, see what I did?  What are you gonna do about it mama?  When I go to discipline him, his little mouth always smells like dog food.  How can you not smile at these things?  But we must be firm. :-/

As for bedtime, so far, he does own us.  For some reason, he is perfectly fine sleeping in his bed during naptime but when bedtime comes, he refuses to sleep in his bed unless I put him in there already asleep.  And then he still wakes up a few hours later and will not go back into his bed.  So for the past 1-2 months, he has been sleeping in our bed.  Thank goodness we have a king size bed or one of us would have to sleep in the other room.  I don't know how this started or why he refuses and keeps waking up but I really would like to have my bed back.  But once again, we have a very stubborn child and crying it out does not work.  He wins every time.  If we want any sleep, this is how we have had to do it for the past few months.   I don't know if he is having nightmares, or he doesn't know how to put himself back to sleep, or he just misses us but I would really like to fix this issue.  He is such a faker too.  he will be screaming bloody murder to 15 minutes and as soon as you go in to check on him, the tears are gone and he smiles at us and starts jumping on his bed pointing out all his animals to us. 

It's so hard not to smile or laugh at some of the things he does but I know we have to put our foot down and let him know who's boss or he will own us.

Easter in pictures