Jax's 3rd birthday party

We had a great time this weekend celebrating Jax turning 3.  First, on his actual birthday, he celebrated at school with homemade cupcakes.  He helped me make them and was so proud of himself.  He cracked an egg, helped me mix, and put on the icing.  He even got to lick the beater.
After school, Tony, Jax, my mom and I all had a cupcake and Jax got to blow out his candles.  He thought it was so cool, he wanted to do it again.  So I figured, he's 3, so we let him blow out the candles 3x.

Throughout the week I kept telling him about his Diego party and that we were gonna have  bounce house and cake and friends and family and lots and lots of fun.  He was so excited the night before when I put up all his decorations.

On Saturday, we had about 26 people at our house to celebrate Jax.  He was a good sport about everything and had a great time bouncing in the bounce house, riding the tractor with grandpa, hitting the pinata, and just playing around the back yard.  He would have stayed in that bounce house all day if we let him. I think everyone had a great time.

We ended the day by watching video I made for him.  All and all, everything turned out better than I had hoped.  Jax had a great birthday and that's the most important thing.

Potty Training 3.0

We started potty training Jax again about a month ago.  At first he was hesitant to go on the potty, but once he got the hang of it, he seemed to do a good job of peeing on the potty and he was very proud of himself.  We gave him either a marshmallow or 2 jelly beans for each time he succeeded.  Soon it turned into a marshmallow AND 2 jelly beans each time, but as far as I'm concerned, whatever works.  He is still in diapers for naps and bedtime but one thing at a time.

Jax has always had issues with pooping on a normal schedule.  Usually when he has to go, he is constipated and goes in a corner and tells us to leave him alone while he does his business.  So I knew when it came time to potty train, that pooping on the potty was gonna be hard.  So far the only success we have had with it is a couple poops that accidentally ended up in the potty while he was peeing, which he thought were hilarious.  He really does try to poop on the potty but he is either afraid to release it or it just isn't ready to come out when he is on there.  We really need to figure this pooping issue out quick.  I gave him some prune pudding the other day to help him along and for the past 2 days at school he has gone through 3-4 pairs of underwear because of the pooping in his pants.  It's like he is making up for lost time and pooping a weeks worth of poop in 1-2 days.  I can't keep up with it. 

Yesterday, he started saying he was a bad boy while on the potty and I kept telling him that he wasn't and that everyone has accidents.  He just needs to tell someone when he has to go. He just kept crying and saying he was bad even though he was peeing on the potty at that moment. It broke my heart to think he was letting himself down when I know it's all part of the process of learning to go on the potty.  I feel so bad for him because I know if his bowels were on a "normal" schedule, then we wouldn't have this problem.  He eats lots of fibrous foods and fruit and drinks lots of water so I don't know what the problem is.  We have he 3 yr old appt. in September so I will bring it up then.  I just hope he can get the hang of pooping in the potty before then.  He is doing so good with peeing in the potty. We are proud of him.

Funny little moment

I don't know if this was the first time he had done this or just the first time we had all noticed, but, last night as we were giving Jax his bath, he discovered that when you fart in the bathtub, it makes bubbles.  He farted, and the bubbles almost scared him, he jumped up a little and Tony asked, did you fart? And he said yes, laughing.  Tony explained to him how farting in the water makes bubbles.  He seemed to think it was pretty funny.  So funny that he did it again before it was time to get out.  Tony thought it was great and Jax past another rite of passage.  It was a funny little moment.  I'm sure there will be more where that came from.

Dancing with a girl

His first dance with a girl and she is not letting go. Look at his moves. 

https://vimeo.com/67524048

Ear ache

There is something so special about being the only person who can make my little baby feel better.  Yesterday was my day to sleep in.  All of a sudden Jax comes in the room crying and tells me his ear hurts.  He was just whining and crying It Hurts! It Hurts!  I had never seen him like that before. My heart hurt for him.  I asked him where it hurt and he said his ear.  I asked if it hurt inside or outside and he said inside.  He just kept crying and putting his head on the pillow and rolling closer to me.  I felt so helpless but I cuddled him the best I could.  I picked him up and gave him some Tylenol hoping it would take away the pain quickly.  I rocked him as he cried.  Tony tried to see if Jax wanted him to hold him and Jax said no, mommy hold me, make me feel better. Once the medicine started to kick in, Jax looked at me, still crying a little bit and asked for some Scooby Do snacks.  I said, do you think that will make you feel better?  And he said yes (of course).  So I gave him some Scooby snacks and he was fine for the rest of the day.  What is funny about that is this morning, Tony said he complained about his ear a little bit and asked for the Scooby snacks again, not the medicine but the snacks.  I guess in his little mind that is what made him feel better, plus he gets a snack. :-)

Spring school pictures

TAKES MY BREATH AWAY. 

My imaginative jokester

Jax has got such a jokester personality already.  When we are singing sometimes he will just insert the word TREE into the song.  For instance he will sing... Jesus love the tree, this I know, for the tree tells me so...etc.  he is such a dork.  Lately his new thing is whenever I tell him I love him, I say I love you THIS MUCH (with my arms open wide).  His response is I love you this much (he touches his fingers together in a real small ball and looks at me and smiles).  He waits for me to look at him in shock and spread his arms wide open and then laughs at me.  He's suck a little dork. 
But I love him THIS MUCH (with my arms open wide).

last night after we put Jax to bed, we heard the door to the hallway move.  So we called out to Jax to see if it was him or the dog.  Sure enough, we see the door open and Jax is on the floor.  We asked him why he was on the floor and he said, "I'm a fish.  I swim all the way out here."  He is waving his arms like a fish as he is telling us.  It looked so cute.  But we sent him back to bed.  Half hour later, we hear the same thing and there is our little fish again.  He swam on the floor all the way to the living room.  Tony thought it was so cute that he told Jax he could sit with us and watch TV even though it was 10:30.  He is just so cute.  Maybe you had to be there to understand how cute and imaginative this little scene was but it was great.  His imagination is really starting to come out now.  He is also afraid of lions. 

We must have some in our house because that is what he always tells me he is scared of.

Cousin Lexi

This weekend we went down to Mark and Jen's house to meet our new baby niece/cousin.  Jax was very excited to meet her.  I told him the day before that we were taking a trip to go see her and when he woke up the next morning the first thing he said was "We going to see Lexi today."  

He was very good with her.  He rubbed her cheeks and head and gave her a kiss before we left.  She is so small and cute.  Jax was never that small so it was a little different than holding him.  She is a very quiet baby.  Didn't cry at all while we were there.

Hopefully they can grow up knowing each other and being great friends/cousins.

Big boy underwear

I just have to say how freaking cute Jax looks in his big boy underwear.  I got him to wear some for a little bit last night.  I gave him the option of Boots or Diego and he picked Boots...then Diego...then Boots...then Diego...this went back and forth about 3-4x when I finally put my foot down and told him he had to pick one.  So he went with Diego.  We put them on and I told him to go show daddy.  He showed Tony and we both made such a big deal about what a big boy he was for wearing them.  I gave him a marshmallow just for wearing them. 

I told him to let me know when he had to pee or jsut go into the bathroom. He said he understood.  We watched a 30 minute show and he got up and stood in front of the bathroom door.  I asked if he had to go and he turned around and peed on the floor.  Oh well.  He did what he was supposed to do, just didn't make it to the potty. 

I was so proud of him for getting the concept.  I cleaned him up and told him he could wear his Boots underwear tomorrow. 

He looks so grown up in those cute little undies. 

Pure joy

Yesterday, Jax faced his fears.  Most of the time, he is a little scaredy cat of anything new.  We went to the carnival yesterday.  Last time we went, he would only ride the carousel.  He was afraid to ride anything else.  Well, I guess he decided he was gonna be brave because he rode the carousel, the bus that goes round and round in the air, the motorcycles and he climbed all the way to the top of the slide all by himself.  Granted, he didn't have the courage to slide down, but everybody knows the fun part of that is climbing to the top anyway. 

As his mommy, my heart was just overflowing with pride and awe to watch him on those rides and see the look of pure joy on his face.  It is rare to see that innocence and joy of experiencing something so new and fun for the first time at our age anymore.  You could tell he was having so much fun and he was so proud of himself for riding all by himself like a big boy. Lots of happy moments yesterday.

Singing songs

Everyone who knows me, knows that I do not sing in front of people. Not because I can't sing, but I have a fear of it. Anyway, I'm sure I've sung bits and pieces of songs in front of Tony in the car but for the majority of the rest of the world, I do not sing.  Except for with Jax.  At first I started out humming to him when he was a wee baby and that seemed to help him sleep.  But recently, I started actually singing to him when I am holding him or rocking him before bed.  He always looks up at me and just stares and smiles until I'm done.  Then he asks me to sing it again over and over.  So I do.  I only sing 3 songs to him because my mind draws a blank when I try to think of any others.  I sing You Are My Sunshine, Goodnight Sweetheart, Well It's Time To Go and Old McDonald.  I'm actually flattered that he likes my singing since I never let anyone else hear what I sound like.

Last night after I was done singing, he asked me to sing the banana song.  I had no idea what he was talking about.  So I asked him if it was a song he learned at school.  He said yes.  I told him he would have to sing it since I didn't know it.  He said, okay, I sing it. 

And with his lovely little baby voice he began to sing:
Banana, banana, boble theisoie d, eit banana, banana.
I guess he forgot the words, but he still sang the mumble jumble in tune.

Then he asked me to sing the frog song.  Once again, I told him I didn't know it.  So he sang it to me.
Froggy froggy up in the treeFroggy froggy go up the mouuuuuntain
adkfojfa afafj a dkfjaoifjaiop
Froggy froggy up in the tree
Froggy froggy go up the mouuuuuntain

So there you have it. The banana and frog songs.  He has such a sweet little voice.  He might even be able to carry a tune when he gets older.  He sounds pretty good now.  We know what side of the family he got that from.  ;-)

Having a little fun

 He almost got the camera wet. He's got such a funny sense of humor.

 He looks so sweet.  He couldn't hear a thing.

Always chasing the balloons.

Features-DNA

So, who does he look like now?

My 2 1/2 year old boy

He likes his cereal with milk now.

He has memorized his prayers.  He can say them with almost no help now.

We have a good night ritual that goes something like this:
I walk him to his room, he jumps into bed and says I want covers!  So I cover him up.  Then he asks if we will say prayers now, I say yes.  So we say our prayers.  Then I ask for kisses and he plants a big one on my mouth.  I say I love you and he says I-uv-you.  He lays down and asks me to tuck tuck.  So I tuck him in from top to bottom and then I pause, waiting for him to ask again because he always does.....A-tuck-tuck!  So I do it one more time.  Then I tell him to go nigh-night and be a good boy and stay in his bed.  I go to turn the light off and turn around to look at him and he is all tucked in looking at me and I say I love you one more time and turn the light off and shut the door.  This is our ritual every night and I love it.

He is very stubborn and knows what he wants and how he wants it.

He can scare away the snow monster (AKA-Tony) just by holding his hands up and yelling ROAR!!!

He can almost use the pedals on his big wheel.

He refuses to use the potty.  I'm confused on this because over the summer he was all about it but then he got sick so we had to stop training and now he wants nothing to do with it.

He is very polite.  When I kiss his boo boos he always says Tanks!

He sucks at taking pictures. It never fails that he looks away right when I push the button.  Butthead!

He can count to 15-20, depending on the day.  He can count to 11 in Spanish.  He also know as few Spanish words and uses them correctly.

He needs some work on his colors but I think he knows them, but just likes to pull our leg a little bit when we ask him what is what.

He is very empathic and doesn't like to disappoint me or make me feel sad.

He speaks very well.  We hold real conversations now and we all pretty much understand what the other is saying.

He dances terribly but it is so cute.  He bobs his head and jerks around like a freak.  I hope this isn't a reflection on our dancing skills.  He must get that from his dad.

He likes to sing but only what he wants to sing and when he wants to sing it.  He loves singing with my mom, but he will only let me sing certain songs with him.

He's got a pretty cute sense of humor.

He is growing so fast.  He wears size 8 shoes, 3-4T shirts and 3T pants.  He weighs about 33 lbs and is about 3 ft tall.

He loves rough housing with his daddy and getting dizzy and trying to walk right afterward.

He loves Dora and Mickey's Clubhouse.  Refuses to watch anything else.  Tells us to turn it off!

There are so many more things I'm leaving off this list but that is the gist of the new things my sweet boy is doing lately.  I can't believe I have been his mommy for 2 1/2 years already.  I love it all even when I don't think I don't sometimes.   I love my Jaxson, aka: bubba, booblah, bubbles, stinky butt, sweet boy.

Preschool pictures 2012

Say hello to the cutest little preschooler ever! At least to us. :-) Look how handsome he is sitting up so straight and smiling so sweet. He is 2 in this picture but he looks like he's 4. He growing up too too fast.

Technology

I still consider myself new to this whole motherhood thing.  I think I will always feel that way somewhat, since Jax is my only son and everything he does will be a new experience for both of us.  I am having a hard time figuring out how much time Jax should have in front of the TV or playing games on the slider/ipad.  Although Dora the Explorer is educational and the games/puzzles he plays are teaching him stuff, I still don't want him to spend too much time with either of them. 

Right now, we let him watch 2 episodes of Dora while Tony gets ready for work and 2 episodes after we get home from work. Since he has learned to play on the slider, he wants to do that everyday too.  Some days I let him and others I don't, and sometimes I make him choose between Dora and the slider.  We still have a couple hours to play and read and hang out together after work but everybody gets to have some alone time to watch TV or play on the slider or computer or jsut chill out after work/school everyday.

I guess if it works for us, then it's fine. We get plenty of snuggle and play time together. I just don't want him to be behind.  It seems like you need to know your way around the computer by the time you are in kindergarten nowadays.

Noticing little things

Sometimes it still blows me away that Tony and I made this little kid.  It is truly amazing to watch him grow and learn new things every day. To watch him turn from our little baby into the little boy he is becoming.  He is so smart and clever and his sense of humor is growing so fast.

I love noticing new things about him.  Little things he does today that he didn't or couldn't do yesterday.  Little things that show me just how linked we really are.  Like his cowlick in the front of his hair (he got that from me) or his funky climbing toes (he got that Tony).

I usually hold Jax for a few minutes before I put him to bed.  Usually, I rub or scratch his back.  I never know if he likes it because he always puts his hand back there and plays with my hand.  So I stop and he continues to play with my hand.  Well, last night, when he did that, I asked him if he liked mommy scratching his back and he said yes.  I asked him if he wanted me to keep doing it and he said yes.  It made me smile.  This is only a cute story because that is exactly what Tony does when I am scratching his back and I stop.  He starts playing with my hand and tells me to keep scratching.  I am assuming that is what Jax was doing when he kept playing with my hand after I stopped.  I guess he was telling me to keep going.  Just like his daddy.

Everyone who knows me, knows that I have a weird way of eating my food.  I don't eat the ends of anything and anything can have an end. Even circles have an end. This has puzzled people all my life, but that is just the way I eat.  If anything is sticking out of my food, like an extra piece of crust, I have to pick it off, I won't eat it.  Well, I have noticed lately that Jax has some issues with what he will or won't eat too.  I gave him some chicken nuggets that other day and one had some extra crust sticking off of it and he said yucky and asked me to take it off.  I also only like to drink out of specific cups.  Some cups are too heavy or thick and they make the drink taste weird to me.  Well, we found out that Jax will only drink out of specific cups too.  We tried to give him some new sippy cups and he refused.  He likes what he likes. I'm sure he will grow out of this one pretty fast though. So far he doesn't have my "end" issues, but I just think it's cute that little parts of me are coming out in him. Even if they are "issues". :-)

I've got the magic kisses.

We are at the phase that when Jax gets a boo boo, he tells us "Ouwee, I got a boo boo right there."  The only way to make it better is for mommy or daddy to kiss it better.  I didn't know if I had the magic touch but once I bend down and kiss it better, Jax lets me know "I feel better now."  That makes me smile every time.  I'm so glad I've got the magical kisses to make my baby feel better when he needs it.

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