Jackson counting to 10! (25 months)

Jackson singing- 25 months

Candy thief

Every year, one of our neighbors brings over a treat-filled plastic pumpkin complete with a toothbrush and glow bracelet for trick-or-treating for each child.  Truthfully, we don't really need to trick-or-treat after her goodies!  She admitted that Halloween is her favorite holiday.  It's very sweet of her.

Anyway, I tell you that to say the kids go bananas over the treats.  Lily is disciplined enough to know she has to ask before getting into her pumpkin for a treat.  Jackson, however, is a work in progress.

The other afternoon, I was focused on a project and hadn't realized Jackson had grabbed the stool from the bathroom (a new trick of his) and brought it into the kitchen.  He secretly reached into his pumpkin and grabbed a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  As soon as he caught my eye, I saw a little 2-year-old body running around the corner with a flash of orange from the wrapper in his hand.  I called him back in the kitchen from the other room, mistakenly thinking that he would listen and bring the candy to me.  Oh no.  I called twice, and usually by the third time, Mama is not happy!  In the midst of this battle, Lily called out to me "Mooom!  He's eating it!"

I was angry.  I marched into the living room and there he was, mouthful of Reese's, holding the wrapper, staring at me.  I grabbed the wrapper, noticed he only took a bite, and immediately asked him to spit it out into my hand.  Now, this is the kicker.  He shook his head "No" and put his hand over his mouth!!  I couldn't believe it!  So I spanked him and off we went into the bathroom to spit it into the toilet.  This didn't work either!  I watched him as he half-heartedly spit into the toilet all while chewing and swallowing the Reese's in his mouth!

I don't know what I'm going to do with this boy! Apparently the discipline was worth the flavor of the Reese's! 

A trip to the grocery store

This morning Jackson and I took our weekly (and sometimes bi-weekly) trip to the grocery store.  As usual, he greeted each person as we passed them in the shopping cart, and consistently asked to "Hold it!" after putting each item in the cart.  We received many return greetings, grins, and sometimes full conversations.  
This morning, he decided to start a "conversation" with another woman- who by her appearance, looked about my age and most likely had children of her own. She became very interested in conversing with Jackson and as he babbled on in his 2-year-old jibberish, she followed right along with him.
"Oh Playdoh?", she asked.  "You made a duck?"..."Wow!"...and so on.
Completely shocked and amazed that she could decipher most of what he was saying, I commented jokingly, "Oh, you must be a mom of small children to understand what he is saying!"
She replied, "Yes, that and I'm a speech therapist".
We ended up in a short conversation and she asked Jackson how old he was.  When he replied confidently "TWO!", she was amazed at how well he was speaking at his age!

This little encounter left me both encouraged as a mom and proud of my son for his language development.  I know how frustrating it is for him at times, as evidenced by his tantrums, but I have to keep reminding myself how far he has come in the past few months!

Fall festivals

We have been having some festival fun so far this Fall!  I love this time of year for many reasons and festivals are on my list of favorite Fall activities!  Every September, our church hosts a huge outreach festival.  Everything you can imagine is there: farm animals, inflatables, free food, rides, etc.  I didn't get as many pictures this year because I was on my own with the kids, but they sure had fun!

a boy after his mama's heart!

pony rides!

"Pony, Mommy!"

 Lily attended her first Fall festival at Blackburn Elementary this year!  She couldn't wait to see all of her friends "after school" and have some fun.  I assisted the PTA with serving drinks, then had the chance to follow Lily around with her friend Chloe and snap some shots of their activities.

gunny sack races (I was a little nervous about this being done on pavement, but they stayed upright :)

bean bag toss

pumpkin toss

While Grandma L. and Aunt Sarah were here for Jackson's birthday party, we attended the Lees Summit Ocktoberfest!  The kids had a great time climbing in the fire trucks.

 

future career?

Lily the ballerina!

Last month, Lily decided she would like to try dance!  She really enjoys dressing up and dancing around so she was very excited to put on a leotard, tights, and ballet shoes.  And secretly, I love putting her hair in a high bun and watching her walk into class.  She's just adorable!  Her class is titled "Pre-Dance" however it is more of an introduction to ballet.  There are about 5 girls in her class, one of which is her best friend, Chloe (redhead below).  Her teacher is very serious about teaching the various positions, but seems to do it in such a way that all of the girls have fun.  (That has to be challenging with 5-year-olds!).  Lily has excellent posture (of which I am envious!), and her demeanor changes to one of a serious nature once she puts her leotard on and heads for class.  Only time will tell if this is something she will hang on to, but so far, she is really enjoying it! 

with Chloe and new friend, Katelynn

last minute wiggles out before class begins!

Jackson's 2nd birthday party!

We celebrated Jackson's birthday with an Elmo & Sesame Street party at the park!  We had a great day with perfect Fall weather.  Family and some close friends were there to celebrate, including a special visit from Grandma L. and Aunt Sarah from California!  Mommy was especially thankful to have their help for the last-minute party preparations.  This was truly a "homemade" party; from the Elmo pinata head, to the cake & cupcakes, to the party favor bags, this was quite a project.  But, it was worth every minute to watch my 2-year-old have a great time with his family and friends. Enjoy some snapshots of the fun day: preparing to leave for the party setting up decor Elmo head pinata Elmo cake and Sesame Street cupcakes checking out the playground, wearing his special "I Am 2" bday shirt hanging out with Grandpa B. enjoying the day Aunt Carissa, Aunt Sarah, and Grandma L. Grandma and Ashley Daddy (here with Uncle Chris) grilled hot dogs lunch time! his special treat- juice box! pinata time! Lily swinging hard! kids lining up to have their turn Candy!! Jackson couldn't wait to dig in! Cake time! Presents! on the drive home.  too much fun= naptime!