Reflections of, the Way Life Used to Be

So we're approaching Jackson's second birthday in a couple of days. It's been an interesting couple of weeks as my friend Kami is at BCH on bed rest while she awaits the arrival of her twins hopefully not for five or so more weeks. So I visit when I can, and her room is just three doors down from where we had Jackson almost two years ago. So I've been experiencing some serious de ja vu.

I went back and looked at my blog entries from two years ago at this time and it's amazing to me how different life is now, and how remarkably funny I was back then (kidding). Jason and I will sometimes reflect on life before Jackson came along and how basically we did absolutely nothing. Sure, Jason finished the basement, we played some sports, went to work, etc. But honestly...we did nothing. We had to have. Because there's no way we were doing anything before this because now we have no time because we are parenting. Life was carefree.

Sure, we had to be careful about what I was eating and what we were doing but at the end of the day, we would go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning and the only people we had to worry about were each other. And since we were both grown ups, Jason could roll out of bed, get a shower, get dressed and go. I could get up and do the same, and we didn't have to synchronize our watches and discuss our plan of action. Now everything is a plan, everything is a conversation. No decisions are made without determining what the plan is with Jackson and how our decisions and plans affect what needs to happen with him. It's something that you can't really understand until you're doing it.

So there's all these new responsibilities that at times feel inconvenient and cumbersome, but then there's all these new experiences that light you up. This morning I was getting Jackson dressed after breakfast and I gave him a high five for doing a good job. So he hops down off my lap and dashes into the kitchen and says, "Daddy! Five!" That seems like such an insignificant little thing, but what Jason and I know is that Jackson is now using our names to get our attention to do things that he would like to do. Daddy, befast (that's breakfast for those of you who don't speak Jacksonese). Mommy, bath. Mommy, out (of crib please). Daddy, sit down! Before it was all grunts and one word stuff, and now, it's Mommy, more meat please. Kids are cool.

Jackson Lew and the Toothless Carnies

Now that's a Harry Potter title if I ever saw one. I actually didn't see any toothless carnies. Just one carnie, with teeth, who basically asked us what the hell we wanted at the corn dog stand. Well, a corn dog. But we'll go to another stand where our galleons are appreciated.

It was actually Jackson's second trip to the Boulder County Fair. Last year he went with us in a Baby Bjorn. This year it was the day of his 15 month checkup on a day with pink eye, a cold and three shots. And he was a riot. (Quick aside: Jackson weighs 23 lbs, 1 oz, is 31 inches long and has a big head still. He also has three molars coming in simultaneously, which is just awesome news).

It was his first experience around animals other than dogs. Though he still calls every animal doggie, I will say that he says it more confidently when it is, in fact, a doggie. The first doggie of the day was actually a bunny, and the bunny wagon was there, so he got to pet it! Success! The rabbit did not bite him, nor did he bite the rabbit or the rabbit's poo. Then it was doggies (goats, not interested), doggies (pigs, which seemed puzzling) then a food break (roasted corn!). Then he played on some heavy equipment, saw an actual dog, then got to meet some cows (doggies!). At least there are others that call cows doggies so that worked. Then it was time for more live music, some funnel cake and the walk to the car and home.



Given the circumstances of the day (pink eye, doctor, shots) I'm so proud of him for being a good boy. He was saying hi to everyone, both humans and animals, did a good job listening and now washes his hands very well. I'm glad we took him to the fair.

I've Got Your Molar

Poor little buddy is getting his first molar. And it sucks. Lower right, closest molar to the front. It has been interesting watching it come in as we have been able to see the little points for a few days and now the totally flat part is breaking through, so needless to say yesterday was brutal. But he only woke up once last night when the motrin wore off and once he was re-medicated he slept until 7 am today which was nice.

As for other things Jackson, he is learning more and becoming more interesting everyday. He has new words like "doos" which is shoes and also is becoming adept at pointing at what he wants. He usually says please without us having to remind him to do so, and his new favorite song is Say You Will by Fleetwood Mac. He eats corn and watermelon like nothing I've ever seen, and enjoys meatballs a lot too. Jackson is a great eater and we are going to ride that horse for as long as we can.

Jackson also got his first at-home riding toy. Some silly FP fire truck that he can sit on and push himself around on it like he's Fred Flintstone. I got it for him last Friday because he loves to show me how he can ride those things at school. He walked into the house and Jason had assembled it for him and the look on his face was the all time greatest thing I've ever seen. It was like, really? This is mine? And it's here? At my house? And I can ride it almost anytime I want? You guys are great!

Kill or Be Killed

This is my philosophy about the toddler 1 class at Jackson's School. Really any toddler class. They are learning about being independent, they are mobile, they have wants and needs, and they have anywhere from 0-20 words to communicate these things, and usually the other toddlers don't have the same 20 words. Thus, when someone wanders into their space and either tries to take something away or bother them, the responses they are equipped with from least harmful to most harmful are:
1 - Pushing
2 - Pulling hair
3 - Biting

The responses to those three responses are the same. Pushing, pulling hair or biting. My son seems to favor method two, the hair pull. He learned the hard way that this is not a generally accepted method of communication when one of his classmates responded by biting his arm in three places in a span of 5 seconds. Two days later, he still has the teeth marks to prove it. If he is pushed, he generally will push back.

He hasn't bitten anyone except for me and his father. He bit his dad on the leg on Wednesday night, which we now attribute to the brand new tooth that appeared this morning. He now has a fang...I pity any child who incurs the wrath of his bite with that new tooth...it won't be good.

Today we get his ears rechecked after our bout with a double ear infection two weeks ago. We'll see if we've got tubes in his future or some kind of intolerance for a food that's making it happen. Whatever. I'm just hoping for no accident report when I pick him up today.

Haircut Again

I decided that with Easter and birthday coming up it was time for a real live haircut. We went today, and it was great. We walk in to hear the beautiful sounds of Miley Cyrus blaring at the Superior Lollilocks. No appointment though, and they were full, so we had to go back at 1 pm. So we did, and Jackson did great! He sat in the booster seat and "read" a book while Jackie the stylist sprayed his head and cut his little hairs. He even sat still for the buzzing clipper as she did a cleanup job on the back of his neck and around his ears. Photos will be up later when he is up from his nap but I didn't want to forget to post this. He was a great customer and she didn't charge us hardly anything since it took about 2 minutes and he sat still and let her work. Hooray for good behavior = saved money!

Hooray for Health

Hooray hooray! Jackson is healthy. I have now officially jinxed it. He will be sick immediately. He is a whole different guy when he is healthy...its been so long I forgot. He went for his first ride in a swing, his first time in a jumping castle, and today he crawled all over the play area at the mall. He's down to really one solid nap a day and sometimes he'll take a shorty before dinner.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! We celebrated by being asleep at midnight. Hooray us.

Today we really wanted to get out of the house so we took a trip to the mall. It's so pathetic, but what can you do. So we took Jackson to the play area at Flatiron Crossing. I take him all the way to the back no one is ever back there except crazy little kids that almost trample him. It was a harrowing experience for his father, who had not yet dared to enter the kiddie area at our mall.

We were going to sit down, and this man turns to his wife after watching some kids play in front of him, "Thank God we only had girls. What would we do with boys?" because there was some boisterous play going on with the wee lads. I thought about that statement, and what prompted it, and you know what, I say WHATEVER to that.

I was a freaking maniac as a child. I do not know how my parents survived...or I guess more accurately, how I survived because I was a Grade A pain in the ass. Apparently I required constant interaction and didn't do a lot of playing independently. My brother on the other hand...we would have to go into his room to make sure he was still alive because he did so well on his own. He would sit on the floor of his room and play with toys by himself for hours, and then just fall asleep on the floor for his nap. He has always done better taking care of and entertaining himself than I ever did.

Anyways, it seems that is rocking milestones daily! Today he pulled himself up to sitting from laying down for the first time that we know of. Any bets on when he'll crawl?

Where's My Parade?

It's Saturday night in Longmont and we did a community thing and went to the community holiday parade. Jackson wore his very snuggly bear outfit to stay warm, which he did.

I don't think I can reiterate what a good kid we have and it may be a jinx to say so, but all evidence to date is to the contrary. He just chilled out and watched the parade. Every other kid was whining, crying or doing something other than chilling out and watching the parade. My friend has two nieces and niece 1 kept asking, while watching the parade, when the parade was starting. The first loud noise happened, Jackson was startled, and after that, he didn't flinch. He fell asleep in the stroller until the Longmont HS Marching Band came along.

Then he went to Chili's with his mom and dad and the only thing I could even describe as being remotely out of order was that he slapped the tiles on the table for a good 20 minutes. No, no toys, no food. Just want to slap the table, thanks. Oh wait, food? Okay I will down my bottle in like five minutes in an awkward place and position, and then inhale an entire jar of baby food all between when mom and dad order and receive their food.

Before we left he spent some time in the jumperoo. At one point he was just standing there staring. Which I now really need to remember means he's dropping off the kids at the Pampers. Because he finished staring and started jumping. When I took him upstairs for a fresh diaper before we took off for the parade he had kids creeping up the back of his shirt and I was at a loss for a plan of action. Good thing daddy was there to figure it out.

Sidenote: Jackson has a cold, which he had before the parade for all you cautious judgementals that read my blog. Of which I am guessing there are none. So he's been coughing and I have been trying to keep it under control so that he'll sleep, so I'm watching SNL. Amy Poehler came back for a couple of shows but at the end of weekend update she just announced that, no, really this is her last show. Boo to that...she is genius. I'm totally bummed. The Baby Mama is gonna spend time with her boy and be a baby mama. Oh and star in her own primetime show on NBC.

Kind of a Neato Night

So it was a neato night as the family sat around and watched election results. We hope that the new direction our country is headed will work out and we are excited about the potential. I have a lot of conservative friends who are disappointed and/or worried about the future. I said to them, "Well, the country has taken a leap of faith. Now we see if we land on our feet or on our ass."

In the world of Jackson, he got his high chair! We had our first time eating in the high chair. We had green beans. He was a fan of the chair. It was a lot of fun. Of course now our place has another Fisher Price Rainforest ginormity, but hey, we are consistent!

Happy Halloween!

Yay for Halloween! Jackson rocked two costumes this holiday. On Thursday, he went with me to my work party as Darth Vader to my Princess Leia. It was cute. Then today to school he wore an outfit that says, "So Cute It's Scary" along with a Jack O'Lantern hat.

We came home from work and school and played on the porch with our pumpkin lanterns and stuff just relaxing and decided we would take Jackson for his first trick or treating. Not really, but we wanted to meet a few of our neighbors and this is a good way to do it. So daddy strapped him into the Bjorn and we went on our way.

Mom and dad were a little gun shy to knock on doors, but we decided to do it and met a few nice neighbors...the photos tell the story. Needless to say, Jackson was a total hit.

My What a Busy Weekend

Jackson's uncle Eric is getting married today. So we have been keeping a pretty busy schedule with all the associated activities. He went on his first hike ever on Friday with Aunt Gay and Cousins Dan, Amy, Shari and Becky. We went to Chautauqua...he didn't last long as it was right in the middle of his lunch time so we had to address that mid-hike.

Then he went to Lakewood and met his Great Grandma Dot and his Grand Uncle Bill...my mom's mom and brother. That was a nice time. Then we hit the pre-bash at Uncle Eric and Aunt Jennie's where he got to sit by the fire with his daddy and his second cousins.

Saturday we undertook the task of attending the rehearsal dinner. Jackson did a fantastic job and played in the corner on the floor of the fancy restaurant right next to me and Jason. We brought his quilt and some toys so he was right at home. He was awake for a long time so he sure slept good that night.

Jackson LOVES to look around at absolutely everything right now...if there is too much going on he can't even pay attention to eating he is so tuned in to all the excitement in the room. It is a blast. He is a sweet little guy who loves to cuddle and smile and laugh, and is starting to assert himself when he wants to move around and can't because too many hugs or too much car seat time. But he is still a sweetheart.

First Football Game...Well Not Really

Technically, it was. But I'm not counting it, as we did not spend a moment in our seat in the stadium watching the game. I have decided that the first one will have to wait until November when it's cool and he can get bundled up. At this stage it's too tempting to take him into my office and let him nap in there in the dark then having him sweat and fuss in the seats in section 120 strapped to my chest in a Baby Bjorn. So this one doesn't count.

Today he spent most of the day with his daddy. I slept in for a long time and then had soccer at 11:20 am and 1:50 pm so I stayed in Boulder. I came home to two happy guys having fun together, which was just about the best thing I've ever gotten to come home to. Jason said that they had a great day playing and stuff. Apparently my child was posing throughout the afternoon for Jason and his friend Brent. The evidence is at left.

Jackson also had his first round of sweet peas after sweet potatoes were a rousing success. They were not the big hit that sweet potatoes were, but he still ate some. Jason kept saying, "Add sugar to it add sugar to it," as that is his solution for everything. I'm only half kidding (love you dear). Of course I did not add sugar to it. I'm not going to trick him...especially since all that would do is trick him into really liking sugar. He will learn to like many more things than I do I hope. I am the pickiest eater of all time and I really hope he isn't because I know there are many things I'm missing out on. But I'm okay with missing out on them. I like the things I like enough to get me by.

One Week Old!

So today, we are celebrating Jackson's one week birthday! I have spent many moments throughout the day thinking to myself, "This time last week I was:" and so on. When we were up this morning at 3:30 am for food and diapers, I told Jackson that was about the time I woke up his dad to tell him that we maybe needed to consider a trip to the hospital.

To celebrate our milestone, we decided to venture outside for a reason other than to visit the doctor. Which incidentally, we will do again tomorrow. So we thought a trip to the ChiDog deli across the street would be a sufficient test for us. Jackson woke up at noon from his mid morning nap and we had lunch and a diaper and put on a new outfit since he peed in the other one. Then he pooed...new diaper again. Then he peed....new diaper and outfit again.

So now we are out the door and dropping off the down comforter at the dry cleaners on the way to the deli...and he spit up on himself. Then he got hiccups. Then we finally arrived for our hot dogs at the deli, ate them and then sat in the park for like 10 minutes in the gazebo thing just sort of contemplating how terrifying it was to be outside. We took a photo, seen above (don't worry he was only in the sun long enough for us to snap a photo to prove we actually left the house), Jackson fell asleep and we went home and he had a nap. So far it's been a good day...