Getting into things

Getting into Austin's crayons, markers and colored pencils. It's a good thing Jackson doesn't put everything in his mouth anymore. None of these were chewed. Just tossed around. Although, he did mark up the table, Bumbo and he tried to climb on the table like it was a step stool.

Flossing

Just like big brother!

Playing with brother's new book

Quote of the day

Austin said to me, as I was helping him wipe his behind after using the bathroom, "Mama, I'm allergic to poop."

Whole milk

Jackson's second time drinking whole milk. His first time was last night. No allergic reactions and he seems to like it. We'll slowly work whole milk into his day starting with dinner. Maybe next week we'll send milk for him to have with lunch too.

Book

Austin wanted to read his Alvin and the Chipmunks Valentine book while he was on the potty. He said, "Well, if you can't read me the book then I'm gonna make up the story." And he is reading the story out loud to himself. :)

Keeping them busy

This toy was so awesome at keeping both boys busy for a long time while we prepped for Jackson's birthday party. And it was helpful in tiring out the birthday boy so he would nap before the party. :)

I'm ONE today!!!

Multitasking

He loves to hold multiple things in one hand

At Lowes once again..

Jackson's turn in the shopping cart. He only lasted about 10 minutes before he tried to stand up and had to be taken out.

Peeking

Having fun at Auntie Allison & Uncle Dave's house

I see you! :)

And, this little guy came out just minutes before this and said, "I'm not tired. Can I just lie down for one minute?" He cried and went back when I told him he had to lie down for one hour.

How I spent my morning

Volunteering to help clean up the baseball field for Austin's little league

Jackson's Daily Notes

Notes from Jackson's daily sheet:

• Physical: Dance Dance - Jackson bounced on his knees, patting the floor happily
• Emotional: Noodle play - Jackson touched each noodle then, one by one, he dropped them over the side of the table
• Language: Music Trisha - Jackson rolled around playing with his feet and chewing on his index finger
• Cognitive: Valentine bag - Jackson leaned over and "face painted" his bag

Cold, wet and windy

Movie time. Too cold, wet and windy to play outside. The kids are watching Wall-E (Austin has taken his usual seat in the back).

More firsts

Lots of firsts for Jackson yesterday:

• I noticed he has two new teeth poking through his gums
• This morning I sang to Jackson while changing his diaper and he clapped along (first time I've seen him clap)
• Jackson was creeping along the couch and when he reached the end, he let go and took a step away from the couch before falling onto his knees
• This morning he woke up without crying (extremely rare)
• He got tons of sleep this weekend. He slept a straight 11 hours, from 6pm to 5am, last night - his longest stretch yet (I fed him at 5am and he went back to sleep for another hour, waking up without crying and in a great mood). Growth spurt or teething maybe?

Three Little Pigs

This morning, as I was feeding Jackson, Austin picked out this book and asked, "Can you read me this book while you're feeding Jackson?"

He opened the book to the table of contents and said, "I wanna read Three Little Pigs."

He looked at the titles and pointed to the right one, looked at the page number, flipped to the right page and said, "Here it is, Three Little Pigs." (I have never read him that story and Willis said he hasn't either.)

I am so proud! My big boy is READING!! :)

Our days of spelling things when we don't want him to know what we're talking about are certainly numbered now...

Lowes

Another trip to Lowes. I love their shopping carts!

Another pair of new shoes

I got Austin a pair of new shoes in December. He had outgrown his Lightning McQueen light up shoes and was measuring a size 9. We went to Brooks Shoes and he chose the Clone Wars Captain Rex light up shoes. I've been meaning to get him a spare pair so we went to Payless last Wednesday and Willis found a pair of Lightning McQueen light up shoes that Austin was happy with (He was busy with the play table and wasn't really paying attention as we slipped shoes on and off his feet). It was about time for a second pair because his Captain Rex shoes are getting pretty worn out already. (Today he is all "Cars"-ed out. He was wearing a Cars t-shirt, his new Lightning McQueen shoes and his Cars 2 jacket)

Sick boy

Jackson had a little fever this afternoon at school. His teacher said he was 100.3. He was sleeping when I went to pick him up.



I had to wake him to go home. He was so tired, he fell asleep on the way home and slept for another 3 1/2 hours. I fed him, bathed him, let him play a little while, fed him again and put him to bed. He slept all the way through the night and woke up at 6am. He was in a good mood this morning and seems to be all better.

Dinner

We're starting to give Jackson a little of what we're eating at meals and he loves it. He especially loves picking up food and eating it all by himself.

He's getting pretty good at using his pincer grasp (using his thumb and index finger) to pick up little pieces of food.

He's like a little bottomless pit. He never seems to be full and keeps eating as long as we keep putting food in front of him. Once in a while he plays with his food or tosses it off the side of his table, but he loves to eat. Although, he doesn't really complain when we say the meal is over, clean him up and take him out of his chair.

Xray

Austin just discovered the X-ray sticker he got when he got an X-ray at the dentist office last December. I had put it on his dresser with the other stickers from his goodie bag. He decided to put it on his pajama shirt right before bed. And the next day, I discovered it on his baby Laura's sleeve.

Another new tooth and other updates

- Jackson has another new tooth poking through his gums, to the left of his bottom two teeth. I just noticed it yesterday, but looking back at this pic taken last Sunday, I can kind of see it already poking through his gums:


- He doesn't turn his head away anymore when having his nose wiped. I guess he's starting to get used to it. When he sneezes I always have to check his nose right away because chances are he has sneezed out a big 'ol mess from his nose and he looks at me as if to say, "what?"

- A couple of weeks ago, Jackson started having water in a sippy cup with his meals at school. He has had no problems drinking from the sippy cup.

- Last week, Willis took some frozen waffles and pancakes for Jackson to eat with his breakfast at school. He currently eats one whole stage 2 jar of baby food with a couple tablespoons of baby cereal and a little water plus waffles/pancakes for breakfast and plus snacks at lunch. And, he now has a snack around 3:00pm.

- Last Tuesday Jackson started sleeping on a cot for nap time at school out in the main room instead of a playpen in the nap room (where it's dark and there's music playing).


- In January, he seems to have tried put himself onto one mid-day nap at school, instead of a morning and afternoon nap that he used to take. But, then he's tired in the evening and usually falls asleep on the ride home napping anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours.

Happy birthday Malia!

Another fun birthday party at Scooter's Jungle, helping Malia celebrate her 7th birthday.






Austin is so lucky, Malia specifically chose to invite him, her brother's friend, to her birthday party. And I think Brad was happy to have a friend to play with at his sister's party. Austin and Brad stuck together almost the whole time (except for the time Austin got a joust in the face and wanted to sit out with an ice pack for a few minutes). We all had a great time!

Nightlight

We got Austin this nightlight from IKEA last weekend and he has been using it at night for almost a week now. It really seems to be helping and he doesn't ask us to leave the door open for him at night anymore.

Pizza ring

Mmm, Broccoli!!

Fun at a mall playground

Jackson had fun crawling around. Austin ran around at first but then discovered 'Speed Racer' playing on a tv at the DirectTV cart.

Mama D's

We finally ate at Mama D's in Manhattan Beach for the first time. We met up with the Clarks for dinner. Mama D's son was sitting at the next table and came over to talk to us, because he knows Jason and Jason knows everyone. The food was just as delicious as I had heard. Jackson was upset at first but was very happy after getting some milk and food in his tummy. He chowed down on bread and pizza crusts after he ate his food. After dinner, they brought Otter Pops for the kids and chocolate chip cookies for all. Lucca loved all the sweets, but Austin rejected the chocolate chip cookie. He said, "I tried it and I didn't like it." So, I had to help him finish it. :) I can't wait to eat there again!

As we walked down the street, Jason was pointing out all the good restaurants in the area and I just don't know when we'll find the time (or $$) to try out all of them! :)

(Austin sifting through the Mama D's treasure box. Sadly there wasn't anything of interest, so neither Lucca nor Austin picked anything. But, they didn't really seem to mind.)

Jackson's Daily Notes

Notes on Jackson's daily sheet from today:

• Physical: Blocks in a box - Jackson started putting the blocks in the box as Ms. Michelle handed them to him. Then he tried to hold them all on his arms and put the box on his head.
• Sticky tape - Jackson ripped the tape, looked at the tape thatwas stuck on his hands, then he tried to crawl away to show his friends what he found.
• Book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Jackson tried to wake up Oliver so he could listen to the story. When he didn't wake, Jackson laid next to Oliver's cot smiling.
• Cognitive: J+K - Jackson dipped his fingers into the paint and slowly lifted his hands to his mouth for a taste. When he was stopped he kind of crossed his arms not knowing what just happened! Then he proceeded to rip both K+J apart!

My little boy

Heart.Melting...

Cookie

The whole way to Veggie Grill to pick up dinner he talked about them having cookies. When we were in line and ordering he kept asking if he could have a cookie. His meal came with chocolate pudding or a cookie, he chose the cookie. When he FINALLY finished his dinner, he opened up his cookie, started taking bites, looked at it and said, "I don't like the chocolate parts." Wha??!! He must be crazy! lol! He doesn't usually dislike chocolate, I guess he just wasn't in the mood? He scraped the top of the cookie off with his teeth and nibbled at it but left about 1/4 of it on the table before running off to wash his hands.


Austin and his cookie

He impressed me when he asked me if I knew how to get to Veggie Grill and, after asking if we were turning, said "you have to turn this way (pointing to left) and then this way (pointing to right)." Which is completely correct! He has such a good memory for locations and directions! Pretty soon he'll be driving me around. :)

February Photo A Day

I decided to challenge myself with a Project 365 (Taking a photo a day for a year). I'm happy to say that I've successfully completed 31 days of photos for the month of January (photos to be revealed at the end of the 365, or 366 as this is a leap year). For February, I discovered the February Photo A Day Challenge from fat mum slim and decided to try it.

Wordless Wednesday - Home Depot...again

Bathtime

Austin's been asking for months if Jackson can take a bath with him. I was reluctant because I worry that Jackson will slip and hit his head. But, due to taking a poopy diaper off of Jackson and having him in the bathroom with us since Willis wasn't home, I finally went ahead and put Jackson in the tub with Austin. They both had fun and it saves so much time! :)



Taking a bath together for the first time.