Parachute Jumping, Cowboys, Doctors and Super Why - all in a month's work

Busy couple of weeks! Jackson's imagination is full steam ahead, so we're never too sure what is going to walk out of his room!

While Tom was busy at an evening concert and weekend classes (only 1 more class left!), Jackson and I spent some time in Stillwater. On Saturday morning, Jackson and Papa were busy playing with Buzz Lightyear when Papa had the great idea to build Buzz a parachute. I was quite impressed with the contraption they built! Styrafoam and pipe cleaners - there's nothing you can't do with it! Jackson had a blast watching Buzz Lightyear fly through the air.

After several trips down the stairs, Buzz Lightyear needed more room to fly. Papa took Jackson up on the new deck to try out the parachute outside. It was so fun to watch both of them playing together!

Jackson loves playing with Reese. Every once in a while, they'll call each other up on the phone. My heart melts when I hear them talk to each other. Jackson was so happy when he learned that we were spending the day with Reese. He also was excited about going to a basketball game. I don't know that he got the concept though, because he kept telling people that he was going to go play basketball with his Papa and Pamma....mommy was just going to watch. It was kind of sad going to the basketball game, though. The crowd was so different! You can tell by all of the empty seats just how different it is from when we went to school there. Fortunately though, it was much easier to get 6 seats together!

I've got a secret - I love you so so so so much! This is one of my favorite things that Jackson is doing right now. Usually totally out the blue, Jackson will come up to you to tell you a secret. Usually it's "I love you so so so so much" or "You're my best buddy I ever saw". Either way, it's the best part of my day. We love you so so so much, Jackson! Here Jackson is getting a secret from Pamma. Jackson really liked the popcorn at the game. It seemed to perk him up a bit. Reese had popcorn for the first time, too. She liked it a lot! She actually moved up to sit by me because Johnnie was eating "her" popcorn!
Jackson went to his second birthday party last weekend (a joint party for Julia and Holden). It was a cute theme (a book party), and they held it in a meeting room at a library. Jackson was totally excited that there were books on the tables. I actually had a hard time getting him to get up to go play with the other kids doing Musical Chairs! He was so happy when he realized that he was able to take a SpiderMan book home as a gift. He know knows all about Peter Parker. :) Here is Jackson playing "Pin the Hat on the Cat".
One night after work, Tom and I decided that we would have a Jackson night. First, Jackson and I went to the Borders store closing sale in south Tulsa to pick up some books. Jackson LOVED the bookstore. He kept asking if he could take a different book home. And then he found the best thing of all - a SuperWhy puzzle! By the end of the evening, he had books stacked under each arm. It was so cute watching him hold all of his "prizes". After the book store, we met Tom at Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. Chuck E. Cheese sure has changed in the last 25 years. Over 1/2 the rides didn't work (but did take your coins) and the pizza was awful! Jackson seemed to have fun, though. I was relieved, though, when we asked him what his favorite part of the day was that night, and Jackson replied, "Doing the SuperWhy puzzle with Daddy!". Since putting it together that night, he has re-done it at least 6 times. He loves it.
Jackson got his medical degree since my last post (it has been a long time, I know!). We're lucky that our doctor now makes house calls.
I'm still confused what reflexes Tom has in his jaw....but Jackson is the one who went to medical school. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Probably a new technique he learned!

Had another "good mom" moment this week - actually a couple!

1. Jackson's first question when I go to pick him up at school is "do you have a treat for me?" Usually I don't....after all, they're treats! But on this day he told Ms. Angelique that I didn't have a treat for him, so she proceeds to give him some snacks from their snack drawer to eat in the car. As we go through the halls, he tells everyone passing by that mommy didn't have a treat for him but Ms. Angelique gave him fruit snacks. Mommy fail.

2. Another day when picking him up (sensing a trend here....my best parenting skills show up at daycare), my shoes were REALLY hurting me. I could barely walk down the stairs back to our car, much less go the dark way (and go twice as far). So at the top of the stairs, I decided Jackson and I would have a race (and really, it was quite a fair race!). He would go the dark way, I would go down the stairs and we'd see who wins. He thought that was a great idea and off he went...or so I thought. I made it down the stairs and was looking for him. One of the other afternoon teachers said that Jackson was at the top of the stairs looking for me. Oops. That idea backfired. I walked back up and he was walking back down, pouting because I didn't let him go the dark way. He cheered up when I said he could still go and that I would wait for him at the bottom. He got excited and took off. Another child walking by when I was waiting said "I wonder where Jackson's mom was..." Oops. Mommy fail again. (And for the record, Jackson made it back down just fine on his own. In fact, he asks to do it pretty much every day now.)

3. Another afternoon when I picked him up, one of the teachers told me that Jackson had been scratching or pinching the other boys at school. The teachers seemed just as shocked as I was - Jackson is a good kid and he doesn't do things like that! I eventually got most of the story in the car on the way home. Apparently they were playing superheroes and bad guys. Jackson was a superhero getting a bad guy....and got a little too into the role. We had a very long talk about how we treat other people. Jackson felt really bad about it and was sad. He kept saying "I want to go home." On the bright side, he learned another technique to handle a situation when others are doing things that aren't nice. The next morning when I quizzed him what to do when someone is chasing or hitting him, he quickly replied, "I say No, I don't like that. And then WALK AWAY! And go near a teacher." When I picked him up, the first thing he told me was how he told Cort "No, I don't like that!" and then walked away when Cort was chasing him. I was proud of him. He definitely learned something from that experience!