I can't believe that Christmas is already almost here! December has flown by. In mid-December, Williams had their annual kids Christmas party. This year it was held in our building; most of the stuff was really for older kids, so we mainly walked around. Jackson did like the inflatable Santa and train as well as walking along the black stripe on the floor! Jackson really likes the ideas of parties right now. When we say we're going to a party, he'll follow up with "a birthday?" He now thinks all non-birthday parties are at mama's building.

Lately Jackson loves playing with Mr. Potato Head. He'll carry it to the nearest table and put everything on and then take it off again. Tom and I can't get over how much time he spends playing with it...so much so that Santa was notified of the late addition to Jackson's list - a Mr. Potato Head suitcase and accessories.

Anytime I think of a list for Santa now, I can't help but think of my friend Katie's experience. She's a supermom! She had a great list of ideas to do with her kids to help them get in the Christmas spirit all year, one of which was writing a list for Santa. Needless to say, it didn't quite go as hoped, and we were all deeply concerned that Santa was going to be able to make the toy as described by her son. Fortunately, she figured it out in time. I'm going to try to follow her lead next year....hopefully starting in October!

Jackson had his school Christmas party on Thursday. I wasn't able to go, but Tom did. He showed up while Jackson's class was outside on the playground. I think Jackson was pretty excited to see Tom show up - Jackson was showing him everything on the playground.
I am amazed at how well behaved all of them are, especially when traveling from place to place. Those ropes are amazing! Jackson knows exactly what to do, and he will not let go of that handle until they say it's ok. Here he is standing next to Justice (polka dot coat) and Reese (pink hat). Reese is Jackson's special friend right now. When we come in to class in the mornings, she's always bringing him something (usually a cracker or snack) or just comes up to hold his hand. The other day, I found them dancing and holding hands together. Justice joined in on the fun, and Jackson started leading them all around them room. Before we left, they all had to give each other lots of hugs.
Here is a class picture on the mat after their snacks:
We've been trying to get some good pictures of Jackson in front of the tree, but it's been difficult. Lately he's really been cheesing it up when you take a picture...so much so he usually looks mad!

Jackson loves looking at all of the ornaments. Unfortunately, he also likes taking them off and hanging them back on....usually all on the same branch! Here he is getting caught playing with the ornaments:

On Friday, Jackson's school had their Christmas program. Tom and I finished up our shopping just before the program - it's so nice to be finished, stockings and all! Jackson's class sang Jingle Bells. Jackson had been practicing all week in the car. It usually sounds like "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells....Hey!...Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells....Hey!" I think the whole class got stage fright, because I don't think anyone of them really ended up singing....though they did get the "hey" part! It cracks me up at the end of the video when they're lining up to walk out. Jackson zooms in on one handle and just doesn't let go except to move his bells to the other hand.

At the end of the program, all of the kids got up front to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Jackson's class is in the far left in this picture. At the end of the song, we could see Jackson stand up and start clapping. Then he grabbed his friend Cort's hand excitedly and waited for the class to go back to their room. So cute!

Sheepie is Jackson's new friend. He drags this chair everywhere around the house, usually by one leg. Jackson was adamant that Tom hold both of them in his lap. BTW - Jackson has also started calling himself "Jack" not "Jackson". We're not quite sure how that one started.

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas! It's going to be so much fun this year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! It's been a hectic month. Tom finished his marching band season, and they got 6th at Grand Nationals - congratulations! We're so glad to have Tom back at home at night. We've been taking advantage of the nice weather (up until this week, that is) by playing outside. Jackson absolutely loves playing with bubbles.

For Thanksgiving, we went to Stillwater first. Unfortunately, my dad got sick, and we ended up eating at Johnnie and Casey's house. I think we might have started a new tradition, though - Bad Brad's catering was wonderful! Jenna's house looked beautiful. It was all decorated for Christmas so that their family could celebrate before Casey left for Iraq. We had such a good time together. Casey let Jackson wear his cowboy hat, but as you can see, Johnnie liked it too!

Mom made the cutest ornaments. She re-created Jackson's look with the diapers, dinosaur feet, and cowboy hat perfectly while holding his makeshift "sword" tree. It makes me smile whenever I look at it. You are so talented, Mom! We all got a laugh at the grandkids ornaments - here's a pic of them:

After our celebration at Jenna's house, we drove to Moore to celebrate with the McGillen's on Thanksgiving Day. Soon after we got there, Jackson was already asking where the cats were at. The entire visit he'd look for the cats. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner, and their family friend Al joined us for dinner. Jackson couldn't wait to eat - here he is practicing his balancing act:

Al and Jackson got along great. Jackson kept chasing Al and everyone in his dinosaur feet. So cute! Al gave Jackson a gift right before he left - a dollar bill! Jackson had us stick it in his jeans pocket, and he'd get it out to look at it. In fact, after we got home, Jackson would come to us asking where his dollar was. Thank you, Al!

We also helped decorate their Christmas tree while we were there. Jackson was really good at it. Here's a couple of pictures and videos while decorating:

Lately, Jackson LOVES his sunglasses. He has to have them on when we go to school or get in the car...whether it's 7am or 5:30 pm. Usually it's almost dark outside when he wears them, but it doesn't seem to matter. The glasses are a little big for him, though, and they often slip down, which upsets him quite a bit. He tends to stretch them out and then let go, so the glasses smack him on the side of the face. Usually, we just have to say "kiss it" when he cries, and he'll kiss his finger and then touch his finger to his hurt area. Works like a charm! He does need some smaller glasses, though. Maybe Santa will bring them to you!

For our daycare's Christmas basket, we bought a small bookbag to include in the gifts. When we were in the store, Jackson LOVED the bag, and I ended up getting him one, too. We fill it full of books, and he likes to wear it around the house. Here he is getting ready for school. I can already see how he's going to look on his official first day of school picture!

Like I mentioned in my previous post, Jackson still loves wearing things on his head. Here he is with his latest hat - I'm sure he'll start a fashion trend with this one.

Jackson has learned so much in this past month. He can sing the ABC's (ok, so it's missing a few letters) and can count on his own to 12. With a little prodding, he can count to twenty! We really like to play ball with the whole family. Jackson will tell us who to throw it to - "To me, Jackson!" or "To me, Mommy!" (that means throw it to mommy, not Jackson). Everything right now is "To me!"

Jackson is still singing songs to us. His version of the Jackson song is greatly shortened. Now it basically consists of "I love Mommy (or whomever it's about). .....Small! It's the thought that counts, right?

By the way - Congratulations on your retirement, Dad! We are proud of you and all of that you have accomplished in your career. Enjoy your month off before you go back to the working world. And don't worry mom - we have plenty of space here if you need a break! We love you both!

Flying with Blue and a Dinosaur Fashion Show

Ever since Halloween, Jackson has loved wearing hats. We used to never get him to wear any hat but his construction hat or his ice cream tub, but now, he wants everything to be worn as a hat! Last weekend, Jackson wanted to wear his wizard hat for his nap...and proceeded to sleep for 3 whole hours in it! Jackson also seems to hate wearing clothes lately, and he proceeds to strip down to his diaper within the hour after getting home.

Jackson loves watching planes in the sky. He's started flying at home, which usually means running around the house (naked) with his hands either out to the side or flying behind him. The other day, he took Blue for a ride, though Blue had a little trouble with gravity. This video cracks Jackson up each time he watches it. So far tonight, we've watched it 15 times, and it's no less funny the 15th time than it was the first (to him, at least!).

We also got Jackson some dinosaur slippers. As soon as Jackson saw them, he started shrieking with excitement. His only problem was deciding what accessories to wear with them. Let us know which one you think goes best together!

Happy Halloween!

Jackson experienced his first Trick or Treating. Because Tom was in Edmond for a band contest, we joined our friends Katie, Brandon, Ben and Elizabeth in their neighborhood. Here is Jackson before we left:

All the way to their house, Jackson kept saying "Ben's house! Go to Ben's house!" All three kids were so cute together. Ben was "The Man in the Yellow Hat" (with Curious George in his hands) and Elizabeth was a black cat. So cute!

We had been practicing saying "Trick or Treat" all month long. He got shy at the doors, so he had to be prompted. Halloween is a pretty hard holiday to explain to kids - we all tell them don't go up to strangers and definitely don't accept any candy. So what do we do on Halloween? Go up to strangers and ask for candy! Ben kept asking this all night. It was fun listening to Katie's explanations.

A couple of the houses really got into the Halloween spirit. Jackson really liked this house. He was so into the music that he forgot why he went up there!

Here are some more pics and videos from our Halloween experience. I think Jackson got tired of walking, so in between houses, he'd say "Mama, I carry you?" and I'd pick him up. As soon as we got to a house with lights on, he'd want down and would practically run up to the house. Every once in a while, while walking up to a house, he'd say "Mama, look at me! I'm doing it! Look at me!"

After we got back home, we went to a few houses in our neighborhood. I kept telling Jackson we'd just go to a few more and then go home to hand out candy ourselves, but he just kept saying "No....More!" I think he really enjoyed it. Our last house of the night was Ryan and Alecia's house. Here is Ryan (a blue Power Ranger) and Jackson on their front porch:

Jackson helped me hand out candy. He was so good at it! We sat in our driveway, and Jackson would get the candy ready to put in everyone's bags as soon as he saw them come up the drive. As he placed a piece of candy in everyone's bag, he'd say "You're welcome!" He even tried to hand out some candy from his own pumpkin stash. What a sweetie! We experienced another first tonight - we actually had a teenage girl come up TALKING ON HER CELL PHONE while holding her bag out. I think if you're too busy talking on your phone to say "Trick or Treat", you're probably too old to be out with the kids. Unbelievable! I really wish I had some saltwater taffy for her.

After we turned out the lights, we went inside. I became my parents and made Jackson take everything out to sort what he could and couldn't have. Jackson liked organizing it all. He had to break into the suckers immediately - they were definitely his favorite! Here he is wish all of his goodies - notice the drool from his sucker running down his face (and costume). Woody's outfit will never be the same!

After we put all of his candy back into his pumpkin, he grabbed, walked to the front door, and said "Come on Mommy!" He was disappointed when I said it was all done. I think he really enjoyed Halloween. Next year will be even better!

On a side note, Jackson also has become obsessed with being clean lately. Every night, Jackson asks for a diaper wipe, and proceeds to wash everything - his face, his hands, his arms, tummy and belly button, legs, and feet. And then, he takes it bed with him (just in case he gets the urge to clean in the middle of the night). I only wished he liked baths just as much!

Jackson has been singing a lot lately. He loves Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the Jackson song that my mom made up for him. The other day, he gave me his microphone to sing for him, and I sang the Jackson song. I then gave him the mic to sing a song, and he changed it to the "I love Mommy" song. It was so sweet - I had tears in my eyes! The other day, he then sang it to be Daddy and me while we were getting ready for his nap. You are so precious, Jackson. Hopefully we'll get his singing and his new song(s) on video soon.

Woody and the Halloween Carnival

Today was Jackson's Halloween Carnival at daycare. We were excited because it was the first year that Jackson would actually be old enough to really take part in the activities. Jackson's costume was so cute! He loves being Woody. We tried it on last night, and as soon as he had it on, he said "Mama say cheese". I quickly figured out that he wanted me to take his picture. After each picture, he'd have to take a look at it. Sometimes he'd get a big smile on his face, other times he'd give it back and make me take another picture. He approved of this one:

Jackson quickly found his best friend, Nash (aka Mr. Incredible), for a quick picture.

We're so sad that Nash is moving up to his new classroom tomorrow. The next two months will be long without his best friend at school. For the first part of the carnival, Jackson and Nash sat at a back table eating cookies and goldfish. I think Jackson spent half his time at the carnival eating goldfish!

Jackson made a beeline for the bouncy Thomas jump as soon as he and the class got to the rooms. Just as I feared, he wanted to take off all of his clothes to jump. I guess his costume then would have been a streaking boy....but fortunately, he didn't have too much of a meltdown when I refused to let him take everything off!

Our class put on the bean bag toss (highly recommend this one in terms of ease of set-up and take down!). Jackson didn't quite see why this was so difficult for everyone - he mastered the technique quickly:

Jackson and the other kids really liked the sensory table, which was filled with rubber ducks hidden in Styrofoam peanuts.

Woody found his friend Buzz (Finn Delgado) at the Carnival.

Jackson was really excited when his Gramma walked in the door.

Gramma heard that Jackson loved reading lately, so she brought him his own Halloween book. Jackson had to read it first before going off to play - that's my son!

Another popular table was the cookie decorating table. I really think Jackson just wanted the plain cookie; he wasn't too into the decorating part.

After doing a few activities, it was back to the snack table for more of his cookie and goldfish.

Last weekend, Tom and I were trying to decide if Jackson was too young to go bowling. I thought we'd try it at the Carnival. And we found out - yes, he's still too young! They used pumpkins for the bowling ball. Jackson kept trying to throw the pumpkin overhand. Apparently, so did a few others; in less than 1.5 hrs, they had already gone through 3 pumpkins!

I think one of Jackson's favorite parts of the carnival was the stage and running with the other kids. It is so cute watching him jump in the middle and try to be like the older kids. It always makes my heart melt when he meets a group of kids. It's like you can just read what he's thinking: "Hey, can I play with you? I want to play. Will you be my friend?" It's so sweet. The kids had lots of fun running from one end of the stage to the other.

After a few runs across the stage, most of the kids left to do another activity. Jackson stayed behind, and his friend Reese joined him. It was so cute watching them chase after each other, while turning their heads to make sure the other one was close behind. Reese tripped in one trip. Jackson the stunt man decided he'd copy her, and did the exact same tumble when he followed up behind her. Here are Jackson and Reese playing together - notice how each trip he has to make a quick detour for some more goldfish:

Unfortunately, Tom and Papa were sick today, and they couldn't be there. We hope you feel better soon!

This weekend, Jackson decided to play dress up in his engineer's hard hat and mommy's heels - quite the combination!
It was cute watching him clomp around the house in the heels.

Going grocery shopping with Jackson is also quite an experience lately. Jackson loves pushing the cart or hopping behind you as you push the cart. He easily gets distracted, especially when he sees Elmo or McQueen. I've resigned myself that each shopping trip is going to cost at least $3-5 in a new toy, bowl, balloon, or book. As soon as I give it to him, he just keeps saying "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" How can you resist that? On our last Walmart trip, I bought him a book. That book kept him occupied the entire trip - he must have read it at least 5 times! When we came home, he propped himself up in the chair, copying the way I was laying on the loveseat, and read his book.
Here he is reading out loud. No matter what book he reads, it seems to be the same story. We love your stories Jackson!

Pumpkin Patches, Parades, Parks, and Pottytime!

This week is sponsored by the letter "P".

While Tom was in St Louis at the band contest, Jackson and I went to Stillwater to go to the pumpkin patch and the OSU Homecoming Parade with Gramma, Papa, Johnnie and Reese. We all went to the Grider Farm in Perkins. I don't know how many times I've driven to Perkins in my life, but I still don't know how to get there! I was glad I was riding with Dad. I didn't realize the farm would a true farm (without the animals). In my mind, a pumpkin patch was simply a place with pumpkins placed all over cleverly placed hay bales. This was a learning experience for both of us!

We ended up "off-roading" it to get to the pumpkin field. We were a little early in the season, so they pumpkins were all green. Jackson kept trying to pick up the big ones, but said they were all too heavy.

We also got to pick gourds in the same field. Gramma liked all of the warty ones. Papa scared us all using the green snake-like gourd to sneak up behind Gramma's shoulder. Jackson liked carrying the gourds for Gramma and showing them to Reese (especially the green snake-like one).

We stashed all of our gourds while we were in the field so that we wouldn't have to carry them one at a time to our car. Before we left, we wanted to get a picture with Jackson with his gourds. He'd been so used to us sitting him on top of the pumpkins for pictures, so when we said we wanted to get his picture with his gourds, he knew just what to do - he sat right on top of them!

After we got all of our gourds, we went back up to the main house for the pumpkins. They had some really cool pumpkins in faded colors of orange, amber, gold, and green. Jackson and Reese enjoyed riding around in the metal wagon. Here are Jackson and Reese sitting in a sea of pumpkins!

After the pumpkin patch, we went to the OSU Homecoming Parade. I was wondering if we'd find a place where we could actually see - there were so many people there, and we were arriving just before the parade was to start. We ended up right behind the cameras. We got there just as the parade started - just in time to see Garth as one of the Grand Marshals!

As you can see in this video, Jackson loved the bands playing! We have to play these videos over and over at home. Jackson loves clapping along, and he's actually learning (slowly) how to spell Oklahoma in the fight song. I think Oklahoma (State) will be his first word that he learns to spell. No cat or dog here!

Mom was brave and ended up finding the kids a place for us to sit at the curb. Jackson loved waving the flag that he got at the parade. He also was given quite a few pieces of candy...I think he likes parades! Reese was good throughout the parade, too.

After the parade, we went to go get frozen yogurt at Orange Tree - that is the coolest place, and it was so yummy! Jackson really liked the music. We'll be going there again.

After our sugar rush, we went to Hastings (to pick up another toy horse and Thomas the train) and then on to the park. Stillwater has the best park. Jackson loves to climb the "mountain". He totally scares me at the top when he lets go and climbs the rest of the way with no hands, but he sure seems to like it!

I think Reese had fun, too, swinging on the swings. You're such a pretty little girl!

After about an hour, it was time to go. Reese was walking with Papa, and Jackson decided he didn't want to be left out. He grabbed Gramma's hand, and then started walking like Reese! We had a great day - thank you!

On Friday, we had another first - Jackson used the potty! I morphed into Kate Gosselin for a moment and had to take his picture immediately....and forgot to empty it out first. Needless to say, I won't be showing that one, except to blackmail him later! Afterwards, he kept saying "I did it!" and I kept telling him how proud of him I was. We ended up making several calls to tell the great news. Potty-training is just around the corner! I just want to know one thing - how are you supposed to clean that thing? I'm afraid this time in his life is going to be just like baby food - extremely messy! We're proud of you Jackson.