Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas holiday! We had such a wonderful time and enjoyed being with family. On Tuesday, we headed over to Stillwater for our Christmas with the Caldwells before going to the McGillen's on Christmas day. The snow storm messed up our scheduled a little bit, but it all worked out! Here's a brief recap of our holiday. I've also added a Christmas photo album for more pics.

On our Christmas Eve (actually, two days before Christmas), we all went bowling. Jackson really liked the shoes...and seemed very impressed that Gramma had her own ball, shoes AND locker. Can't compete against that!

On Jackson's first turn, he ran out in his lane....past the foul line. Ernie warned us that if he did that many more times, he couldn't bowl. Between that and keeping Jackson away from the ball return, I was nervous the whole time! Jackson learned quickly and seemed to have a lot of fun. I love watching Dad and Jackson bowl together - they're so focused!

Thank goodness for bumpers! Jackson did pretty well for his first time out, though we were a little nervous that the ball would stop and get stuck on the way down to the pins.

Jenna took Reese bowling, too. Is this even legal? Check the rule book, mom!

Christmas (Eve) morning at the Caldwell's. Merry Christmas! It started out with the traditional Christmas morning dance to "I Want a Hippopotamus". I don't know if you can see it in the video, but I love Jackson's dinosaur feet with his pajamas. Great for marching to the music!

Santa outdid himself once again. I have a new appreciation for Santa and the elves with the train table. I believe I heard the word "payback" once or twice... We had such a good day opening presents.

The kids took a nap during Christmas dinner. It was very relaxing but a little strange to be eating without having to worry about cutting up food, keeping them from throwing it on the floor, etc. Thanks mom and dad for the wonderful meal(s)!

This is a good look for you, Tom.

You're never too young to get lottery tickets in your stocking!

Tom and I were the big winners this year - $4 and a free ticket. Whoo hoo! You'd be surprised at the level of competition with the tickets between everyone. Johnnie was a little upset this year that Santa gave her the "Lucky 7's" instead of the "Electric 8's"....and wouldn't you know, the 8's had a winner! Christmas stockings just wouldn't be the same without lottery tickets.

You know you're going to share those, right Dad?

Here we are after the Christmas excitement. Tom seems tuckered out and enjoying Reese's new bean bag. Dad is furiously working on his Sudoku puzzle in our Sudoku competition between Dad, Jenna and myself. Jenna is so good. She skunked me bad - 13-5. I'm ready for a rematch, though. The McGillen's gave me a mammoth book of sudoku's....and I've been practicing all break. Anytime you're ready, Johnnie....

Does Jackson have the Cook big toe with a mind of its own? Here they are checking it out. Jackson seems a little perplexed by the whole conversation.

It was a white Christmas this year! It started snowing on Christmas Eve (sleet first, then heavy flakes). Stillwater got at least 7"!

Jackson liked the idea of snow...until he actually touched it. Tom showed Jackson how to sled on the little hill in the backyard.

Reese spent pretty much the entire time riding in the sled on her back not moving at all. We think she liked it, but we're not entirely sure.

Here are some videos of Jackson and Reese (and Tom and Dad) playing in the snow. Jackson only liked it if he didn't have to touch the snow. I think Reese does a pretty good impersonation of a snow angel statue.

Christmas in Moore got a little bit of a later start than we anticipated due to the snow and ice. Thankfully, the streets had been cleared pretty well (thank you to those who spent their Christmas day(s) sanding and clearing them for everyone!) and the trip to OKC was relatively uneventful. As soon as we got to the McGillen's house, Jackson zoomed in on the singing fish...which they had hidden in hopes that Jackson would have forgotten about it!

Jackson decided he wasn't going to let the fish show him up, so he sang a few of his own for the crowd - you just can't beat an abbreviated Jingle Bells and ABC's for some holiday spirit! (sorry, the videos are a little dark)

After a few songs and catching up, it was time to see what Santa had brought everyone.

After some practice, Jackson really got the hang of opening presents. The day after Christmas, he kept asking "Presents? Open?"

I think Jackson secretly wants glasses of his own. Before leaving for school in the mornings, we usually need to get his sunglasses for him to wear in the car. I found my first pair of glasses from junior high - I think they're 1/2 as big as my entire face (no, there won't be a photo of those). I think Jackson wanted those, too. For now, Mr. Potato Head's will have to suffice:

More Cars! He also got a Mack truck carrying case. He carries Mack all around the house...we even have to bring him when Jackson gets a diaper change. Have we mentioned Jackson loves Cars?

Linda made a great Lightening McQueen cap (and hat) for Jackson. He loves running around the house with a cape flying behind him.

Jackson got a baby doll that eats, drinks and wets her diaper...we thought it would come in handy for potty training. Jackson loves it way more than I thought he would. He likes feeding it and changing the doll's diaper. He thinks it's hilarious when the baby sits on the potty chair!

Dancing to the Christmas tunes:

Like I mentioned earlier, we're trying to get Jackson ready for potty training. We thought getting big boy underwear in the Toy Story and Thomas themes might help entice him. Unfortunately, I don't think Jackson quite understands the point of underwear yet...

Like I said earlier, Santa outdid himself. Jackson ended up with so many toys - a train table, easel and art supplies, a small kitchen, playdoh, lots of Cars, baby doll, walkie talkies, flashlights, books, Leapfrog, a cool billebo, basketball hoop, dress-up clothes and hats and more. Thank you, Santa!!

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.