Finally - pictures of Jackson's new room! Over Christmas break we re-did Jackson's room, complete with his own big boy bed. I think he likes it! The last two days he has even taken his nap in his own bed...by himself on his own doing.
These wall decals were so easy to put up. Jackson loves them. When we put them up, he would stand up on the stool and smile proudly. Woody is bigger than he is! Furniture spacing was a bit of a problem in his room with the new bed. Eventually we'll take out the chair, but for now we still like to read together in it.
Buzz Lightyear actually glows when you first turn off the light. When I'm in there with Jackson playing, he'll say, "I want to show you something. Stay there. I'll be just a minute." He'll then proceed to shut the doors and turn off all of the lights so that we can watch Buzz glow. We still need to buy a cover for the box springs, but we haven't found one yet. Doesn't Jackson look tiny in his new bed? 
We had our first snow day(s) earlier this month. Jackson was so excited to throw snowballs....even going so far as to put that on the wall in his classroom! Everyone else said they wanted to make snow angels, a snow man, etc. Jackson wanted to throw snowballs at Mommy and Daddy. While I was at work, Jackson and Tom played outside. Thank you, Tom, for shoveling the driveway!! Here Jackson is standing on top of his mountain that he and Tom built with all of the snow. He looks cold! 
We realized (after the snow, of course) that Jackson would need some boots. Of course, after the snowfall, every store was out. While I was at Walmart, I did find these rain boots, which I thought would fit the bill for the few times we were out in the snow. He loves wearing them around the house with everything....including his Buzz Lightyear costume!
Last weekend Jackson went to his first birthday party. He was so excited to go. On Saturday we went to the store to pick out a present for his friend, and it was so cute watching him go through the aisles. Everything he picked out was something he actually wanted, but I figure that's pretty normal. I didn't realize how difficult it was to pick out a birthday present for a kid that you don't even know what they like or already have! Finally Jackson picked out a cool V-tech Buzz Lightyear mini-computer. The party wasn't until Sunday afternoon, so he kept asking all day long "Mom, is it time to go to Jack's party yet?"
The party was held during his naptime, so we were a little unsure how that would play out. We tried to put him down early, but I don't think he really slept at all. He did have some quiet time in his room....but I'm pretty sure there was no sleeping going on!
Jack was a little afraid of either the dark, the attention or the candles, so he cried when everyone was singing to him. After his mom blew out the candles, it got really quiet. That's when Jackson decided to call out to us from across the room: "Jack isn't being very nice." Oops...
Here he is ready to go - finally!
The party was held at BounceU down in south Tulsa. They have the party planning business down pat! Right at the scheduled time, they led us through the first door, where the kids were greeted with this amazingly tall bouncy slide (and other bouncy areas to play in). After 30 minutes, the kids were led into a second room with different bouncy areas. They had such a blast! All of the kids were so excited to see that their friends from school were there. I also enjoyed getting to know more of the parents there. We all had a really good time. In the picture below, Jackson and Nash slid down the big slide. Wish you could have heard Jackson's "Wwwwhhhhhheeeeee!" all the way down.
Each kid had a red bracelet letting the employees know that they had signed the waiver and could bounce. It was really big on Jackson, and he kept trying to hold his arm up carefully so that it wouldn't fall off.
After over an hour of bouncing, it was time to go to the party room where cookies and ice cream were waiting for them. It made me laugh to see Jackson squeeze right into the middle of the action (Jack, the birthday boy is right next to him).
Jack was a little afraid of either the dark, the attention or the candles, so he cried when everyone was singing to him. After his mom blew out the candles, it got really quiet. That's when Jackson decided to call out to us from across the room: "Jack isn't being very nice." Oops...Tom and I had so much fun watching Jackson play with his friends. Max, Nash and Jackson seem to be the 3 Muskateers at school, so I wasn't surprised when they all banded together and started talking at the table. (Max is in the orange shirt and Nash in the yellow shirt.) 
We were pleasantly surprised how happy all of the kids were considering none had their naps that day. We weren't in the car more than 5 minutes when I looked back and saw this - he was dead to the world! 
They all had so much fun at the party!
After cookies and ice cream, it was time to open presents. It was funny to watch the progression during the present opening time. Here, everyone is being fairly patient and calm.
And here we are a few presents into it. Notice how Jackson has moved around trying to get closer and closer.
And finally, the boys can't stand it any longer! Jackson looks so little compared to John (in the red shirt).
We were pleasantly surprised how happy all of the kids were considering none had their naps that day. We weren't in the car more than 5 minutes when I looked back and saw this - he was dead to the world! On a separate note, I moved offices at work. They are remodeling our area in the building, and for the time being, we moved into the tower - the 43rd floor! Here's my view from my chair - I'm looking forward to some of the day games later this spring!
It's amazing what Jackson remembers lately. We were all driving in the car one day, and out of the blue Jackson asks me: "We're not having a rough day, are we, Mommy?" I had a really rough day at work one day over a week ago, and he remembered it!
He's also really into playing pretend, so we're never quite sure what the story is going to be. Usually, when he's doing something he's not supposed to do, he tells us "I'm just pretending. It's just pretend." Lately he has been pretending that he's going away to college. I think that's a good sign!
We got a note in his folder at school to all the parents indicating that February was career month, and if any parents wanted to come talk about their careers, we'd be welcome. I'm a little embarrassed how excited I got over this. I immediately started thinking of all of the fun activities I could do - kind of similar to what we did for Take Your Kids to Work day. But then I remembered that those kids were in 5th grade. I don't know that Jackson's friends would really get the whole idea of what I do in the natural gas industry, but I think it would be really fun to talk a little bit about it and do some fun "magic tricks" with chemistry. When I asked Jackson if he'd like me to come and talk about engineering, he said "That'd be cool! Engineering is fun!" I don't think he even knows what engineering is yet, but I liked his answer! If you've got any ideas of what we should do for his class, leave 'em in the comments section.
Stay warm this week - looks like it's going to be a nasty storm with more snow days ahead. Hoping that means we'll get to build a snow man with Jackson this time, especially now that he has waterproof boots and gloves!
Jackson decided to try his new bike. I was curious to see how he would do on it, particularly after remembering the whole "bike-a-thon" episode and knowing how he didn't really like pedaling. He quickly got off of it after about 1 minute. The presents were too much of a draw for him apparently! 
When we were shopping at Toys R Us for ideas to tell Santa, Jackson zoomed in on this "Super Why" Zapper. I couldn't figure out why he was so excited about it...or even what SuperWhy was. As you can see by everyone else's faces, they are all thinking the same thing:"what is that?" Jackson is patiently explaining to everyone just how cool it really is....
It turns out that SuperWhy is actually a program on PBS that they watch at school sometimes. It's actually a really good show. It's all about 4 kids who solve their problems by looking in a book. The Super Readers use their special "reading" powers to find super letters to solve the problem. Jackson has really started grasping the concept that letters actually mean something. It's now fun to watch Jackson spell out everything that he sees and then ask "what does that say?"
Jackson was so interested in opening packages this year. It didn't really matter if they were his or not!
