Toy Story Mania at Our House

It all started last summer when Toy Story 3 (the movie) came out and we got passes to go. That was Jackson's first taste of Toy Story, and his first ever movie, and of course he loved it! Then, we went and played with David at his house and he had a talking Woody and Buzz doll. Well, I knew then what we were going to get Jackson for his birthday! He played with all David's Toy Story toys for a long time.

We got him the talking Woody doll for his birthday and my parents got him a small talking Buzz. Then, Mimi and Pop Pop got him Toy Story 1 and 2 on dvd for his birthday. He loved watching the movies! The day after his birthday is when we got rid of his pacifier and he got really attached to Woody, and wanted to bring him everywhere and I let him because he chewed on him after getting rid of his pacifier.

Preschool has really helped with his imaginative play, and now he would much rather play with his Toy Story toys than watch TV (still would not recommend sending your baby to Preschool till they are in a 3 year old class). He puts Buzz in positions where he is rescuing Woody all the time. He tells me every day that for Christmas he is going to get a talking big Buzz and Abigail is going to get a Jessie the cowgirl doll.

So, guess what Jackson is going to be for Halloween? Yes, you guessed it, Woody. I found a great Woody costume at Walmart for a great price. He got to dress up like Woody to go to the nursing home with the Moms Club, and today for Preschool (they had a Halloween party), and tomorrow for parade at Kings Mountain for little ones. Jackson is loving living here in Kings Mountain, and we are so thankful!

Abigail's Second Weekend Away...Jackson's Favorites

at Gigi and Grand!

When Jackson was a baby we tried to get him to stay at Gigi and Grand's one weekend a month. It was great bonding time for them and a great break for us.

Well, with the craziness of this year and living with my parents for a month, Abigail has only gotten to stay with Gigi and Grand one time. So, it has been like a mini vacation with just one child! We were nervous on how Abigail would do considering she is a huge mama's girl and says mommy all day long, but she has done great. Abigail is so sweet and loving and I am so glad she has been that way with my parents as well.

We are so thankful for Gigi and Grand!

So with Jackson:

His favorite DVD right now is: Veggie Tales, "Silly Songs"

His favorite thing to sing: "God is bigger than the Boogie Man"

His favorite thing to do: Play the Wii with Nick (the next door neighbor who both my kids talk about all day long...we are so thankful to have someone for our kids to look up to and play with that goes to our church) and his daddy. He is so incredible with swords, I can not even come close to beating him in this game.

Also, we signed him up for group swim lessons at the YMCA, and he had his first lesson was last week and he loved it. It is for 3-5 year olds and goes till the end of August. It is every Saturday and it was only $25 for me with being a Y member and getting a coupon in the mail. In the Fall, we will do soccer, and in the Spring tee ball, and the summer swim lessons (once he turned 3 years old).

His favorite toy: New Woody Doll from Toy Story that we got that says like 20 phrases and when you take his hat the doll says, "Where is my hat?" along with a couple other phrases

School challenges: I try to do "School Time" and Brain Quest worksheets Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. He is working on when I say to put a block beside his teddy bear, he puts it beside it. Then I ask him to put it "on top," and "behind." This was one exercise he struggled with on his end the year testing. He also can tell you what street he lives on now.

Do you know what other "school tests/activities" we can be working on for a 3 year old (turning 4 in September)?

What are some of your preschooler's favorites?

Pictures of Jackson's Golf Swing

Charlie loves the sports option on the our new camera. I just like taking pictures that do not turn out blurry. Jackson is having the best time being here with my parents, and as you can see he is way obsessed with golf right now. My dad will sit outside with him for like an hour while he hits the ball over and over again. Dad does not give him much instruction at all because he said he does better without any. I am so thankful for this time and for my parents! It looks like Jackson has some natural ability. My dad recently bought him a real driver that is coming in the Golf Shop soon, and my dad had already bought him a real kids putter that we caught Jackson petting last night....crazy! He has always loved golf...even when he was Abigail's age, he would watch it on tv for long periods of time.

Movie Monday: Jackson , Our Little Golfer

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Jackson loves golf even though we have not really exposed him to it that much. He will watch golf for long periods of time with my dad. He wanted golf clubs for Christmas, and he has really enjoyed playing with them. Recently, he put his ball up on a rocket blaster and made it his tee so he could hit line drives. He also uses rackets that we have to act as a golf club, and my dad says he has perfect form. Crazy! Lastly, he likes to sleep with his golf club. Have I mentioned that there is absolutely no difference in him and my dad?

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a post up about how things are going with us (things are going really great). Jackson is very excited that it is going to snow tomorrow. We are even under a winter storm warning here in Spartanburg.

Fun Friday: Few of My Favorites

The above shoes are Angels Shoes. They are very popular baby girl shoes that I had no idea about, and are $20. I got them at a children's shop out at Harbison called Enchanted Closet. I really loved the people that work there, and they had really cute clothes, especially for when me and Gigi get to go shopping. They are great church shoes. However, Abigail is in between sizes and so the size 2 is a still a little too big.

This backpack is from kidstravelzone. com. Mimi got this backpack for Jackson's 3rd birthday. It is perfect for him because he can actually keep it on his back (unlike the Stephen Joseph bag which he could not keep on his back). This is the smallest bag, and I think Abigail will be getting this for her birthday as well. I will not be getting her a Stephen Joseph bag for church because I know she will probably not keep it on her back! My parents also got the matching luggage for him for his birthday and it is just what we wanted!

I got these shoes for Abigail, after I figured out that the Angels shoes where not staying on her foot yet. They are pediped baby shoes. They are like your baby is not wearing any shoes at all, and good for when they are trying to walk (they also have cute baby boy shoes as well). These shoes actually stay on her feet when she crawls, but they were $30. I got them at Stride Right (Goody 2 Shoes). The one thing I am not frugal with is shoes for my family. I have feet problems and so does Jackson. I usually only buy two pairs of really nice shoes from Goody 2 shoes. They are very experienced and trained with knowing if the shoe is fitting my babies correctly. Jackson has extremely flat feet and my pronation problem.

What are some of your favorite items for your babies (even not if they are not frugal items)? What would some great items for your babies that you are very thankful for?

Jackson's First Soccer Practice!

Yes I know this picture is blury, and I am not sure why. I have a Sony Cyber Shots. If you could tell me what I did wrong I would love to understand why my pictures turn out blurry sometimes. Oh how I long for a professional camera...

Last night was Jackson's first ever sports practice. Jackson has always loved balls. When he was 9 months old he would throw a ball against the wall and try to catch it. He can throw a small spiral with a football, and will play any sport that has a ball for hours. So, I was talking to Jackson's speech therapist about how he might not qualify for the Preschool now at Oak Grove since he has made so much progress and she said I should enroll him in soccer to get all his energy out. Last year, for his two year old birthday he got a soccer goal and has been kicking it a goal from whenever he could run which I think was about 14 months old.

So, we signed him up way late, and Charlie checks that he would like to be an assistant coach (there is a discount involved). The nice S.O.A.R representative called us when she got Jackson's application and really needed Charlie to be the head coach. You know Charlie could not say no, and he was excited.

We get out to the field last night and Jackson was so excited he could barely contain himself. He did not fuss when he had to wear shin guards, he was too excited to fuss. In fact, I do not think I have ever seen him so elated over something. He did really great the first half of practice and copied what the other kids were doing, but then when it was time to play a real game, he was not interested in taking the ball from the other kid. We teach him over and over again not to take things from other kids, so it might take a while for him to understand that the point of the game is to take the ball from the other team. However, I do not think many three year olds take the ball from the other team, so next practice I will just say to run, run, run, and wait till it is our team's turn to say to go get the ball.

He was not interested in taking the ball from the other team, or waiting his turn, so he went and got his own ball to kick and then rolled down a hill in the mud, while I was changing Abigail's dirty diaper in the car. I definitely could have used some help with Abigail since the parents are really suppose to be out there when their child does not understand something. It is a good thing that at this age there is no goalie and no officials. I guess they do not take score either but I am sure Charlie will know the scores of the games.

Overall, he had the best time of his life, and that is all that really matters at this age. He kept saying," no hands." And all today all he can talk about is how much fun he had at soccer. He keeps saying, "fun soccer, I kicked ball, no hands, daddy the coach, one ball."

Charlie and Drew T did a great job and all the kids had a blast. His first game is on his third birthday. I am sure I will have some stories.

Jackson's Favorites

• Books: Peek A Zoo, Baby's First Bible, Good Night Moon, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do you See, Dora's Egg Hunt, Read-Aloud Bible Stories Volume 1 (my favorite book)
• DVD's: He LOVES dvd's. He likes Dora, Mickey, Little Einsteins, Wonder Pets, Oso, etc., he likes most educational dvd as well like Brainy Baby and Brainy Baby ABC's which help him talk. He really enjoys all Cedarmont Kids dvd and I like them too. They have kids singing songs (mainly Christian songs) and he likes to sing with them (he really likes to do the hand motions...I wish they did more hand motions in these dvds). He still likes Signing Time and still likes to sign some (but he always says the words that he is signing).
  
• Toys: He likes cars, trains, Doctor Elmo, The Farmer Says See N' Say, balls, balls and more balls (we can't wait for tee ball!)
  
• Favortie thing to do: JUMP (especially on the couch, bed, etc), play with balls, or he just loves to be outside!
• Favortie thing to talk about: Abigail! Baby crawl, baby sleep, baby goes night night, baby's bottle. If Abigail was not here, I do not know what he would say all day. He loves her so much!
• Major Praise is that he is saying little sentences all day long. I cannot believe how much progress he has made in the last month. He is so proud that he can talk and that he can successfully go potty. He is almost 100 percent trained! He daily sings his ABC's and counted to 20 today by himself! He knows all his letter when you put a random letter in front of him. His therapist cannot believe all the progress he has made in this last month. God gets all the glory! He has graciously answered our prayers. I am so appreciative of every time Jackson says something over and over again until I say it. It does not bother me it all. I will sing ABC's all day long and love every minute of it. Looking back at the beginning of the year, it seemed like he would never ever be able to talk. His short frenulum did not grown with him from 15 months old to 2 and half years old. Now that his is not tongue tied anymore, we are just making up for that critical year that was lost but fortuntaly Jackson will be 3 years old the entire year that he is in a 2 year old class. God is so good!

What is your little one (2-4 year old) favorite book, toy, or dvd. I always love to hear what other little ones like especially since Jackson has a birthday coming up soon!

Video of Jackson Playing with His New Blocks!

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Jackson 7 months and 3 weeks old (33 weeks old):

Milestones:

1. Can crawl very fast, and anywhere he wants to go.
2. Can balance on his knees, however, he is not interested in standing to much
3. He tries to stand up in his pack in play, but falls.
4. He waved to me with his left hand this morning in his highchair
5. Understands “no” and actually stopped grabbing a cord last night when I said no firmly. We are disciplining him when he can hurt himself or others. He laughs when we say no but usually stops. We sometimes have to isolate him in the crib for just a couple of minutes, and only when he has kept grabbing something that can electrocute him, and after we have said no.

Favorite Show:

• The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, this is the only cartoon he will watch, and trust me we have tried them all

Favorite Toy:

• Tickle Me Elmo, Doctor one that talks (some sweet YMCA parent gave to us in Raleigh---I think they run like $50) He gets so excited when Elmo talks to him.

New Favorite Book:

• The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes by Kenneth N. Taylor. We try to read this too him every night. This is a special book because Charlie’s dad read it to him when we was a little boy ( I think it was published in 1975).

Update:

• He is doing so much better. Babies and children are so resilient!
• Jackson did wake up Wednesday night in the middle of the night coughing, but we just gave him saline, and blew out his nose, and we all went right back to sleep
• He has slept through the night since Wednesday night
• We have stayed indoors, and he has gotten better. Today, me and Jackson did not go to morning church, but went tonight and he was fine.
• I do think he is starting to develop some allergies like his mom and dad
• We had a great visit with Charlie's parents Mimi ,"Doc,"Lauren, Scott, and Jake on Saturday!