What a Croc!

The best summer shoes ever. No Velcro that doesn't stick, easy to clean poop off of(don't ask unless you really want to know), quick to put on when taken off to be used as "phone", doesn't hurt when thrown at you, black goes with everything, fun to stick your fingers in the holes, the crocodiles on the hinge say "ROAR", all the women think they're super cute......

Need I say more?

Poo Poo in the potty this time

Alright, I'm sure it's the last thing you want to read about on here, but we think it's a pretty big deal...that's right folks, Jack went 'poo poo on the potty!' Jack and I were out playing in the living room, when he started pulling at his diaper through his PJ's. I had just changed a full diaper so I didn't think much of it at first, but he persisted. Then it hit me that whether he had to go or not, this was an opportunity to get him on the potty. We quick ran into the bathroom, pulled off his PJ's, and before I could get his diaper off he sat right down on the baby sized throne. I took his diaper off there, and he started pushing like he was going to pee. After several pushes he seemed to give up, but was having fun just sitting there. Then all of the sudden without warning a lout 'toot' sounded (well it wasn't that innocuous really), followed by the dull thump of...well...you can probably guess from the title of this post. We made a bit deal of it, danced, clapped, and cheered, then we got him cleaned up using the 'big boy toilet paper,' he thought that was pretty cool. In case you're wondering, we did take pictures of it, since it was a 'first,' but I'll hold off on posting a pic (I'm sure Nat will do that later). LET THE POTTY TRAINING BEGIN!!!

Backyard BBQ

We have been fixing up the backyard so that Jackson has a nice, enclosed place to play and so we can enjoy the summer weather. Our table blew over with a huge wind storm, because the umbrella was up on a nice sunny day, which shattered the glass top and demolished the umbrella. We now have a new umbrella and Larry cut out some wood to fit in where the glass was and with the table cloth it is pretty much good as new. We have had the BBQ for a while now and just did not have any propane so we had not used it until the other day. We are such procrastinators. Jack has a nice play area in the bark with two slides and a sandbox that was handed down from our good friends the Dimick's. Thanks for sharing Brian. And also a water play table that is so fun to drink out of apparently. Also Jack loves to swing on the swing with the pug sisters...as long as they don't crawl all over him, which they like to do.

18 month check-up

Today was a very good doctor's appointment. Jackson is now weighing in at a whopping 22 pounds and 13 ounces which is in the 10th percentile. This is almost 3 pounds more than 3 months ago and up from the 5th percentile! Yeah Jacky! The doctor did a full assessment and said that he was a "perfect little boy." That is just so nice to hear as parents. The doctor said that we should continue adding butter and olive oil to his foods and also the pediasure. We actually have been adding Carnation Instant Breakfast to whole milk for him instead of the pediasure since it is so much cheaper and he said that was fine.

I think that Jackson really showed Dr. Althoff why he needs the extra calories this appointment because he did not stop moving almost the whole appointment. He was dancing and jumping on the patient table because the protective paper made a great crinkle noise. He was playing with the wire bead toy and actually knocked it off the table while trying to jump off the table into my arms. We like to call him busy boy or Jackson the Destroyer but Dr. Althoff gave him a new name, Spiderman. The nurse called him "all boy." What are they trying to say? Jack is not usually this crazy unless he is tired which he was. I tried to put him down for an earlier nap than usual so that he would be rested for his appointment but this backfired because he just played in his crib for about an hour and then screamed his head off when I tried to make him sleep. So no nap for his 2:30 appointment when he usually goes down about 1:00. Yikes. (When we got home he slept until 5pm.)

Jack also had his first Varicella immunization (for chicken pox). The nurse had him sit up this time and before the shot she gave him a lolly pop. We were waiting for him to try the sucker when the nurse went in for the poke. I thought Jack was going to push the needle out of his leg but he didn't let go of that sucker for anything. He was about to cry when I quickly shoved the sucker into his mouth and he took one suck and said "ummmm." No tears! Now we don't go back to the doctor until he is 2 years old. As long as we don't have anymore illnesses...knock on wood. By the way his ears looked great!

18 months old today!

Today is July 10th, Jack is officially a year and a half old now. I don't think I've ever felt like so much time has passed so quickly before. Our little baby is really becoming a big boy, and it seems, especially these last few weeks, that he is just picking up on so much. Potty training is just around the corner, his vocabulary is building steadily (Momma, Dadda, doggy, kitty, cat, dog, hot, hi, hat, uh ohh, cheese, eat, and a few others I can't remember off hand), and he's now getting into the fine art of animal noises: He roars like a lion, curls his arm like a monkey (and climbs on everything like a monkey too), and raises his arm (trunk) while making an elephant noise. We're currently working on mooing like a cow. And while he is working on these things a little each day, his level of comprehension is astounding. He's at the point where he is taking direction, making corrections to his behavior based on verbal commands, and responding appropriately to sentences, rather than just words. Jack is also a master at mimicking our behavior. He stirs stuff when he sees us stir, he combs his hair when we do, brushes his teeth, pretends to put on deodorant, tries to put keys in door locks, puts hats on that we wear, pretends to race cars on the Wii, puts on make-up with mommy, etc. etc. etc. He only has to see us do it once, and the next thing you know, out of the corner of your eye, you see him doing something you did five minutes ago...so so funny. On Monday we take him in for his 18 month well-baby visit. Ah his 15 month visit the doctor wanted him to gain some weight at set our goal at having Jack weigh 23 lbs. by 18 months. Jack weighed himself on the scale the other day (true story, there's that mimicking again) and tipped the balance at 23.8 lbs! This will be his last scheduled visit with the doctor, and last vaccination until he turns two.

Pee, pee in the potty!!!

I bought a potty chair for Jackson yesterday because I had a coupon and figured he's going to need it at some point, so I might as well get a deal. I know he's young and will not be ready for a while but since we have it we decided to introduce it but not push it at all. Yesterday, every time I went to the bathroom I told Jackson to sit on his potty, with cloths on, and he seemed to like the little chair that was just his size. Then today after his bath we decided to put him on it and tell him to go potty. While I was just trying to get a picture without his manhood showing, he peed! I'm sure it's just a coincidence but we think he's also a genius.

Potty Time!


It's hard to tell but there is pee in there(and grass, not sure where that's from).