Animal House

When the grandparents stop by, all sorts of circus-like crazy happens!

Don't let Gramma's book reading fool ya!

Grandpa gets them all riled up with his elephant, horse, tiger, spider, whatever-Jadon-calls-them rides ;)

Let's not forget the ole swinging in the blanket trick either:

Jamie and I are so very thankful to have not one, but two sets of grandparents who love our kids as much as we do. Having Gramma and Grandpa just three miles down the road is so nice, and having Nanay and Tatay visit us every summer gives us something to look forward to. Jadon and Macy love you all sooo much, and Jadon thanks God for each of you by name every night, when he says his prayers...and so do we :)

Jadon Can Read

Well, maybe more like Jadon can memorize, I guess. Nanay and Tatay had sent Jadon the "Baby Can Read" series last year, and he recently took an interest in the flashcards again. Here he is reading the words for Volume 1.

If You Give a Mouse a Foot Book

Jadon LOVES reading, especially at bedtime. The Foot Book was one of the first books he learned to read all by himself, which was the CUTEST thing ever to hear. We sat amazed as he "read" each page over and over again, and though his speech isn't the clearest to some people, Mama and Daddy could understand every word he was pronouncing, and he honestly got every word right. Watching your child grow and learn is soooo amazing!

After The Foot Book, he quickly picked up reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and now his new favorite "Green Eggs and Ham." Every night, he has to read ALL of these, and sometimes twice, if he asks, "Puhleeese, Daddy?" Once you hear him reading the words, "...he's thristy...soooo," you'll understand why we can't say no. Just adorable!

By the way, most mornings these days, Jadon asks to have "white green eggs and ham" for breakfast. LOL

Only One Baby

It has been months, since I've given a detailed update on Jadon. There's good reason, I assure you. You see with Macy, it's so much easier. Although she is changing very much in her own right, things are slower. You know, one milestone at a time, like pulling up (which she is doing!?!). I digress.

Jadon. Something happened within the last 60 days or so. When Macy was born, clearly I still thought of him as a baby. He used the syllable "duh duh" to refer to so many things (though Momma could always understand what he meant). He sometimes signed "potty" with his hand, as he raced to the bathroom saying, "dotty." He really wasn't too picky about anything...no REAL opinions.

He USED to call Grandpa "Tuhtah." Macy used to be his "sisser," Grandma was "Gee," and Auntie Em was "Eddadee." But things have changed and are changing so much everyday now, that I long to relive the days when "Nacy Doo" was in the womb and my BABY boy was patting away at his Momma's tummy, when we asked him, "Where's the baby?"

And so is the journey of parenthood, the never-ending process of letting go. Thankfully the other side of that is watching your tiny little baby start to walk and talk and toddle his way into BOYHOOD??? Oh my! It's true. He's no longer a baby, and here are a few of the many signs that Jadon is becoming a...ahem...(clearing throat)...(wiping tears)...(sniffle)...a real little boy.

Word transformations:

Grandma is no longer "Gee" or "Lassa," now she is 90% of the time "Weesa" and 10% "Grannah"

Grandpa is no longer "Tuhtah," he is 100% "Gwandtaw." G'head say it with a southern drawwwl. Where in the world??? Gwandtaw staged this here photo:




Macy is his "sisTer," not his "sisser"

Tatay will be sad to learn that a "hettotter" is now a "helicopter" :(

Things he says:

"Daddy, let's a play cars!"

"Good morning, Momma. Good morning, Masay Balooo."

"Where's the tracker? Oh, there he is! There's the tracker!" (referring to the tractor in the "Cars" movie)

"Wanna eat (running to the kitchen). Wanna eat (Crispix, Special K, raisins, cheese, etc.)"

"Play Plah-doh (running to the kitchen)" Me: What color? Jadon: Ummmm...how 'bout...ummm.... Me: Jadon, just pick a color. Jadon: Ummm...how 'bout purple Play-doh?

(While playing Play-doh...) Jadon: Daddy, make a purple trackor! Pleeeease, Daddy? Make a purple trackor! Jamie: I just made you a purple tractor. Jadon: Momma, let's a make a purple air-puh-lane! Me: How about a ball? Jadon: Momma, make a big, purple ball! Me: Okay here. Here's a big, purple ball. Jadon: (squishes up the ball) Daddy, let's a make a big ball. Daddy, let's a make a purple trackor! LOL It never ends! LOL

(After Jadon has done something he shouldn't 3 or so times) Me/Jamie: Jadon, do you want to go to time out? Jadon: No, now (insert appropriate activity...play cars, drink your milk, be nice to Macy)! Then he'll elaborate and tell himself to "straighten up" or he'll "go time out!"

"No, Nacy! Can't play coohrs (cars)!"

"Good night, Momma. Love you noon an back (to the moon and back). Sweet dreams!" Then he proceeds to say a whole lotta other stuff in one, big run-on sentence..."Momma be back an Momma clean kitchen an wake up an play coohrs an drive race coohrs an play Play-doh and Momma be back..." Me: Okay, buddy. I love you. Good night. Sweet dreams. Love you to the moon and back. Jadon: ...an take a nap an Momma clean kitchen an Momma be back an..."

Yeah, and he ALWAYS sleeps with this many stuffed animals. That's okay because it works, and we get 3 hours of quiet in the day and 10-12 at night. Nice :)

***Oh and he's now SINGING! :) :) :) A LOT! And it is soooo much fun to see his face and hear the lyrics he thinks he knows. It is one of my favorite things he does. So adorable! So much that I will have to save it for a separate post. We need video for this one :)

Things he likes to watch:

The Cars Movie, Veggie Tales, Wimmicks (Max Lucado), Brainy Baby (especially Art), sometimes Bob the Builder (though we had a phase when that was ALL we could watch!), and The Pond (Christian DVD set). He has recently been re-acquainted with the Praise Baby and Baby Einstein DVDs because Macy watches them, and he is very much interested in watching all of the babies play with their toys. He tells us he wants to "hold daydee (baby)" and every toy they play with during the entire video. Sometimes he'll try to reach into the TV to touch their toys. He's fascinated by babies and all the strange things they do! Again, another post ;)

Things that impress us:

Jadon has been counting to 20 for a while, but now he is able to use one-to-one correspondence, while counting, pointing to each item. Seriously surprised by this!

He can "read" at least five books all the way through, all by himself...pretty hard books, like "If you give a mouse a cookie," and "The foot book." Gotta get video. Amazes me!

Foods he likes:

For the most part, Jadon really is a vegetarian. He's never had red meat, any processed meat or meat with nitrates, and he's had very limited pork (like I can count how many times he's tasted it). He does eat chicken and tuna, but honestly he can go a week without either of those too. He does like eggs and toast at least once/week. Mostly, he gets his protein from milk, yogurt, cheese, and oats. He does love tofu, but I confess to not making very many dishes that include it (maybe twice/month). Other favorites include ANY fruit, canned green beans, organic/soy/spinach pizza pockets, Earth's Best/Elmo mac n' cheese with broccoli & carrots, grilled cheese, and PB&J. By far his favorite treat is a small square of dark chocolate, for which he will do the "chocolate dance." :)

Can't wait til:
So we aren't happy that Jadon is losing his chubby cheeks, that he has a neck now, or that he sometimes responds with, "No, itssa said no," when we try to get him to eat green peppers, BUT we are ready to get passed a few things. (1) Whining/fits! Oh, Lord, the whining. Sometimes it is a majority of the day over everything, other times only a fit a day. Nevertheless, we're over it! It'll end soon, right? ;) (2) The attempts to play rough with Macy. Sheesh! This one is BY FAR the most annoying. Jadon thinks he's a comedian, loves getting under our skin with this one, but we have no clue how to not give him any reaction because he does sometimes hit her...to be FUNNY??!!?? So. Over. It.

With that said, we can celebrate that we're passed the holy moly! fits of teeth brushing, and since acquiring a spin brush, things are much better...almost enjoyable to know we're preventing cavities. He's gonna need a pretty smile with all of the ornery that comes with him ;)