Two Point Five

Yesterday my sweet baby boy turned 2 1/2 years old. Two and a half sounds like a baby. I always thought a 2 1/2 year old would look like a baby, but really 2 1/2 is slightly heartbreaking, when I look at how much Jadon has grown lately.

A few weeks ago, he had his first pony ride at the annual Christmas tree lighting at Broadway @ the Beach, while Gramma, Grandpa, Jamie, Macy and I watched from the sidelines.





He loves going on family walks in the double stroller. He usually has to take something with him for the ride---one day a few seashells, another day Elmo. He ALWAYS has to stop and see the tractor near our clubhouse. There is no seat, but he always has Jamie carry him up to it, so he can get a closer look. At some point during the stroll, he always asks for a leaf or a stick and happily holds it back to the house. Only a few times has he tried to feed the leaf to Macy or poked her from behind with the stick :P Boys!

Jadon also loves church. He always asks if we can go there. I remind him we go on Sundays. Tonight he told Grandpa and Uncle Chris that they needed to go to church "on Sunday." haha

He also loves reading his Bible. The other day before naptime, after we finished reading "If You Take a Mouse to the Movies," he said, "Let's read the Bible." Ummmm...okay :) He likes to say lots of things about "Baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph." He knows the word "angel" and that the wisemen "give baby Jesus presents." He knows that God wants him to "love Sister and love Mama and love Daddy...and share with Sister," but he has yet to put the sharing part into action ;) No matter how big he looks, he is only 2.5...remind me of this hourly, please :D

He loves stuffed animals, though I think his obsession with Dr. Seuss that lasted about 6 weeks is coming to an end. A few weeks ago, you would have heard him reciting lines from "Green Eggs and Ham." Many times, when we would tell him to sit down to eat, he would tell us, "Try it, try it, so I say. Try it, try it, and you may..." He would also watch a Dr. Seuss DVD with several short cartoons. He loved to recite lines with me. I'd start, he would finish. So cute!
Jadon loves his buddy Ashton. He is just three days older than Jadon. He has a big sis, Aryanna who is six. He's had a few playdates with him and also saw him at Auntie Em's church on a few Sunday mornings. When he goes down the list of people he is thankful for each night, during his prayers, Ashton is always named :)

A few of the most challenging issues we've faced with him lately have been keeping him out of the house tree we now have in the foyer (it was outside in warmer weather). You may remember we had the same issue last year.

I really would have predicted Macy would be the one in it, but to date, she hasn't had any interest. Jadon, however, will not stay out of it. Everytime we take our eyes off of him, we find another car in the potting soil and a trail of dirt on the floor. He is constantly asking if he can "put cars in the drivedray." Oh, my word!

The other issue we've had lately is him telling us he has to poop, so he can get out of going to bed. This doesn't happen often, but when he does pull this stunt, he drags it out for at least 30 minutes. He'll CRY telling us he needs to poop, then he'll sit there, and sit there, and sit there. We'll tell him, "Alright, enough. Time to go to bed. All done." Whawhawha...crying fit ensues...we feel guilty thinking, "What if he DOES need to poop? What if he IS constipated or having trouble? Okay, then poop!" Repeat cycle. Blah. I decided to amuse myself and take a pic of his fake "I have to poop" face, while he was on the potty the other night for a minimum of 30 minutes. Drain. The life. Out. Of. Me!

Good thing he's cute ;) Despite all of his antics, which obviously still includes endless hours of redirection in sharing toys and being completely on top of Macy at all times, this little boy has us wrapped around his chubby, little 2.5 year old finger. Love him to pieces. Could not be more in awe of God choosing us to raise him. Two point five years to kindergarten! :(

Mouthful

We think Jadon's second molars are coming in. What do you think?



He does this constantly and has been pretty cranky for the last few weeks, especially at bedtime. He has been waking up in the middle of the night crying for no reason, other than his gums are sore and he can't describe to us what is wrong. Poor, little guy :( I've been putting teething gel on his bottom gums, and I can now feel them opening up and there is some swelling. Oh, how I wish the top ones would make their way in now too, so we could move along from this phase, especially since Macy will soon enter a 6-8 month phase of cutting teeth.

I wonder if second molars cause runny noses??? Gotta go look that up. We're dealing with bout #3 in the last six weeks. Also need to buy Kleenex stock!

Kids Gone Wild

Shoo-wee! These two are a RIOT, and the absolute greatest little people to spend the the day with, but thank God for naptimes and bedtime! Amen?

Mother's Intuition

Last week, I had to go leave the kids with Jamie for a few hours. It was dark outside, by the time I got home. I didn't have a key with me, and I could see Jadon sitting in the chair watching a video. He saw me peeking through the window, but just sat there and smirked at me (rotten boy!). Jamie was nowhere in sight, and I thought, "Where in the world is my husband, and why in the world is Jadon all by himself???"

I tried knocking a million times, but no Jamie. I could see the kids' bedroom light was on, but the door was closed. I thought, "Surely he wouldn't be in the room with the door closed, and leave Jadon in the living room!" I tried calling the house from my cell phone. Nothing...well nothing but a smirking 2 year old who only had time for his DVD. FINALLY, Jamie came around the corner from our bedroom with a towel-wrapped Macy. "Ummm...hi. Hello?"

A little later I explained to my husband, the father of my two small children that I did not think it was safe to leave Jadon in the living room for so long by himself, no matter how child-proof our house seems to be. Yes, I knew all of the doors were closed. Yes, I knew there were covers on all of outlets and locks on all of the cabinets.

"Jamie, I just know there is ALWAYS something he could get into, when he is by himself. I mean, he could climb up on his high chair and grab a knife, or he could pull on a blind cord just the right way, and get it wrapped around his neck. You just never know!"

I knew my husband was hearing my words, but it seemed more like I was the teacher and he was Charlie Brown. "Whawhawhawha whawhawha..."

Fast forward to Sunday morning...I was in our master bathroom getting ready for church, and had Macy sitting at my feet. Jamie was in the spare bathroom taking a shower. Jadon was watching a video, so I figured I had time to dry my hair quickly, since he seemed to be in a trance, fixated on the TV. I turned the hair dryer on, but something made me stop. I turned it off, listened, thought I heard the tiny wheels of cars moving around, and figured all was well in the VERY NEXT ROOM. I yelled, "Jadon, do you want to read Green Eggs and Ham?" Mind you, it had only been 120 seconds, since I laid eyes on him IN THE NEXT ROOM.

I turned the hair dryer back on, only to feel something inside of me say, "No you need to stop and go lay eyes on him. He could be into something. You just never know, better safe than sorry." I picked up Macy, and as I rounded the corner, realized that Jadon was not where he was just two minutes prior. Oh, there he is...in the kitchen...standing on his high chair...WITH A KNIFE IN HIS HANDS!!! Oh. My. LORD!

This was not any knife. This was a seven inch long, very sharp knife!

"Hey, buddy. Umm...just sit still. Be careful. Put the knife back, and Mama will come and pick you up, okay?"

I heard Jamie coming out of the shower, so I had Jadon sit still on the counter, and had Daddy Dearest come and witness his son's attempt at giving his wife a heart attack. The look in Jamie's eyes said it all. "Oh, I get it now. Okay." (I didn't stop to take a pic of Jadon for this one, nor did I have him reinact it later.)

Jamie is a WONDERFUL father. I just think women and men think very differently. There is an instinctive Mama Bear, what could kill my kid thing that goes on with us. I'm in a constant state of what if, what could, what will...are my babies safe??? My mom says it will be that way, until the day I die, and I believe her. Good thing I know God gave me the natural ability to read their sneaky little minds, so I can head off disaster while they're little. Once they are older, I think that turns into nagging and/or gray hair and wrinkles.

Thanks for saving my life so many times, when I was little, Mom...like the time I ate an ENTIRE BOTTLE of Flintstone vitamins or when I ate the stuffing out of a bean bag chair or the time I...

Mr. Independent

A few weeks ago, I was in the kitchen, while Jadon was playing in the living room. I didn't hear a peep for a few minutes, so I yelled for him, and he came running around the corner, underwear in hand. I knew he had gone into the other room for a minute, but could he? No...he couldn't have. Oh, yes he did! (Obviously this is a reinactment. In the original version, I picture a more ornery look on his face.)

He pottied ALL BY HIMSELF! Jadon has used the big potty, since Macy was born. He used to sit on the potty facing forward, but ever since Uncle Allen showed him how to potty facing the wall in July, he now always asks to "pee like Uncle Allen." It worked great because now he can do it all by himself :)