It has been an emotional last few months with Jackson and me. As a stay-at-home mom it's been just the 2 of us for 2 years now. I have absolutely loved it all and as excited as I am to have a baby girl join our family, I really do worry a lot about changing the life that we have together. He has grown up so much over the past few months, some good some bad. He is so much more independent now, but is also turning into a toddler who can throw a mean tantrum. He can be the sweetest little boy ever, but also can get frustrated so quickly. At the end of the day, I love him so much and wouldn't change him for the world But before I have this baby, I wanted to record some of my favorite things about Jackson.
He normally wakes up around 7:30 but plays and entertains himself in his crib for about 15 minutes before he starts yelling "mama!" Normally I can hear him on the baby monitor talking to himself, pointing out things in his room, and jumping up and down. Lately he has started "roaring" in his crib too, and every other day he greets me with a big ROAAR when I open the door. He loves being a tough guy and acting like a dinosaur :) Normally he wants to get out of his crib and play with trains for a little bit before going downstairs.
He is obsessed with the garbage truck. It comes by on Tuesday and Friday mornings around 8 am so it's right after he gets up. He has amazing hearing and will stop whatever he's doing when he can hear it coming down the street. Lately we have been running outside and watching it as it goes down the cul-de-sac and the comes back to our house to get the trash. He gets so excited about it and has the biggest smile on his face the whole time.
Tyler and he have been making lots of shakes, smoothies, and protein drinks in the blender lately. Tyler normally has a protein drink in the morning after he gets back from the gym and now Jackson wants to help every time. He helps put in all the ingredients, presses the button, and loves having his own little cup and drinking with his daddy. I'm not a huge fan of the protein drinks myself, but I'm glad Jackson likes them so much! The kid has a banana every single day for breakfast, he is obsessed. You'd think he would grow tired of them but he gets a huge grin and says 'mmmm nana'! when he sees us getting it for him. I'm not sure where he picked it up, but recently he has started rubbing his tummy smiling saying 'mmmmmm' when he's excited about a food.
He has started playing outside a lot more. He has a few different balls that he loves to play catch with, he has his hoop and basketballs, and is maybe most obsessed with his golf clubs and balls. He might not have the best form but he loves running around the patio swinging his clubs and hitting the balls. He also has a new dump truck and digger he got for his birthday that he loves to play with outside. Loves looking at all the birds, lizards, and other crazy animals (sometimes gators) we have in our backyard.
He loves all cars, trucks, and any type of vehicle. He can hear an airplane, ambulance, truck, or boat way before I ever will. He stops whatever he's doing and makes his "oh" face for a second, listens to what the noise is - and then exclaims, "a ayyrpane" "a truck" "a booat" or whatever he identifies. They have been widening the major road that we live off of for months now which is a major pain, but he gets such a thrill by driving past all the diggers, dump trucks, and cranes each day. We also live near 2 fire stations and as soon as we are getting close to one, he notices and starts saying "fire truck!" He gets so excited when he sees them each time, but when the station's garage doors are closed and we can't see the trucks inside he just tells me that the fire truck is going "night night."
He is really good with his naptime and bedtime routines. After lunch I will tell him it's time to go upstairs and he will normally head up with no fight at all. He plays with his toys upstairs for a while, and when he's done he'll go right over to his chair. (it might help that i always have his favorite blankie and binkie sitting on the chair to lure him in...) But he will then cuddle up in his chair and I'll read him books. Naturally his favorite books are about trucks, trains, cars, and boats. Right now there are about 10 that we'll pick from but he always wants a few of the same ones each time. When we're done with books I'll carry him to his crib and he immediately closes his eyes and leans back in my arms. It will sometimes take him a while to fall asleep and I'll hear him rolling around for a while - but he rarely if ever cries after i put him in there. This was the main reason I did not want to push him into a toddler bed yet!
The kid is so in love with his daddy. If he hears a noise that makes him realize Tyler is home, he will drop whatever he's doing and run to go see him. He loves having him chase him around the house, drive and crash his race cars, hide in the pillows of our bed, and most recently kick the soccer ball back and forth. I would like to say he's a momma's boy but its not the case. I'm around all the time, but when daddy is home - he gets the biggest grin and completely lights up.
One last thing that I'm particularly happy with is his love and excitement about babies. When we see a baby at church or at the store he gets so excited and loves to point them out. Now we have baby stuff all over the house and he is starting to point out, baby's chair, baby's "night night" aka crib, baby's blanket, etc. We even have the infant car seat base in my car and he knows that that is for baby too. I'm still not sure if he really understands that the "baby" he gives kisses to in mommy's tummy is going to come out and live with him or not, but he's much more aware than he was a few months ago. Just like the word, "daddy" he always says, "baby" with a smile.
