Merry Christmas!

Despite being sick (nasty cold, congestion, and cough which the antibiotics and steroids should hopefully take care of soon), I still had a very good Christmas this year. I got the new bike I've wanted for the past month and have been throwing tantrums over whenever I see it in Target - well, whenever I see any bike in Target - as well as markers with which I can draw all over my hands and shirt and M&Ms which melt in your hand if it's slobbery enough.

Merry Christmas!

Holiday baking

One of the reasons I haven't updated my blog is that Mommy and I have been really busy baking this holiday season. We made over 50 kinds of cookies, brownies, and sweetbreads this year!
I was a big help, as you can see in this video.


Mommy and I were making sugar cookies. I put myself in charge of scooping flour onto the counter, a very important job. I also helped press the cookie cutters into the dough and then stole bits of it to eat whenever I could.

I'm two!

Being two takes a lot of energy, so I haven't had a chance to update my blog. But, here it is finally!

My birthday weekend was really busy. I saw the doctor on November 7th, and I was 35 inches long (75th percentile) and 22 lbs 2.25 oz (3rd percentile!). The doctor was a little concerned that I'm not gaining weight, but since I'm growing taller and developmentally I'm advancing he said it's probably just because I'm so active.

Aunt Debbie came to visit for my birthday! It was really nice because I hadn't seen her for a year. We went to the science museum with her after the doctor.

Mommy and Daddy gave me the best present ever: my very own Barney! I watch the show as much as I can, so I was soooooooooo excited to get him.

On Saturday I woke up and Grandma was here too! She made it just in time for my birthday party. Some of my little friends came over to play, eat cake, and hit the pinata.

Pinatas are not good for two year olds, but we had fun picking up the candy afterwards. Having to sit for pictures? Not as enjoyable.

Every year I get a new blanket for daycare. This year I decided to try it out before we bought it. It made the Target floor much more comfortable.
Sunday we went to the zoo. I love looking at all the animals! Aunt Debbie gave me a special kid-proof camera for my birthday, and I took some pictures with it. I also got to snuggle down in my wagon while Daddy pulled it.

Monday Aunt Debbie went home, but Grandma stayed for the whole week. Tuesday we did a bunch of shopping since I didn't have school (Veterans' Day), and the rest of the week she and Mommy repainted the dining room and office/guest room. They look very pretty now!

For a month afterward, I've been randomly saying, "Gramma home airplane," or "Byebye Debbie airplane." I love airplanes and people visiting me on them!

Halloween

Sorry this has taken so long - Blogger has been acting up.
Sunday before Halloween I went trick-or-treating at a Trunk or Treat that Mommy's moms' group had. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's trick-or-treating out of the trunks of cars that are arranged in a parking lot. It's really nice for little kids like me who are too small to go trick-or-treating for real on Halloween.
I thought of going as Chad - you know, the guy from the cellphone commercials? All I needed was a blue shirt and a phone; Mommy and Daddy even got me to say, "My Circle."
I wasn't too sure of the whole trunk-or-treating thing at first, but I quickly got the hang of it. all I had to do was get a piece of candy, drop it in my bag, and then thank the person handing it out. Next year I'll work on finessing my technique and getting the good candy!
I refused to wear the doctor hat or face mask that was part of the costume, but we did manage to get a picture of me with the stethoscope. I enjoyed putting it on people's chests and pointing out "Heart!!"

Chores

I like to help around the house. One thing that Mommy and Daddy let me do is feed the kitties. They have two bowls: one that they eat out of, and one they could eat out of if they weren't so lazy and fat-necked. We (meaning me) fill up the extra bowl, then put the food in the smaller lazy bowl.

This is what it usually looks like after I feed them. I will never let my kitties starve!

Mean Mommy

Because I'm almost two, I'm very particular about what I want and when I want it.

Usually in the mornings Daddy gets me up and nebulizes me. It makes me thirsty, so afterwards I ask for milk. If I'm congested I don't get it because it makes the gunk in my throat worse. However, yesterday Mommy got me a cup. I used to like it warmed up slightly, but that was a week ago and I don't anymore. Mommy warmed it up anyways, which left me crying for more milk. Daddy got me some but there was something in the top of my sippy cup lid so I didn't want to use the lid. He took it off but then I spilled the milk slightly. Mommy put it in a different, regular cup, but I didn't want to drink out of that; I wanted my lidless sippy cup. It was time to go to school at this point so Mommy said I could have some milk at daycare. But I wanted it immediately, so I told Mommy, "Mean Mommy!!" It hurt her feelings, so I then (with a little prodding from Daddy, who gave me some milk in a new sippy) told her, "I uv ou, Mommy."

And then last night at dinner I didn't want to eat; I wanted to go straight to my dessert of M&Ms. Mommy wouldn't let me have any if I didn't eat my dinner (pot roast, carrots, and potatoes), so I told her, "Mean mean mean mean Mommy!" This time it didn't work, however. But Daddy put some ketchup on my food and I ate some so I could have dessert.

As awful as it is to say though, Mommy and Daddy are glad that I'm able to tell them what's wrong rather than hitting and screaming. And they know that there'll be worse to come in the next twenty years!

Two in a row

Last night and tonight, before my bath, I peed in the toilet while standing up! TMI, I know, but Mommy and Daddy are so proud of me and want everyone to know!!

Annual beach trip

We went to Kure Beach this past weekend for our annual beach trip.

Friday night after dinner we went walking on the pier. We saw a guy catch a fish that was bigger than me! Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch him land it, then cheered when they saw how big it was.

I didn't do so well with the going to bed part, partially because I don't fit so well in my pack-n-play anymore, so Mommy decided, since we were on vacation and she didn't want to have to sit in the dark while waiting for me to scream myself to sleep, that I could stay up as late as I wanted! I made it until 10 on Friday night and 9:30 on Saturday night, although the second night I could barely stand up, let alone walk straight, I was so sleepy.

Saturday we woke up to watch the sunrise over the ocean, then went to breakfast. I made several nice towers out of butter and cream containers, which nicely kept me occupied until the food arrived.After breakfast we went to the aquarium where I tried to feed the fish remnants of breakfast, mainly sugar packets I'd stuffed into my pockets.In the afternoon, after a long nap, Daddy and I played in the sand and water while Mommy napped in the sun. The water was pretty cold, too cold for swimming, but it was great for dipping your toes into as well as pointing at and saying, "Water!!"Sunday we'd planned on taking the ferry from Fort Fisher to Southport but Daddy and I weren't feeling all that great (yucky colds), so we got donuts instead and headed home where I got to watch my beloved Barney, whom I hadn't seen since Friday morning.

All in all, a very nice trip.

I did it!!!

Tonight, like every other night for the past few months, I sat on the potty before my bath. But tonight I actually peed in it!! Mommy and Daddy made such a huge fuss over it. And then when I was in the tub, standing up playing with a sponge, I had to go again and I realized that I can make it go, and make it stop, and make it go again, whenever I want! With that knowledge potty training should be a piece of cake (except I'm a fickle toddler and nothing is ever a piece of cake).

Yet another Midwest wedding

Mommy's college roommate just got married in South Bend, Indiana, so Mommy and I decided to use it as an excuse to see Grandma. We flew into Chicago on Friday (when we got off the plane at O'Hare I announced to everyone, "All done airplane!"), and Grandma drove up and met us at the airport.

We went to the Shedd Aquarium, but unfortunately the oceanarium part (with the dolphins and penguins) was closed for renovations.

I canoed through the Great Lakes exhibit.

I excitedly pointed at all the fish.I splashed in a fountain next to a giant man and a giant fish.I tried to run away from the Chicago skyline.

Saturday morning we walked around downtown South Bend.

The public library was having a book festival, so we went in and I met Clifford! They had a lot of children's authors and singers there. We tried to listen to a Jim Gill performance, but it was really loud and I didn't like it. Mommy wanted to go back to meet Mo Willems because we love his Pigeon books, but it was in the middle of the wedding.
After the library we went swimming in the hotel pool. My favorite part was counting to three so Mommy and Grandma would know when to throw me through the air into the water. All that swimming wore me out!After my nap (I didn't go down for it in time for Mommy to leave for the wedding) we went to the wedding reception. Kim and Chris thoughtfully provided their guests with bubbles. They kept me occupied for most of the reception.It was really nice to see Kim again.

On Sunday we walked around Navy Pier for awhile before heading to the airport.
I had fun looking through the viewfinder thingie at all the Bears fans walking over to Soldier Field, as well as at the boats and gulls on the lake.

Mommy and I had a lot of fun this weekend, but we're really tired now (probably because Friday night I used Mommy alternately as a headrest and footrest while we slept, and Saturday night it took over 3 hours for me to get to sleep!). Mommy's going to make sure that on our next trip I have my own seat on the plane, and that Daddy comes with so he can carry me around!

My Favorites

Here are my favorite things right now:

• Buttons on electronics. I love to point to them, say "Buttons!" and then push them. Cellphones (I have several old ones of my own, plus I use Mommy's and Daddy's when I have the chance - I called Grandpa Don one day all by myself!), remotes, TVs, the stereo, my toy guitar, the microwave, the blender, wherever I can find them.
• Puzzles. I really like the wooden ones with the big pieces. I'm getting really good at them!
• Barney! One morning while pushing buttons on the TV I came across him singing. I love to sing too, so I quickly joined in. Now I have to watch him every morning, much to my parents' chagrin. I ask for him all the time, so they got me a video of him singing nursery rhymes with Mother Goose. We all have it memorized.
• Cooking. Or, more to the point, dipping my spoon/hand/fork into whatever Mommy's making when she's not looking. I have a stool in the kitchen that I can quickly push over to wherever it's needed and hop up on, then slurp up all the goodies. I also like to take Mommy's pots and utensils when she's not using them and cook my own creations on my kitchen.
• Fixing stuff. I especially like to unwind the tape measure. I also like to take the cordless drill and "fix" my vaccuum - pretend to unscrew the bottom so I can change the batteries.
• Art. Everyday I draw or color a picture at daycare. I also like to draw with my bath crayons. Last night I even narrated - "line" as I drew a line, and "dot" as I made a dot.
• Picture books. I love to point to the pictures and inform everyone of what they are. I really like ones with "ammuls" as I call them.

Frozen hashbrowns

You know what's really funny? Bags of frozen hashbrowns, especially when dropped from a great height.

My new friends

I just discovered that one of our cats, Sappho, is very tolerant of me. That makes her my new best friend (besides Barney, whom I found one morning while flipping through the channels and instantly fell in love with a couple weeks ago).

Here I am signing the one word I know, "more" (also used as "please"), asking Mommy and Daddy to pick her up for me.

They won't do it? I don't need them; I'll do it myself!Unfortunately she weighs almost as much as I do.

Maybe I'll just take my shorts off and run around the house instead.

Beanpole

I weighed myself a couple nights ago and I've gained exactly one pound since my 15 month check up six months ago. I've gone from notch 2 on my belt back to notch 1. And I've shot up about 3 inches. Tomorrow I'll be starting my milkshake regimen.

New haircut

About a week ago, Mommy and Daddy tried to get my haircut. Suffice it to say, it did not go well. Not as bad as the time before that when I screamed so much I about gave myself an asthma attack, but it didn't result in a haircut.

So, Mommy attacked me with scissors last night. Well, not really. Daddy distracted me with a bottle of soda and Mommy cut my hair as fast as she could. Not bad for her first time!

More cheap labor

This morning I decided to do some light cleaning before breakfast.

I gathered my supplies and headed upstairs.There's no mess I can't handle (or make bigger)!

Fun with words

Now that I'm talking a lot, Mommy and Daddy (mostly Mommy) have decided to amuse themselves by getting me to repeat fun little phrases. Here are some they have me say a repeatedly:

Boy howdy (Mommy gets a big kick out of this)
Goose poop (the sidewalk in front of Borders was covered in it today)
Oh baby
Aww man!
Alright

I also repeat things when not prompted, like "thank you," which I say whenever I hear someone else say it. Today I also added on "Take care," which Daddy says a lot.

However, there are so many words out there that I've started taking shortcuts with them. "Daddy" means one of three things: my dad, Aunt Debbie, or dog. And "Mommy" means both my mom and yummy. But don't confuse it with "mom," which is how I say "come on" while leading someone to whatever I want.

Cheap labor

Mommy and Daddy made me earn my keep yesterday.

After falling repeatedly for about five minutes it stopped being funny (to me, at least), and I was pretty much drenched, so I sat on Mommy's lap for awhile and helped her scrub that way. Then she sent me away, so I threw soap bubbles at Daddy.

I don't know if I'll be cleaning the floors again for awhile.

(That's me saying "cheese" for the camera, in case you couldn't tell.)

Visit from Aunt Donna

Last weekend Aunt Donna was in town with Chris, his best friend, and her mom. They stopped over Sunday afternoon. I made Aunt Donna super happy when I said, "Bye Donna." (Mommy misplaced the camera for awhile, which is why it took so long to post this.)

New daycare!

Mommy and Daddy moved me to a new daycare today. Even though they and I love my old one, it's run into some problems that it probably won't recover from (they're really big and involved so I won't go into detail), so we jumped ship. We're hoping that some more fellow daycarers and teachers will too, because I really do like being around everyone from my old center.

Mommy and Daddy decided that Monday would be my last day after they checked out the new place and loved it. They took me by yesterday to play for a couple hours and meet everyone else. The new place has only been open for a month, so there's hardly anyone there yet! There were only two kids there yesterday: a little boy about my age and a baby girl. More kids are set to start at the beginning of next month. Each classroom has its own playground, plus tons of cool toys. I had a lot of fun.

Today, however, did not start out that great. Once I realized that Mommy and Daddy were planning on leaving me there, I started crying and yelling, "Mommy! Daddy!" just to make them feel guiltier. I cried for half an hour after they left, and then I realized, hey, this place is great! There was only one other little boy at the center today, so we had our teacher (the director) all to ourselves. She let us play outside a ton, and she gave me as much food as I could eat (which is a lot). She was really impressed with what a big boy I was: drinking out of a cup, going down for a nap no problems, eating tons, and adapting quickly. In the afternoon we played outside with her big kids who are hanging out there for the summer. I made a hat too, which I decided to leave at school.

I had so much fun, I almost didn't want to leave! But I'll cry tomorrow too, because I miss my old friends and teachers a lot.

Car entertainment

I've devised a fun game to play in the car, during pretty much every single cartrip over the past couple weeks. It goes something like this.

Me: MomMY!
Mommy: Yes, Jax.
Me: DadDY!
Daddy: Yes, Jax.
Me: MomMY!
Mommy: Yes, Jax.
Me: DadDY!
Daddy: Yes, Jax.
Me: DadDY!
Daddy: Yes, Jax.
Me: MomMY!
Mommy: Yes, Jax.
Me: DadDY!
Daddy: Yes, Jax.
Me: MomMY!
Mommy: Yes, Jax.
Me: MomMY!
Mommy: Yes, Jax.

And so on, and so on, until Mommy turns around and looks at me. And then I hold my finger up to my lips and say, "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Because the game is done. For now.

Happy 4th!

This weekend we did a lot to celebrate the 4th of July (and our three day weekend). Friday we got up and went walking along the Rock Quarry Trail near the Science Museum.

We found a dinosaur! And a dog park. I like to point out dogs, and bark like them, but when it comes to petting dogs I think I'll pass.


Then we went to the Durham Fourth of July Children's parade, where we ran into Tiffany and Roland, Owen and his parents, and David from daycare and his parents. The whole premise is that you decorate your bike or wagon or stroller, then parade around the block. And there's a firetruck to crawl around in, although I was too shy to do it. But since we didn't have a bike or wagon or stroller, Mommy and Daddy decorated me! In addition to being patriotic, I was also easy to find in a crowd.

Saturday we bought me a bike helmet, so that we can start taking bike rides on the weekends.

And today we went to the Festival for the Eno, where I clapped to polka and celtic music, poked a frog repeatedly and giggled when he jumped, and skipped eating lunch so I could spin in a circle instead. It was fun!

First love

I have my first girlfriend! It's Kylie, a girl in my class at daycare. She blew me kisses today as I was leaving, and I blew them back. Awwwwww!

Big boy bed!!

Today when Mommy and I got home from playing at Devon and Dylan's house, Daddy had a surprise for me - a big boy bed! Even though I've never tried to get out of my crib, I've still outgrown it, since my feet stick out through the rails if I lay sideways. Plus there's a recall out for my crib, so Mommy and Daddy decided it was time for me to get a big boy bed.

I did not like it!! I screamed for about 20 minutes as they tried to get me to go to sleep. Mommy and Daddy gave me a pillow, even tried laying in bed with me, but it didn't work. Finally, after struggling to get me to even lie down, Mommy rocked me to sleep in a chair and then, after I was asleep, transferred me to my new bed, where I slept for two hours!
Tonight at bedtime I went right to sleep, no problems. I think I like my big boy bed!

No!

I learned two new things this week: "no" and principles. They go well together. On principle, I say no to everything. "Would you like to eat?" "No!" (This despite me walking around saying my other favorite word, "Eat!") "Would you like to go outside?" "No!" (This despite me walking around saying, "Outside!"). "Did you have a good day?" "No no no no no no." Maybe next week I'll learn to say no only when I mean it!

Spatula bandit!

I made a mess of my mac and cheese at dinner tonight, so Mommy stripped off all my clothes, but I made her put my belt back on. The spatula was my idea too.

Another busy weekend

Saturday we had a picnic with Mommy's mommy group at the Eno River State Park. There were tons of kids there, as well as tons of toys that I had a hard time sharing with everyone. Here are some pictures.

Today we went to the science museum.

I played in the water with Daddy, then got really tired from all the walking and had to take a break in the butterfly house.