This is terrible! I started this post on 9 October. I then attempted to finish it on the 12th or 13th of November. That obviously didn't happen; however, I am so thankful that I still have the post. It's amazing to look at what Jackson was doing only months ago. It seems very outdated because he's changed so much since our move, but I have to document it anyway...for myself and because I know of some grandparents who will love reading it. It begins in November, back tracks to October, and then finishes off in November. Here goes:
Whirlwind. That's the best word I can use to describe the past three weeks of our life. It's been crazy and I haven't had a moment to stop and soak it all in. It's been a bit stressful, but I know Jace and I will look back on this in a few months and think it wasn't such a difficult time after all. There are still a lot of unknowns, but the Lord is in control and we know and trust that He will take care of us.
The busyness that comes with such a huge transition is one of the things that makes my heart hurt at night. My sweet boy is at an age when change happens every second. All I want to do right now is sit, watch him, and engrave every memory on my heart. As life would have it, this is a very busy time with a lot of things requiring my attention and not affording me the opportunity to thoroughly document all of the change. Thank the Lord for the blog. It does provide a way (and some motivation) for writing things down. And I have to write it down; otherwise, I will forget. He's not even two and I've already forgotten so many things. I hope the Lord will bring to remembrance things about my precious child.
I started a post back in early October about the things Jackson was doing or saying at that time. It's outdated, but there is no way I can't share it. I'll share that part first and then I'll update with some things he's currently doing.
Jackson,
My heart is so full. Every day with you brings greater joy and tons of laughter to my life. You are growing and changing so quickly. Often times, I can't believe my eyes, or my ears!, as I witness your development. It's impossible to keep a record of each new thing you do because you are constantly saying new words or mastering new skills. I wish I could remember it all because I love you so much and you amaze me every day.
I want to share with you some of the things that you are doing that make me and your Daddy smile. You still love your lawn mower. The Germans in our town are surprised that you like it even though it's not mowing season and mowers are summer toys. I find that funny since you are such a little boy. It's not like you know that toys are seasonal!
You have gained a lot of interest in your PUKY car. You love it whenever Daddy and I push you up and down our great wide hallway. You'll ask us to, "Tush!" It sounds so adorable and makes us laugh every time. You like to steer yourself and Daddy has taught you well. Sometimes, you think it's funny to crash into the wall whenever I'm pushing you, but the giggles that result are like music to my ears. During the day, you'll push yourself on the car and you'll wave bye-bye to me and say, "Bye-bye! Work!" You're going to work on your car just like Daddy!
Speaking of Daddy, you love Daddy! Everything great is Daddy's. Dada's car. Dada's wallet. Dada's food. Dada's drink. Dada's phone. Dada's money. (And money sounds like maime. It's one of our favorites!) I'm almost positive that the first form of possession you used was Dada's car.
You use possession with yourself as well. You never call yourself Jackson. You can say it, but not as easily or as well as Jack. You call yourself Jack. And if you want to do something by yourself, you tell me, "No, no. Jaaaack!"
You love to run fast. You'll ask us, "Fast?" Then, you squat down really low and say, "Ready." We finish it off with, "Set. Go." And then you yell, "Fast." Typically, you start moving before we get "Go!" out of our mouths.
Daddy taught you how to say, "Go Miami!" whenever we were watching the Hurricanes play football. The next weekend, we taught you how to say, "Go Texas!" You and Daddy both have Texas hats. You like it whenever you both wear them. One day, you were looking for something and you came up to me and said, "Texas hat." It's so amazing to watch you put words together and to witness your incredible memory.
At night, we always read out of your Bible. Daddy reads one story per night and you always request that he reads it two times. After we read, you like to flip through the pages to find pictures of the cats. You have recently enjoyed finding pictures of Jesus. One night, you exclaimed, "Yay, Jesus! Yay, Meow!"
I'm not sure why you love cats so much, but you do. Our neighbor Johann has several cats. You love to walk down the street to try to get a glimpse of them. They won't let you hold them, but you always ask me if you can. It's so sweet to witness. You put both hands right under your chest with your palms upward and your fingers pointing away from you and a little curled up. That is your way of asking to hold the cats. It's precious. You'll even do that at night whenever we look at your Bible. Daddy and I have to remind your that the cats in the book are only pictures and that we can't hold them.
You love to play in the water. Bath, sink or shower. It doesn't matter. You also like to floss! I can't believe it, but you let me floss your teeth. Then, I let you do it. It's great!
I love listening to you talk on the phone. You really like the phone. You love to tell people bye-bye over and over again. Other times, I'll catch you saying, "Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah...."
The list of things about you could go on and on. You are a marvelous little person. I'm so thrilled and thankful that I get to be your mommy. I wish I could remember everything because I want you to know someday what a remarkable little boy you were. I love you, Jacker-bear!
Oh, one more thing! You like to eat chunks of Parmesan cheese!
__________________________________
Now for the things that Jackson's doing in November!
His language has exploded! There is no better word to describe what's happening with his tongue. People tell you that it happens overnight, and that is no exaggeration. It practically does! I have to say that this might be my favorite stage of his life. I love being able to communicate with him. He was great at signing, and still uses some signs, but there is nothing like hearing that sweet voice as he tries to make new words.
I don't have a lot of time, so I'm just going to write about a few random things that he's been saying and doing that have caught me by surprise.
He still calls me Mama, primarily, but he has started calling me Mamia. I think this is because I sometimes call myself Mommy and he's putting the two words together. Jason thought this was funny and could not help but teach him to call me MamaMia, which I do not like! He doesn't say it very often, but I think he realizes that it's funny to his Daddy whenever he does call me MamaMia. That crazy Jace!
He loves to say, bye-bye, chius, and ciao. He will often say all three whenever he's pretend talking on the phone.
He's still extremely interested in vehicles, especially Jason's car. Jason came into our TLF (condo) room the other day and Jackson said to him, "Dada. Car off? Keys out? Open door? Lock car?" I couldn't believe my ears. He had the sequence down perfectly.
Whenever we were in the BX, he picked up baskets and started counting them, "One. Two. One. Two." I have never taught him how to count. I take the opportunity to count when he's around, like counting scoops whenever we're cooking, but I've never sat down with a book and tried to get him to count. It amazes me what he picks up on!
Jason has a Blackberry for work. Whenever he gets emails, there is a light on it that blinks red. Jackson loves Jason's phone. He loves to hold it and put it in and out of the case. One afternoon, Jason explained to Jackson that the light blinks whenever he has an email. Jason checks his Blackberry often because he's always hoping to get an email about his job situation. The other day, his Blackberry was sitting on the bedside table. Jackson saw it, took it to Jason, and said, "Check email!" It was one of those moments when you realize just how much children do understand and what they are paying attention to. Wow!
I am happy to report that Mommy is back on the map! We've had months of Dada being everything and Mama being nothing whenever Daddy's around. Well, he's started requesting Mama and as sad as this sounds, it's been a little reassuring.
One of my favorite things that he says is, "Jack, do it." He says this whenever he wants to do something by himself and it is so cute to hear because he really accentuates the 'do'.
When Jackson wants something, he exclaims, "I need that!" Jason assures me that he says this because I tell him, "Jackson, you don't need that." whenever he wants something that he cannot have. The other day, Jason had gone to take care of some moving stuff and Jackson was ready for him to be home. I told Jackson that Dada was at work, and he cried to me, "I need Dada!" It was absolutely precious!!
Jackson is a toothbrushing champ. We brush his teeth every night and he's so great about it. He has definitely gone through phases. At first, he didn't mind us brushing his teeth. Then, he went through a time where he wanted to resist almost every night. Now, he's back to loving it, and we usually brush for a full two minutes.
One afternoon, Jason was putting Jackson down for his nap. They were laying in his room in the TLF and I was doing something in the kitchen. Jackson wanted me to put him down for his nap so Jason was calling my name. I couldn't hear him because I had the water on, so he kept repeating himself. All of a sudden, I hear Jackson blurt out, "Adrienne! Babe!"
One of Jason's coworkers, Chris Carroll, seems to be the apple of Jackson's eye. He loves Chris. When we go to Jason's office, he always asks if he's going to, "See Chris?" and he looks for Chris once we're there. At Jason's farewell luncheon, Jackson kept wanting to get up from his seat to go see Chris. Whenever we went to dinner with Chris and his family, Jackson sat in Chris's lap for a long time. I mention this because he doesn't usually go to other people. He's still pretty much a Mama and Dada's boy, so the fact that he has such an affection for Chris is very noteworthy.
Once Jackson started showing an interest in wanting to feed himself, I let him have full control. I didn't worry about him making messes or getting dirty. I figured the best and easiest way for him to learn was doing it by himself with minimal interference from me. I have no idea if this made any difference, but now he eats almost perfectly with a fork and spoon. Almost everything makes it to his mouth. Occassionally, he'll turn his spoon before it reaches his mouth, but this usually happens whenever he's distracted by something else.
