Are they all this literal???

OK, I know I haven't posted in a long time.... I'm busy and tired, so bare with me. I will hopefully catch up one day. For now, I need to discuss Jackson's tendency to be very literal when he answers questions and when talking:

First Example: Jackson and I are on the way to daycare one morning and he tells me that his tooth hurts. Well, his 2 year molars have been trying to break through for quite some time now, so I was wondering if it was his molars or if it was other teeth, which can be indicative of an ear infection and he had been pulling on one of his ears. So, I did what most people could do and asked which teeth. He didn't seem to understand my question, so I re-worded the question to "do your teeth hurt in the front or in the back?" Seemed simple enough to me. Jackson answers back with a somewhat condescending tone in his voice "no, in my mouth." I had no idea what to say- I was a bit stunned- after coming to terms with the fact that my son had just given me the absolute most literal answer possible to my question, I couldn't stop laughing.... partly because I felt a little dumb in that my 2 year old had sort of outsmarted me.

Second Example: A week or so after the incident above, Jackson and I were on the say to daycare (again), when he told me he didn't feel good. Before responding, I stopped to think about what to say because I didn't want to be outsmarted like before. I couldn't think of any way he could outsmart me with what I needed to ask, so I said "where do you not feel good?" He says "I don't feel good in the car." I'm stunned. Outsmarted again. How did I not see that coming? But this isn't funny to him, he's being so serious and has no clue why I suddenly bust out laughing after I sit in shock for a few seconds.

Now, another thing Jackson is doing- he's catching on to things that we didn't expect him to and he uses them against us!!! We have Charter Digital Cable and use the On Demand option to bring up cartoons Jackson enjoys like Diego, Spongebob, Babar, etc. We typically use this option when we need to do something around the house or something and need for Jackson to sit and watch TV or when he's not content with anything else. So now when he wants to watch something in particular and it's not an appropriate time to watch TV, we tell him that particular show isn't on right now. In this ever so positive tone, he raises his eyebrows and shakes his head "yes" and says "yes it is". You can tell him it's not as much as you want but he knows that at any time of the day or night, certain shows can come on TV at the push of a button.... and he knows which TVs in the house have the option!!!! He also remembers the same thing about CDs and even remembers what the CDs look like and which ones have the songs he likes:
OK, he was bored with the radio show I listen to in the mornings, Ace and TJ, so I decided to go through the few CDs I had in my county car to see if he liked any of them. One of them was Limp Bizkit and the first song has a voice that is adjusted using some sort of machine. I told him it was a monster song. After the monster song, some verbally-inappropriate songs came on so I quickly took that CD out and then switched other CDs in and out of my player quickly according to what he liked. A few days later, he asked to hear the monster song. I played it and he remembered some of the words the "monster" said and when the guitart part came in, he started making noises like the guitar. When "monster" was done, he said he wanted stars. I had no clue what he meant by stars..... Twinkle twinkle little star??? I told him I didn't know what he was talking about and he kept repeating it. I pulled out all of the CDs and finally pulled out a CD that, low and behold, actually had something on it that looked like shiny little stars. I have NO CLUE how he remembered that. Then when I put it in, he said he wanted mommy song. What is mommy song???? Each song I went to, he'd shake his head no. Song #12 he shook his head yes and smiled and I realized that it was a song that I typically sing along to when it comes on. HOW IN THE WORLD?????????

Jackson goes CooCoo on Camera!

We got a webcam so Jackson can talk to Mimi online. As soon as we turn on the webcam and Jackson sees himself on the computer screen, he starts going NUTS!!! He starts making all sorts of crazy noises, starts jumping all over the place, etc. Here are some pictures I captured of him while he was going coo coo!!!

Work Beach Trip 2009

In June half of our office went to Gulf Shores for The Alabama Association of School Resource Officers Conference (TAASRO). It's an entire week long and it, unlike most conferences, is a very family-oriented conference: rather than being from 8-5 like most , it ends at 2 pm or before so you have plenty of time with your family at the beach and on Wednesday, they reserved the entire park at Waterville USA just for conference attendees and their families for 3 hours and served us dinner- it was great! On top of that, I am lucky to work for an office that is also family-oriented and will allow a certain number of people at each conference to have a room of their own so they can bring their family with them. I got lucky this time and was able to get one of the single rooms, but Wayne had to work and couldn't come down until Wednesday. So, Jackson stayed with Mimi and Papa from Sunday night until Wednesday, when Wayne picked him up at daycare and they drove down to the beach to meet me. We had a whole lot of fun and Jackson did great the entire time he was there! He still doesn't like the ocean water touching him, loves playing in the sand and loves being in the swimming pool as long as someone is holding him the entire time. He played in the kiddie section at Waterville but would only go down the smallest of the kiddie slides. He LOVED the lazy river but didn't want to be on a float- he wanted to be in my arms as I walked through the lazy river. Jackson also slept surprisingly great in a set of bunk beds (he slept in the lower bunk) that were situated into a cut-out in the hallway. We went to Zeke's Marina one day, which ended up being a mistake- Jackson is OBSESSED with boats. He wanted to get on all of the boats, couldn't understand why we wouldn't let him, and pitched a HUGE screaming fit when we were making him leave. Other than that, though, he was so well-behaved. Jackson loved the Ahpatus (Octopus) store too.

Overall, even though it was a working trip for me, it was a nice family get-away.

My boss, John (our Chief Probation Officer), who is absolutely great with kids- and the best boss a person could ever ask for, had a bag of chips that he was using to feed the seagulls with with the kids. Only three kids from our group were at the beach and one was up in the room taking a nap (which Jackson should have been doing). So Jackson and Lauren got to have a great time feeding the seagulls.

Our Day in Atlanta

Our friends, Holly and Andrew, gave Wayne tickets for the four of us (plus Jackson because he was free) to go to the Cubs vs. Braves game in Atlanta on June 2nd. Wayne is a pretty big Cubs fan for those of you who don't know..... not that the subject ever really comes up much. Anyway, we decided to make a day out of it and toured the World of Coke and also went to the Georgia Aquarium while we were there. It was HOT and we did A LOT of walking.

We went to the World of Coke first. When you first start the tour, a tour guide tells you about the history of coke and some of the paraphernalia in the room. Well, as soon as she starts, Jackson yells out "Monker Truck" as he's holding out the little monster truck he's been holding on to since we left Helena. I quickly told Jackson to be quiet and Andrew, who was holding Jackson, starts laughing and says "I told him to show the lady his monster truck." I had to explain to him that he can't do that, for obvious reasons. After the lady did her spiel and we watched the "World of Happiness" movie thing, we were able to do the rest of the tour by ourselves. Jackson liked some things more than others. He didn't like getting his picture made with the famous Coke bear- probably because he had just seen the bear try to eat the head of the girl in front of us as their picture was being made just for laughs. Jackson screamed at the bear when we got close to him. The room where you get to taste all of the different types of Coke flavors from all over the world was a lot of fun for all of us- definately an adventure. If you've never been, you need to try the "Beverly" from Italy. Jackson liked the pineapple flavored drinks. I prefered plain old U.S. Coke and Sprite.

Next we went to the aquarium. It was fun. The parts where you could pet some of the fish weren't so good for Jackson because his arms were too short and the people working there were very specific about ONLY using TWO fingers to touch them.... as if the fish can count! We got to the tank where some of the only Beluga Whales in captivity are housed. Unlike the other tanks, a "guide" is standing there with a microphone to tell about the whales. Jackson uses this as his opportunity to yell "where's Nemo?" The guy actually stops, asks Jackson's name, tells Jackson that Nemo is not in this tank and tries to tell him about the whales. Jackson couldn't care less, he wants Nemo. We get to a beautiful tank that has tons of tropical fish and corals- Dory was in there but no Nemo. How can you have a tank like that with no Nemo??? We finally get to almost the end and see a very small tank (like the one they put the spiders in at the zoo) and that's where Nemo is. Not impressive at all. But overall, the aquarium was a fun experience.

We then went to a gas station to get some lotto tickets while Jackson took a quick nap in the car. We had to take advantage of any time he would sleep b/c he is NOT GOOD with no nap and we were in for a LONG night! He napped for about 40 minutes and then we parked and walked to the stadium. Jackson had gotten a "C" for Cubs painted on his face at the aquarium and looked really cute. He had fun at the game and we had great front row seats in the outfield on the end of the aisle. Jackson got tired of being in one place, though, and wanted to walk around and go up and down the stairs after a while. If we had not been seated exactly where we were with no one in front of us or beside us, we wouldn't have lasted through 2 innings, but he made it to about 6 before he started getting impatient. Jackson LOVED the cotton candy and popcorn (which I normally don't let him have for fear of choking on a kernel) and really seemed to pay attention to the game.

When we left the game we were sure Jackson would sleep all the way home. He didn't sleep a wink! It was a very fun day, though, that we'd like to do again.... when it isn't so hot.

SEE PICS FROM EACH BELOW:

Cubs vs. Braves Game

Georgia Aquarium

World of Coke

Jackson and Papa

I love this picture of Jackson and my dad, Papa, walking down the pier.

Memorial Day at the Lake

Wayne, Jackson and I went to the lake Friday after I got off work. Jackson and I stayed until Monday afternoon but Wayne had to go home Sunday due to his work schedule. It rained for the majority of the time we were there, but we were still able to get out and have some fun. I can't count how many times Jackson had to ride in the golf cart, which he sometimes referred to as "cart cart" and later named "Maner" (pronounced like tuh-mater, but without the tuh and with a "n" instead of a "t"...... rent the move Cars if you haven't seen it). We also rode on the pontoon boat for quite a while on Sunday. In the past, Jackson has always fallen asleep as soon as the motor starts on the boat or shortly thereafter. This time, he managed to stay awake the entire time, although it was obvious that he was incredibly sleepy! My parents (Mimi and Papa) where there the entire time and Chris and Leanne were there Saturday and Sunday. We celebrated by birthday (that was 05/18) Saturday and had a delicious cake from Edgars. Wayne's mom and stepdad (Nana and Papaw) came down Sunday to celebrate Papaw's birthday. Sunday morning it was pouring and Leanne decided to take Jackson outside to play in the rain. By the time she got him undressed, it had stopped raining for the most part, but they still had fun stomping in the puddles on the deck. (Leanne is such a great sport!)

Overall, it was a fun, relaxing weekend.

(The long, turquoise pillow in the picture with Jackson holding it ended up providing HOURS of entertainment for Jackson- literally. All of the toys we buy him, he has more fun with a long pillow. He loves to play on my parents' king size bed and he threw the pillow all over the bed, wrestled with it, and kept having Mimi hold it over "Body's" (what he calls my parents' dog, Molly) ramp next to the bed so he could go under it and up and down the ramp. He kept calling it his "rainbow." Jackson's other favorite toy of the weekend? Flashlights. He wanted everyone to go to Mimi and Papa's room with him, lie on the bed and play with flashlights. He even wanted them on during the day. He ran down all of the batteries. You can see in one of the pictures of him with my parents in the golf cart, he's holding up a flashlight.)

Who's In Charge?

A couple of nights ago, Jackson was eating applesauce. Jackson is in this stage where he loves to eat with his fingers and loves to squish his food in his hands. He also likes to put his finger in the middle of the food and show you that he has food attached to his finger. Well, eating the applesauce with his fingers is incredibly messy and we kept telling him to stop. Finally, Wayne leaned over to Jackson, pointed his finger at him and said "Jackson, eat with your spoon!". In the exact same tone, Jackson leaned over, pointed and said "Daddy, eat with your hands!" It was hilarious. We both busted out laughing and couldn't stop.... if only we'd gotten that on video!

Day Out With Thomas 2009

On March 29, 2009, we went to "Day Out With Thomas" at the Calera Train Station with Wayne's parents, Jackson's Nana and Papaw. It was a lot of fun and Jackson loved seeing all of the train paraphernalia. He enjoyed his ride on the train and enjoyed seeing Thomas and Sir Top Em Hat up close. I thought he would be afraid of Sir Top Em Hat but he wasn't, he sort of stared at him like he was trying to figure out what that strange thing was standing next to him. Overall, it was a great time.

Mother's Day 2009

We enjoyed our usual Mother's Day outing at Sara & Jerry's farm in Jemison. The family always gets together to fish for catfish and then we cook them and eat them. It's always a lot of fun and really good. This is the first year Jackson was interested in the fish and fishing. Jackson started out fishing with a Snoopy rod that Chris and I had when we were Jackson's age..... I have no idea how my parents kept it for so long! Well, Jackson is apparently a born fisherman- he caught the first fish of anyone there and it was a BIG fish! Jackson kept saying he was going to catch a big fish and boy was he right! He had to have help once he hooked the fish and then he didn't want anywhere near that thing as it kept flopping all around!!!! Jackson ended up catching about 3 nice sized catfish AND he caught a nice sized Brim.... who knew there were even Brim in this pond??? Jackson also enjoyed eating the catfish, which I was surprised by because even though he loves fish, he usually will only eat the fish that comes in Kid Cuisines. Overall, it was a really nice, fun Mother's Day.

Messy Art Party

On Sunday, 05/03/09, we went to a "Messy Art" Birthday Party for Jacob and Dylan Strickland. Jacob was turning 5 and Dylan was turning 2. It was TONS of fun, very messy and very BRAVE of Jenny and Dustin to do that in their house! Originally, it was planned for outside, but we had lots of severe weather that day (as you can see on the TV in the background of one of the pictures) and they had to move it inside. Very brave!

It's Been a Long Time.....

It's been a really long time since anything has been put on Jackson's blog. What does that tell you? The kids are growing REALLY fast and there's hardly any time to devote to posting on blogs. Jenn, who was doing Jackson's blog before and whom I owe a TON to for doing that for me, has 3 kids and keeps up with her own blog- so it's about time I learned how to do it myself, so I can keep everyone updated on Jackson. SO, here it goes:

Since I last posted we've gone through Christmas, the New Year, Valentines, etc. Jackson has grown a lot, is full of energy and like mommy- talks a lot! He LOVES the movie Cars and watches it repeatedly. We have to buy everything we see that has to do with Cars. He also likes Nemo, Dumbo, Mickey Mouse and Spongebob (or as Jackson calls it "Bob Bots Pee Pants", with a little bit of an english accent). Jackson loves playgrounds and the slide is his favorite, but he also likes to swing and play in the gravel. Jackson loves "monkers kyucks" (monster trucks) and we even went to the Monster Truck Rally at the Civic Center- he had a blast! He has about 20 monkers kyucks that he plays with all over the house and tries to run into the dogs with........ ahhh, the dogs. For those of you who don't know, we have a dachshund, Hershey, and a chihuahua, Corona. Both are fairly small dogs. Jackson LOVES them.... or loves to drive them crazy!!! He is constantly wanting to "I peet 'er" and "I huuug 'er". Hershey lets him "peet 'er" a good bit and then he'll surprise her with a bit hug and he about chokes her- all you can see is Hershey's little nose sticking out and eyeballs that look like they're about to pop. So she has to be saved from Jackson hugs quite often. Hershey will play with Jackson and let him chase her around the house and she's just recently started playing with some of her toys with him. She also lets him pick her food out of the bowl and feed it to her piece by piece- this cracks Jackson up for some reason. (What doesn't crack mommy up is when Jackson decides that he'd rather pick the pieces of food up off the floor than out of the bowl and turns the bowl over on the floor and dog food goes EVERYWHERE!). Corona, on the other hand, is very different. She is extremely quick and can get in and out of small places easily, which makes Jackson very frustrated and angry at times. I basically have to catch Corona and hold her down so Jackson can pet her and attempt to get a hug in. What's funny, though, is once he starts petting her, she calms down and seems to enjoy it. Chihuahuas are just strange, though. Both are very protective of Jackson.

I'm posting some pictures and hopefully will be updating much more often and filling in on things missed as I go along........ feel free to ask about anything I may have missed!