An Update to Start the New Year

Well, we are officially back in the swing of things in Springfield!  We had a FABULOUS trip to IL, and really treasured every minute of the nice, long visit :)  We had a low-key New Year's Eve followed by a day of packing :(  So much more fun to pack FOR a trip...  Unfortunately, on New Year's Day I started to not feel well at all.  My mom and I tried to go to CVS to their MinuteClinic on Sunday morning before we left to drive back to VA, but there was a two hour wait even though they had JUST opened.  I had a really bad sore throat and super swollen glands.  I was starting to feel better, however, so we went back home so we could have one more lunch at Herm's before hitting the road.  The drive back went great--Jackson was a champ yet again!  He definitely spent more of this drive sleeping, but the time he was awake, he was happy reading books and playing with his toys.  I didn't feel too bad on the drive, although I was thrilled for my dinner of chicken noodle soup and a milkshake.  Music to a sore throat's ears!  LOL  Anyways, I felt really yucky by the next morning, and was able to get in to see my doctor on Monday morning.  It turns out I had strep throat!  I'm not surprised at all with how I was feeling!  After a day of antibiotics, I felt SO much better!  Josh was great at unpacking the car and distributing stuff to the right rooms/floors.  It was really frustrating to not feel well to efficiently pack or unpack.  He's pretty darn awesome, though :)


Getting home after being gone for just over three weeks made me realize how much Jackson has changed!  He is SO much fun!  We realized that his vocabulary is really growing.  I wouldn't say it's exploding, but he's able to label more and more things after we point them out just once or twice.  He also is putting more words together to tell us things on a more regular basis.  Josh is really working with him on counting, and he's really taken to it.  It's adorable to hear him in the car "counting" to himself :)  We are working on answering the questions, "What's your name?" and "How old are you?"  He occasionally will answer, "Jassson!" and "I two!"  I am having more and more days where I feel like I've been a good parent at the end of it.  Since Jackson's vocabulary is increasing, I am getting more positive feedback from him when I try to explain things.  This works for preparing him for new situations, explaining when Mommy might be leaving for a little, but coming back, explaining limits and rules, and just telling him how much I love him.  His ability to pretend play is really starting to emerge.  It's so sweet to see him set up his farm and play with the animals in the barn or use his tools to "fix" things.  He got a cookie set for Christmas and he loves slicing up the cookies, sticking them on the pan, putting them in the oven to cook, pointing out that the cookies are hot, making a ding sound for the oven to be done, and then serving them off the tray!  


Jackson has gotten to see lots of his friends since we've been back!  Not only does Jackson have his own new toys from Christmas to play with, but everyone else has some new toys to share!  Jackson's favorite book right now is Vroom!  Vroom!  Noisy Peekaboo, so we read that first always followed by a couple library books or new books.  His latest NEW food is string cheese--woo hoo!  He discovered the TV show "Chuggington" on Disney while we were in Evanston, and loves that along with "Curious George."  He will ask to color much more often than before we left, and he still loves sticking stickers all over paper!  We are heading to Staunton this weekend to visit Josh's family post-holidays, but then we should be in town for a while!  We have lots going on here, and I think we'll get into a good routine :)