Winter Vacation: Part 1: Chapter 2

I hope Jackson had as super and fun day as I thin he did on Monday!!! We drove to meet Auntie Cassie and Jonah to try out a trial Gymboree class. I think the age range in this class was 10-15 months. I think. It was hilarious to watch them check everything out. Neither of them really knew what to make of it (it's not like we have loads of climbing things and mats at home!), and they mostly stuck together. They started by crawling onto a chunky mat and crawling on it. It was a weird sensation since it had some give and wasn't a totally solid surface. Once we got started they had fun experimenting at all of the stations. We didn't know the "rules," but the girl leading the class didn't seem to mind when our little guys went to explore something else after taking a turn on her specific piece of equipment. That was great since there's NO way these guys understand to wait patiently for their turns ;) Jackson's favorite thing by far was this little double-sided staircase that had two steps going up and two steps going down. This is because he learned how to go up and down the one step at Mimi and Grandpa's from the dining room into the addition. He just did as soon as we arrived Friday morning! Maybe we was gearing up for that new trick on the drive??? While he definitely enjoyed the step the most, Jackson tried, and liked, the wedge to climb up, the slide (going up and down!), a rock climbing wall type of thing for babies, and a huge stuffed roller. All of the kids worked together to roll it across the floor. That was pretty funny! Bubbles got a huge thumbs up :) The parachute, however, sadly earned a thumbs down :( Cass and I were so glad we tried out the class together, but it's probably not for either of us right now.

From Gymboree, we went across the street to meet Brandi and Kaitlyn at Portillo's for lunch. Cassie, Brandi, and I spent two lovely years in the Early Childhood Education cohort together at U of I. Since then we have lived in Mississippi, North Carolina, Arizona, Virginia, and Wisconsin. It was wonderful to get together with our kiddos! Kaitlyn is seven months old and an absolute sweetheart! Lunch we super yummy! From there we moved to Brandi's in-laws' house a few minutes away.





The boys had a great time exploring the Buerstatte basement! There was a pool table and Jonah was determined to play! He was so funny once he got a ball--he just did laps around the table while carrying it! Kaitlyn was a very gracious hostess and let the boys try out her new toys! We had such a good time catching up and watching Jackson, Jonah, and Kaitlyn play together :)

Jackson fell asleep right away in the car as we drove to go meet my dad at Cheesecake Factory for a yummy snack of Strawberry Shortcake. It is our tradition to do that, and Jackson made a wonderful addition this time :) We were nice enough to share some of the dessert with him and he LOVED it!

Winter Vacation: Part 1: Chapter 1

Well, we did it again: another successful through-the-night car trip from Springfield, VA to Evanston, IL! We hit the ground running right away! My aunt and uncle were in town to celebrate their anniversary, and Josh and I were able to line up a last-minute babysitter so we could go with! My friend Amanda was more than happy to come hang out with Jackson :)



Katie and her family were in town this weekend as well. Josh, Jackson, and I headed over there on Saturday with some lunch to visit. Jackson had a good time playing with Paige. She was more than happy to show him how the laptop she picked out for his present works ;) Unfortunately, we didn't coordinate it well enough to get a picture of Paige, Lexi, and Jackson while they were all awake :( The picture below is of Jackson and Paige enjoying Lexi's new book since she was sleeping!


On Sunday we drove out to Bolingbrook to visit Kate, Brian, Kyle, and Connor. It was a long drive, but definitely worth it! It was so fun to watch the big boys play with Jackson (the boys are just about 2 1/2). For the most part they were more than happy to share their toys with Jackson. I think Jackson's highlights of the day were discovering how yummy Kix cereal is, sitting in the cool "little guy" chairs, and getting to take some hand-me-down toys home :)

Sunday night we had an early Christmas celebration and my grandma came over for dinner and Jackson entertainment! Even though it was a little early, we still really enjoyed being together and celebrating the holidays. Jackson got some awesome new blocks from my mom and dad. He started stacking them right away! Phew! I was getting nervous because What to Expect the Toddler Years suggested he should already be stacking at least two blocks, and I had never seen him to it! LOL I think I'm going to put that book away...

Jackson has loved Gerber's Puffs since he had just a couple teeth. I have to work really hard to trick him into eating "plain ole Cheerios." But, if Grandpa is handing out the snacks, Cheerios are just fine! I love watching Pax and Jackson share this yummy snack :)

I picked up a pair of antlers in the Target $1 bin thinking that between lots of hands, we could wrangle Jackson into wearing them to at least get a picture. Well, he LOVES them! He picks them up and asks for them to be put on his head. This picture doesn't have him wearing them, but we do have some of him in his wagon with them on. It's too cute! He just goes about his business with his antlers on his head!

Happy Hanukkah!

Our family has a tendency to move holidays... The most important thing is being together, so if it works out to celebrate a holiday or birthday a little early or a little late, we do! We will actually be in Evanston for all eight nights of Hanukkah, but Josh will be downtown at a conference most of the time. Plus, we wanted to light our menorah for a few nights! We started Smith Hanukkah the other night and last night was our third night. Here are some pictures of Jackson enjoying his first memorable Hanukkah :)

Cautionary Tale

When you are pregnant you get plenty of advice, both wanted and unwanted! By the time you have a baby you know all about the sleep deprivation, nap when the baby sleeps, yadda yadda. The one thing people DO NOT warn you about is...DUN, DUH, DUN: Baby Mittens! Eek! I feel like these will be the bane of my existence all winter long! Luckily, we moved to Northern Virginia for this instead of staying in Chicago where winter lasts from September to July ;) It took me a good 15 minutes to get the boys ready for our walk today. Two coats, two hats, four mittens, 16 uncooperative fingers, four thumbs that did not want to be separated from the fingers, four mitten attachments (not so sure about these--I think I might look for the mittens connected by a string that go thru the whole coat), two blankets, two little boys, one dog, and me! Phew! Winter walks will be quite the workout apparently...

Won't You Be My Kissaroo?

Two frequent reads around here are Won't You Be My Hugaroo? and Won't You Be My Kissaroo? I recently started kissing Jackson after each page's description of a kiss. He has started turning his face towards mine to get his kiss :) He even does it during other books! We checked out Kiss Kiss! from the library and I do the same thing. He LOVES it! We can't get over what a sweet nature he has!

What a Fun New Game!

One of Jackson's favorite cabinets has always been the little one by the dishwasher that holds the air popper for popcorn and the blender. One of the first things he started pushing around when he started crawling was the blender lid. Apparently there are also some loose plastic cups in the back of the cabinet. Jackson found them this morning and made up this game for himself :

Jackson and the Christmas Tree

Where did this pretty tree come from?

Can I touch it?

These bells are my favorite :)

Getting a look from a little further away...

I love my tree!

Ooh! Aahh! What a pretty tree!

Mommy, the Buglet, and Paxie

Josh and I had a really good time decorating the Christmas tree on Monday night :) We put it all together, taking breaks for dinner and to watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Then we strung the lights (one strand finally bit it after lasting for eight holiday seasons) and added ornaments. The whole time we had on holiday music (my FAVORITE) and had an egg nog snack :) Last year we had the tree in front of our living room window, but this year Josh suggested putting it in a corner between the couch and the bookshelf. This made it a LITTLE less appealing to small, grabby hands ;) So far, so good. I have the coffee table barricading it so there is mostly looking and not so much touching. Jackson can reach a few ornaments, but we decorated with that in mind. So far, his favorite is a set of bells hanging on the front. This morning after his nap we had some fun with the tree and the camera. Paxton was particularly interested in getting in on the pictures! That was a pleasant surprise! We will be in Evanston to celebrate Hanukkah with my family, but we might do a little celebrating here on our own (early) since Josh will be downtown at a work conference for the majority of the nights. Plus, I painted us a pretty menorah that I want to use!