Busy bee weekend

We were busy, busy bees this lovely fall weekend.

On Friday, we stayed with our typical pizza night but upgraded and went to Pizza by Elizabeth's and then to Longwood for the last night of their Lights installation.  It was great to walk through the garden at night and see all the cool lights, but Jackson lost his cool about 1/3 of the way through and we unfortunately had to leave.

On Saturday we went to soccer.  It was picture day and Jackson would not stop sticking his tongue out.    Afterwards, I went and got my hair cut and when I got home Adam told me he was going with the neighbors to see a Weezer concert at the mall (yes, you read that right).  Jackson and I headed to the Museum of Natural History for the first time.  He had a good time looking at all the stuffed animals and telling me they were "sleeping" and also pointing out Nemo in the coral reef display.  Then, we hung out for a bit outside until Daddy got home.  Then, it was time for the Badger game and some Cincinnati-style chili.  Our friends Katie and Andy came over to watch the game and talk baby stuff since they are due in January.

Jackson pointing at Nemo at the museum. He was scared to walk on top of it.

Sunday, daddy got up early and went to Dover for the race and then the Eagles game after that.  Mommy and Jackson made pumpkin snicker doodles and and then we went to the Children's Museum where Jack played with the trains forever and ever before I coaxed him out of there with the promise of "Donalds."  We hit the shoe store for some kicks (and a ball) and then went home for a nap.  After the nap, we walked to the playground then over to see Andy and Katie's new house.  We also did some art tracing our feet and hands on the paper, which normally he wants nothing to do with.  Dinner, bath time and bed by 8:15 (early by his standards) followed.

Don't let him fool you, for some reason he did not want to roll the dough in the sugar

Apparently he was done with the PJs

This was how he rowed - arms straight up in the air

Tired from all the fun at the Children's Museum

Tracing feet

All in all, a good, local weekend.  Next weekend apple orchard!

No words needed

Ocean City

This weekend we went to Ocean City, Maryland for the first time.  We like to sneak one final beach weekend in after Labor Day each year when the crowds have gone down a bit.  We headed down on Friday after work and hit a pizza place in Milford on the way down for Friday Night Pizza Night.  Mommy ordered a pickle and bacon pizza and it was amazing!

On Saturday we got up nice and early and walked right to the beach.  We weren't staying next to the boardwalk, so the beach was pretty quiet (although not as quiet as the picture looks below). We had fun building sand castles, playing in the water, watching the HUGE waves and body surfing.  

Daddy & Jackson playing improv paddle ball on the beach

After the beach, we went to a restaurant for lunch.  Jackson was so tired that he fell asleep before the food even arrived and spent the entire lunch sprawled out across two chairs.  Mommy and daddy had a nice, leisurely lunch, but paid for it later when he did not want to take a real nap.

Later in the afternoon we headed down to the boardwalk and took a  nice long stroll.  We saw the kites,  Jackson had a third nap, he played on the ship playground and then he went on some rides.  After that we went to a Mexican restaurant and had some amazing food.

Deceiving ride - it actually whipped him around every corner!

Sunday we woke up to a wet, overcast day so decided to go to the indoor pool.  By mommy's calculations, Jackson hadn't been in a pool since we were in Killington in February!  And even though the air was crisp, we even went to the heated outdoor pool because it was a lot bigger and also had a beautiful view of the bay.  Next time mommy will bring her camera!

Summer wrap up

Here is a hodge podge of pictures from the summer to throw at you before we eat our first pumpkin dessert of the fall!  Enjoy!

Don't let his patriotism fool you - he stole those from the neighbor

Jackson schooling Joey on the "ya ya"

In his baseball uniform taking some cuts

Jack's new bento box lunch box - "orange lunch"

Jackson loved playing with all the boxes

Jackson and Daddy sitting at his new table

I haven't eaten seen any blackberries?!?

Dry run for G-mommy Kate's wedding

Doing something that makes mommy's toes curl

Mulch for sale!

2.5 year update

Jackson decides to weigh himself at his 2.5 year appt.

Weight: 34.6 lbs (90-95th percentile)

Length: 37.5 lbs (75-90th percentile)

My Likes: Transportation:  Trains, trains, trains.  City bus, shuttle bus, trolley bus.  Big trucks.  Motorcycles.  Bicycles. And I point every. single. one. out while we are in the car.  Hitting the baseball off the tee (with the wrong end of the batt), going to the playground, destroying the house, helping myself to anything in the refrigerator, drinking "bubbles", playing with Joey, eating cereal, watching movies, watching baseball with daddy.

My Dislikes:  Mommy.  No really, I much prefer daddy right now.  Mommy would say she dislikes me biting and hitting, but this is suppose to be about me, and not her.  

My Words: Lots of words and sentences that allow me to be pretty bossy. Some of my best quotes are "Not nice momma!" and "No, daddy do it."  I also can sing lots of songs like ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Row Row Your Boat.  I also have some of the books momma reads me memorized and repeat it with her like "Five Little Monkeys." I also repeat everything that momma and daddy say, so they have to be extra careful now.  

Looking forward to in the next few months: Grandma Honey is coming to visit at the end of October and then Grandma and Grandpa Porter are coming in early November.  

Potty Training

Jackson has been doing ok with potty training, but would probably be a whole lot better if mommy and daddy committed time to getting it done!  However, when he does sit on the potty, there are always results and we even started to give stickers on a Thomas potty chart.  Mommy made the mistake of offering a "special treat" if he went on the potty in the form of a small piece of candy or animal cracker and that soon became not viable because he was 1) always asking for a special treat, even when he wasn't on the potty 2) mommy didn't want him eating that much sugar 3) he didn't always think an animal cracker was a special treat and 4) I read that you're not suppose to reward children with food (makes sense, it's suppose to sustain you, not reward you!).  He even recently sat on the "big" potty, which up until that point it had just been the floor froggy potty.  

And of course potty training doesn't come without its accidents.  Twice Jackson sat on the potty, stood up like he was done, and promptly pooped on the floor.  No "tinkle tinkle toot, I did it, hooray, UNDIES!" yet......

Wilmington & Western Railroad

We took a trip in mid-August to go to the Wilmington and Western railroad about 15 minutes from our house.  It is open every weekend and involves a 30 minute train ride to Mt. Cuba Observatory, which is just a picnic area, and then the ride back.  This was the first "real" train ride for Jackson and he loved it so much, he even listened to me when I told him he had to sit still!  

He is truly my child though, because after 20 minutes into the ride, he fell asleep.  It's just something about being in a moving vehicle! 

When we got back to the station, we bought Jack a new Thomas whistle and had some lunch.  We heard that this train runs around Christmas and it's fun to go see all the lights along the way, so I'm sure we'll be back.

Hot off the Press - Haircut!

Drumroll, please.......

Before

After!

Last weekend Jackson got a pretty awful haircut.  Bangs were totally uneven, back was blunt cut and the overall Dutch boy look wasn't working so well for us.  After spending some time wondering what he would actually look like with a proper little boy haircut, we bit the bullet and took him to Kids Kuts. He was great - sat so still in the Lightning McQueen seat and watched the movie while the hairstylist took a #5 to his hair.  She used a little hairspray at the end and voila, a real little boy appeared!

Mommy almost told her to leave it short on the bottom and long on top - a true '80s do!

Goldilocks had all of his hair cut off