Twenty-Two

Yesterday, I took these photos while we were home sick. Jameson had a fever on Monday and came home around noon. The child barely seemed to register his illness until the fever resurgence in the evening. It quickly responded to Advil, and Tuesday he was entirely fever-free.

Brian and I alternated watching him in the morning and evening, which worked out really well. Jameson had a nice long nap, and so my afternoon shift was relatively short. And he woke up and took these wonderful, genuine photos for me.

He knew what I wanted when I asked him for photos, climbing up in his chair without prompting, and then climbing back down to help me pick out the blocks. We talked about the letters I was looking for, and he repeated after me, though the blocks he picked out were not correct. The school has told us he recognized all the first letters they are teaching him though!

When I plopped him up on his chair, the first look he gave me was this:

Worried about the photo shoot now, I stretched myself into ridiculous-ness and started enunciating vowels funny as I said “Meeeester Penguiiinnnn” in reference to the previous day’s play with a penguin stuffed animal. Success in 10 photos or less!

This month, we introduced him to the potty at home instead of just at daycare. We purchased him his frog potty on 10/5, and he was so excited about it that he threw a fit when we told him he needed to get off and get his pjs on. On 10/7, just two days after bringing home the chair, he told us he had to go (he already had). He now frequently will tell us when he has already gone potty and wants to go sit on it, but it’s already too late!

I consider this all great success, and consistency will help him get familiar with it. I frequently will go potty sitting next to him (he asks me to, just like when he brushes his teeth). I am conveniently pregnant and can pee on command, so that works out well.

He got his very first terrible diaper rash the other week when he actually pooed overnight but never called out for us to change him. When I think back, I don’t think he has ever gone overnight before that, even as an infant. Luckily with regular cream he was back to normal within 3 days.

Eating has become entertaining. Sometimes when I ask Jameson to try things he dislikes before getting more of his favorites, he will lick them or put them in his mouth for a moment before spitting them into his bib pockets.

He is enjoying condiments like ketchup in particular (by the spoonful). Whatever condiments mom and dad has, he wants too. With a little Nature’s Seasons, he actually ate cauliflower one evening. However, bbq sauce on McDonald’s chicken nuggets he just licked up.

He particularly enjoys kielbasa when it comes to meat, and he reminds me of Brian by eating edges like crust off bread before the inside.

Sometimes we talk about a baby being in mommy’s belly (and food in daddy’s and his own belly). He doesn’t get it, but he thinks baby is a fun word to say, and asks to watch videos of babies (aka himself on the ipad or my childhood videos on TV) frequently.

New words and phrases this month include: “stars”, “no touch” and “thank you”. At school on Grandparents Day, grandma told us that he yelled out “heart!” when identifying the shape.

He did get his very first bite at school a couple days ago on his upper arm, but none of teachers caught it when it happened. I noticed it while bathing him on Monday night. It didn’t break skin so I’m not too worried about it. He has bit other children on rare occasions, which were usually related to teething. His room doesn’t seem to have any major issues.

When we build towers now, if he doesn’t like how we’ve built it, he will remove the blocks and place them how he likes. I enjoy watching his mind work.

Jameson is a big helper too. We started letting him unload his dishes from the dishwasher by putting his stepping stool next to it. He puts them in the lazy susan with all his other plastic ware, but the cabinet gets pretty messy now. I hope it continues to encourage chores and helpfulness! He likes to “wash” dishes now too while I am at the sink, so I give him some already dirty plastic dishes to wash on the floor in a container of water and mild soap.

He continues to try to learn how to jump with a crouch and a big step. He hasn’t gotten the hang of it yet, though he has been trying for weeks. One of these days it’ll click and he’ll be launching both feet off the floor!

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Waiting

Jameson has been so very good recently, patiently waiting when we ask (as long as it doesn’t involve food). I wanted to share to recent instances of his new impressive skills, which I am sure school has been teaching him since we haven’t had the opportunity at home much.

Last weekend, I laid him downstairs to change him and realized that I needed more wipes which were upstairs. I told him to wait while I ran upstairs, and he didn’t have clothing removed yet so I wasn’t really expecting him to just lay there but that was okay. Back downstairs and there he is, just looking at the ceiling, laying down.

Yesterday, Sasha wasn’t feeling well and had an accident that Brian needed to clean up when he got home from work (I was out to dinner with vendors). He put Jameson in the corner of the kitchen by his plastic dinnerware in case he wanted to play with those and asked Jameson to “wait right here” while he cleaned up in the living room.

Jameson stood there, hands in his jacket pockets, the entire time. From initial clean up through the spot cleaner.

The hands in pockets in a new thing that the school tells us he loves to do. When it’s cold outside, he’ll stand around with hands in pockets. Love this cutie pie.

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Happy Meal

A couple weeks ago, we stopped at McDonald’s for lunch and brought home Jameson’s second or so happy meal. We had gotten one at the zoo before I think, but this time we kept the toy. We accidentally got the big kid’s toy instead of the one for under 3 year olds, but Jameson didn’t care.

After showing him how it’s used, he quickly caught on and used his own steady hand to put the cardboard disc in the slot and pull back the trigger to release it.

He loved diving behind Brian, using him almost like a barrier against enemy forces. Of course, all he was really using it for was pure enjoyment of watching the disc fly over and over again.

He didn’t really eat his happy meal, but I was ridiculously proud of his accomplishment in figuring out how the toy works and doing it himself.

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T Minus 3…

Jameson is 21 months, 3 months shy of 2 years old, and like every month before it, it’s hard to believe how fast time has gone by.

This month was a big one for Jameson and I wrote a lot fun things down that he is doing now throughout the whole month.

Singing & Speech – Jameson likes to sing now to the songs he knows. He’s so terribly cute singing the P and Z and Me in the ABC’s song and making an “o” face when singing the wheels on the bus go ‘roooouuund. Among his favorites are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, ABC’s and Old McDonald (Ee ii ee ii oh). He does a lot of imitation now and will imitate during the If You’re Happy and You Know It song as well as during any other activity!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10gKs5rXIAU]

His two word sentences have slowly increased, and we even heard him saying “no no mommy” over and over to himself to help him fall asleep one night, and “mommy bye bye” another night. Some new words are “apple”, “apple juice”, “pouch” (this one is very distinct and is our word for the little baby food pouches he loves), “knock knock” “boo boo”, “brush” (as in brush teeth daddy!), and “watch” (as in Elmo TV).

Food & Eating – He is getting pickier about only eating things he recognizes and knows he likes. It’s a trial every night to get him to try everything on his plate which sometimes involves bribery for Elmo and doesn’t always work. He currently thinks most everything is “hot” and blows on it. Last night at dinner he was blowing and making the symbol for quiet though, and I think he really was trying to show quiet after we told him to use his indoor voice. He likes to stick his tongue out when we wipe his face and eat the paper towel, which is funny.

We did go back to offering milk at bedtime when he doesn’t eat a lot at dinner, and he enjoys it still. We stopped using the sleeper blanket bag toward the end of this month and are using a pillow pet and blanket (he loves soft things!). No signs of molars that we can see, though that doesn’t mean they’re not there, we don’t go poking back amongst those chompers much.

Skills – Jameson now will get on his belly in the bath tub without fear for fun; he has successfully blown his very first bubbles; and he added a new symbol to his bedtime book by flexing his arm for the word “exercise” (dad taught him that).

This weekend he demonstrated his new skill with puzzles, especially the Melissa and Doug ones which show the same puzzle piece after it’s removed for easy recognition of proper placement for the puzzle piece. We also removed the bottom of his Cozy Coupe and he motors it himself. He also does the more advanced shape sorter now instead of just the coin sorter, and he tries to put on his own shoes, socks and clothes on (without too much success… yet)

“All Done Mom!”

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Sailors

Jameson’s new room at daycare (which can now pretty much officially be called “School”) is called the Sailors. In this room, there is a potty and sink at their level, new toys and games designed to encourage more learning, NO cribs, and tables and chairs that don’t require the kids to be strapped in.

Which means I can make a little sigh of relief that hopefully we won’t lose any more teeth that way.

His daily sheets come home with a little less personalization and description now, but nearly every day I get some piece of art that Jameson did. His teachers say he loves art time, which is a little shocking to me, since he doesn’t seem to like to sit still for anything. But he is a different child at school, consistently putting things away and apparently enjoying making lots of art!

The sheets now include “activities” which are usually something in the range of taking off shorts, pulling up shorts, and lining up.

This is Jameson demonstrating his new skills. He also likes to take his own diaper off during changes, and to wipe himself. He’s pretty independent, and I still have high hopes that he’ll be potty trained by 3 and no later. His second day in the new room they already had him sitting on the potty. So far, his sheets only have “Tried Potty” circled every couple days or so. We haven’t seen any “Went Potty” circle (and I’m sure it will be pure chance the first time it happens, but still very exciting).

This month, he is clearly trying to say all kinds of new words like heavy and watch. Two word sentences are a little more frequent, and if apple juice counts, that’s another. In fact, we had our very first 3 word sentence on 9/6! More Elmo Please, he said. He didn’t get it (it was 5 minute until bedtime), but we were oh so close to giving in. I know once the baby is born, he’ll seem exponentially bigger and older, but even right now, I feel like he is just exploding with new skills and getting taller and more articulate.

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Room Changes

A new baby means room changes in our household (among many other changes, I am sure!). Because we opted not to find out our first child’s gender, we conveniently have a nursery outfitted for either a boy or girl this time, already in nice yellows and greens.

Jameson’s new room is here:

It obviously needs a little help before it can become Jameson’s new room. This is the guest room, and it’s so girly because of inherited furniture. Even the curtains are girly, which were left by the previous owner. Other problems include the fact that it is storage for all my craft items. I am not looking forward to going through all of that…

Luckily, we recently found great new office furniture on clearance, and that change (which I will share later) means that we can move the girly bed with the trundle beneath can move to the office so we can maintain our guest bed.

Jameson is probably ready for a big boy bed any time. At daycare, he sleeps on a cot; at home, he is expert at getting off of our bed, which is very high. We are about ready to stop using the blanket sacks and move to regular blankets since he’s nearly grown out of them.

Aside, a really adorable video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2WMgBteAmQ]

We are planning on getting his room all ready for him by his birthday/Christmas, and transitioning him the same time. That’ll give us about 3 months before baby arrives for him to get used to it.

Here’s the room plan; all of these items are already purchased except for his wall decals (I’m waiting for a sale!).

  1. Curtains : Eclipse Braxton Thermaback Window Panel – Navy Blue, $12.99 each from Target; we have the kids green ones in the nursery right now. They’re not perfect, but they are perfect for us in blocking out light
  2. Table Lamp : Stick Lamp with Chevron Shade (no bulb), approx $8.50 on clearance at Target stores, similar to this one online for $21.99 (colors are slightly different); I was pretty excited for this, it reminds me of tire tracks.
  3. Trash Can : Turquoise Plastic Waste Basket 13-qt., $2.99 from Target
  4. Shelf with Hooks : Three Hook Wall Ledge – Espresso, approx $17.50 on clearance at Target, same as this one for $34.99 online; we are planning on placing this at his height for his own nicknacks or rock collection and so he can hang up his own to-be-worn again clothes or pajamas
  5. Unfinished Nightstand : TARVA Nightstand, pine, $39.99 from IKEA; we are planning on painting this and the shelf with hooks a nice red color for finishing
  6. Red Paint : Not sure exactly what color yet, but I currently like Stop SW 6869 from Sherwin Williams
  7. Wall Decals : Car Wall Decal Mural, $80 from WeeDECOR; the tree and birds in the nursery are from WeeDECOR, and we are pleased with the quality nearly 2 years out so would like to stay with their products
  8. Navy Bed : Leo Twin Panel Bed with Footboard from Ashley Furniture, we purchased ours for approx $160 from a local dealer, our local Ashley store quoted about $175; after convincing Brian that a painted bed would be okay, I found that many are custom and expensive. The price was right on this one, and we are happy with other Ashley furniture purchases we have made.
  9. Bedding : Blue Trucks and Yellow Cars Microfiber Quilt Bedspread Set Twin Size by Home Fashion, $29.98 purchased from Amazon; after observing that quilts are expensive, I jumped on this when I saw it. I did want a Pottery Barn one over this, but it was out of stock and discontinued which end up saving us a lot of money!
  10. Artwork Line and Clips : DIGNITET Curtain wire, stainless steel and DEKA Curtain wire incl. clips, nickel plated from IKEA; we already owned this from years ago and never used. Since we have a stainless steal fridge, I’m excited to use this to hang his artwork on his walls.

We are also removing the dresser from the nursery into Jameson’s new room, which is why I was so focused on the colored furniture. This dresser would be time consuming to refinish and is impossible to match woods as is. Instead, it will be a stand alone wood piece in the room, and the knobs on this dresser will be painted red!

We’ll have to find a new dresser for the nursery, preferably one that matches the honey colored crib which can transition to a twin bed for Jameson’s future sibling.

Our to do list for purchase is pretty short:

  • Mattress
  • Bed rails to prevent Jameson from falling out
  • New curtain rods for Jameson’s new room
  • Red paint
  • New dresser for nursery
  • Bookshelf for Jameson’s new room – possibly built in

Can you tell I might have been nesting a little? The mass Target run happened last night; I was gone for an hour and a half!

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The Big 2

2 as in 2-0 months!

Jameson turned 20 months on Thursday. We are 4 short months away from ending our monthly photo shoot. This month, I got out the blocks and asked Jameson if he was ready to get on the chair for his pictures. He proceeded to climb right into his chair, and then was just as difficult as usual getting his photo taken.

Jameson is frequently saying new words when we ask him to repeat after us, but not consistently using them in everyday language. Our current focus is teaching him two word phrases, which he still does very rarely. Some new words this month are help, house, apple and MINE!

When I took Jameson’s security blanket away from him as a game, he grabbed it back grinning and said “mine!”. It’s cute (right now).

We have also increased his animal noise repertoire to include “cluck cluck” for chickens. Meanwhile, Moo and Baa have become one word for most animals. “Moobaa,” he says for his favorite farm animal book. We purchased an adorable stuffed farm animal set from IKEA for him for $5, but he’s not too interested though I love the baby piggies. We hold them up to get him to say his noises and tuck the baby piggies into his pockets.

This past week, he started refusing his milk at bedtime and increasing his solid food intake at dinner at the same time. We have almost stopped the milk at bedtime then, and have cut back the bedtime books down to 5. Sometimes, he gets a book in bed and we can see him looking at it over the monitor.

We also think he’s getting one of his 2 year molars in, since he has been sticking his hands in his mouth all last week, drooling a little more, and is overall more cranky than usual. Sometimes drinking from the straw seems to bother him, which might explain the easy discontinuation of the bedtime milk.

That shirt he’s wearing? One of his favorites. He likes to wear the shirt with eyes! When I went to Kohls for some fall long-sleeved shirts, I made sure to get one of each of the available shirts with eyeballs! He’s still in 18 months shirts, though some of the necks are getting tight around his head. His waist though is still really skinny and except for his height he could still be wearing 12 month pants. We are still in size 4 diapers.

(He is obviously no where close to potty training, but he has associated pee with both the toilet and the diaper; he also likes the flush the toilet after us – we only allow him then. Potential reward for future potty success? Maybe!)

Jameson knows his belly, belly button, private part (of course), toes, fingers, tongue, nose, and hair among others. He knows eyes and ears, though sometimes gets them confused when pointing to them on himself.

I asked him to point to his nose during our photo shoot, but he said “noooo”. (That is a “nooo” face above) Sometimes he gets shy about performing, which is funny. I don’t typically think of him as a shy kid, but when he is around people he doesn’t know, it does take him a little while to warm up to them.

The look on his face when he knows he disobeying you? Priceless. It’s hard not to laugh, though he is listening much better than he used to. Sadly, that is mostly because of threats for a Time Out which he really doesn’t like. It’s a threat that doesn’t need to come true too often (only three real ones at home! But more frequent times with mom or dad in the bathroom to calm down). We’ll see how long the Time Out threat works.

Jameson loves to play outside, collect rocks, play with bubbles (empty containers or not!), get wet, read books, and watch Elmo. He’s pretty good at taking turns and sometimes cleaning up. He’s got great balance and is starting to enjoy throwing (soft) things and balls.

Pretty much? Awesome.

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19 Months And Counting

This month, we didn’t have a whole lot of great photos to choose from. Jameson was pretty excited about the blocks!

I started writing down the many new things we observed during the month because I couldn’t remember them all the end! This month, his grandma taught him that grunting is necessary for getting lids on and off; so while he learned how to screw and unscrew lids, he will grunt and groan while doing it. Likewise, he likes to squeeze his food between his fingers, and that deserves a grunt too while his little fist shakes with the effort.

Speaking of food, he consistently eats broccoli (he once at all the broccoli out of the mixed vegetable steam fresh bag), cheese, and most any pasta (not rice or tortellini). Many other foods are hit or miss depending on the day, even fruit was a miss on rare occasions.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMOpwPEEZzo]

He can click his tongue now in addition to these new words: Buckle, Poop, Pee, Moo, Baa, Ee ee ee (the sound the monkey makes, according to grandma), EE ii ee ii oh, Water, Weener, Elmo (pronounced melmo), Duck, Bib, and all of these are used still pretty inconsistently except for Buckle, Bib and Elmo.

Jameson is also making up entire sentences. Babble babble more babble ma mo babble? Whatever you say, Jameson! We have heard his first two word sentences. First was “bye bye doggie” at 18 months, and recently “no no doggie” when she was trying to lick his ears.

“More please” is pretty seamless now; he says “Mo” and signs the word for “please” pretty consistently. “Thank you” is also becoming more frequent though only on request, but it is also a sign.

Lest you think that all is well and communication easy for him, he frequently gets frustrated that he can’t express himself, most often surrounding food. Whining at the pantry is a favorite past-time before dinner as we list through his various snack options (and he doesn’t really understand the word snack).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAvgR-DNbFc]

While I try to limit the snacking to just half a bag of animal crackers (his current favorite) before dinner (and try to suggest blueberries often as an alternative), one night it was so bad I allowed him to pick out his meal in the fridge. He chose a leftover grilled cheesy bratwurst (I doubt he knew that it was more than a hot dog!) and a yogurt. He ate them both, no complaints.

Bed time: Though he doesn’t do a great job, we do let him brush his own teeth. On the days he doesn’t want to, I force it. I’ve become an expert at holding the face properly so that I can brush his teeth. He is thrilled that he can do this himself though, reaching his toothbrush into the water (later, we will concentrate more on water conservation, haha)!

On the other end of the spectrum, diaper changes are much less fun, often with him screaming the entire time unless we’ve given him sufficient distraction, like a particular book, the buckle on the table, or mobile remote; whatever it is, he needs to pick it out.

This month, in a very anticlimactic way, we stopped bottles. Now, we read about 10 books at night instead of 1 to allow him time to drink his milk. It takes him longer, but he falls asleep without issue. Except for naps, which he has refused on rare occasions. This makes me nervous that we will lose naps in the near future, but so far, so okay.

 

Overall, discipline is still pretty light. We say no sternly (and fairly frequently), and physically stop him from whatever he is doing wrong. It’s typically just because something is dangerous. If it’s excessive (like biting, which only seems to happen during teething — but for some reason happened twice this weekend in excitement!), then we put him in a corner. But we don’t otherwise restrain him, so he quickly gets over it and moves on. I wonder when we might have to bring out a timeout chair, or a gated area, but for now, he is listening okay most of the time. He actually doesn’t try to run away outside often anymore if we tell him no.

If he gets himself too worked up over something (like wanting a snack, and not taking our no for an answer) and tries to throw a mini tantrum (mini because he is so careful and funny about it), then we take him into the bathroom with the lights off and shut the door (with us there holding him). Usually that’s enough to snap him out of it, which is all that’s needed and a moment of quiet.

Jameson is a little helper, both at home and at daycare. His teachers comment how he is the only one who will help pick up toys (and we only reinforce this lesson every once in a while at home, so I am excited to see that he seems to come by this naturally; I will take no credit for it). At home, he will help me put away the dishes (I let him, yes, but take the breakables from him pretty quick. He has yet to drop anything).

He also threw a pair of shorts in the washer. Yesterday, his teacher told me that he wanted to help check for messy diapers and tried to lift one of the boys who can’t walk yet out of the wagon. Recently, he held one of the new kids’ hand and walked him around the room, like he was showing him around.

 

It’s been such fun watching him grow, but I can’t believe that next month we’ll hit a big 2-0.

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Toddler

It’s official, Jameson has reached a year and a half. 18 months.

This month, he started saying two word phrases. For a couple weeks, he was saying Daddy-o, which I am pretty sure means “Daddy Go” (or, where is daddy? or, can I go where daddy is?). More distinctly, Saturday and Sunday both he said, “byebye doggie”!

He is saying a lot more words in general: he no longer signs for “more”, he says “Mo” and signs “please” to go with it. He is starting to say “Uh” for “Up” and sometimes he’ll repeat words when I say “Can you say yellow?” (His word for yellow was pretty accurate!). His words are all distinct, and he clearly knows what he saying even when we don’t (which is often). He currently whispers “pst psh psssss” with his lips, and we all respond back to him the same which he thinks is the best!

Hearing the word “No” from us doesn’t deter him at all, no matter how loudly it’s said. We will get a sneaky look when he is doing something he knows he is not supposed to do. What works is stopping his motion by grabbing his arm or removing him from the situation entirely.

This weekend, he stood on his rocking Elmo toy with no hands. We are very proud of his balance, but we had to make him sit down physically. He doesn’t seem sad or mad when we do it (except if I hold onto his hand and make him stay for a moment), but it distracts him. I’m sure soon we’ll need to set up a specific time out point for him, and it will probably need to have a seat belt or be fenced in.

Sometimes, when he is focused, he will help us pick up and clean up. I had him put away his plastic dishes yesterday from the dishwasher. And, completely on his own, he went to go wipe Sasha’s face with the towel after she drank some water, and Brian had asked me to do it. Jameson standing there holding that towel up to Sasha’s face was the cutest moment!

We let him give Sasha her cookies when she comes in from outside, which could be his first real chore. He’s very good at it!

Jameson has started watching some tv when we let him. Saturday mornings are Sesame Street mornings right now. He will not sit for more than a moment, but he will play and glance up to watch now and again during the show. Last night, Brian and his dad were very pleased that he was enjoying David Gilmore (Pink Floyd) on tv. He would sway and point at the guitars and lights!

Food is still hit or miss. One day he will like something, and the next he will refuse it. Last week, he refused breakfast most of the week, including fruit which was always a hit! But this weekend, he ate blueberries and raspberries like crazy (made some stellar diapers!)

We now cut his hot dogs into slices rather than chopped up, so that he will eat some. He also has started wanting to eat at the table with us. A couple nights last week, he refused all food until he was sitting in our laps. He may just be testing the waters, but when we sat him in the highchair and pushed him up to the dining table last night, he did really well and ate broccoli! I was so excited.

This month, his naps have gotten a bit shorter. He was usually a record-breaking nap taker of 2-3 hour naps at home and at daycare as long as he wasn’t too overtired, but this month it’s been closer to 1-1/2 to 2 hours. However, he is still sleeping well in general. A couple months ago, he appeared to have his first real nightmare, screaming for no reason at night, but it was only one. Since then, he’s been sleeping like a baby 😉

His eczema is all but gone! We started a new regimen of the Aveeno baby eczema lotion (the key ingredient is that it’s an oatmeal colloidal cream) morning and night; and unscented non-comedogenic Cetaphil lotion at the daycare. The oatmeal lotion did the trick! We definitely still see where it was/is. It still occasionally flares up with irritation, so we maintain the schedule even with it mostly gone, but we are so happy we don’t need to use the hydro-cortisone creams anymore after almost 3 months of alternating the cream on and off.

 

Happy 1-1/2 birthday Mr. Jameson!

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Memorial Day & Work Updates

Goodness I’m a little behind, aren’t I? Work has been very hectic this week, I have barely had time to do posts here or get ready at home because this weekend is Emma’s wedding!!

  • My friend and co-worker, Lauren (who’s baby shower I attended not too long ago!) had her babies on Memorial Day, at an unexpectedly early 32 weeks.
  • Currently, I’m a “one man show” at work and doing trying to do the work formerly done by 3 marketing people and scoped out to be the job of 5.
  • We also have a new intern at work, which is great and hard at the same time (I want to do right by said intern and provide her a learning experience here).
  • Recently, our corporate global president resigned, so there is some corporate upheaval, though everyone is staying very positive.
  • Agency and vendor changes this past month have left me running around, dealing with contracts and budgets and all kinds of new experiences.

 

But first of all, who replaced my baby and replaced him with a toddler? I feel like I noticed the transition happening in manner and new skills the past couple months, but all of sudden it’s his looks too!

Speaking of skills, Jameson is starting to get interested in buckles. He spent nearly our entire walk one night leaned over trying to buckle up the other seat.

No success yet, but I have never seen him so dedicated.

Memorial Day was so very hot and muggy, reaching the nineties. In Ohio humidity, that definitely calls for a drink or two for the parents.

Jameson and Lily hung out outside for a while, sharing popsicles and lunch. Jameson wanted to steal her cheese.

When they were bored of the water table (and the pool I kept dumping Jameson into but he didn’t quite appreciate), we went over to Lily’s to play with bubbles!

Jameson hasn’t mastered blowing the bubbles, he just takes the wand in and out. Lily, however, has been able to make a few bubbles all by herself!

Lily will be two in just a month and a half or so. And the summer, barely started, seems halfway over already.

P.S. For anyone curious how Lauren’s babies are doing, Morgan and Madelyn will be in the NICU for about 3-1/2 more weeks probably. They are working on developing big, strong lungs!

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