2nd Birthday

 My baby went and turned 2!  I still call him my baby even though he is clearly a toddler now.  He speaks in 3-4 word sentences now and grows up more and more each day.  He started his 2nd year of life at a whopping 26 lbs!  Which isn't really whopping, but we are so proud of the progress he has made.  He put on 20 lbs in 2 years.

 His actual birthday was on Friday but we didn't have his big party until Saturday.
Friday we kept it low key and started out the day with a surprise bouquet of balloons for the Birthday boy!

 He was in love with them, especially Thomas the Train which is his new love.

                                                
He spent most of the day like this....except with pants on!

I had to get a picture of the birthday boy with his balloons on his actual birthday.

 Someone else got jealous of all the attention Jax was getting so he requested his own picture in front of the balloons.  Which is amazing if you know Carter at all.  He would rather die than pose for pictures.

We celebrated that day by eating his favorite foods, Popcorn, and hamburgers and Fries from Wendy's!

The next day brought lots and lots of rain which meant the 23 guests I invited had to be crammed in our house, instead of the backyard.  

                                                   

The party started out with Jackson receiving this blue chair and card.  He was in love with both and we could have ended the party right there!

He didn't have much interest in opening his presents but Carter took that job upon himself and helped him to unwrap all of his presents.  

Jax did get the hang of tearing off paper and realized what awaited him.  He learned the word "Presents" quickly.  

Opening his big gift from Neil and I.  The outfit Jackson is wearing is the same outfit Carter wore on his first birthday.  I loved seeing and remembering both of them in it.  That goes to show how HUGE Carter was as a one year old!

After presents we moved to the next event.  Food!  I decided not to be sad this year about the fact that he can't have cake and ice cream.  I made him his own "Cupcake."  Ground Hamburger as the cake, and whipped mashed potatoes as the frosting.

He was thrilled with this "Cupcake" and ate every last bite.  I thought the potatoes dyed blue may throw him off, but he seemed to enjoy the added color!  

He didn't know how to blow out his candle but he enjoyed having people sing to him and all the attention.  We then all celebrated with hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, etc.  All things that Jackson can and loves to eat.  This may have been the first party our guests attended where cake and ice cream weren't served.  

After the party we all went outside to witness a bike race between Carter and Neil's sister's fiancee Lee.  There were big stakes involved with this race, as the winner got to keep the coveted Golden Trophy.

Carter chose how and what they would race.  He loves riding his bike and so he chose this activity as the race.

It was neck and neck around the neighborhood but Carter managed to squeak by Lee at the end.

Linsey awarding Carter the Golden Trophy!

Victory is Mine!!  Carter took this race very seriously and was thrilled with his win.  He and Lee have decided to race each time they see each other to see who gets possession of the Trophy.

Jackson couldn't have cared less about the race happening, he was too busy with all the attention and love he was getting from everyone.  He is one loved little boy and it was very evident by all the people who came to celebrate with us.  There were so many times in his early days of life that I wondered if he would live to see his first birthday, let alone his second.  Birthdays are truly a celebration of Life but I look at each year a bit differently than I did before.  Truly a celebration and a blessing.

Jax and his nurse Missy.  She is more than just his nurse.  She is one of his favorite people, and one of my favorite people.  She is truly an angel sent to our family.  

Jax enjoyed some time on his "Bike" outside while we all took turns pushing him around.  He was in the best mood all day.  

After the party died down the boys came inside to play with all the toys Jackson received.  They decided that this big box was just as fun as any of the toys received that day.  

Jax received a present later in the week from my sister.  His very own "pack pack."  Again Carter was a little jealous and brought out his old Cars backpack and asked Jackson if he wanted to trade!

 These balloons were the balloons that never died and Jax spent a good 10 days with them before I finally retired them!

 Proving once again that the boxes of the presents are more fun than the actual presents.  And, that clothes are highly overrated!!

It took several days for the weather to warm up enough to take his new water table outside.  Once we did, he was in heaven playing outside and playing with water.

 After all the water he made himself a nice picnic lunch with all his favorite foods!

 Thanks to everyone who helped make this special day a little more special.  I am so glad that Jackson has sooo many people who love and care about him.  Happy Birthday to the sassiest, silliest, most spoiled, strongest, and happiest little boy around!  We love you Jack!

Playing Catch Up

I'm way behind on my blogging.  I won't even attempt to catch up on everything.  I'll just pick and choose some events to blog about.

May came and went so quickly.  Carter started soccer this year and loved it.  He loved everything about it, especially the treats they served after every game.

Carter fell in love with being goalie and was actually quite good at it.  (As good as any 4 yr old can be).  Carter's competitive side has not really kicked in yet, I'm hoping it's somewhere deep inside.  Goalie was the only position that really kept his attention and showed any sort of competitiveness.  

 His second love was playing defender.  When playing forward he was content to run up and down the field but didn't really know how to be aggressive.  We talked about being aggressive before and during each game.  And every time he'd come to the sidelines and say  "Mom, was I.....what's that word again?"  Carter looks just like Neil, but got a lot of my genes such as sassy, emotional, etc....I'm hoping that competitive, love of sports gene is hiding in there too.  He was no David Beckham but he sure did have fun and already talks about signing up next year.

May brought way too many doctor visits and the dreaded ER visit for our family.  It had been over a year since we had to rush to the ER in the middle of the night, so it was high time for another adventure.

 First part of May brought an all day visit to Primary Children's Hospital.  We started the day with an upper GI, small bowel follow through.  This is a fancy was of saying they forced my baby to drink horrible tasting Barium, and watched, through X-ray, as it went through his short, short bowel.

                                               
He was happy as could be waiting for the exam with his Ipad and an episode of Super Why.

But once the procedure started, so did the tears and screams.  It didn't hurt him at all but he did not enjoy being forced to drink that stuff.  And a lot of it!  Over 300 mL shoved down his throat in a matter of about 10 minutes.  Although to those of us in the room, it seemed like 10 hours.  Poor baby was happy when the xray was finally done and he could get up and move around.   He was fighting an upset tummy before the procedure and this didn't help his cause.  He was a bit grouchy for the rest of the day.

 The End of May brought a small surgery for Jackson at the Specialty hospital in Logan.  Tubes in both ears and his adenoids removed.  The surgery itself only took about 10 minutes but it took him a couple days to feel back to normal.

Memorial Day 2013 started out with a bang......but not a good bang.  About 1:00 am that morning I heard a horrible scream from Jackson's room.  I ran in to find he had somehow snapped his line completely in half.    He was bleeding from it and luckily I could clamp it off and stop the bleeding immediately.  With the line going directly to his heart, this is a bad, bad thing for many reasons.  Bleeding out is one worry, an air embolism in his blood stream is another fear, and finally infection is another concern.  That left us no choice but to quickly throw a bag together and head to SLC.  Luckily he was stable enough to avoid an ambulance ride and we talked to the Dr.s at primary's and told them when to expect us.

 Here is Jackson at 4 in the morning.  He was so happy and chipper; you never would have known it was the middle of the night.  Thankfully they could do an external repair of the line and glued a new piece back on.  The other alternative was surgery and we were thankful to avoid that.  Because it was a holiday and right before shift change, we had to wait longer than we'd like.

                                              
Neil and I took turns entertaining him and wishing we had half as much energy as he did.
After the line was finally repaired we headed down the cafeteria that we know and love.

Jackson requested "Tatoes and Sausie." (Potatoes and sausage) He ate the entire plate full and then we hit the road back to Logan about 8 am.  He and I both slept on the way home.  Thank heavens Neil was awake enough to drive.  That experience proved that I am wayyyyyy wayyyyyy to old to pull over-nighters anymore.

I think our only "good" Dr visit this month was with Carter and the allergist.  We finally switched allergists to someone who actually likes human interaction and we love him.  He decided that it was time, again, to challenge Carter to eggs since his levels had dropped again from the year before.

I was nervous to get my hopes crushed, again, and Carter was nervous to "Eat yuckies."  Luckily my bribe of "You can pick out any toy that you want," worked like Magic and he let the nurse spoon feed him bites of eggs.  He sailed through the test with NO problems, hives, or need for shots so he is declared "Free from his egg allergy!"  What a day.  We were in the office for 5 hours completing the test.  Carter not only passed the test, but LOVED the taste of eggs.
                                                
We celebrated getting good news at the Allergist by a trip to Target to pick up Raphael, and a lunch date at Red Robin.
                                                  
It has been less than a month since Carter has started eating eggs and we have gone through at least 5 dozen eggs!  I may need to invest in an egg farm or something.  For about a week straight he would ask for scrambled eggs and French Toast for breakfast.  Not to mention all the cooking I started doing with real eggs.  I'm not sure who is happier about this egg business....me or him.


May brought the end of Pre-school for Carter.  He loved going to school and I loved having him there.  It was a win-win for all of us:)  They had a program to celebrate and to show us what they had learned.

A classic Carter picture- a head or 2 taller than all his classmates!  This program was on the day of Jax's surgery so I told Carter to pick out his own clothes "Something nice," were my instructions.  Jean shorts and his John Deere sweatshirt is what he heard.

With his teacher Mrs. Turner who is the best teacher I have ever met.  I was so impressed with her curriculum and the wide variety of things she taught my son.  

The gas station on Main Street has a giant dinosaur out front that Jackson squeals about every time we pass.

 One Saturday we needed gas so we decided to stop and let him see the dinosaur up close.  This was his reaction.  He was not impressed at first but did warm up to him.  He never would touch him though!

 May also brought mowing our new lawn that is more than double the size of our former yard.  Luckily, the boys are more than willing to "help" Neil out.  They love to be outside and with their daddy.

Up next: Jackson and Carter's Birthdays!

Jackson

I have a confession.  I am obsessed with this little boy.  He is at the funnest age and stage right now.  The tantrums are definitely starting but they are easy to stop and he's easy to distract.  99% of the time he is in a great mood, even while battling a raging ear infection!  He is a busy little boy and never wants to stop moving or stop talking.  Which is good and bad.

I'm obsessed with Jackson and I'll share what Jax is obsessed with.

                                                 
The game "Sorry."  He can call it by name and will sit and move his game pieces and flip cards.  This game can keep him entertained for a good 30 minutes.  Carter does NOT enjoy how much Jackson likes his favorite game.
                                                 
Jax will even "count" as he moves his pieces.  The rare times we try and play a game with Jax roaming about he makes sure to punch all of Carter's buttons.  Usually by grabbing one of Carter's green pieces, raising it above his head and then throwing it across the room when Carter makes a grab for it.  I try to hide my laughter.......

                                                    
Currently obsessed with a few foods.  Newest food is Bananas!  Jax can finally tolerate his first fruit.  He can and will eat bananas.  But only from a whole banana.  Don't try and cut it up in kid friendly pieces.  That results in a shunning of the banana.  His oral aversion may be the death of me someday.

                                                    
Obsessed with his slide.  Learned to climb up the stairs and sit down all by himself.  And can even go down while keeping his body in an upright position.  And no slide ride is complete without the side effects of "Whee!"

                                          

Still loves books.  When I'm busy Carter is great to read Jax a couple books.  Jax even has a couple of his books memorized.

I don't think I can put into words the degree of the next couple obsessions.  And these pictures do not do it justice.  He loves(in no particular order): Outside, Kitty, and Kitty Treats.

He begs and begs me to go outside and will even bring me his shoes to nudge me along.  His language has really exploded these last couple months.  He will bring me his shoes and say "Where's your shoes."  Since that is always what I say to him!

With the weather finally getting above -100 degrees, and the air quality decent enough, we have started spending some time outside.  This particular day I decided to postpone lunch and try Jackson with his first experience in the snow and his snow clothes.  

 This face really says it all.  Skipping lunch and postponing lunch time to try sledding is not something he approves of.  He did actually like the little sledding hill but couldn't quite keep himself upright with all those layers on, which brought about some angry tears.

Jackson's main reason for loving the outside is the family cat "Kevin."  Or Kevi as he is referred to now, mostly by Jax.  He squeals a loud squeal and yells his name whenever he spots him.  Jax enjoys petting him for about 3 seconds, poking his nose while saying nose over and over, but mostly he loves giving Kevi cat treats.

 And since he can't physically open the bag of cat treats he now just goes straight to the cat food and grabs one piece for each hand to try and shove in Kevi's face.  Kevin is the nicest, calmest cat I have ever met.  He doesn't really care for the attention from Jackson but he has never hissed or tried to scratch him.

His defense mechanism is running away.  Which Jackson thinks is a great game.  He will chase that cat as far as I will allow him.  All while yelling "Kevi, Tweet(treat)."

Run Kevin Run

 I guess Kevin got tired of running away so he plopped down in the middle of the road and finally allowed Jackson to shove that piece of kitty food into his face.  I often find pieces of kitty food in my house and in the car.

 

 This picture shows what happens when you are running after the cat in the driveway, with cat food in both hands, and can't let your arms catch you when you trip and fall.  Dirt, mud, and a bloody lip.  Poor baby.  Once he calmed down he was ready to head back outside.

Cutest Snow Shoveler ever eh?  This boy cannot feel the cold and I have to drag him inside kicking and screaming each time!  The only way I can usually get him in the house is to promise him an episode of "Jake."

Which is his biggest addiction by far.  I sometimes think we need a cleanse of no TV and no Ipad.  He would love to spend every waking moment doing one or the other. We find ourselves giving into this cute baby more than we should......oh well.  You only live once right?!

Jax's stats:

21 months(almost)

11.7 kg-which is right around 26 pounds.  

Pounds 24 & 25 have been a real struggle so we are very grateful for a little extra meat on his bones.  

Jackson-please stop growing up.  Stay my little baby forever.  Carter certainly didn't listen......