Oh my. This boy.
Jackson Scott Harper-Sunday morning headshot 01.16.11
Toddler J is 31 months old.
2 years & 7 months...but we'll just call him 2 1/2, shall we?
J is almost always making me laugh
typically quite polite ("yes please", "Thank you", & "Excuse me" are commonplace)
often finding ways to make his baby brother smile
and sometimes...just sometimes...pushing us to new creative parenting levels
(the real deal: he is a typical toddler with typical toddler illogical moments & spouts of emotional chaos)
J spends his days bouncing from one adventure to the next
(including, of course, meals & snacks)
& can make up a new game in a matter of seconds.
Here is one of his latest:
Ornament-Tong Game 01.14.11
{Rules of the game:
1-Take the new plastic tongs from the kitchen drawer
2-Use the tongs to carefully clip the smallest edge of the top of the mini ornament
3-Once you have a firm grasp (and you can use your belly for stabilization, if needed), hold tightly between the two spoons of the tongs
4-Pull your arm back behind you (hand grasping tightly to ornament in the tongs)
5-Whisk your arm in front of you, releasing the pressure of the tongs...
6-Laugh with joy as you see the little red ornament fly across the room}
I hope I can catch this on video before the game goes out of style. We left a box of these ornaments out just for this purpose. It is HILARIOUS to watch.
Speaking of hilarious...
Laughing Toddlers Are The Best 01.14.11
Every event is a game for J.
I guess that's how life goes when your 2...I just might be jealous.
We have spent a lot of play time on the floor with his new train sets. He received trains from both sets of grandparents...they are both his favorites! This weekend we had fun building towers, bridges, and buildings (one is a church, he explained) around his train tracks and then watched as he maneuvered the trains through the "city".
Blocks & Trains 01.14.11
Lately, J's favorite pieces of clothing (besides ties & bow ties on Sundays) are PAJAMAS. He calls them "jammies" ever since our trip up to Wisconsin in November. My friend Leesa calls them jammies & so that's what he has called them ever since. Since it's pretty cold & we don't go outside to play much these days--jammies it is!
We have had many PJ days this winter...
Good Morning 01.16.11
In addition to having favorite clothes, J likes to try on some of Mom & Dad's accessories. He can often be found walking around with one of my headbands on his head or one of Daddy's hats. Almost every night when Daddy comes home, he clomps around in Daddy's dress shoes...and sometimes...he tries Mama's shoes on for size:
Mama's New Shoes: 01.15.11
J comes up with new words and phrases all the time. We are learning quickly to monitor what we say and how we say it. We often spell words like "C-O-O-K-I-E" or "C-H-E-E-S-E" unless we are ready to hand some over to him. It seems like his vocabulary is expanding every MINUTE and his pronunciation improves daily.
J can identify most of the alphabet, count to 15 or so, and identify most shapes (although he calls a stop sign "heck-a-gone" we are working on the octagon thing). He loves to read books with Mama & Daddy or just read on his own. The other day he was reading the scriptures to himself outloud...adorable!
J loves a good beat and will dance if he likes the song (there is a new toy that he will push the song button until he finds the song he likes and THEN, only then will he stand up and bee bop around to the tune). He can do somersaults around his parents, climbs over and through any obstacle, and LOVES to jump.
J has a special knack for entertaining. He knows when he has a crowd's attention and goes with it. He loves meeting new people and showing off his skills...he rarely meets a stranger. He wakes up happy (sleeps all night) and still (usually) enjoys a nice afternoon nap.
J is into THOMAS THE TRAIN and pretty much anything that has to do with transportation. Cars, airplanes, helicopters, trucks, trains...all of it! He likes to "watch a show" when the occasion arrises (about 2-4 times/week I'll put in a Thomas, Bob the Builder, or Blues Clues DVD), and is very interested in helping out around the house.
He is very helpful with his baby brother (taking diapers to the trash, helping to calm him, etc), he likes to help Mama with crafty projects (last week he created his own card to send to his Uncle Tyler while I worked on Thank You cards), he LOVES to help clean (vacuuming is his tip top favorite!), and he really really really loves to help Daddy work on projects:
Project fireplace: 01.15.11
Sometimes I think I have toddlerhood figured out, and other days I wonder if I will make it through...but every day begins with that darling smile and an "I love you"!
Doesn't get much better than that.
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