I cannot believe that Jackson turned 3 years old on November 6th! He was very excited for his birthday. Leading up to his birthday, he would tell me he wanted party hats, cupcakes, and balloons. Easy enough. So that is exactly what we did.
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He actually ended up having a birthday week :) I asked him who he wanted to come to his party and he said Ayla, Ms. Nara, Lincoln, and Mr. Jeff (aka the Skippers). I even tried to ask him about other friends, but he only said these names (except for Aiden, but I told him that was not possible). So we decided to have a small party the Saturday before his birthday with the Skippers. The morning of we "revealed" my parents birthday gift...an indoor play house. A guy Walt worked with was selling this for a great deal and with Aiden's upcoming arrival, I thought it might be fun for the boys to play in since we might not be able to get outside as much. In the below pictures, Jackson is fueling up his fire truck :)
I am not sure what this face means :)
There is my sweet grin, but as noted in my previous post...most of my pictures of Dillan are blurry because he does not stay still for very long :)
The boys playing in the "new to us" play house
My attempt to be creative (fyi...the cupcakes are supposed to be balloons)
The agenda for Jackson's birthday was a craft, cupcakes / party hats, gift opening, pinata, and then free play. I bought beads and strands of lace(?) for the kids to make necklaces. I asked Walt if it bothered him that the craft I chose for his son's birthday was a necklace and he laughed and said it was fine :) I just knew that Jackson would enjoy making it and wearing it around and I was right :)
Ayla making her necklace
The birthday boy!
Surprisingly Dillan was not a fan of the cupcake
Ayla
Jackson with blue icing on his lips :)
Dillan sitting with his Daddy
Dillan had a sucker since he did not want a cupcake
Jackson opening up his gift from the Skippers
The Skippers
Pinata time! The kids had a lot of fun with this. There were a few close calls of the kids almost hitting one another, but we did our best to keep them safe. Apparently pinatas from Target are built really well so we finally had the kids (and Walt) jumping on it to try and get it to break.
An attempt at a family picture. Too bad Dillan was eating candy in both pictures :)
Random pictures of Dillan
Before bedtime, we left Jackson open up the rest of his gifts.
Giving Dillan a hug and kiss and thanking him for his new airplane.
On Jackson's actual birthday, we had a special breakfast and lunch to celebrate (aka cinnamon rolls for breakfast and Bojangles for lunch). He fully embraced the fact that he was no longer 2 and is now 3. We did not do anything else on the actual day because the Thursday after his birthday, he would have a small party at the church.
Walt, Dillan, and I came to Jackson's classroom and brought cookies for the kids. Jackson was beyond excited. He was glad to see me, but I think Walt being there was the icing on the cake. Look at the grin he is giving Walt. He got to wear a special hat and they read a special birthday book and he got to pick something out of the birthday box after they sang happy birthday to him and prayed for him. Then it was cookie time! The whole time we were there, he kept looking at us and waving and smiling. It warmed my heart so much to see our sweet boy so happy!
Walt with Jackson and Dillan.
I feel like every now and then, I need to make sure I have my picture taken so that when the boys look back...they know I was there, too :) Hopefully they will pick up on the fact that I am the one taking all the pictures :) When we got home from the party, I had Walt take a picture of me with the birthday boy!
Jackson went to his 3 year appointment this week and he is doing great! He is measuring high in all developmental areas, the doctor says he is very healthy, and his eye sight appears to be good. We are so thankful for our healthy and happy growing boy. Here are his stats:
Height: 37.5 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 31.2 lbs (50th percentile)
Please refer to the previous post for fun facts about our sweet boy.
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Jackson is very communicative and talks a lot. It is so much fun to hear him reading stories to himself, singing, and praying to God. Here are a couple of things that I want to document so that I won't forget :) I know there are more, so I will try to document them as I remember them.
* Jackson loves to see Aiden move around in my tummy. He is very excited for his arrival. In fact, he has tried to pull at the bottom of my stomach as if to try and "open" it. He even asked me how to open it so that Aiden can come out. Needless to say, we did not go into the details, but simply explained that Aiden was not ready to come yet, but that when it was time, God would help Aiden come out.
* Jackson has definitely been testing things lately as if to make sure certain behaviors were still off limits. Despite this recent challenge, we still see wonderful glimpses into the sweet and caring heart of our growing boy. One day last week, Dillan was throwing a fit (which can be quite the scene) and I had already been having quite the day with Jackson. I even stopped to pray and ask God what was I doing wrong and for him to please help me. Shortly thereafter (note Dillan is still throwing his fit), I hear Jackson's sweet voice in the playroom. I go to look at him and he has his hands clasped together and his eyes closed saying, "Dear God. Please help Dillan to feel better." He said a few more things and then came running into the kitchen and told me that he had been praying for Dillan and I. He has since done this on other occasions...praying for other people, too.
* I probably should not admit this, but apparently the other day Walt was putting on some sweat pant type bottoms and Jackson asked him why he was putting on mommy's pants :) When Walt told me, I could not stop laughing. I must confess that workout clothes are my preferred attire these days...especially being pregnant. But who am I kidding? They will also be my preferred attire as I lose the baby weight and have a newborn that spits up. Maybe one of these days, I will return to wearing cute clothes again :)
