Joyous Christmas

Jackson brought a whole new meaning to Christmas joy this year. 

My husband's Grandmother was in town for the week. She hadn't seen him in about six months. Jackson is always quick to giggle around her and it just makes you smile to see them spend time together. He is so fortunate to have four generations of family on both sides. 

Belly laughs with Great Grandmother

We went to church on the 23rd. The service was beautiful and time together with Matt's family and mine was even more of a blessing. To avoid public embarrassment, we sat with Jackson in the parents room. He ate his snacks, played with Mickey stickers and quietly made it through the service while allowing Matt and I to enjoy it too. Afterwards, he was so excited to show family members his little Mickey books and have them read to him. 

Family picture after church

Jackson loves to play with toy kitchens and drink ware. Christmas Eve at Matt's parents house he found it hilarious to bring Papa tea in the kitchen, ask him if he wanted more and then go get another cup. 

Bringing Papa his umpteenth cup of tea!  

 There was one exciting early Christmas gift to open from Nana and Papa...a Little Tikes Power Cycle! He had the cutest serious expression while "driving" it! It's powered by a button you hold down on one of the handle bars. Up until this point he has only known buttons to push and release. So when he pushed this one quickly he would jerk forward momentarily and then stop. So he'd push it again, and again, inching forward with little jolts sending his head back and gripping his hands tighter. After some practice he held it down long enough to crash into the furniture or wall however many feet in front of him. He overall loved it! Next driving lesson, steering!

Power Cycle

We spent the afternoon/evening relaxing, eating and enjoying each other's company. 

Missing Nana & Papa in this one

Christmas Day was by far my favorite memory. All Jackson asked Santa for was a Mick-me (Mickey Mouse). The kid is still completely obsessed! Santa fulfilled his magical reputation by bringing Jackson a Mickey Mouse classic book and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figurines. 

Immediately read the Mickey book

 Jackson's reaction when opening the figurines was PRICELESS! There was pure magic in his eyes as he quickly realized what he had unwrapped and became overwhelmed with excitement. Looking back I really wished I would have video taped this moment because words do not do it justice. His arms started flapping as he tried to develop the words to request us to open the box. His breathing quickened to an almost hyperventilation state. Christmas magic. Matt and I were grinning from ear to ear too :)

As I opened the box and took out Mickey to hand to him his entire facial expression lit up! He was once again star struck by Mickey. He smiled at it and said his name. As I handed him each of the remaining characters he said their names and the proceeded to try and carry all six of them at the same time. 

The expression on his face while meeting Mickey says it all

He swooped them up (with some assistance as he literally tried to stand up without and hands as they were holding his Mick-mes secure) and brought them to the kitchen. He was wrapped up in his own imagination, putting them in and out of his boots and diaper bag for quite some time. 

My parents and brother joined us a little while later for more presents and good company. Jackson would open each gift and want to play with it. He would stay focused for a while on each toy that we let him open. At times he seemed overwhelmed but then he'd bounce back and be excited for the next gift. 

Puzzle from Uncle Bryon

The world-wind of Christmas continued with my dad's side of the family. Jackson loved my Aunt Marcia's Christmas tree, enjoyed reading her many Christmas books, and was a champ for not having a nap. 

Grandma tried to help him get shut eye

Determined to stay awake, tempted by every soft surface to put his head down.

 A little Christmas trooper Jackson was. He crashed hard on our way home from my Aunts and stayed asleep till the next morning. We are so blessed to have spent the few days with our amazing family. Jackson received so many wonderful gifts and is an even bigger Mickey fan now.

2013 was a joyous Christmas, many wonderful, magical memories.

That's a Wrap!

Last year I set out to add a personal touch to wrapping Christmas presents. I found this great plain wrapping paper at Target, perfect for being creative with potential for elegance and simplicity. Last year I labeled who the gift was for with a picture of that family member and Jackson. This year, with Jackson able to "help" a little, I thought I would let him add the design. I loved seeing his little finger prints and hand prints on our gifts as I handed each unique design to a family member on the holiday. 

All the presents under our tree

Jackson was more than excited to help make our wrapped present festive.  Just the mention of finger paint had him running into the kitchen saying "yeah, yeah." He eagerly dove into the finger paint and pounded it on to the boxes. 

He smeared the paint, tried to do foot prints, carried the boxes to the side when he was all done, painted his hands (and tried to paint me), and very frequently asked for more blue paint (we are still learning colors). With only two small hand prints on the kitchen floor Jackson made great work of decorating our presents. When time to stop he busted out his new pouting move momentarily before he agreed to a bath then crackers.

I am not sure where he learned this!

Our advent calendar was an overall success. Jackson understood (after the first few days) that a bag would come down each day and he would get to take something out of it. Only problem, the first two days contained reindeer graham crackers and then Christmas cookies, so everyday after Jackson expected an edible treat. He would randomly point to the advent calendar on the wall and with a hopeful grin request "quackers."  Then in days that were not crackers or cookies, Jackson was not happy! I love this new tradition we started and am already scheming ideas for next year!

Opening a bag with crackers in it the weekend before Christmas

A post on Christmas is hoped to be following soon. Jackson loved seeing family and opening new toys.

And our family sure loved seeing this amazing smile.

Meet Ce-Cee

December first Jackson opened his first Christmas book, The Elf on the Shelf. The Elf had appeared the night before and Jackson had spotted him, pointing at him with curiosity having observed he was not there yesterday. 

Within those first few days of December Jackson wanted to be read and reread the book. He would find the Elf on the pages and listen intently to its story. The more we read the book Jackson started pointing to the Elf and saying "ce-cee". 

The name stuck. As the Elf moved each day Jackson continued to a watch for it in the mornings, proudly declaring "Ce-cee" when spotted. 

After finding his new location, Jackson would look to where he was the day before, confused. He would say something as to its previous spot and run back to Ce-cee. On various occasions Jackson had a hard time finding Ce-cee, it was adorable to watch his concerned expression spin around and duck his head in search. Each time Jackson spotted him (multiple times a day even) Jackson was pure in excitement and fantasy. 

We were not sure if Jackson was too young to be watched by the Elf on the Shelf, but it couldn't have been a more enjoyable experience. Jackson will wave his good-bye like usual to him before bed on Christmas Eve for the last time of the season. Ce-cee will return his magic next year. I wonder if Jackson will recall the same name. 

Precious Moments in a Busy Week

Just a few moments that stood out of much joyful time with my little man this week

Monday: Jackson loves his Little People. He was sorting them super heroes and animals on the window sill for quite some time. He then brought Mickey over to join them before deciding they needed relocation.

He proceeded to take them one or two at a time to the cabinet in the kitchen. He carefully placed them inside, standing up properly & facing forward, then shut the door to go back for more. His imagination amazes me and I so desperately wish I understood all that he says about his ideas and activities.

Later Monday evening: Jackson loves to clean. Being his busy self, he moved right from the Little People in the cabinet (leaving about five of them still "hiding") to wanting to sweep. Busy weekend before and dirty winter weather had our kitchen floor kind of gross, so I joined him in his cleaning.

We started with sweeping, but he knows the routine so next came the Swiffer. He made a sweep of it first, then when he moved back to emptying his dust pan, I actually washed down the floor by the garage door. Bad idea. I have learned this lesson before, wet floor means slipping. Sure enough, I was making Jackson laugh playing peek-a-boo and he turned to run to hide. WHAM! Blood. His front tooth cut open his top lip. Now we have had our fair share of head bumps but this was a first. I scooped him up and while holding him tight managed to continue to talk to him while fishing out a clean towel wetting it and filling it with ice. I have him slightly calmer when all of a sudden his nose starts bleeding. OH MY GOSH, what a horrible mother. The bleeding stopped eventually and he was talking and drinking water. Me on the other hand was still shaky.

The most precious moment of it all came when he is finally starting to calm down a bit, but me Im tearing up. He stops sobbing and looks at me with genuine concern. I put on a smile and he cuddled into me. My heart melted.

Thursday: When I picked Jackson up from school he was so excited to have me join in their fun. Jackson and another kid had been listening to a story read by the teacher. He immediately got excited, feet stepping quickly in place, and says "reeed," pointing to the book. Followed quickly by "you sit, you sit," pointing at the ground next to him and looking up at me. It is a joy to see him so happy about activities at school and his eagerness to share them with me. I am also obsessed with his developing ability to almost carry on a conversation.

Holiday FUN

Snowman, Santa, reindeer, pancakes, cookies, snow angels, and sledding! The weekend was full of fun Christmas festivities! 

With a slight warm up, the snow was perfect packing snow so we kicked off the weekend with our first snowman in the front yard! Jackson packed in some snow on him and tilted his head at him in confusion when we were complete (I think its because Frosty needed a hat). Overcoming a face plant in the snow, Jackson was not as excited as Mom about Frosty.

Our first snowman!

Saturday continued on a Polar Express trip to the North Pole. An absolutely adorable event that our Park District puts on. We rode in a trolly to the "North Pole" while being read the Polar Express. At the North Pole Santa and Mrs. Clause were there to meet us while their Reindeer ate some food and rested closer to the fire. We indulged ourselves to cookies and hot coco before taking a walk through the forest to search for Elves. 

Jackson was very hesitant about Santa upon first meeting.

By the time we were ready to say our Christmas wishes to Santa, J had warmed up to him a little it. He willingly sat on his lap, eyes fixated on Santa with a look of admiration and curiosity. Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas; after we repeated it for him, Jackson replied with certainty, "Mick-me." Santa then handed him the magical silver bell as Jackson said good-bye.

Jackson meeting Santa

Our family truly loved the Polar Express. Our ride back hope from the North Pole was full of Christmas Carols and Jackson has since been completely in love with the silver bell.

Sunday Funday began with Mickey pancakes (you know your in for a good day now). After trying to see Santa one last time, we surrendered the insane 2 hour line to snap photos by the Christmas scene. 

Christmas cookies were next! At first we started Jackson on frosting some cookies. He enjoyed it, but once he saw the sprinkles he was in love!

Jackson was focused on decorating cookies so much that he went through an entire bottle of sprinkles. He loved it! The only thing was that every time that we turned around Jackson was eating another cookie!

After our baking fun, we set our for the snow! Hesitant, as to be expected, Jackson didn't know what to think about the idea of a sled and snow. After one ride down the hill, he was smiling and saying "moorr."

We went down the hill several times, each with a bigger smile. Jackson ended up loving the "slopes."

Family should never be taken for granted. My little angel loved this weekend, and so did I. 

Christmas Card 2013

Holiday cards are one of my favorite parts of Christmas. There is something magical about a hand addressed envelope arriving in the mailbox. I love the anticipation of what is inside and the joy that comes from seeing family pictures or hand signed names.

 

So when it comes to our Christmas card, I take great pride in trying to send a card that brings a smile to those that open it. My goal, to festively capture Jackson's personality.

 

This year it took a few snapshots of little man to find the one that I wanted to use. Each attempt showed a little glimmer into his amazing personality.

 

Focused on a task. When you ask him what he wants for Christmas he will often say "Mick-me", sometimes "Buzz" (Lightyear), and sometimes "quacker" (cracker).

His busy blue eyes, always observant of his surroundings.

 

 Since last year I had wanted to make this below scene a reality for our card. Our tree wasn't yet wrapped so it made it a little difficult to prop on top. Jackson got scared after a few minutes of it on top of his little car and soon wanted nothing to do with that tree any where near his car. I am still obsessed with this.

 

 The photo that won our hearts for our card though was a candid I snapped in my parents backyard. His infectious smile showing off his new pearly whites, glistening eyes full of hope and promise, and tiny little fingers against a coat too old for an innocent little toddler. He is winding down from a big laugh, eager to be made to do it again. Present in the moment, but showing his mind is turning for the what he is getting into next. He is FULL OF JOY.

Love.  

 

May your 2013 holiday be "Nothing but Joy" too!

First Snow

* First real snow of winter. *

 

Determined to not miss such a memorable holiday first I came home on my lunch break to spend it in the snow with J. 

 

He was hesitant at first, unsure of why mom and Grandpa were so excited. He was so innocent to all the fun potential snow has. His hands seemed to get cold quick and we had to distract him back to all its excitement...snowballs!

 

A few snow balls thrown at Grandpa and then several attempts at the dog had him laughing and loving it.

 

With the temperature around the teens though we couldn't play for too long. Hoping we get some more today and a little warm up, next task is a snowman!

 

 

Thankful for these precious moments!