Bath Fear? What Bath Fear?

Here is a picture from Jackson's Stick Horse Rodeo. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, so I had to capture it on my cell. He looked so cute though in his cowboy boots, jeans, & bandana! We had a great time seeing all the little ones with their stick horses and there was a petting zoo too! Jackson was a little scared of the llama (but I reminded him that it was like Llama, Llama Red Pajama) and the goats. He got to ride a pony & had so much fun! He was squealing while we waited in line & then started bouncing up & down as soon as Aaron set him in the saddle. Too cute!

Jackson is CLEARLY over his fear of big boy baths! He was having such fun tonight. In fact, he cried (kicked & screamed even) when I got him out. I ended up taking some of the "safety" measures out and he doesn't seem as apprehensive. I don't think he liked the no-slip mat. Here are a few pics & a video from tonight:

Jackson & Emerson's new step stool. Gabby & Papa had it made for them for Valentine's Day. I think it is precious! Thanks so much Gabby & Papa!

Jackson knows just how to use it. He's such a big boy and climbs up all by himself. He can now reach to brush his teeth & wash his hands (with help, of course).

Jackson has been pretending to wash his hair lately, but we haven't been able to catch it on video yet. That or when he pretends to drink the bath water -- he dips his finger in the water & pretends to put it in his mouth like he's taking a tiny taste of something. So you'll hear me ask about washing his hair a couple of times, but he never does it.

Project completed!

Well, I finished the stick horse. Nothin' like waiting til the last minute. Jackson's Stick Horse Rodeo is tomorrow. I can't wait to see the kids parade with their stick horses and then there will be pony rides and a petting zoo and who knows what else. Pictures of the finished product:

He sort of has a long nose & he's WAY too big for Jackson, but hey...I was working completely without a pattern. He'll grow into it...eventually! ;)

The mane was a pain in the you know what! If you look closely, I even "branded" it with "JH" Jackson's initials. (bottom right in red)

Not bad for my first attempt. I will post pics of the event tomorrow. Stay tuned....

Symphony

Aaron, my dad & I went to the Houston Symphony on Tuesday night. It was a free concert to honor educators. My mom teaches an alternative certification program for teachers and so was unable to go with us. This was the first time seeing the symphony for Aaron & me. It was great! The first part was just the Houston Symphony and then after intermission, they were joined by the Virtuoso Youth Symphony. Those kids were amazing!

Jackson went and stayed the night with Gabby & Papa. This was his first time spending the night with Gabby & Papa. He, of course, tossed & turned in his sleep. Papa even reported that at one point Jackson sat straight up and then leaned over onto Papa to sleep. Sounds about right! When he sleeps somewhere other than his crib, he all but does somersaults! Jackson seemed to enjoy playing with their dog, Missy too. Missy on the other hand was not too sure about this new person infiltrating her house! He took a LONG 3 hour nap on a blanket in the floor. They must have really comfortable carpet, because we never can get him to nap in the floor! Another reason for us to get new carpet! wink wink!

Playing with Missy. Is that a look of terror on her face?

He figured it out! By the time I got there, Papa had ties around the knobs to keep little hands from getting in. They said he would see his reflection & kiss the baby -- who could resist?

Oh dear. Mr. Jackson in quite the pickle! Looks like he's saying "Uh-oh!"

And of course, his favorite....banging on the coffee table.

** Pictures courtesy of Papa's Flickr account**

This weekend we are leaving the boogers again from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Tear! We are going to Fredricksberg for a wedding. We are sad to leave Wacko, but stoked about seeing Tiff & JC, Summer & Augie, Jill & Jason and meeting Staci's fiance, Jesse. We are taking the truck too, just in case we run across the perfect antique dresser for Emerson's room. Jackson will stay with Yaya & Pops and I'm sure he'll have a blast just like he did & Gabby & Papa's!

Our Long Weekend

We have had a busy, fun-filled extra long President's Day weekend. First a bath update...well, initially we went ahead & put Jackson back in the duck tub and again, he was happy as a clam in the bath. Then.......

The duck died! I thought it might just be needing to be refilled, but after blowing it back up it was flat again the next day. So....Jackson had no choice but to be in the big tub and he has done great since. Maybe he needed to get his bad experience out of his mind, I don't know. The video below is of Jackson telling us what a duck says. It's pretty cute!

Then, Hurricane Hiler hit our playroom. This was all in one morning....what a crazy person!

Pops & Yaya brought over a Valentine's Day gift for Jackson. A new tunnel! His name is Toppy Triceratops and Jackson L.O.V.E.S. him! He has played in tunnels like this at school, but we didn't know if he'd be out of place at home with it, but Jackson knew exactly what to do the minute it sprang into form. He just crawls and crawls in it. Yaya & Pops also brought Emerson a bunch of precious dresses and bubble suits. I can't wait to see her in them! Thanks Yaya & Pops!

Last night, I spent ALL night making a stick horse for Jackson's Stick Horse Rodeo on the 27th. It has been quite the ordeal and without a formal pattern, I was pretty much wingin' it! I think it looks pretty cute so far (if I do say so myself). I have the head done and now all I need to do is put the bridle on & attach it to the stick. The mane took FOREVER! I'll post pics of the finished product once it's done.

Today, we went to Pottery Barn kids to see The Cat in the Hat! It was jam packed with kids, mommies & grandmas and a few daddies. They read several Dr. Seuss books and then The Cat took pics with the kids & signed autographs. We waited in line for about 30 minutes (not too bad) for Jackson to get his picture with The Cat and for him to sign our book. It was too cute!

Story time

Not too sure about this cat thing!


Jackson's autographed Cat in the Hat book!

David Letterman

Did anyone see David Letterman last night? How awkward was Joaquin Phoenix? I couldn't stop laughing! #1 He was the furriest thing I've ever seen. What was that about? #2 He would just flat out ignore almost all of Dave's questions showing little emotion/reaction each time. Clearly by the end Dave was fed up. I briefly gasped when Joaquin stuck his gum under Dave's desk, but soon went right back to laughing after seeing Dave's non-reaction.

If you missed it, you have to click here to watch it! I loved it & have watched it 2 more times since!

Update

As of Sunday, I am officially half way through my pregnancy -- 20 weeks. As you can see, this time is no different from last time. I get giant fast! I've been feeling good and last night Aaron was able to feel Emerson kick for the first time. I guess she's getting big enough now. He was really excited! We have picked out fabric for the bumpers - we think. We're waiting on the swatches to come in the mail before we make the final decision. Hopefully, we will find a crib this weekend and then officially begin work on the nursery.

Jackson is growing like a weed. He seems taller (and heavier) everyday. He is a walking CHAMP these days and can even carry large toys while he walks. This afternoon he was carrying around this barrel-shaped inflatable toy that is supposed to encourage crawling. It is bigger than him, but he carried it all over the playroom throwing it around then retrieving it and doing it all over again. He often carries his pool boat around also. Too funny!


Here is Jackson enjoying Nana Linda's chicken spaghetti recipe -- a favorite in our house! Linda used to make an extra batch just for me when she'd come to visit Tiff in Lubbock.

Jackson can now get on & off his Bounce & Spin Zebra all by himself. He has a blast once he's on, but seems to enjoy just getting on & off of it too.

We have been working on manners lately. He has always been able to express his thanks by nodding. We'd say "can you say thank you?" or "what do you say?" and he'd nod. Now, he actually says Thank You or even Thanks from time to time. You can sort of hear it in this video after he gets a raisin from Aaron.

Bathphobia

Jackson has developed an unnatural fear of taking a bath. It is very disturbing to me because he used to L.O.V.E his baths. He would squeal with delight while I was taking his clothes off of him & he would clap while watching the water run. He was a little nervous when he moved out of his ducky tub into the big tub, but that only lasted a day. He went right back to loving baths and did great for about 2 weeks.

NOW, he starts fussing the minute we step into his bathroom and occasionally tries to high-tail it out of there. Once in the tub, he holds onto the sides & shakes while crying the WHOLE time. This has been our bathtime for the past week or so. In order to help him overcome this fear, I have tried to make bath time as fun as possible. In fact, his bath tub is one clown short of being a 3 ring circus! Toys galore -- squirt toys, a toy fishing pole & net, those foam letters & fish that stick to the walls when wet, a sea animal ring stacker, even a turtle sprinkler. I wish I had a recent picture -- it's ridiculous! We sing songs like Row, Row, Row Your Boat & Hey Mr. Splash Man, but none of this helps or if it does it only distracts him for a minute. I thought maybe he felt like the tub was too big, so I went out and bought one of those inflatable pad things that cushion the tub walls. I was thinking that they would make the tub feel smaller and maybe that would ease his anxiety. Nope.

The ONLY thing I can think of is that about a month ago he was crawling around in the tub after a toy and his hand slipped & his face went in the water. Of course, I was right there and immediately pulled him up, but he was still scared. I thought for sure he'd have forgotten or gotten over that by now. The reason I think this might have been the turning point is that Jackson will no longer crawl around in the tub. In fact, if a toy goes out of his reach he will cry (or cry harder rather) until I get it for him. The only movement he will make in the tub now is to reach for the side & pull up so that I will get him out. I have considered getting the ducky tub back out, but I don't really want to regress like that. I have also read some stuff suggesting taking a bath with him. We've tried that in our garden tub & he still cries, but maybe we should try that in his normal tub. I am at a loss -- anyone experienced this or have any suggestions? I've read that a lot of kids go through this between 13-18 months, but snap out of it by 20 months, but I'm thinking I can't handle this for another 6 months! Arrgghhhh!

More pics

To see a few more pics Michelle took of Jackson, click here, then cick on Client Proofs & enter Jackson as the password (capital J, everything else lowercase).