Winter Wonderfest at Navy Pier

The weekend before Christmas we went to Navy Pier for Winter Wonderfest.  They decorate the whole convention area in winter decorations.  There are trees everywhere, ice skating, rides, food, and plenty of Christmas cheer.  It is a great way to get in the holiday spirit.  JJ loved it! 

The first place we went was especially for little ones.  He loved throwing these balls around.

 He wasn't brave enough to go through the whole tunnel but he enjoyed what he did explore.

 Next we headed to the train.  Jackson liked the ride much more than waiting in line.

 Here is the main tree!  It is so pretty!

 Jackson's first carousel ride started off well but he was underwhelmed once it started moving.

 He really wasn't sure how he felt.

 Jackson is a great cookie decorator.  As soon as we bought our cookie to decorate, he started signing "more."  He couldn't wait to eat part of it.

 Then Bryan talked me into letting him take JJ on this big inflatable obstacle course and slide.  Luckily, he was thrilled to go down the big slide with Daddy!

 His last big adventure was the ferris wheel. It wasn't a kid ride and I was so scared he would jump to his death!  I made Bryan take a bunch of cheese puffs to keep him occupied while it slowly made it's way around to unload everyone.  He was so little up there.

This is such a fun place and will definitely be a yearly tradition!

Jackson is 17 Months Old

Jackson, at 17 months you:

• are getting quite the personality.  You make funny faces and can tell when mommy and daddy are being silly with you.
• are still a picky eater.  The only way you eat vegetables is if it is mixed with fruit in a little pouch.  We buy them at the store and you suck down 3.5 ounces in less than a minute!
• sign "cracker" and say "cacah" every time we open the pantry door.  It is by far your favorite food!
• love watching your Baby Signing Time DVD.  It starts with a song and when you hear it, you get a huge smile on your face and start signing baby.
• have started pulling Lily's tail.  She doesn't like it but she doesn't run away from you yet.  You laugh and that's how we know you're doing something naughty.
• are mostly napping just once a day but some days you take two naps.
• wake up at 6am on an almost daily basis.  The days you sleep until 7 are heavenly.
• love the Christmas decorations.  Every morning you stand next to each tree and say "on" until with plug them in.  We have even caught you trying to plug them in yourself!
• say "pretty" as you go by the Christmas lights.
• don't cry at all when we drop you off for Kids' City at church.  They always say you do a great job.
• are much better behaved on the weekends when daddy is home.  You love your daddy and he loves you!

The Marathon Reveal

I found out I was pregnant the night before the marathon.  I had tested the weekend before since we were going camping and I wanted to know if I could have some of the sangria I had made.  It was negative and the sangria was tasty.  I'm not really sure what made me take another test at 9:30pm a week later.  I did and I immediately ran into my parents room- they were staying with us for the marathon- to show them.  It was crazy!  Then I ran to show Bryan's mom too! 

I knew I couldn't call Bryan to tell him.  He was staying in the city with Jeremy so they wouldn't have to get up so early in the morning to make it all the way there in time for the race.  Since I couldn't sleep, I went downstairs and added some more text to the back of Jackson's race shirt.  I just had to make sure Bryan couldn't see it before he finished.

"Hey Daddy, I'm going to be a BIG BROTHER!"

Bryan looked at it when we met up with him after the race and he was shocked!  I think initially thought I had been keeping it from him for a while!  It worked out perfectly to tell him that way and it was much more memorable than when I carried out the freshly peed on test for him to see with Jackson.  What a fun surprise we will never forget!

16 Months Old

Jackson turned 16 months old on November 9th!  Time is flying!

Jackson, at 16 months old you:

• are running everywhere!  You run all over the house and you like to carry things with you.
• love to play with Claire.  You throw the ball for her and she runs to get it.  You belly laugh like it's the best thing that's ever happened to you.
• enjoy reading books.  You always bring books over to mommy and daddy to read to you or you just sit by yourself and flip through the pages.
• are still a very picky eater.  You will always eat yogurt, waffles, cereal bars, bananas, and grilled cheese.  That's about all you will always eat.  We always offer you other food but you usually throw it over your high chair for Claire.
• have really started using sign language.  You can sign for more, please, milk, cracker, all done, and thank you.
• are using more and more words.  Some of the words are still hard to understand but we can tell that you are saying them.  You can say up, hot, hat, mama, dada, nana, baw baw, Claire (caw), all gone, more, uh oh, brrrr, ball, thank you, apple and night night.
• make lots of animal sounds.  You can make the sounds for cat, elephant, tiger, bear, lion, and cow.
• love to stack your toys.  You can some blocks that you stack up but you will stack anything you can find!
• have just started cleaning up your toys.  You will put your toys in the baskets and then clap for yourself.
• are giving kisses and it's the sweetest thing ever!
 
 
 
 

Leaves

Last week, or maybe two weeks ago, it was really nice out and I needed to get some leaves out of the backyard.  I kept picturing the excitement on JJ's face as he jumped in the pile of leaves I made for him!  Well, I made him this pile.

 He, however, was not interested.  He wanted to play with a old, dirty dog ball and a garden tool.

I tried to get him excited about the rake but it only lasted about 10 seconds.

In order to get some good fall pictures, I plopped him into the middle of the pile of leaves and he freaked!  And crawled out as fast as possible.

I mean, who would want to play in leaves when you can climb up a brick wall, while holding the trowell,  and possibly fall onto the brick patio???

 Ooops!  I definitely think he will learn best by trial and error and luckily he fell on the mulch instead of the brick.  Sorry Bryan.  I really do watch him...just through a camera lens.

Don't worry!  He was fine.  And he hasn't tried to climb it again.



The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Here is our Itsy Bitsy Spider!  We had fun on Saturday night at our church participating in Trunk or Treat.  It was a long day after a playdate for a few hours and then a few more c-o-l-d hours at church.  JJ was a good sport though.  Here is our trunk decorated with the spider theme.

Jackson would only wear his hat if he could run around. 

I decided it would be a good idea to make all the spiders. 

He wasn't a very good Trick-or-Treater.  He just kept throwing his basket on the ground.

Who knew his hat would fit me too?  I talked to a few people forgetting I had it on.  Oh well.

By the end of the night, he was completely zonked.  He didn't even wake up as I took him inside.

See?  He's sleeping on his changing table.

The next night we carved pumpkins.  Bryan was proud of his PAC-man pumpkin.

JJ's Mr. Pumpkin head.

On Halloween we had music class so we got to put the kiddos in their costumes.  Macy was a bunny.  She kept saying "Hop, Hop, Hop."

And Jackson spent as much time as possible sitting on Macy's mom's lap.  Maybe he knows she's going to have her baby soon!

Jackson and daddy waiting for trick-or-treaters.

Mommy and Jackson

Small group mommas:  Jackson, Me, Andrea, Jacob, Erin, Emma.

I'm so excited about Halloween next year.  Jackson will be over two and hopefully understand better.  He just didn't get it this year and doesn't get to enjoy the candy either.  

Dupage Children's Museum

We have a really cool children's museum right in Naperville and we were able to check it out on Tuesday morning. It was awesome!  We got there right when it opened which was perfect because it wasn't crowded at all until the very end.

What kid wouldn't love this?

Silly boy in his smock.

Fun with the camera in the bubble area.

That Addison behind the bubble.  Jackson didn't want to touch the water in the big water table at first.  Then we came here and he was splashing like crazy...in the soapy water.

Sheer joy.

More fun with the camera.

The three babies who are all grown up.  *tear*

I LOVE this picture.  He's so serious.

He loved playing on the stairs which were not part of the designated exploration areas.  Oh well.  He liked it so I let him.  He only had one shoe for a majority of the morning.  It fell off shortly after we arrived and he couldn't be bothered to stop and put it on again.

In the big wind tunnel.

Look at that adorable 79% head!

Jackson liked to throw all the balls out of the ball pit.  Renee was nice enough to put them all back in for him and luckily he lost interest quickly.

This sticks were for building but Jackson turned it into his music adventure by using them as drumsticks and banging them on the table and innocent passers-by!  Oops.

Before we left he spent a lot of time in this mirrored tunnel. 

He played hard for a couple hours.  I was excited when we got home because he didn't fall asleep in the car so I was hoping for a stellar nap.  He slept for 18 minutes.  Definitely not stellar.  Then today he went down for his nap at noon and we had an appointment at Toyota at 2.  He was still sleeping at 1:15 so I called and moved our appointment back 45 minutes.  I had to wake him up at 2 after a 2 hour nap.  Little stinker.