The Life and Times of Jaxon Rhea

The BEST birthday present EVER

2009-04-01T04:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my (being Gia) birthday. It was an all around great day. The best part though was when I was tucking in Jaxon last night before he fell asleep and he looked at me and all on his own said "I love mama". This is a HUGE deal because Jax struggles a bit with certain aspects of speech. He has a bit of an issue with L sounds and has never said the word love before (even with much prodding by mom and dad). Then he just said it all on his own. I nearly cried.

If I don't see you then you can't see me

2009-03-05T04:46:00.000-08:00

this seems to be the philosophy of both Jax and Raven. Jax did not want his picture taken and Raven is terrified of the camera.

Let It Snow

2009-03-05T04:42:00.000-08:00

This was the first really good snow that has fallen since Jax was born in 2006. We have had other smaller snow storms but they usually ended in rain or freezing rain that made it difficult to get outside to play. Jax had a ton of fun moving the snow from here to there and there to here with his assortment of tractors and dump trucks.

Toilet Trained

2009-01-05T04:45:00.000-08:00

Jax decided to toilet train himself this last weekend. The timing could not have been any better since Joe and I had four days off that we could spend hovering around the toilet with Jax. I had been talking to Jax a lot lately about the fact that someday he would be a big boy and would be able to use the potty like Jaida does. He liked the concept but did not seem eager to do much about it. Then Thursday morning I was folding laundry and he was looking at everyone's underwear and went and picked up a diaper and held it up and said "Nons" (this is what he calls himself). I told him that if he wanted to wear big boy underwear he would have to start using the potty because he couldn't make pee or poo in his underwear because that would be a BIG mess. Jax is all about not liking messes right now so I figured this method might stand a chance. Jax thought about it for a while and answered yes that he would use the potty.

Thursday I ran out and bought him a couple of packs of underwear and he started wearing them when we got home. He had several small accidents on Thursday afternoon but did manage to make the majority of pee go in the potty. Thursday I was exhausted from spending so much time running back and forth to the bathroom and didn't have high hopes for toilet training success. Friday morning when Jax woke up we put him right back in underwear. He used the potty all day Friday with just a couple of small pee accidents. It was still more of a happy coincidence when it all worked out though. It just happened to be that Jax was on the potty when he peed. It wasn't clear that he really had any control. On Saturday it started to really click for Jaxon and he just suddenly got it. He was holding his pee for a normal amount of time and then he would sense that he needed to go and run for the bathroom all the while yelling "potty, potty, potty" over and over again. He had a few false alarms but mostly he peed every time he sat down on the potty. He had one small accident all day. He also linked wearing underwear and using the potty with being a BIG boy. Saturday night when I was getting him ready for bed and went to put a diaper on him he started to cry and told me he is a big boy by raising his arms above his head. I reminded him that as soon as he can hold his pee all night he can wear underwear to bed. Sunday morning he woke up dry but I forgot to check him before inviting him to snuggle with me in bed. He crawled in bed with me and snuggled for about an hour and then announced he had to go pee. I took him in the bathroom and peeled him out of his pj's and DRY diaper and sat him on the potty. He peed immediately!

He wore a pull-up to church on Sunday. Between Jaida's piano lesson, service and Jaida's choir practice we were at church for about 5 hours and Jax did not have a single accident. He even peed in the big potty at church! Jax napped when we got home and woke up dry and immediately peed on the potty afterwards. He really seems to *get it*. He woke up dry again this morning and immediately went in and peed on the potty.

I am just so proud of him! I suppose I am a tiny bit sad also as this really is the last hold-over of our baby days. My baby is a big boy now. I didn't think Jax would take to it this easily. Jaida kind of was interested in the potty at this age but it was a bit scarier for her for some reason. We had lots of false starts with Jaida. It just clicked with Jaxon.

Christmas with the cousins

2008-12-31T06:02:00.001-08:00

Jax had fun playing with his cousin Mattie ... in between screeches of "MINE" and crocodile tears when she took a toy from him. :)

Jax and Mattie playing with one of the multitude of toys

Jaida (with Ryli), Mattie and Jaxon (who happened to be licking chocolate cookies off his lips when I snapped the picture)

Santa = FUN

2008-12-31T05:36:00.000-08:00

This is the lesson Jax learned this holiday season. Before the receiving of Santa's gifts Jax thought the jolly old elf was a cool thing. He pointed out Santa whenever he saw his image (on anything). When asked if Santa was going to visit his house he would respond with a tentative "yesth" before looking up and shouting out that Santa is outside in the sky (not a God reference - just magical reindeer pulling the sleigh).

However, this all changed Christmas morning when Jax and Jaida came downstairs to find the loot Santa left for them. Now Santa may be the coolest person EVER in Jax's eyes!

Holiday fun!!

2008-12-15T08:39:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Excitement

2008-12-15T08:36:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Our kids personalities could not be summed up any better than this. Jaida is always kind of somber and everything she does is well thought out in advance. Jax on the other hand is very easily excited.

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-15T08:33:00.003-08:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

It took some time on a frigid December afternoon but we finally found the perfect tree.

Ho Ho Ho

2008-12-15T08:28:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Jax was VERY excited to visit with Santa this year! Everytime we would ask him if he was going to sit on Santa's lap the answer he gave was "yesth".

Happy Holidays

2008-12-08T05:51:00.000-08:00

My sweet sweet boy

2008-11-17T11:02:00.001-08:00

Boo!!!

2008-11-07T06:56:00.001-08:00

The kids dressed up as a fairytale witch and black cat this year for Halloween. They went trick or treating in their daycare providers neighborhood and had a blast.

The witches cat:

PeeWee World Cup

2008-11-07T06:52:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Jaxon made several goals during his final soccer game. He is VERY proud of himself!

Octoberfest

2008-11-07T06:49:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Jax enjoying the sites from a wagon ride along the river. His favorite parts .... the tractor (pulling wagon-of course) and also all the cows on the farm. He met bessy up close and personal.

A MOST excellent day for Americans

2008-11-04T23:55:00.000-08:00

Work To Do

2008-11-03T07:03:00.001-08:00

Disgusting

2008-10-09T03:50:00.000-07:00

I simply do not want my children living in the same world as these completely and totally ignorant and hate-filled people. From the responses you would think these people are members of some radical fringe political group. Nope, wrong .... just normal everyday hate filled people attending a McCain-Palin rally.

I want so much more for my kids than this. After your stomach settles please donate to the Obama campaign.

Our little soccer player

2008-10-07T08:25:00.001-07:00

This was the first season that Jax has been able to officially play peewee soccer. This means he got his own soccer shirt and shin gaurds. Also and most importantly, he gets a snack and drink after practice .... that he does not have to share with his sister. Up until this season Jax just tagged along with Jaida. His practice is every Monday at exactly the same time as Jaida's practice. It has worked out well that Joe and I are able to take turns taking the kids to their practices so that we each get some one on one time with Jax which is a rare treat for us. It is so cute on Monday afternoon when I ask Jax if he is ready to go play soccer and he yells out "yesth!" :) The picture to the left is a snippet of Jax's team picture. He is sitting next to his buddy Peyton (with the big cheesy smile).

A Last Minute Adventure

2008-10-01T04:44:00.000-07:00

On Friday I received an email about a last minute Obama-Biden rally in Fredricksburg, VA. So on Saturday after Jaida played her soccer game we packed up and headed over to VA. I explained to the kids why we were going and Jaida was pretty excited about seeing the person that could potentially be the next President of the US. When we arrived we found a deli and had a nice lunch. After we were stuffed with food we started walking to the Mary Washington University campus where the rally would be held. We arrived several hours early and already the line to get into Ball Circle was about a mile long (I think it might have actually been even longer). We got in line and figured we would just play it by ear depending on the kids ability to hold it together. The kids did absolutely wonderfully ... we stood in line for several hours and during that time we played games like I spy, punch buggy, etc. Finally, volunteers started bringing tickets to the rally around ... this gave us a bit of hope that we were actually going to get in. However, there were so many people in line in front of us and people were still turning out in droves and getting in line behind us. From the turn-out I would have thought that we were in a deep blue state but not the case at all.

Finally, at about 3:30 the line started moving. We wound our way through the campus and really enjoyed seeing all the people and feeling such a sense of community with people we didn't even know. We talked a lot about the inherent differences in the Democratic and Republican parties with the kids. We also spoke about the specific differences in Obama and McCain with the kids. Jaida had a lot of good questions. As we kept winding our way through the campus there was such a buzz of excitement in the air. It was easy to tell that Jaida was picking up on it also because she kept asking if Obama was there yet. I have to say the entire event was pretty organized and everything went smoothly. We finally arrived at the security screening area and then made our way into the rally area. It was a lovely grassy area flanked on all sides by huge historic buildings .... quite pretty.

Unfortunately, the weather had been a bit iffy all day. At first it was really hot and humid and intensely sunny. Once we were in the rally area though the skies became more ominous. Because of security issues we were not allowed to have umbrellas, food or water inside the rally area (near the stage). Because of our hasty departure from the house that morning I didn't think to bring rain jackets, ponchos, or much of anything else with us. At about 5:00 (just as Obama was supposed to take the stage) the sky opened and it poured rain. Not a little rain .... a HUGE thunderstorm. There was no shelter so we just stood there and got wet with everyone else. Luckily, the kids thought it was pretty funny to be standing out in the rain ... they didn't seem to mind it one bit. The amazing thing was that no one left ... everyone just stuck it out. After about 30-40 minutes of rain it finally started to clear up ... a bit. At one point the sun came out and there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky ... Jaida thought this was pretty cool.

At a little after 6:00 Biden came out on stage and got the crowd all riled up. He gave his stump speech and talked a bit about the debate the night before. Then to tremendous roars of the crowd Obama started speaking. Shortly after speaking the skies opened up again and Obama stood there and gave his entire stump speech during a torrential downpour. We enjoyed hearing him speak. It was nice that this was his basic stump speech where he reinforced points I heard him make in other televised speeches but more than that he did tailor it a bit to the crowd. He talked about the debate the night before, he worked the lousy weather into what he was saying, and talked about turning VA blue from red. All in all it was a very inspiring night. Jaida was really feeding off the crowds excitement and was so insanely excited when she saw Obama come out on stage. Someone had given Jaida a blow-up Obama banner which she happily waved around when the crowd started cheering. I think Jaida & even Jax left the night feeling like this process is something they can be a bit more involved in which I think is so very important. A few pictures and a link to the speech below.

Jaida and Jax patiently waiting in line

The line to get into the rally from my spot in line

Jax enjoying a snack inside the rally...

One of the buildings near the rally area

The back side of the stage area

Jax showing off his shirt

Lots of loves for daddy

A nice lady gave Jax a football to play with

Soaked after down pour number one

Senator Biden on stage

Senator Obama listening to Biden talk

Giving the stump speech during a torrential down pour

Beach Bum

2008-08-15T07:16:00.000-07:00

Jax started out his trip to the shore being a bit apprehensive of the big waves. It had less to do with his own fear and more to do watching Jaida be little frightened of the waves. By the end of the trip he was running close to the waves and then running away while shrieking and having a merry old time. Jax really enjoyed his trip to the shore and here is a bit of photographic evidence.

The little merman that washed up on the beach ....

Taking a little mid-day snooze on the beach ...

Boy with dunes ...

Sun, Sand and Margaritas

2008-08-08T05:09:00.001-07:00

(Although the kids will not be enjoying the Margaritas)

We will be on a road trip .... More to come shortly

Hey Mom!

2008-08-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

After waiting so long for Jax to really start talking we are really enjoying hearing him come up with more and more words and phrases. Lately his favorite thing to say is "Hey Mom". Whenever he is not sure where I am at I can hear this little voice saying something that goes like "Mom, mom, MOM, mom, HEY MOM". For some reason it just cracks Joe and me up. He also says outside, stick, tree, leaf, pool, daddy outside and cool. He says lots and lots words and three word phrases now but I am just listing the ones he says clearly so that all can understand.

So many words

2008-07-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

Jax is finally really starting to communicate verbally. Don't get me wrong ... Jax has no problem communicating his needs and desires at all. Up until this point he has mostly relied on non-verbal communication. He picks up sign language quickly and uses it often. In fact Jax rarely throws temper tantrums which is odd because so often we hear of non-verbal kids getting easily frustrated by not being able to communicate. This is not the case with Jax at all. Joe and I were much more likely to not understand Jaida (at the same age as Jax) because she did rely on verbal communication but her words were not always easily recognizable if not in the right context. With Jax he points, motions, uses a sign or speaks the word (clear as day for the ones he uses) ... so we easily understand what he wants. He is also much less likely to sit around waiting for us to do/get something for him. That is what step stools are for! This is sometimes a good thing but often a worrisome thing as he tries to do stuff that he probably shouldn't be doing.

Anyhow, Jax is saying a bunch of new words and all pronounced very clearly. It is fun to see Jax picking up so many new words. My new favorite is that instead of calling Dinosaurs by the word Dinosaurs he calls them all "growls". Said with the cutest little growl in his voice. ;)

My baby boy is TWO years old!

2008-07-03T03:42:00.000-07:00

Jax turned two on June 30th. This was a bittersweet day for me on so many different levels. Mostly though I just felt tremendously proud of what a wonderful little boy he is turning out to be. Since we had the big birthday party the weekend before his actual birthday we had a pretty sedate birthday for Jax. We got up in the morning and Jax opened his pressies from us. Jaida gave him a little push lawn mower. Joe and I gave him a few puzzles, a dinosaur puppet and a car carrying truck. Afterwards we went to the park and then went to an indoor play area when it became too hot outside. Then in the afternoon while Jax napped Jaida and I made him cupcakes. Jax blew out his two candles and we called it a day.

Yesterday Jax had his two year well baby check. He is perfectly healthy and right on track if not a bit ahead in his development (especially the gross motor skill stuff). Jax continues to be a tall skinny boy. His stats are weight: 27lbs3oz (45-50%) height: 35.25 inches (75%) and head circumference is 50.5 cm (95%). He is our tall, skinny big headed boy! :)

A Bouncing Good Time

2008-06-23T05:13:00.001-07:00

Jaida and Jaxon had their joint birthday bash on Saturday. This year we decided to have the party hosted outside of our house. We chose a play arena called Bounce About. It is a large warehouse that has several very large inflatable play areas ... a moon bounce, two obstacle courses, a large slide and smaller slide and then a contained moon bounce slide structure for the under three set. The kids ran and bounced for a solid hour. After that we had pizza and fruit and then strawberry short cake and ice cream. I think all the kids had a great time and were totally exhausted afterwards. Jaida invited several of her friends from dance, some friends from school, and then her best friends Jordyn and Peyton. Jax's little friend Faith also came. They all had a really good time.

Companionship

2008-06-19T05:54:00.000-07:00

There are times having two kids feels like a tremendous amount of work. For instance getting them ready to go in the morning, getting them to share toys, getting them to agree on what they want to eat, etc. But these times are so overshadowed by the friendship we see blooming in our kids. While they still bicker on occasion and each seems to derive great pleasure from pestering the other they absolutely adore each other. It is so nice to see them getting to the age where they actively seek each other out for companionship. It is also really nice to see that they are both very protective of each other against those they perceive as outsiders. I know they will have times where they drift apart and then become close again but I hope this love they share as little ones stays with them forever.

Some pictures of our two little monkeys.

Hanging out at the Awakening statue at National Harbor

Climbing up the hill at the zoo

Sharing a sandwich, curb and some giggles at the zoo

Feeding the geese at the park

Showing us the daisies they picked while at the dog park

Playing a computer game

Enjoying a late afternoon popsicle. Look at how they squeezed themselves together.

I am going to post this on both kids blog to serve as a future reminder that once upon a time they really did like each other. :)

Total mischief

2008-06-19T05:44:00.000-07:00

Jaxon is such a fun little guy these days. He is still into everything but he is very blatant about it so at least we know where we stand with him. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't just crack up at one of his antics or goofy facial expressions. He is such a little nut at times and he knows it and just cracks himself up. I really am going to have to apologize to his future teachers because I think we have bred a class clown!

Here are a few pictures ...

This is Jax up to no good .... just look at the expression on his face.

This is Jax's *I am very suprised/shocked by what I just saw* expression. He will make this face and hold it for the longest time while making little huffing noises until one of us notices and smiles and then he crumples under the weight of his own goofiness.

This was Jax's get-up the other morning. He takes the business of being a cowboy VERY serious!

More words

2008-05-28T08:06:00.001-07:00

Jax is now making bunches of animal sounds. He says cow, cat, doggie, fishie, outside, ashes ashes down, tree, leaf, sister, Dillon and Caeden. I think he might be on the brink of a big language explosion. Fun stuff! It is so fun to watch as Jax figures out way to communicate what he is thinking. The look of satisfaction on his face when we *get it* is priceless.

Finally!

2008-05-27T06:35:00.001-07:00

That last canine tooth (upper left) has finally poked its way through. Talk about torture ... for all involved. There was a fair amount of biting last week so we are all very happy this is over.

Jax is really starting to talk a lot. Yesterday he said outside as clear as day when he wanted me to let him out on the porch. There are many other words also and several short phrases. I am very happy he is finally starting to speak. :)

22 Months Old

2008-05-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

It is so hard for me to utter the words "he is nearly two". In so many ways he still seems like the little baby. But in so many other ways he is anything but a little baby. I suppose he will always be MY baby though.

At times it feels as though the world is just waiting for him to grow up while I am sitting here clutching to any little scrap of his baby-ness that he still exhibits. His daycare provider cannot wait for him to talk more, get potty trained, be less frustrated and mischievious. She will be glad when he can walk with her and the other boys without trying to wander off. His sister looks forward to him growing up so he can talk to her, play more complex games, stop ruining her stuff, stop knocking her block castles over or messing up her puzzles. His dad is really enjoying Jax's new-found independence, his love of dad, his ability to focus and play games a bit longer.

I just want him to snuggle for long periods of time without the need to get down and run around. I want his hair to smell like baby fluff instead of sweaty little boy. I want him to think I am the most wonderful person on the planet no matter what I am doing to him instead of screaming stoooop at me when he sees me nearing him with a diaper in my hand. In a weird sort of way I even miss his night-time wakings when he would lay in my arms nursing while the rest of the house was quiet and asleep. I am really not in a rush for him to grow up.

A boy and his dogs

2008-04-28T04:26:00.001-07:00

Jax loves his new dog Raven but his favorite will always be Kaiko.

Another tooth

2008-04-16T05:04:00.000-07:00

and not a moment too soon as the biting is pretty out-of-control. Fortunately he has not been biting at home. Unfortunately the other kids at daycare have not been so lucky. Anyhow yesterday I noticed that his lower left canine tooth finally broke through. No runny nose, no crankiness ... nothing.

Term of Endearment

2008-04-16T04:57:00.000-07:00

I have always called Jax little bubs. Not sure where it came from other than a friend of mine when he found out I was having a boy started referring to Jax (while in utero) as the little bubba. Not seeing myself as the mom to a bubba I suppose I just sort of shortened it to bubs. Not that that is really any better. :) Over time the nickname has sort of morphed into something that sounds more like ba-ba and now Jaida as well as myself call Jax this and he responds to it. I don't use this as his name all the time it is mostly reserved for snuggle time.

Anyhow, I have noticed over the last several weeks Jax calls me ba-ba when he wants to snuggle or wants a hug. Last night we were in the living room and Joe and I were pointing to everyone and getting Jax to name us. Joe is dada, Jaida is yay-ya, Jax is baby and I am ba-ba ... said with the biggest cheesiest grin you can imagine.

Jax really loves his mama

2008-04-08T04:53:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

and Jax's mama really loves this quality in him. :)

Dolphins and the little boy

2008-04-08T04:50:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

These dolphins really did seem to be interested in Jax. Several times they would swim by in the opposite direction and then suddenly the three of them would turn and basically float right in front of us as if they were watching us. Jax made his come here kitty sound at them and then offered them his sippy cup. :)

Cousins

2008-04-08T04:44:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

During a recent visit to Aunt Noa's house Jax had lots of fun being pushed around in this laundry basket with his little girl cousin Mattie. At one point Jax was wearing Noa's shoes and HE was pushing Mattie around.

Beach Bum

2008-04-07T05:53:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

We recently returned from a week and half long trip to Florida. It was sort of a thrown together trip that involved staying in Orlando for a few days. While there we went to Seaworld and Aquatica. Both were a good time. We then headed to St. Augustine for the rest of our trip. Very relaxing!

The kids turned into total beach bums and enjoyed exploring the lighthouse, St. Augustine Alligator Farm, Old Jail, the Spanish Quarter, and Castillo de San Marcos (the fort). The slower lifestyle of Anastasia Island was much more in line with what we were looking for in a vacation.

Tooth

2008-04-01T05:20:00.001-07:00

Jax also cut his upper left eye tooth ... you know, the pointy one. I think it cut through around March 18th. I say "around" because I really try to avoid getting too close to Jax's mouth or ever having to put my finger in his mouth because he bites. Have I mentioned the biting before? ;)

He speaks ... (finally)

2008-04-01T05:14:00.000-07:00

Jax is an odd little bird. At a year old he was saying more than a handful of words .... pretty clearly. Then he started walking and climbing and opening drawers and doors and all other sorts of mischief and the talking stopped ... more or less.

Now at 21 months old he is starting to pick back up on the talking. His speech is not all that clear but he is making an effort. Jax is such a busy kid that any talking to him has to be VERY deliberate. When I say deliberate I mean we must grab him and hold him still and make him look at our face while we speak to him. I suppose this is paying off as he is starting to mimic the words we say to him.

He has picked up probably about ten words in this last week alone. Not all of them are said consistently yet but he has used them in appropriate situations.

20 months old

2008-02-29T10:49:00.001-08:00

It is hard to believe that my squirmy little baby is now 20 months old. It seems like just yesterday that he was a tiny little thing that could do nothing for himself. Now though he is becoming quite the independent little guy. He must do everything for himself ... especially if he sees his sister doing it. He brushes his teeth, eats yogurt and oatmeal with a spoon (neatly), tries to put on his own shoes and jacket, and will go down the steepest and tallest slides HEADFIRST. He loves to run as fast, fast, fast as he can. Jax LOVES diggers of any sort and if he sees one while we are in the car I swear the shrieks of Digg-uh are probably heard for miles around.

He is so much fun. I swear we laugh every single day ... either with him or at him. :) He is just such a character. He loves to clown around and get a reaction out of those around him ... he seems to be a born entertainer. This does not bode so well for his first teachers in a school type setting. His favorite is to do something he knows from experience is funny and then as he is laughing he wiggles his entire body (like he is doing an upper-body only version of the twist) and shake his head all around at the same time. It is simply the cutest thing EVER!

It has been a great 20 months my little stinker-boy!

Cheeky little monkey

2008-02-25T09:11:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Squishy little love muffin

2008-02-25T09:07:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

A little Houdini

2008-02-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

I have never considered myself one to get totally worked up about something one of my kids does. Especially Jax .... there is just a certain amount of monkeying around that I have come to expect from such an adventurous little boy. However ....

The events of yesterday afternoon left me feeling a bit ... well un-nerved. Joe was off at ice skating lessons with Jaida. Jax was roaming about the upstairs .... mostly raiding all of Jaida's most prized belongings since she was not there to scream at him and slam her bedroom door in his face. I was also upstairs cleaning the bathroom. The power was out due to a wind storm. The power came back on and I left Jax upstairs briefly while I ran downstairs to re-start the washing machine. I have left him upstairs unattended many times ... there is a baby gate on both set of stairs, the bedrooms are kid-proofed enough that there is not much need to worry. Plus I was only going to be out-of-site a couple of minutes.

As I was getting the washing machine situation sorted out I heard Jax grunting and huffing a bit. I immediately ran back to the stairs and guess where I found Jax? On the outside of the railing that runs across the hall balcony. He was holding onto the spindles and walking along the ledge on the OUTSIDE of the railing. Basically standing on a 2 inch ledge ten feet above the foyer floor. Nothing other than the hard wood floor below him to break his fall. I was terrified ... especially since I could not reach him until I made it half way up the stairs. I ran up the stairs and grabbed him by the ankle and then made my way up to where I could grab his squishy little body and haul him down safely. My brain was running a mile a minute. The baby gate was locked in place and there are no foot holds on either the gate or the balcony railings for him to get him self up and over. Plus they are both just too tall.

As I surveyed the area and watched Jax as he grunted, pointed and lifted his shirt to show me the scrapes across his belly I realized he must have wedged his big Charlie Brown head between the highest point on the newel posts at the top of the stairs (where stair railing and balcony railing meet) and then he forced the rest of his body through the rails until he escaped onto the ledge. Seriously, do toddlers his age actually experience fear? Because looking down should have been enough to scare the living crap out of him.

Joe will be fixing the stairs tonight. Yesterday I would have never even imagined that a small human being could fit through such a tight opening.

This is the best picture I can find quickly of the area. Jax squeezed through that small area to the right of Jasper. The small gap between the two large posts with knobs on top.

My boy Jaws, umm I mean Jax

2008-02-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while at work I get a call from Nancy. Apparently, Jax got pissed at his little friend Dillon and for no apparent reason bit him (fairly viciously). He bit him through his sweatshirt and still left a full ring of teeth marks and broke the skin in a few places ... THROUGH THE SWEATSHIRT, did I mention that part? Nancy admitted that she wasn't watching them that close at the moment since they seemed to be playing well. She heard the screaming and went running.

I was at work so there wasn't much I could actually do other than suggest she put Jax in time-out or remove him from the playroom. It weighed heavy on me all day. I am one of those parents that fully believes when you put your kids into daycare or any situation where they need to learn inter-personal skills at a young age you have to expect a certain amount bonking on the head, hitting, pushing and even biting ... it just goes with the territory. I do realize though that many parents are VERY protective and get a bit riled when their kid is biten or whatever. I guess I am just not one of them. Anyhow, later in the day Nancy calls again. I was not looking forward to her telling me all the horrible things Jax was up to. I picked up the phone anyhow. Apparently, when she went to change Jax's diaper she pulled his onsie up and right there on his back was a nice big bite mark ... no broken skin but a definite bruise left by a small set of chompers.

Is it bad that I feel better knowing that in at least this one instance Jax was likely biting out of retaliation and was not the aggressor?

I am the mom of the biter

2008-01-31T08:40:00.001-08:00

I feel like I am apologizing to everyone these days due to Jaxon's need to bite when he is teething. His canines are starting to shift about to get ready to come in. Since teething is an agonizingly slow process for the Lamela-Rhea children I imagine I get to be labeled as the "mom of the biter" for several more weeks to come. He only seems to bite when he is teething. He has never biten during any other time. However, during this time the triggers are many ... everything from playful biting to biting out of frustration and no one is off limits, unfortunately. Any discipline regarding the biting just brings attention to the fact that he bit which seems to trigger him to bite more to get a rise out of everybody. It is very annoying.

Sleep you little TURD!

2008-01-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

Jax was not the best sleeping little baby in the world. He really did not like to and therefore would not sleep alone. This meant he slept curled up under my arm and nursed on and off all night. He rarely woke all the way up at night ... instead he woke, nursed and went back to sleep. While this was a situation that worked well for him at the time I was rather happy when he outgrew the need. By the time Jax was a year old he was sleeping through the night (although he does like to wake quite early) in his own crib and in his own room. Since then he really does not wake at night ... not even when he is teething or has a cold. He will occasionally rustle and need a bit of patting to calm back down but that is about it.

I have often thanked my lucky stars that Jax was not like Jaida as a baby. Jaida was generally a great sleeper when she slept. She slept long and hard but if she did wake for any reason (26 TEETH!) it was a process to get her back to sleep. The process entailed much shhhh'ing, singing, humming, bouncing, rocking and walking the cold hard floors in the wee hours of the morning. Jax in the last three weeks (for some undisclosed reason) has decided to start waking in the middle of the night. When I say waking I mean really waking up as in greeting us by yelling "hi mama" or "hi dad" as we walk through the door. He also hands us his pacifier and points at the dresser where they are kept when he is not in the crib. It is never a good thing when he hands us the pacifier in the middle of the night because it means he has no intention of going back to sleep. It has gotten to the point where I refuse to take it from him in hopes that he will give up, pop it back in his mouth and go back to sleep. Miracles do happen, don't they? That is usually the point at which he throws the pacifier towards the dresser and starts screaming as loud as he can. That is also the point at which Joe takes over because it requires a bit of walking with Jax to get him back to sleep and well Jax is just way too big for me to carry like that for very long.

Last night Joe made many trips into Jax's room. Then the screaming started. Then I heard Joe finally give up and plop Jax back in the crib ... still screaming. He was just awake and was not going to be left in the crib. I finally took pity on poor Joe and drug myself out of bed to try to help. I sat next to the crib and held Jax's hand until he finally started to drift off to sleep. At that point he was still very restless and needed considerable shhh'ing. So I layed down in the toddler bed in Jax's room and for the next 2 hours shhhh'ed him every 10 minutes or so. Toddler beds are really small. I am very stiff and tired today. The boy BETTER sleep tonight!

18 months old

2008-01-08T07:46:00.000-08:00

I am a little late with this entry. Things have been busy but mostly it was because Jax didn't have his 18 month well baby(kid?) exam until last Friday.

The stats:

Length: 32.25 inches (50%)
Weight: 24 pounds 14 ounces (~40%)
Head: 50 cm (>95%)

He is a very healthy little guy. It is funny that with Jaida whenever we had to fill out one of those developmental checklists she always fell slightly behind on the physical aspects ... climbing, balancing, jumping, etc. She is perfectly caught up now but then she was always a tiny bit behind. Jax on the other hand has had all the physical stuff listed on the 24th month checklist mastered for some time. Anyhow, Jax is healthy and developing just perfectly. The only concern I had was about his lack of actual talking. The doctor assured me that he falls in the totally normal range for both boys and second children as far as his speech. He says about 30 words and combines many of them into three word phrases. He understands everything we say and can follow semi-complicated directions from me so I know that he hears perfectly fine. I suppose that Jaida was so far advanced at this point that it is a bit hard to keep from comparing the two.

Jax seems to have caught Jaida's cold/cough which of course settled right into his chest. I gave him a few doses of albuterol in the nebulizer and that seems to be knocking it right out. This is all after about a week and a half of rather sleepless nights for Joe and myself. Jax slept through all the coughing just fine but we of course suffered.

Bath-time Silliness

2008-01-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

Sister, you look silly!

Do I look silly too?

A VERY Merry Christmas

2008-01-03T09:02:00.001-08:00

IMG_5900
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

While Jax had very little interest in doing the work of un-wrapping his gifts he certainly enjoyed playing with all the toys afterward. He especially loves all of the car toys and his new rocket ship. He also loves the little tool sets and we hear him exclaim "I fix it!" quite often these days.

We had lots of time off work so we had fun making/decorating/eating cookies. Jax mostly just played with his toys or got into Jaida's stuff. :)

Cuteness

2008-01-03T08:54:00.001-08:00

Jax
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

It is a regular old Christmas miracle

2007-12-21T07:27:00.000-08:00

that our son who has an un-ending amount of curiosity and energy has absolutely no interest in either the Christmas tree or the presents underneath. Seriously, what is wrong with this child? I delayed putting up the tree and the only pressies underneath are from friends and family because I just knew I would be yelling "Jax, get out of the tree" a gazillion times a day. I am happy to admit I was wrong ... the tree might as well not be in the house.

New York City at Christmas

2007-12-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

We recently returned from a nearly week long trip to the big apple. It was rather exhausting but in a fun sort of way. We saw the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. The kids were all enchanted. Jaida's favorite part was when the Rockettes dressed as reindeer pulled Santa and his sleigh across the stage. Jax enjoyed all of the appearances of Santa Claus. We visited Fao Schwartz where both kids picked out a toy to purchase and Jaida was able to dance on the piano featured in the movie Big. Jaida and I ventured to the American Girl Place where Jaida picked out a new outfit for her Bitty baby. We spent time in Rockefeller Square and watched the brave people try to ice skate. We also braved Times Square at night which was an adventure. Generally, we did A LOT of walking. It was rather difficult as it was very busy and the stroller just got in the way. Poor Jax ended up strapped into his stroller most of the trip but he did enjoy running up and down the ramps in teh hotel lobby a lot. ;) It was a fun trip but we are all really glad to be home and are looking forward to Christmas.

The last molar

2007-12-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

is finally through. This is his lower left one year molar.

A toothy little fellow

2007-12-04T08:55:00.001-08:00

Jax has been very busy cutting teeth along with other general mischief. The week before Thanksgiving we noticed he had two brand spanking new molars. Both of his upper one year molars popped through with little fanfare. Yesterday he had a rather cranky day at daycare and when I looked in his mouth I saw a brand new lower one year molar on his right side and his lower right lateral incisor FINALLY came through. His other lower one year molar is VERY close to popping through ... I would say in the next day or so. The ear tubes must be doing what they are suppose to be doing because he has had bit of snottiness with all these teeth but no ear infections. If I was superstitious I might feel the need to knock on wood.

Less than thrilled

2007-12-03T07:57:00.001-08:00

Kids_with_Santa_2007
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

At least he didn't start screaming immediately. He did like the jolly old guy from a distance though.

The frog prince

2007-11-05T09:21:00.001-08:00

IMG_5539
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Jax LOVED everything about Halloween. The walking around, collecting of candy, socializing, and staying up late ... he had a blast.

Would you like to see why I am going pre-maturely gray?

2007-10-24T11:28:00.001-07:00

Jax was a little bit too quiet this morning ... look where I found him. Is it bad that I left him there to go get my camera? When he realized I was standing behind him he started yelling "mama, I did IT!"

Liberal use of the word it

2007-10-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Jax's new favorite things to say are "I got it!" "I did it!" and "What is it?" It might be the cutest thing I have ever seen or heard when Jax successfully does his shape sorter and then yells out "I did it!" all the while clapping like crazy for himself. Jax also says "Hi Nancy" now.

A boy with a touch of OCD

2007-10-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

Jax is having a hard time with this whole Autumn thing. On the way from the car to the porch he spends his time stooped over picking up the leaves and trying to place them carefully back in the bushes where they clearly belong. It should be interesting when all the leaves start falling. ;)

New words

2007-10-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

Jax now says "what is it" (said in the highest voice he can muster) whenever he sees anything he likes or wants to touch. He says night (for night night) . He says fishies and horsies. He says daddy (add-eeeeeeee). Very cute.

GOT IT!

2007-10-03T07:01:00.000-07:00

I have been trying (in vain) to get Jax to say Thank You when someone gives something to him. Will he say Thank You? Of course not. Instead he shouts out GOT IT! and grabs the item. It is cute ... for now.

The boy LOVES to dance

2007-09-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

Photos

2007-09-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

Today I made all of the kid's pictures on Flickr available only to people I deem as friends or family. I might make them public again after the mess with Orkut gets straightened out but until then you will need to email me so I can make you friends and family so you can view the photos. I don't mind doing this so just drop me a line. Email is in my profile.

A painstakingly sloooooooow process

2007-09-26T07:55:00.001-07:00

but Jax has another tooth ... his seventh to be exact. He has not been whinny or clingy or even had that bad of a runny nose. He is also sleeping just fine ... thank you very much! The only two clues were his recent need to chew on all of us and the drooling ... good godzilla the drooling.

This was number 2 tooth on the lower right ... (lateral incisor). If Jax is anything like Jaida I imagine all the nasty teeth to cut (cuspids and molars) are going to show up sometime this winter and will unfortunately likely result in ear infections ... oh well.

Jax is saying several new words ... trees (tees), boys (as in Hi boys! said to his daycare friends with much exuberance), bus, sister (sisser), Kaiko (kai kai kai KO!), and cat. Such a fun stage!

We appear to have a biter on our hands

2007-09-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

Can't say that I am really sure what to do about it either. Especially seeing as how Jax thinks it is freaking hilarious when I reprimand him for biting by saying "No Bite". Just my uttering those two words usually results in him laughing hysterically, grinding his six little teeth and then coming in for another nip.

He has given us all a few little *love nips* in the past. Not hard bites ... really just enough to startle if we were not aware of what he was up to. Also, they usually happened during any sort of rough play like wrestling, etc. Recently though he has started biting out of frustration. It usually happens when Jaida has taken one too many toys from him or I am trying to wrangle him into his clothes (something he absolutely hates). He has attempted to bite the other little guy at his daycare several times. Dillon is bigger and a bit grabby where toys are concerned which really exasperates the issue. So far though Dillon is a bit too fast for Jax to catch so there have been no bad biting incidents.

The other morning Jaida was sitting at the table eating her bagel for breakfast. She didn't realize the squawking Jax was doing was because he wanted to share her bagel. Next thing she knows he reaches over and chomps on her elbow. Thank godzilla he only has six teeth or he might have done real damage. He did leave a nasty looking bite mark on her arm and broke the skin a bit. She screamed bloody murder and he thought that was SO funny. The hysterical laughter was like rubbing salt in a wound.

I can't figure out what to do. For now I just try to avoid him getting into situations where I know he is likely to bite. I also calmly but sternly say "no bite" when he does bite. I also try really hard not to smile which is really hard because he is so evil and thinks it is so funny. I am hoping this is just a phase he will outgrow ... and quickly!

Enthusiasm

2007-09-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

I love that Jax just oozes enthusiasm. Everything is exciting. Even the way he speaks is filled with enthusiasm. Everything seems to end in an exclamation point. As he pets the cat he says oft! (soft!) in a big, grasp and excited voice. As he throws stuff away (which to all of our detriment he loves to do) he throws the object with great force into the can while yelling bash! (trash!). As he tries to give Kaiko loves he squeals with much excitement oggie! (doggie!) which sends a visual chill up Kaiko's spine as he braces for impact. :) So much fun.

Not sure why they like him so much

2007-09-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

especially seeing as how rough he can be with them. Maybe they know he means well and will eventually grow out of the need to man-handle them. They look out for him ... even when he is sleeping.

Doggie!

2007-09-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is Jax's new word as of yesterday. It is said often and with much enthusiasm while he points at Kaiko.

The boy LOVES corn-on-the-cob

2007-09-05T07:47:00.001-07:00

IMG_4989
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

A few new things for Jax. First off he loves corn-on-the-cob. During our labor day picnic he pretty much consumed his own weight in corn. He cried when we eventually took the gnawed on cobs away from him. :)

Jax is at the beginning of a language explosion. He said a few words early on but then just started grunting a lot. He has added one or two new words to his vocabulary each day since Sunday. He now says (clearly) mama, dada, hi, Jaida (yaeda), cheese, sit, trash, and Nancy. He also says a few other words that aren't so clear ... Kaiko and cup are two that really are more of a sound than a word.

14 Months Old!

2007-08-31T07:46:00.001-07:00

IMG_4821
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Jax is getting to be such a big boy. Jax celebrated his 14th month birthday by escorting his sister off to the first day of pre-k. He loves getting to walk out to the car every morning while holding Jaida's hand.

The many faces of Jax Rhea

2007-08-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

Jax can go from this ...

to this ...

in about 30 seconds flat.

Is it too early to be having tantrums?

2007-08-29T07:02:00.001-07:00

IMG_4806
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

This is what Jax does now if he does not immediately get his way. Oh by the way there is usually a fair amount of screaming and screeching and peeking up to see if we are paying attention while he is in this position.

The MOST conservative first hair cut EVER

2007-08-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

Jax has been looking a tad bit shaggy lately. Personally, the shagginess didn't bother me but his hair covering his pretty eyes did bother me a bit. So, it seemed like the appropriate time for a first hair cut. I do not like the look of crew cuts or buzz cuts or whatever they are called on toddlers ... makes them look too grown up, I think. We had our good friend MB give Jax his first cut and a very conservative cut it was. She trimmed the straggly pieces that fell in his eyes and the frizzy bits in the back but left all of his cute curls (or devil horns as we refer to them) around his ears and neck line. Pretty cute kid if I do say so myself.

Jax playing with his friend Christian. See the shaggy hair.

Jax getting his hair cut. He sat so still and when MB was finished she told him he is beautiful and he just softly stroked his hair. :)

His after hair cut picture. He looks so cute.

Giddy Up

2007-08-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

This last Christmas Santa brought Jax a rocking/bouncing horse as his *he will grow into it* gift. It appears that he has grown into it and he thinks it is the coolest toy ever. The funny thing is that Jax cannot sit on the horse until his cowboy (Woody) hat is on his head. How does he know at such a young age that cowboys and horses go together? I suppose that maybe Jaida told him or maybe it is the fact that he did it once and we all laughed ... who knows? Anyhow, Jax goes and finds his cowboy hat and puts it on his head and then while walking to his horse he can be heard saying "iddy up up up" over and over again in almost a whisper of a voice. It is so cute!

Figuring out the walking thing

2007-08-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

Jax is amazingly cautious with his walking which quite honestly is surprising since he is fearless in so many other ways. It is hard to describe how he walks without a visual but here goes ... He sort of walks with his knees slightly bent and feet pointing outward (think duck), his back straight and arms held slightly up and out for balance and then he takes these teeny little steps. Think Tim Conway in some of his old man skits. He has great balance and now walks all over the place. He no longer crawls at all. Just Wednesday (8/15/07) he finally figured out how to get up onto his feet in the middle of the room ... does a power lifters squat lunge action to get to his feet. ;) He can also now stop mid-stride squat down and pick a toy up and then stand back up and keep moving. He just looks so happy to be up and walking. Yesterday he actually walked (barefoot) through the grassy yard to the play set so he could swing. This is a HUGE accomplishment since up until ... well yesterday ... he thought grass was pure evil and would have no parts of being set down in it.

A VERY odd faery princess

2007-08-16T08:27:00.001-07:00

rhea_kids_0654
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

I swear Jaida's room is like wonderland to Jax. He loves to sneak in there as often as possible since Jaida normally gives him the boot and closes the door behind him. She has all sorts of fun stuff in there that he loves to get into. He shrieks like a maniac when we finally have to drag him out of there.

A scary resemblance

2007-08-16T08:23:00.001-07:00

rhea_kids_0600
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Does Jax look a bit like a tiny Elton John or is it just my imagination?

The book of Jax

2007-08-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

I spent a small amount of time organizing all of my blog entries into a nice little published book for Jax. This book contains all blog entries (plus pictures) made during my pregnancy up until Jax's first birthday. I plan to do one of these for each kid. Seeing as how I detest scrapbooking I figure this is the next best thing. :)

Jaxon is now officially a walker!

2007-08-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

It is rather amazing he waited this long before finally letting go. He was physically capable of walking a month or so ago. I suppose there were several factors at play ... first being I have never in my life seen such a fast crawler. I think he just didn't want to slow down to figure out the walking thing. Secondly, why bother ... everything he wants he can get to by crawling and climbing so I suppose he felt no rush. Finally, letting go can be so scary. Anyhow, last week I told Joe that Jax would walk this weekend. I don't think he totally believed me. Jax just had a look about him. He was so stable and very confident and brave in his movements and just looked like he was starting to toy with the idea.

Saturday Jax took a few excited steps between Joe and I. These usually started out with Jax walking and ended with him lunging at his target. Then yesterday (8/5/07) Jax let go of the table and walked to me ... I would say maybe 6 or 7 steps. He practiced all day. He fell a lot and quite hard at times but it didn't seem to rattle him too much.

It is quite funny to watch him walk as he starts out slowly but then as his target approaches he gets really excited and moves way too fast and sort of loses his balance. When Jaida started walking she was very sure footed and deliberate with her movements. She rarely fell and had excellent balance. When newly walking she looked a lot like franken-baby ... all stiff legged and arms out for balance. Jax on the other hand looks like Clyde the Orangutan when he walks. He walks super wide legged and sort of tips from foot to foot in a crazy sideways motion all the while carrying his arms straight up in the air ready to body slam his intended target as soon as possible. It is simply hilarious to watch. Unfortunately, it is impossible to watch him without cracking up which makes Jax laugh and then fall over. The look of pride on his face says it all. He is just so happy when he reaches his target that it is hard not to be happy for him ... even though ultimately this just means more work for Joe and me. :) I will try to get a short video clip this evening and link to it.

Poo under the fingernails

2007-08-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

Why (oh why?) does my sweet son poop SO much? Seriously, I wonder if there might be a little something wrong with him as it does not seem normal for such a large volume of poo to come out of his squishy little body so often. This morning I thought I smelled something foul so I grab Jax and hoist him up and go to grab the top edge of the back of his diaper so I can sneak a peak. Sure enough the poo had migrated up the back of the diaper to the point where I had the better part of three fingers submerged in poo up to the first knuckle. It really is a shame as I had just toasted myself a nice bagel which was sitting in the kitchen waiting for me. There is not enough antibacterial hand soap, fingernail scrubbing and hand sanitizer to make me want to use that hand to pick up my food for quite some time. blech!

Baby Loves

2007-08-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

Jaxon has recently glommed onto one of Jaida's baby dolls ... to the point that Jaida has now officially relinquished custody of the baby doll to her brother. Baby's name is Pix which is apparently short for Pixie. Jaxon loves this baby doll so much that if we even mention baby doll by name he performs a hard target search of the playroom until Pix is safely in his arms. Just about every morning Jax finds Pix and then does not drop him/her until we get to daycare. Nancy said Jax rarely plays with Pix while at her house but at home ... all I can say is do not get between Jax and his Pix or there will be much screeching. It is very sweet to see how loving and nurturing Jax can be to this baby doll since he can be a little brute in so many other ways. :)

Sixth Tooth

2007-07-31T07:27:00.000-07:00

Jax is the proud owner of six teeth and a slightly runny nose to boot. His left upper incisor finally came through. All the same teething symptoms so we knew it would be any day. I don't know if poop can possibly smell any worse than the stuff that comes out of poor Jax when he is teething. Just nasty .... plain and simple.

Jax was also the victim of a biting ... by his sister no less. See Jaida's blog for details on this. He is fine ... doesn't even seem traumatized or anything.

Hi Dada

2007-07-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

Jaxon LOVES to talk on the phone. This morning he brings me the phone and holds it up to his ear (upside down) and says "Hi Dada" while pointing at his mouth with the other hand. I called Joe at work and asked him to speak to Jax. I hold the phone up to Jax's ear and in the tiniest sweetest little voice he says "hi dadadada" with a BIG smile on his face.

Big Time Wrestling Moves

2007-07-22T04:57:00.000-07:00

Jax loves to body slam stuff. That stuff includes food on his booster seat chair tray, his toys, us, the cat ... oh the poor cat. Anyhow, he straightens his back raises his arms above his head and then flings his entire upper half onto his target with wreckless abandon. This has resulted in Jax having bruises on his face from landing on hard objects such as a toy, the floor, my knee or shoulder, etc. He has slammed Jaida and the poor cat several times as a sign of affection. They don't seem to feel the love though. ;)

FIVE teeth

2007-07-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

Jax is now the proud owner of five teeth! Do I have the world's slowest teething children or what? Jax has been a bit out of sorts the last couple of days. Also didn't sleep well the last two nights even though up until that point he had been sleeping 12-14 hours straight in his own bed and in his own room each night. Add to that a tremendously snotty nose and some REALLY nasty poops and I was pretty sure something was going on with his teeth. Yesterday I noticed his right upper tooth right next to his front center ones came in. What is that tooth called anyhow ... an incisor? The other one should be in in about a weeks time I would guess.

Cousins

2007-07-09T09:59:00.001-07:00

This is Jax and his little cousin Mattie spending some quality time together. Jax happily slept through the entire thing otherwise he likely would have ended up sitting on her head, pulling her hair or in some other way torturing her and she would not look so happy. :)

Happy 1st Birthday to Jax!

2007-06-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

IMG_4196
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Yes ... hard to believe our little guy is ONE year old.

Jax shared his birthday party with his sister. They each got a cute clown cake. Jax wasn't so into the fondant icing but once he got past it to the cake part he was double fisting he was cramming so much in his mouth. I think Jax had lots of fun watching all teh older kids run around like maniacs.

Jax is VERY close to walking. I think he can do it but just has not decided he wants it bad enough yet. He can stand unassisted and will walk while holding our hand. I think part of the problem is he crawls so fast that he doesn't want to slow down enough to figure the walking thing out. :)

Jax had his one year check-up and is now 21.5 pounds and a little over 31 inches long ... so overall tall and skinny. He also has a gigantic noggin. :) The only problem is Jax seems to have developed reactive airway disease and a bit of triggered asthma. The doctor does not think this is going to be a long lasting issue but it just needs some attention right now. So for the next 3-4 months Jax is taking nebulizer treatments of Pulmicort twice a day. This is just to stabilize his respiratory tract and then he should be able to go off them. At first he hated the treatments with a white hot passion. Then his dad started doing funky chicken dances to entertain him while he was in gas mask mode and now I think Jax might just look forward to his meds. Although not sure how much is getting into him when he is laughing hysterically. ;)

Our big guy

2007-06-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

Well Jax is nearly a year old! Where has the time gone? I have to say I am loving that he is a tiny bit more independent. Jax is still quite the snuggle-bug even with his new found independence.

A few updates:

Jax can cross crawl ... you know the official way of crawling. He has been crawling since he was very young but because we have hardwoods through-out the house he never really felt the need to get all the way up on those knees.

Jax is scarily close to walking. We are not rushing this AT ALL. I love his little baby side.

Jax talks a lot. He babbles constantly. He says mama, dada, yaeda (Jaida), og (dog), ity at (kitty cat), up up up (all strung together quickly), in and out, this, that and something that sounds a lot like Hi

Jax is such a wonderful little guy. So full of spunk but just has a really sweet sensitive side also.

This is the face of BIG trouble!

2007-05-10T07:27:00.001-07:00

rhea_05082007 127
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

Eek! It has been SO long since my last update. Life is crazy busy and I feel that I am barely keeping my head above water most of the time. We are fully enjoying life and all these early days with little Jax ... hence the lack of blog entries - there is simply no extra time.

Let me give the quick update on boy-wonder. He is doing everything your typical 10 month old baby should be doing plus some. He also did almost all of it shockingly early. He is trying to put me in an early grave ... I am convinced of it. He started crawling at about 5 months old. In typical Lamela-Rhea kid fashion he still doesn't cross crawl as there is no need for it ... we have hardwoods so the commando crawl/belly shimmy works out very well. Shortly after he figured out the crawling thing he also decided to master pulling up on EVERYTHING ... nothing is safe. sigh ... Then came cruising which at this point he is an old pro at and actually runs along the surface of the furniture while barely (if at all) holding on. He also LOVES to climb. Jax takes anything vertical as a personal challenge. He worked out (much to our chagrin) that he can push an upside down laundry basket around to use as a step stool to get to all sorts of places he shouldn't be. Did I mention that he tries to climb the stairs every chance he gets? Must.Invest.In.Baby.Gates

Shortly after he worked out all the physical stuff he started saying dada ... surprisingly this word seemed to be linked to Joe and the dog very early on. Now he says something that sounds remarkably like "Hi DaDa!" when he sees Joe. He also says mama ... for the longest time only when he was crying but now he says it whenever he wants anything. Jaida swears he says a version of Jaida but I am not totally convinced. Jax started on solid food at about 7 months old. While he does love to eat and really loves solids he does not seem to have the voracious appetite that his sister did at the same age. He loves anything cut into bite-sized pieces and enjoys feeding himself and the dog. He still nurses like a champ ... mostly morning and evening at this point except on weekends when he makes up for missed milk during the week. He hasn't really worked out what to do with a sippy cup except throw it across the room. Mostly because we have not given him many opportunities with one. Jax waves hello and squints when we ask him to wink. He claps his hands and loves to applaud himself for a variety of tasks done well. He also likes to play pat-a-cake and the bumpy horse game. Generally, he likes any game that involves him being thrown about in a variety of directions. Jax also LOVES his sister. He studies her every move and generally just wants to do whatever she is doing. Jaida takes this in stride for the most part and loves to procclaim "look mama Jaxie is learning from me". Lately though, Jaida has become a bit more aggressive in taking toys from Jax or bossing him (can't say I blame her as he is into all her stuff). When Jax has something that he thinks she might take he throws his body on it and starts growling when she so much as looks at him. It is pretty funny but does lead to a fair amount of noise in our house. Oh did I mention that she has several nicknames for Jaxon ... Jaxie, happy Jax and Jaxie-Bo.

Jax is the sweetest little guy. He is a total wild child and a little dare-devil but he is also such a tender soul. He seems to get his feelings hurt easily ... like if Jaida raises her voice at him. He loves to snuggle and gives the best hugs and kisses to all of us. He has a temper also. It is amazing to see the flare-up so early. If we take something from him that he really wants he has no problem letting us know. If he wants to be held and we put him down ... he just melts into one big Jax puddle in the middle of the floor. Jax is also a baby that generally just needs/wants mama a lot. I can't say this bothers me at all. ;)

Jax is now a little over 10 months old. He has followed the same growth curves most of his short life. Generally he has a noggin in the 95%, height in the 90-95% and weight in the 65%. There was one month right before he started solids where he totally fell off the weight curve but as soon as he started getting more calories from the solids his weight picked right back up. This period also happened to coincide with a big increase in his mobility. Jax has (like his sister) suffered pretty terribly with back-to-back ear infections. I am reasonably sure there was one infection that just never completely went away since November 2006. In March of this year we had tubes put in his ears. Made a world of difference. He had one slight ear infection since the tubes but it didn't really cause him much discomfort.

Now that Spring has finally sprung in the DC area we are having a lot of fun spending more time outside. We are looking forward to many weekends spent touring the city or lounging at the beach.

The new and improved Jaxon Rhea

2007-02-08T08:10:00.001-08:00

jaxon_02062007 006
Originally uploaded by gias_kids.

I am just testing out the link between my flickr account and this blog. Please bear with me.

To laugh or cry that is the question ... apparently

2006-10-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

Jax seems to have some issues figuring out whether he wants to laugh or cry. Maybe this is a normal new baby thing and I just missed it with Jaida but I do find it kind of amusing. Jax rarely cries and usually it takes something like a needle poke or me sitting on his hand (a story for another day) or something similar for him to really cry. Something is going on in his brain right now and whenever he gets giddy and starts to giggle he nearly cries. It is like his brain can't quite sort out what is going on ... pretty funny.

Three Months Old and as cute as ever

2006-10-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

Jax is a few days over three months old. He is such a joy!

He had his first little head/chest cold a week or so ago thanks to his sister. He handled it like a champ ... no crying or sleepless nights. Last week he went to the pediatrician for his IPV and DPaT vaccines. He weighed 13 pounds 7 ounces and was a little over 24 inches long. He didn't get fussy or anything from the vaccines so that was good.

Jax is such a great baby. He sleeps really well both for naps and at night. He rarely fusses and is generally a joy to be around. On Thursday (9/28) he giggled out loud for the first time and it was the sweetest sound ever. He is also very good at grabbing objects and getting them to his mouth ... namely my hands or his blankie.

Yesterday Jax spent his first day with Nancy as I returned to work part-time. He did great. He only drank 3 ounces of breastmilk for her but then spent the evening nursing so all is well.

Stinky Boy

2006-09-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

How can such a little guy smell SO bad? Jax now only poops once every three to five days and let's just say the gas on day 2-3 is very unpleasant. It doesn't seem to phase Jax but the smell is enough to clear a room. Oh ... and Jax apparently thinks farting is hillarious. He is SUCH a boy! He will let a big one rip and then get the biggest smile on his face ... it must feel great. :) By the time he finally gets around to pooping the sheer volume is just stunning. I tend to make sure I have no plans to go anywhere on those days since he can fill a diaper + some several times in a day ... a real mess.

TWO months old

2006-08-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

Can you believe the boy is 2 months old already?!? We can't. Jax is doing great. He is a happy little guy that eats, sleeps and poops well. What else is there to life at this age? :)

Jax had his 2 month well baby check today. He is doing really great. He weighed 12 pounds 3 ounces and was just about 24 inches tall. He has grown 5 inches in two months which is amazing. He is going to be a tall dude. He looks quite tall ... pretty string beanish actually. He is by no means a light weight but doesn't look that heavy because he is so long. The little guy has lovely brownish/red hair and slate gray eyes that seem to toggle between blue, green and gray depending on what he is wearing that day. The pediatrician was impressed with how strong Jax is ... he holds his big noggin up nice and steady and also loves to stand and will do so for long periods if we hold him up.

We are going to fully vaccinate Jax but are doing it on a delayed schedule. He had two needles today ... one with a combination HiB/Hep B and the other with the PCV vaccine. He goes back in a month for the IPV and DPT vaccines. He was a little achey and fussy after the injections but nothing too bad.

Jax is just such a great little guy and so mellow. He still co-sleeps with us and we all sleep well. Some nights he will nurse and others he does not but generally he never wakes at night because we are right there with him so I guess there is no need really. He also naps well during the day.

Breastfeeding is still going great and Jax really seems to enjoy it but also has himself on a pretty good eating routine already which is nice. I can already tell he is a baby that is going to be just like Jaida in his love of routines. I make plenty of milk and have a nice stash in the freezer for when I return to work.

Generally life is great!

Goat Boy

2006-08-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

We call Jax our little Goat Boy. Mostly because he sounds just like a little goat when he is getting fussy. He makes this cute little baaa'ing sound as his nose gets all scrunched up. It is really cute. We took The kids along with Jaida's friend Jordyn to the Montgomery county fair. As we were walking through the agricultural area we passed the goat barn. The baby goats were making all these noises and Jax got this look on his face like he was being called home. We were fairly amused. :)

One month Pediatrician Appointment

2006-08-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

Jax continues to grow at warp speed. At todays appointment he weighed 10 pounds 9 ounces (75th %). Not sure about his length as they did not measure him. We will try to do this later today just for the record. Jax has the same sensitive bumm as his sister did early on. He has an allergy to all the commercial hiney wipes which make his bottom quite red and angry. So I made my homemade wipes and added a little comfrey oil to the mix. His bottom healed right up and continues to be a happy shade of pink. He also has a slight case of prickly heat on his face from being in skin contact with one of us so much of the time. The pediatrician said a small amount of hydrocortisone cream will make the rash go away ... so we will try that.

Jax is smiling more and more ... most of the time his big smiles come as he is gazing at us and drifting towards sleep. He is also starting to vocalize more and more. Lots of little happy cooing sounds coming from him now. The pediatrician was amazed at how much head control he has already ... a very strong little neck on the boy.

Anyhow, everything continues to go really well.

Nicknames

2006-07-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

Jaxon is a boy of many nicknames. Beyond the obvious one of Jax he is also called Mr. Man Baby, Mr. Poopy Pants, Squawkmeister B, Bubba Boy and Little Buddy by his dad and me. Jaida fondly refers to him as Jaxie or Mr. Baby if that is your real name. :) The poor kid!

Jax continues to be the easiest baby on the planet. He seems to be in the middle of his evening fussy period which supposedly peaks around 6 weeks. It is almost comical ... he has such a hard time crying that he just gets this pained expression on his face as if to say "please don't make me cry" and fusses a little bit. Generally, during this period he will only be soothed by mama ... but at least he is soothable. He continues to sleep through the night. Last week was a little rough as he was going through his 3 week growth spurt and was nursing constantly. I am reasonably sure we stayed connected all night for 3 nights in a row as he was nursing every 30 minutes - hour all night. Luckily, we both slept through it ... he grunted and latched and we both went back to sleep. :) Happily, Jax will also sleep anywhere which allows me a lot more freedom for the time being.

Four Weeks Old

2006-07-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

How can that be? Is it possible that time feels like it is passing by even faster this time than it did with Jaida? I can't believe the boy is already a month old!

Jaxon continues to be extremely mellow. Really quite the little sweetheart. He loves to cuddle ... especially with his mama but he gives dad and sister some cuddle time every day also. He finally has adjusted to cold wipes on his hiney and doesn't poop or pee every single time I open his diaper which makes diaper changes much more pleasant for all involved. He also seems much more okay with having a little naked baby time and seems to now be enjoying baths much more since starting to bath with Jaida. Today Jaxon enjoyed his first bottle of EBM. He acted like he has been taking a bottle forever which will give me a little break every now and again plus make sure he can eat when I return to work.

I am really wondering how we ended up with a child with light brown/red hair and blue/green eyes. It is freaking me out a bit. It will be interesting to see how he changes over the coming months.

Here are a few current pictures of the boy ...

Also, here is Jax's birth announcement for those that are not receiving it by snail mail.

http://www.purplestork.com/proofs/17658-jaxon-a.jpg

Three weeks old today

2006-07-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

and a mini milestone for Jax. We have noticed over the last few days that Jax's eyes are really starting to track well and focus. When he is looking at us it is really obvious he is looking at us and not just scanning the room. Anyhow, Jax was lounging in his rocking chair which has a toy bar with a couple of colored padded geometric shapes hanging from it. He was focusing on one of the shapes on the end and concentrating so hard and making lots of little grunting sounds. He then picked up his right arm and made a big swipe and made contact with the shape. He did it about 4 more times while sitting in his chair. It was so cute to see him working so hard at this. Jax has also started smiling ... although only at his mama. These were genuine open mouthed grins where I could see he was going to smile by looking at his eyes first not the fleeting sleepy gassy grins from the first few days. He has smiled several times and always in response to me talking and cooing at him. He is going to have the sweetest smile.

Jax's eyes are also starting to change color ... although it is not clear what color they are going to be. His eyes will most definitely be more like mine in color where Jaida's are more like Joe's (super dark chocolate brown). Jax looks like he will have brown eyes but with some green and amber flecks like his mama's. Also, his hair is quite light in color ... sort of a light brown with a lot of red. It is also going to be curly. The long part on the top of his head is already starting to pouf up and has a bit of wave to it. So cute!!