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.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Christmas with the cousins
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)
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
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!
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!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Excitement
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
It took some time on a frigid December afternoon but we finally found the perfect tree.
Ho Ho Ho
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".
Monday, December 08, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Friday, November 07, 2008
Boo!!!
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
Jaxon made several goals during his final soccer game. He is VERY proud of himself!
Octoberfest
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.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Disgusting
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.
I want so much more for my kids than this. After your stomach settles please donate to the Obama campaign.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Our little soccer player
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).
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
A Last Minute Adventure
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
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
Friday, August 15, 2008
Beach Bum
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 ...
The little merman that washed up on the beach ....
Taking a little mid-day snooze on the beach ...
Boy with dunes ...
Friday, August 08, 2008
Sun, Sand and Margaritas
(Although the kids will not be enjoying the Margaritas)
We will be on a road trip .... More to come shortly
We will be on a road trip .... More to come shortly
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Hey Mom!
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.
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