The Entertainer

The last few weeks have definitely been fun-filled here with Jackson.  He is growing up into a wonderful, respectful, funny, and caring little boy.

We took a family vacation to York for a five-day getaway.  We only spent one day in the city, but we travelled to Flamingo Land and a children's centre for the other days.  Instead of staying in a hotel, we opted for an Airbnb.  There was a complete cottage up for grabs in Bishopthorpe (a village just outside of the city).  It was a beautiful setting and the cottage was immaculate.  Apparently, it was once a carriage house and has been completely renovated to house five cottages in all.  To get to the city centre, we could have taken the bus but it was only a two-mile walk along the River Ouse so we chose that route.  Jackson only had patience for the Railway Museum and the Disney Store.  For 55 minutes straight, he watched a model railway track and got excited every time the trains emerged from the tunnel and from behind the buildings.  (This was a nice change in attitude compared to the fit he threw when he found out that he could not go onto the actual trains that have been retired from action.)  Jackson jumped up and down and cheered.  It was quite infectious to everyone else who came into the room.  He did like going in and out of the old-style shops and even stopped by a porcelain mannequin of a baker that was his height to sing a few rounds of "Pat-a-Cake."  A small crowd formed for his performance and we were very proud of his confidence and sweet singing.

Singing to the baker at The Shambles

Visiting the National Railway Museum

Dining at The Yorkshire Terrier Pub

Feeling "awesome" after getting some shades and a car mat

A sleepy walk home after touring York's city centre

At Flamingo Land, Jackson enjoyed being able to ride the mini-coasters and toddler rides by himself.  He wasn't afraid at all.  In fact, he nearly ran to the entrance gates and forgot we were even there.  We did come in handy for him when he wanted to ride the bigger rides and needed an adult rider to accompany him.  His favourite rides were the train, the cars, the tractors, the caterpillar coaster, and the dragon coaster.  Every single second of Jackson's rides were filled with a happy noise.  If they were all strung together, they would create the perfect soundtrack for background carnival noises.  It was quite comical to hear the myriad of ideas Jackson had for what he thought he should say on a ride.  Jackson got to play his first carnival game which was "Hook-a-Duck."  There was a sign that said "Winner every time," so we thought that would be perfect.  Jackson hooked one and got to pick a small prize out of a barrel and he chose an orange fish--after lots of deliberation.  He gave it a hug and was very proud of his big win.  Jackson was also very confident around the animals.  He reached out very non-nonchalantly to pet a lemur and fed nectar to a lorikeet.  I, on the other hand, went into a cold sweat and let out a shriek when a lemur came racing by my feet and I stayed out of the lorikeet enclosure the first day.  (The second day, I only went inside to get a picture of Jackson feeding the birds.)  Jackson also walked as one among the wallabies.  I do worry about him, but I am also thankful that my fear of the unpredictability of animals has not rubbed off on to him.

Driving the farmer's tractor at Flamingo Land

Rowing the boat in Peter Rabbit's hideaway

Meeting Peter Rabbit and Lily Bobtail after story time

Socializing before the ride

Pretending to be hiding in one of the three little pigs' houses

Loving riding his favourite ride:  The Caterpillar Ride!

Living the dream

Feeding the lorikeets

Choosing his duck

A proud little chap

Joining in with the singing and dancing at the end-of-the-day show

The last day of our trip to York, we went to a play centre called The Web Adventure Park instead of going to the National Air Museum.  Jackson loves aeroplanes, but he was really upset when he couldn't go on the real trains at the National Railway Museum and we thought we would have the same problem with the planes.  Lee found the play centre with a simple Google search and I was really happy that he did!  Jackson played for six hours straight with only a short  break for lunch.  There were so many options of areas in which to play.  Here are a few that Jackson really enjoyed:  play village; construction role play; dance floor; ball canons; play frame and slides; sports arena; sand pit; water play area; netted climbing frame; electric quad bikes; and petting zoo.

Bustin' his moves

Jackson gathered a tray from the vet's office and then went to the shop to get me my 'dinner'

Jackson drove and maneuvered these quad bikes with ease

Jackson's hilarious and creative way of going down the slide

No fear!

This was incredibly challenging for me, but little Jackson only needed help two times to get through

For Father's Day, we repeated our tradition of going to Gulliver's World.  We made nice memories and had lots of fun seeing Jackson having such a good time.  He loved riding rides once again and didn't mind waiting in line too much.

We were near the front of a long line to get a picture with these two.  Jackson wanted to get a picture, but then with our two seconds to take a picture, he decided to pull the most "I'm too cool for this" face I've ever seen.

Other things that Jackson has been to in the past month were his friend Thomas's birthday party, the Ainsdale Family Fun Day (where we got to see a REAL magic trick!), many football practices, the Southport Food and Drink Festival, a play date at his friend Penny's house, a play date with his cousins and McRae family at his great-grandparents' house, a trip to the dentist's office and got a clean bill of health, and his first full-length musical with two acts (The Wind in the Willows).

On his way to Thomas's birthday party

Jackson rearranged his hat on his own to turn it backwards

Jackson said, "PARTY!" when he walked into the backyard and his version of party was pulling a little red wagon around for nearly two hours.

At the Southport Food and Drink Festival, Jackson wanted to go on the bouncy castle assault course with the ten-year-olds.  He ran through it four times in a row!

A jumbo hotdog for Jackson!  He loves hotdogs now and eats them like corn on the cob 

(from side-to-side and with little nibbles).

"Flying low" like Dusty from the Disney movie Planes

This ride went much higher than we were comfortable with, but Jackson wasn't afraid one bit.  He loved the adventure and even talked to the little boy beside him about how much fun he was having.

Driving the bus at the Ainsdale Family Fun Day

Before our big trip to the theatre!

Developmental updates:  We have been working on listening to directions, reading new books, retelling fairy tales verbally, and singing songs.  Jackson likes to give me lines to improv into songs that we sing in the car to change the lyrics.  He also likes to mix fairy tales together and bring story characters to the real world. 

One of Jackson's two-and-a-half year old pictures

Our dapper two-and-a-half-year-old

Our yearly family photo

A cute candid of Jackson

Jackson was moving around a lot during our photo shoot this year

Jackson is also very good at throwing and catching.  He still loves cars and trains and gives them voices and lines when they are racing against each other--inevitably, there is always a crash, a car flying through the air, and one car helping another after it flips over. 

Jackson is improving his acting skills.  This week, Jackson played the part of "Jack" from Jack and the Beanstalk while I had to play the part of the mom.  He started with the scene where he brings home magic beans instead of gold coins after selling off the family cow.  I had to act angry and say, "You brought home 'magic beans,' Jack?  Some measly 'magic beans'?"  To which he replied, "Yes, Mom."  He even held a shocked expression until I was done delivering my line.  Jackson is really good at expressing different feelings and creating lines to match when he is pretending.  The only times I have seen him afraid of something is when we saw 'dinosaurs' at a theme park and when he met Peter Rabbit (a costumed person version); the only other times he is 'afraid' are when he is pretending to approach a troll, giant, or the Big Bad Wolf and he can transform his whole personality to portray his character. 

Jackson is full of new phrases.  He really surprises us with his application of vocabulary he has picked up from t.v., films, us, nursery, and other people in the right context.  There has been a huge shift from Jackson piecing together words and us filling in the gaps to now where there are very few words that he says which we cannot recognise.  These are his latest phrases:
"Please," "Thank you," and "You're welcome," are now automatic for Jackson.
"That's enough now."
"I'm excited!"  "This is exciting!"
"See you later!"
"It's awesome!"
"We're really racing now!" 
"On your marks, get set, start your engines, go!  And, we're off!"
"I'm number one!"
"I'm the best winner!"
"Mommy, you're in trouble."
"You're naughty."
"Stop it, Guys."
"Mommy, are you lost?"
When I took a new route home, he told me, "Missed it.  Turn around."
"It's humongous!"
"One at a time."
"Be careful."
"Don't eat sand."
"Hello, Dear."
"Hi, Honey."
When he is dodging people in stores or on the sidewalk, he says to each person, "Sorry."
"Ready, set, dance!"
"You're funny." 
"This is fun!"
"I don't think so."
"I'm happy to see you."
"Not yet."
"Daddy, are you following me?"
"This is the nicest cake I've ever seen."
"Oopsie daisy."
"What food do you want for dinner?" (Then we make up an order.)  "One second."

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.