Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! I was grateful to have time to make a real Thanksgiving meal for my family this year. When I am teaching, there isn't much free time to prepare feasts; but since I am on maternity leave this year, I was able to cook all of Saturday morning and then serve-up my favourite hearty Ohio dishes in the early afternoon. Jackson, who can be a picky eater, even ate his mashed potatoes with "syrup" (it was really gravy, but I let him call it syrup as long as he was eating). Come to think of it, most of the meat that I try to get Jackson to eat is just another form of "chicken."
Jackson was crowned Star of the Week again at school on Friday for his "amazing work in phonics." He is already reading the little books that his teacher sends home (two per week) and he is memorising his sight words to read more fluently. We are so proud of his hard work and quick progress!
And, as we expected he would, Jackson has become quite popular amongst his peers. He has a magnetic personality and innate leadership qualities which I guess contribute to his coolness. (Lee and I still don't know where his sense of what is 'cool' comes from.) When Jackson was in nursery, he was about one-and-a-half-years-old, and I noticed other babies giving offerings of toys to him when he entered the room. Then, when he was in the two- and three-year-old classes, a lot of the other boys' moms would say that Jackson was their son's best friend. But now, Jackson has reached a new level: as we walk home from school and the other children are being driven away, we hear, "Bye, Jackson!" yelled out of rolled-down windows passing by. One day, there were three different cars trying to get his attention! The other day, one little girl shouted from across the street, "Jackson! I love your hair!" If only she knew that he barely lets me brush it in the morning. When we walk down the sidewalk, I feel like I'm escorting the next Sir Paul McCartney and the resurrection of Beatlemania has begun. (Especially with the long locks he's sporting since the barbershops are closed due to Coronavirus. All he needs now is a 1960s Liverpudlian accent and we'll be good to go.) Lee and I serve merely as his security and crowd control. We try not to bring attention of this phenomenon to Jackson so as not to inflate his ego; however, I am really proud that he is well-liked by his peers. It fills my heart to know that Jackson is making friends and being his kind, friendly self, putting his best foot forward at school.
Little Freddie had to get his six vaccinations (two shots in his legs and one dosage of an oral medicine) on Wednesday and our brave little boy only cried for about 45 seconds! The doctor said that he is very strong and she was surprised at how much he was moving around. She even forgot that he was only there for his first round of immunisations and thought it was his second round because of his size and strength. Freddie is now 60 cm long and has a head circumference of 42 cm.
Freddie is smiling a lot now and even giggling! Also, he is a great babbler and has lots of conversations every day with me and Lee. I also think that Freddie is going to be a problem-solver when he is older because when his pacifier (dummy, UK) falls out of his mouth and it's near his head, he will softly whimper and try really hard to push it back into place or turn his face toward it to grab it again. He doesn't cry to 'ask' for help; he tries to fix the problem himself. Freddie is still a wonderfully easygoing baby and he sleeps for long periods throughout the day. He does, however, seem to have nightmares from time-to-time and will wake up, crying and screaming. He settles down quickly when someone holds him and reassures him, though. Freddie also loves baths and getting his diaper changed. For some reason, he thinks the latter is really funny and always gives us big smiles and says "a-goo" very sweetly over and over.
Currently, Freddie's favourite songs are Christmas pop songs, Humpty Dumpty, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Happy Birthday, and the Hamilton soundtrack; and if he's ever upset, when he listens to music, then he is soothed within seconds. He even seems to appreciate our singing! (A nice change from his brother who refers to our singing as 'moaning.') I still can't believe how lucky we are to get this joyful, constantly happy baby!
Jackson went to Drayton Manor, home of Thomas Land, last Christmas and he told us this past weekend that he wanted to go again. We said that he couldn't this year because of the "bad cold" (which is what we call the virus). Jackson responded, "But they have hand sanitiser!"
Earlier this week, when I stopped to talk to a neighbour on our walk home from school, Jackson went ahead a few steps and stayed by himself. After I was done, Jackson said, "I was just talking to God and Santa, and I gave them a kiss when I said, 'Bye.'"
Lastly, I thought I had heard all of the "English" terms, but there is definitely more for me to learn. Two weeks ago, Jackson's school sent an e-mail reminding parents that there was going to be "mufti day" to support the Children in Need charity. I thought that they misspelled "multi" and maybe the children were supposed to wear multi-coloured clothes. Then, I thought maybe the school forgot to capitalise "Mufti" and it was some English character who served as the mascot for Children in Need. "Oh great," I thought, "Now I'm going to have to buy some Mufti costume so Jackson will fit-in with all of the other kids." So, I googled where to find a 'Mufti Costume' and low-and-behold "mufti day" is another way to say non-uniform day! Phew! I didn't have to buy anything and Jackson was excited to wear his own stylish ensemble. In Ohio, we didn't wear uniforms at school, so every day, we wore what we wanted to wear; however, when we join the workforce, there is something called "Casual Friday." Here are all of the synonyms that I found for "mufti day" on Wikipedia: casual clothes day, casual Friday, colour day, own clothes day, home clothes day, plain clothes day, non-uniform day, mufting day, free dress day, civvies day, dress down day, uniform-free day. Gee whiz!
All-in-all, we are very thankful for our two beautiful boys. No matter how stressful life gets--and we've had quite a few curveballs this year--we can find pure joy, love, and happiness in our little angels.
Our sweet little Freddie
Modelling headshot
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sending his letter to Santa
