Ringing in the New Year

What a week!  It seems like Christmas was a month ago already.  We had a nice, quiet Christmas Day at home with just the three of us.  It took Jackson a span of eight hours to open his presents because he wanted to play with all of them as soon as he opened them.  Then of course, we had to give him time to take naps and to eat.  We were exhausted at the end of it all!  It was a big change from last year, though, and much more enjoyable to see him rip open the paper himself and get excited about his new things.

On Boxing Day, we spent the day with Lee's family at his Grandma and Grandpa's house in Neston.  Jackson had a lot of fun and skipped both of his naps that day so that he could keep playing with his cousins.  We ended up leaving with three unopened presents because Jackson was distracted with all of the toys that were already set-up and also, he was quite pleased to just run around and chase the other children.  (It wasn't until Friday that he finally opened the remainder of his gifts.)

Tuesday was still a Bank Holiday, so Lee had the day off with us and that was the day that my brother and sister-in-law, Scott and Kirsten, arrived!  We had a really fun week with them going around Southport and Liverpool and luckily, we had really good weather every day.  It was great to see Jackson playing with some of his Ohio family and he acted like he knew them his entire life.  Thankfully, this week went really slowly and although we only got to see Scott and Kirsten for a few days, we fit in a lot of quality time--at least enough to last until we see them again this Summer.

Seeing Jackson happy and healthy on Christmas and getting to spend time with my family made for a perfect holiday celebration.  And just like that, we're moving on to a new year.  Happy New Year to all of our family and friends all over the world!

Showing off the shopping items in his trolley and looking quite proud

Drawing a pretty picture on his new Aquadoodle mat

Dipping the water Aquadoodle pen in the water 'paint pot' to colour.  Jackson kept 'mixing' the pen in the pot so that he could draw on his mat.

Out of all the books Jackson has, he found my "Pretty Patterns" colouring book and decided he wanted to read that to his Aunt Kirsten.

One last photo for the road

Developmental updates:  Jackson can safely climb on and off of his ride-on pirate ship toy.  His legs are now long enough to stretch up and over the toy so that he doesn't need someone to lift him onto the seat anymore.  He also started playing hiding games this week where he will sneak behind a wall or into a corner and then 'appear' again and laugh as we are surprised by his trick.  Jackson's other hiding game is a one-sided hide-and-seek where he looks for us while we kneel behind furniture (he hasn't quite caught on to the hiding and waiting while we look for him).  This week, we noticed that he is talking a lot more in 'sentences' and he is using new sounds to pronounce his 'words.'  He definitely has a grasp of the word 'no' now and he shakes his head when he hears it sometimes and he is starting to answer questions by shaking his head no.  With all of his new toys, we are seeing his pretend play skills come alive, too.  Jackson has been playing with his plastic food and shopping trolley and likes to 'eat' the food and share it for others to try.  He also enjoys stacking his boxes of play food in a very neat row on the coffee table and it ends up looking like a shelf in the supermarket.  The best think Jackson started to do this week is come to us to get our attention and then reach out for our hand to follow him.

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

Peace On Earth

This year, while teaching the Nativity story to my class, I found this Bible verse to be the one that made me stop and think the most, and it turned out to be my new favourite part of the Christmas story:

Luke 2:13-14 (NRSV)

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[b] praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

In one translation, it says that the angel was joined by the "armies of heaven."  It must have been amazing to be in that field and--after getting over the shock of the first angel--hearing the Heavens echoing with praises to God.

I would like to think that visits from angels and skies resonating with sounds of singing are still possibilities today.  More and more, I look for signs of God and His angels in everyday life, and after re-reading this Bible verse, I am going to start listening for them, as well.

Merry Christmas!

Jackson meeting Santa (the picture that was in the newsletter)

Climbing into and playing in the box that my family sent with his Christmas presents inside

The best picture we could get by the Christmas tree this year--he's very active!

Developmental updates:  Jackson gives high-fives now and says "hi" to get our attention.  Also, Jackson has a very sociable personality, but more than that, we realised the power of his flirtatiousness.  He has big, inviting brown eyes which capture everyone's attention, but he must realise his appeal.  During church this evening, he stared at the teenage girl behind us for an entire hour and raised his eyebrows intermittently to keep her attention.  Then, we found out at nursery this week, besides dishing out the hugs to all of his friends, he also shared a dessert of mandarin oranges with a little girl and they were taking turns feeding each other!

In the upcoming week, my brother and sister-in-law will be coming to visit us and Jackson will get to meet them for the first time.  I haven't seen them in person in four years!  We are excited to see them and to see Jackson's interaction with his aunt and uncle.  Stay tuned!

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

What Would Jesus Do?

Since having Jackson, I have a lot more of my thoughts devoted to others' needs.  Even when teaching, I have become much softer in my approach to discipline because I can truly see each student as someone's pride and joy instead of just a student.  I can't pinpoint exactly why having a child makes someone see the world differently; but for me, since I am putting all of my energy and thoughts into giving my child the best the world can offer, it makes me consider little ways that I can try to make someone else have a better day.

With that being said, there is so much more I can do.  To really be Christ-like (as the Bible tells us to be), it would require a lot more time and bravery than I'm ready to commit, though.  A few examples from the past week:  would Jesus ever pass by a homeless person without talking to him or giving him some food?  Probably not.  But I do this all the time.  I know that I should and could help them, but I choose to be selfish with my time and money.  Also this week, I was driving home from my work Christmas party (in England, they call it a "Christmas Do") and on this quiet, foggy country road, I saw a man stumbling and swaying home around midnight.  He clearly needed help getting home and seeing as there weren't any houses close by, I didn't know how much more of a journey he had to go to get home safely.  Would Jesus have kept driving?  Probably not.  But, I did.  On a basic, human-to-human level, ignoring these situations is really cruel.  Even though I did what the majority of people would do in these two instances, it doesn't mean that it makes it right.

To make amends with ignoring big situations like the homelessness on my doorstep and people in distress that I pass, I try to be as loving as I can be to the people in my life.  I am going to keep trying to be like Jesus and gradually turn my little actions into bigger, more concrete good deeds that spread to my community.  Thinking about Jesus's arrival with only one more week to go, and the main message He wanted to teach us during His short time on Earth--to love one another--it's the least we can do and a good starting point for us all.

Jackson getting his Christmas pictures taken at nursery.  He chose this pose himself!

His first head shot

Believe it or not, Jackson was crying and screaming before this picture was taken and then after we let him hold some toys, he started posing again.

Developmental updates:  Jackson learned a lot this week and really seemed to blossom into an even more sociable little chap.  He started blowing kisses when someone says good-bye.  When we make roaring noises and ask, "What sound does a lion make?", Jackson will imitate us in a soft, baby roar that sounds a bit like a newly hatched dinosaur.  Another thing we experienced for the first time was Jackson's first tantrum.  He was trying to stick his fingers in an electrical socket and we kept pushing his hand away and saying, "No."  He got fed-up with us and turned his back, then pushed his bottom lip out, and started to cry.  When we didn't give in to his attempts to get his way, then he smacked the wall in protest.  I was surprised at the whole scene, but even more surprised that he was throwing a fit when he's only 14-months-old.  I expected this to happen when he reached the age of two.  We're nearly a year early!  Even though Jackson is still our little baby and he is the best boy we know, I feel like we have to be stern when it comes to letting Jackson always have his way.  He's starting to test his boundaries and to learn what we will let him get away with.  If we don't address the misbehaviour now, then it will be a lot harder to correct later down the road.

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