I Want to Hold Your Hand

On Thursday evening, as I was tucking Jackson in for bed, he reached up with both arms as if he wanted to be pulled up to stand.  So I held his hands, but he just lay there and started nodding off to sleep.  That was the first time that he reached for me just to hold hands and it was precious.

Until Jackson went to sleep, I was thinking, "How many people in the world would feel better by holding my hand?"  That is why having a baby all to yourself is so special--there is possibly no one else in the world who needs you more and just the touch of your hand can lull them to sleep.

But there may be more people who may need our help than just our own children.  On Wednesday, when tragedy struck the city of London, the most moving moments recorded from that event took place as strangers passed those who were slain or injured and lay beside them and cradled them until help arrived.  They super-humanly put any fear aside that they had at the time in what was undoubtedly an unstable rush of hysteria.  Those people may have been naïve, or may have been perfect examples of what it means to be Christ-like.  I'm not sure I would have been that brave.

So, although I know for sure there is one person in the world who wants to hold my hand, I hope that I can be there for anyone else in their time of need.  Of course I hope that nothing happens like what happened on the Westminster Bridge ever again; if I do ever face anyone who is upset or in pain though, then I hope that I can be there for them.

The coolest baby at the park

Jackson waited very patiently to play on this swing until the other children were done.  His park etiquette far surpassed our expectations.

Local Celebrity and his bodyguard

Our Little Prince

A video Lee edited of Jackson playing in the backyard

Developmental updates:  Jackson can now do a very robust impression of an elephant by making a high-pitched noise accompanied by vibrating lips and of course, raising his arm at the same time.  This week, Jackson had to miss two days of nursery due to conditions that needed to be checked-out by the GP.  (He's all right; don't worry).  When he returned on Friday, we found out that his friend, Sadie, had been asking for Jackson for two days and when she was repeatedly told that he was 'poorly,' she kept saying, "Oh no."  I must say that I am surprised that the bonds of friendship are so deep when these little ones are only 12-18 months old.  While Jackson was taking a nap today, he was talking in his sleep which only shows how much his chatting tendencies are developing.  His spoken vocabulary still isn't matching the words he understands, but his key worker said that he is on track for his age group when I met with her at his parent-teacher conference this week.

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

Spring Training

It was rainy and windy out all day today, but inside our house, it was a bright and sunny day because we got to watch the Cleveland Indians play baseball LIVE!

The official Major League Baseball season has not started yet, so we are in the "Spring Training" pre-season until April 3rd.  I have never been interested in what happens during Spring Training before, nor have I ever watched a Spring Training game (similar to a 'friendly' in England).  But, this year for Christmas, Lee got me a subscription to something called MLB TV which allows me to tune-in to all live and previous Indians' games for the 2017-2018 Season.  Conveniently, the subscription also has a 'highlights' option to catch-up on games quickly.

I felt like I was back in Ohio as soon as the pre-game coverage started and I heard the familiar voices of Matt Underwood (a fellow Ashland native) and Rick Manning.  Also, the sound of baseball is a natural background noise to the weekend for me and it is a sport of which I am quite confident to discuss and use the correct terminology.

This American pastime is creating more entertainment than intended in our household, though:  Lee is still in his infancy of learning terms like pitcher instead of his label of 'thrower' and inning instead of 'batting session.'  His head started spinning when a runner got on base, because as he explained, "The game gets so much more complicated when there is someone on a base and someone batting" as there is "too much to take in."

After living here for nearly six years, I have grown fond of watching England's most popular sport/religion of football (soccer) whereas in Ohio, I only liked playing it.  But I must say that nothing compares to baseball with its swift crack of a bat, 7th inning stretch with an enthusiastic round of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, hot-dogs topped with spicy, brown ballpark mustard, civilized spectating and child-friendly chants, fans of opposing teams sitting side-by-side, emerald and shamrock criss-crossed fields, and games that cannot end in a tie.

Our Star Boy

Eating his current favourite snack:  raspberries

Nicely offering up his snack to share with Mommy--but only as a kind gesture; he didn't actually give any away to his parents.

Developmental updates:  Jackson is using "yeah" and a shake of the head for 'no' 100% accurately in response to questions about what he would like to do or what he has done.  This was his first week without using a pacifier so I think those days are behind us for good.  He has more teeth pushing through so it is good timing to rid him of the 'binky' since we do not want adverse effects on the formation or growth of his teeth.  Jackson's new animal sound and action of the week is elephant.  Most of the time, his 'trunk' goes forward, but he also swings his arm backwards when impersonating an elephant.  He said, "Daddy," very clearly yesterday and today so we are trying to work that into his regular vocabulary.

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

Attack and Tone

And so it begins:  the exercise portion of the doctor's recommendations.  Since I have not attempted this order over the past couple of weeks, I assumed that I would not stir up the gumption to work-out along with my XBOX Kinect "Your Shape:  Fitness Evolved" game.  I tried that game the day that I bought it over a year ago and I think I pulled my hamstring so I never trusted myself with it again.

My solution was to join the local gym and go to classes.  I am not a big fan of using the 'machines' or 'free weights' because I feel like I'm being watched by the other gym-goers.  The last time I exercised--the Summer of 2008--I really enjoyed the teacher-led classes for the fact that I could blend-in with a group and listen to music at the same time.  The other reason I like them is because there is a knowledgeable person in the field of exercise directing my every move.  When I try to use the machines on my own, I don't always know what each one's purpose is, so it can be a bit daunting just choosing one, let alone using the thing.

Today was my first session and even though the class was called "Attack and Tone," I greatly underestimated the difficulty level.  In the waiting area, all of the other class members were an average age of 52 so I did get a bit confident that I would be able to handle the routine.  And for the first 15 minutes, everything was going swimmingly.  I was hopping and kicking to the beat with the rest of the class.

Then I felt 'the burn' and I began lagging behind everyone else.  My bubbly, energetic jumps and jabs quickly faded and although I kept smiling, I was reduced to a mere marching-in-place while the other women were grape-vining this way and that.  By the end, my goal was to maintain my physical position within the line-up so that I didn't trip-up anyone else.  The most nerve-wrecking part was when "Di," the instructor, yelled out, "Turn!"  This meant that I found myself in the 'front' and suddenly, the adrenaline kicked in (pun intended) and I was Di's new protégé, moving in-time with the beat.  As soon as the pressure was off though, it was back to the marching.

After 30 minutes, I was looking forward to the cool down, but when that didn't happen, I thought maybe Di was running overtime.  Two more times, I thought that surely the cool down stretches were coming our way.  It turns out that I inadvertently signed-up for a 45-minute class.

The rest of the day, I have had so much more energy than I usually do and I feel better that I'm back on the road to good health.

Showing us his toys and 'explaining' how to play his game

 

Posing with his new haircut

Supermarket Sweep

 

Racing right into Mommy!

Howdy, Partner!

Developmental updates:  Jackson mimicked saying, "Peek-a-boo," this week.  It was pretty close to how it should sound.  He helped us unpack the groceries and we were shocked when he carried the bag holding 10 pints of milk to the refrigerator!  We were also shocked the next day to find a brand new pack of ham laying in the garbage can.  To ease into bedtime, Jackson likes to read a book in bed to himself and to his stuffed animals.  He also read to me in the car on Thursday on the way to nursery.  He said a 'sentence' and then gave a loud 'roar'!  (The book was Dinosaur Roar!)  I guess that he's memorised the pattern of the book and now he can recite it in his own language.  Today was the first time that Jackson has had any hair cut.  He just needed the sides and back trimmed so I did it at home and thankfully, he sat still long enough for me to get it done and he had no idea what was happening.

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