What's That?

We only knew it would be a matter of time when the constant questioning would begin.  The start of a long era of "what's that?" came out of nowhere and Lee and I seem to have different feelings about it already.

Taking into account that we are only about four days in to something that could last years, Lee has already expressed the feeling of being fed-up.  This happened during an episode of Blue Planet when Jackson repeatedly asked what a jellyfish was that kept blobbing across the screen.  On the other hand, I like the repetition and hearing Jackson wanting to understand what he is seeing so I could answer the same question hundreds of times without getting annoyed.  I know that after a few weeks, Jackson will add his new vocabulary to his lexicon and never ask again what a pineapple is, for example.  And because of this, I am happy to answer his endless questions.

I think the trick to not getting tired of the "what's this?" is trying to treat each question as if it has not been asked before, thus essentially compartmentalizing the other hundred times you've heard it.  Also, knowing that one of the times you say it, it will stick and a new word will have been acquired.  Success!  My other trick is sometimes giving a lengthy and very detailed answer which will sometimes be too much information for the question being asked and will give a short respite from the line of questioning.  (For example, a pineapple can also be an 'oblong shaped fruit with a brown spiky coat that is grown in tropical climates all around the world.') 

A funny response Jackson has to learning new vocabulary is that he will sometimes respond with 'yes' or 'okay' instead of repeating the word.  If I say, "That's a doughnut," and he doesn't feel like trying to pronounce it, he will say, "Yes."  Listening from the outside, it sounds like I am answering a mini-teacher who is quizzing me on my knowledge of everyday foods.  (To his credit, I can understand when he doesn't want to repeat 'croissant' when I use a thick French accent.)

So wish us luck on our journey through this new stage of toddlerhood!  We'll see you on the other side.

Jackson was featured on his nursery's Twitter page this week for showing strong friendship bonds.  This is him with his current best friend, Benedict (who's been mentioned in previous blog posts).  Look at that embrace!

At nursery, they also had a 'car wash' on one of the milder days

We had our own little clearing (dance floor) at the annual Christmas light switch on 

Reactions from the lacklustre crowd rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

We knew it was time to go when Jackson turned to pushing his new 'choo choo' around on the street

After Thanksgiving dinner, Jackson was really excited and started singing and galloping around the house

Developmental updates:  Jackson's new words this week were digger, "I'll do it," and purple.  He also started saying, "Doing?" with a furrowed brow when he asks what we are doing.  He usually says it about five times in a row and by the end of getting to our answer, he says, "Okay."  Jackson had his first parent-teacher conference of the year and it went very well.  His key worker said that he is on-track with all age-related expectations besides being a funny and well-loved member of the class.  Go Jackson!

P.S.  I hope that all of my family and friends back in Ohio (and all over the United States) had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I was given a day off this term at school and it just happened to land on Wednesday which was perfect timing to have our own little Thanksgiving celebration at home.  Even though it was a day early, we were able to eat all of the food through to Friday--and gave extra thanks for all of God's blessings!  (Jackson's favourite dish was Waldorf salad.)

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

Christmas Shopping

I have even more respect now for my parents and everyone else who had to do their Christmas shopping before the Internet.  Yesterday, I completed my Christmas shopping by 10 A.M. and I never left the house. 

Here are some of my online shopping tips and perks if you have never done it before.  Hopefully, by the end, I will have made a believer out of you and you will never look back.

The List
The key to buying all of your items as quickly as possible is to compile a succinct and complete list for all of your recipients.  There are millions of items online and it is easy to start clicking here, there, and everywhere and once you know it, you have browsed nearly half of those millions of items and actually accomplished nothing.  If you have a list and go through it methodically, then you will finish your shopping in no time at all.

Prices
One tricky part of online shopping is making sure you find the lowest prices available.  This problem exists in the real world, too.  Shopping in the stores though, you would have to cover a lot of area to compare prices and then backtrack to get the item you needed to save £2.  But, with websites like www.pricerunner.co.uk, you can type in any product and the cheapest online location with your item will appear in seconds.  This also proves that Amazon is not the end-all-be-all to online shopping.  For instance, I saved £50 on one of the toys for Jackson this year by using this website to compare prices.  And, at this other website, the delivery was free and I got to choose my delivery date.  (That website was www.activitytoysdirect.com, if you're interested.)

Delivery
This is another perk of online shopping.  It can sometimes be a downfall, but still, it is easier than carrying bags around the mall and making trips to the car to stuff them in the back seat.  Home delivery is a perk if you can choose your date or a pick-up location.  The downfall comes when the deliveryman shows up and you aren't home.  In England, they leave the item with a neighbour, at the post office depot (depending on the company that is delivering), or they try to deliver the item again another day.  I guess it depends on who your neighbours are whether this is a downfall or not.  Luckily for us, we have pretty honest and kind neighbours.  Alternatively, you could have the item delivered to a friend or family member who you know will be at home.

Time
A definite perk of shopping from home is saving time--which is one of my favourite things to do.  Amidst my clicking and buying from the comfort of home, I could eat my breakfast, play with Jackson, put a load of laundry in the washing machine, and catch-up on television shows that I missed during the week.  I've heard of multi-tasking, but online shopping helps you take things to a new level.

People
Say what you want about me after you hear this, but this is my truth:  The best part of online shopping is avoiding the public.  In fact, it made me so happy that I wrote a poem/rap to celebrate.  So let's get wrapping:

Yesterday, there was no one
Running into me with a shopping cart,
Waiting in lines,
Finding a parking spot
Someone knocking my car,
Kids screaming,
Crying babies,
Morose store clerks,
Burnt out moms being shady,
Rolling their eyes
And pushing their way through
Dads clogging up the aisles
Watching Stranger Things 2,
Feels like the try-outs for Supermarket Sweep,
These are the ultimate perks
Of online shopping.

Last Sunday, we went on a bear hunt through the woods.

Well, we didn't see a bear (thank goodness), but we found a family of ducks.

Lee was quite artistic with this photo.

We let Jackson lead the way and by the end, he was so tired that he wanted us to carry him all the way home.

P.S.  Happy birthday to my dad!  Every time I would go to do my radio DJ slot in college, my dad would say, "Don't embarrass the family."  I hope the rap wasn't too much, Dad. 

Developmental updates:  Jackson's new words this week were piggy, snow, hug, everybody, and goat.  He is giving a lot more hugs now and likes to tell us when he is on his way to give us a hug.  Jackson will say, "Hug Daddy," with some of his other original language mixed in when he is coming towards us.  He is very independent, but there were a few times this week when he wanted our attention or acted like he couldn't do something on his own (something he has done a hundred times before).  When he was on the slide yesterday, he wanted our help to sit at the top when we all knew that he could do it on his own.   

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

Field of Dreams

When I get emotional over a commercial, I get a little angry because I feel like I fell for a company's marketing ploys and I don't like to be had.  But, it happened to me again this week; however, I don't know if this commercial was supposed to create an emotional reaction. 

See what you think:

What got me was the fact that no one was stopping the adults from trying out their "unfulfilled passion" yet they looked afraid to take a single step towards it.  Some of them even looked nervous.  The other component leading to tears trickling down my face was that the adults in the ad were 30- to 50-years-old and for their entire life, they didn't have the opportunity to follow their dream.  That's three to five decades worth of days passing by and not having the chance to pursue their passion.  But then, when given free rein with the resources right in front of them, they still let the opportunity slip away.

When the children entered and started dabbling in the new hobby fearlessly, they eventually got the adults to join in and then proceeded to ask them, "Why haven't you ever tried this before?"  A couple of the people grimaced and looked like they either couldn't think of a reason, or were holding in a reason that they possibly didn't want to burden the children with.  Maybe their reason was not enough money, support from parents, discouragement from themselves or friends, or simply not taking the time from work obligations to factor in some self-fulfillment.  All of these things might be a bit 'heavy' to relay to a child they just met.

What is a life if we don't have time for fun?  There are so many ways to easily network and connect on the Internet and with one message, we can contact anyone in the world.  So, setting-up at least one trial session to give our dreams a try is literally right at our fingertips.  For Lee last year, I made arrangements for drum lessons since he said that when he was little, that's what he wanted to do, but for various reasons, he didn't get the chance.  Thankfully, when I was younger, my parents let me try any hobby that I wanted to and although that made me very busy, I have always been happy when I am involved in many groups and trying new things.  It also helped me to find my true passions and how I like to spend my free time best.

My hope for Jackson is that he is open with us and tells us what he wants to do when he is older.  On top of that, I hope that we have the means to facilitate his dreams and can find the right advisers, coaches, and teachers to help him to learn and enjoy his life.  A mind is a terrible thing to waste and I hope that Jackson's potential, hopes, and dreams are fulfilled to no-end.

Our little model who wanted to wear his hat last Sunday with his outfit.  He wore it through his entire play session in a soft play centre, forever staying cool.

Developmental updates: Jackson's new words this week were yellow, 'k' for okay, rabbit, 'nee noo nee noo' for the sound of a police car, and tractor.  At his football practice, the head coach gave us a great tip for going forward:  drama school.  I think it is inevitable that Jackson will enjoy being the centre of attention.  Every week, Jackson can be found in the centre of the warm-up circle dancing and making a myriad of faces.  He kicks the ball around when no one is looking, but when he has the chance to perform in front of a gathered group, he doesn't hesitate to steal the spotlight.

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