"The Best Christmas Ever!"

For Jackson, it was indeed his "best Christmas ever" since he announced this twice while opening his presents this year.  Each year gets more and more exciting as we watch Jackson's reaction to Christmas.  The entire month of December is just one big bundle of giddiness and I think that's one reason parents are so exhausted once all the presents have been opened.  One month's worth of pent-up anxious anticipation builds until that morning and then after about 25 minutes, everyone begins to finally relax.

Since we couldn't go out as much this year, we made some new traditions at home during Advent.  We built a Pop-Tart house (in place of a gingerbread house) with Jackson.  He even ate the entire construction himself!  We also made Christmas cut-out cookies, peanut butter fudge, and oatmeal raisin cookies.  Jackson did some crafting and made his teacher and teaching assistant beaded wreath ornaments and sock snowmen.  I was impressed by the attention to detail he gave to the placement of the accessories and how carefully he chose the little extras to match what his teachers would like.  And lastly, Jackson can write his name very neatly now so he even signed all of his friends' Christmas cards!  

Little Freddie turned three-months-old on December 18th.  (He'll be turning 15 weeks old this Friday.)  He weighed 16 pounds that day and just two days before that, he rolled over--from his front to his back--for the first time.  He is currently trying to roll from his back to his front, but this is proving to be a bit more difficult.  I think he's worried about how he's going to stick the landing.  Also, Freddie decided that he was going to sleep for a five-hour stretch two nights in a row to celebrate turning three months.  We were very proud of him for his big accomplishments--and still, for being a fantastically happy, smiley baby.

Jackson's class made a video of the very first Christmas and Jackson had the role of playing one of the three wise men--the one with the gold, of course.  This was in place of a live nativity but in my opinion, it's better because we can watch it over and over; whereas, the ones at school are only seen once and you have to hope that you get a good seat and that you can hear your child's line over the whispering and coughing of the other audience members.  After Lee and I watched the video, I said, "Wow!  Jackson, you were the star of the show!"  But Jackson had the right response:  "No I wasn't; Jesus was the star."  

To keep Jackson occupied during his days off of school, we practised his spelling.  I laid out letter tiles for him to form words--which I was expecting three-letter words that he has shown me before.  He decided that he wanted to spell the word 'insect' and I let him try, although I thought it was going to be too hard.  Low and behold, without any help, Jackson laid out i-n-s-e-c-t!  I let him have a break (and some chocolate) after that.

Other than some learning games, I also tried to teach Jackson some Christmas carols.  For fun, I left out words of The Twelve Days of Christmas to see what he would fill-in.  In Jackson's version, there are "eight maids of courage" and "two turtle ducks."  

Leading up to Christmas, Jackson received an early present from stage school.  He was the only one chosen in his class to receive the trophy for Outstanding Achievement!  We always knew he was quite the entertainer, but it's nice that his drama teachers recognise this, too.  

And then, all of a sudden, it was here:  Christmas!  We were surprised when Jackson came into our room at 8:15 since we expected to see him around 5 A.M.  When we said that he had slept in, he told us that he had been waiting in his bed until there wasn't "any dark left" because he was worried that Santa might still be here.

Then Jackson told Lee and I that he heard "three thuds" on the roof during the night.  I said, "I didn't hear anything."  Jackson said, "Well, you should have been awake then.  Hey!  I thought Santa was supposed to know when we are awake and when we are asleep and he came when I was awake."  I guess he was a pretty convincing fake-sleeper.

Freddie stayed awake just until his last present was opened and then he was out like a light.  He took a nice long nap which allowed me to make breakfast (French toast, bacon, eggs, and hot chocolate) for everyone.  I guess even Freddie was feeling exhausted after all of that built-up anticipation.

Once all of the presents had been unwrapped, Jackson said, "I didn't get any presents."  I said, "Jackson, you got lots of presents."  He sadly replied, "No, I didn't get any presents for you, Dad, or Fred."  I told him that the only things we need are him and Freddie.

Jackson was reflecting on the presents he got from Santa this year and he said, "Usually, Santa only gives kids one present, but I guess I was the exception."  Lee and I were shocked by his correct usage of the word 'exception'!

At the end of the day after story time, when I tucked him into bed, I asked Jackson what his favourite part of the day was to which he replied, "Opening presents."  And then, after a few seconds, he followed that with, "And the thuds."

Merry Christmas!  

Love, Jackson and Freddie

Lee and Jackson on a wintry walk to Southport to see the lights

Freddie was bundled and ready for the walk, too!

Jackson's Pop-Tart house

The Christmas crafts for Jackson's teachers

Peek-a-boo!

And the award for Outstanding Achievement goes to . . . Jackson!

Freddie being casually cool

Thankful

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

Back to Normal

Jackson returned to school this week and we made it through the whole five days without a phone call telling us that he needed to self-isolate again.  Yippee!  I was worried that we were chancing it by letting him go to stage school last Saturday, but it looks like we made a clean getaway.  

So Jackson had a full week of crafting, socialising, learning, and playing--and little Freddie had more time alone with me and Lee.  Since there aren't any "Mommy and Me" groups running at the moment, I've turned our living room into a baby learning hub.  We have set-up the keyboard for rhyme time and sing-alongs, the baby gym for reaching and kicking practice, and a motorised baby cradle for Freddie to have little catnaps.  Freddie has started grabbing and pulling things towards him like some of his toys and our hands.  He also started smiling a lot this week!  Freddie was already a very sweet and calm baby, but now he has the wide smile to match his loving personality. 

Since England entered a new stricter lockdown on Thursday, all of Jackson's activities have come to a halt.  His guitar lessons will still continue over video calls, but stage school, swimming, and gymnastics are all on hold.  I'm learning guitar chords along with Jackson, but he's much more skilled at it and has a knack for strumming the strings smoothly.  He says that he can't wait to do "shows in Southport" because he's seen the other buskers and wants people to throw money into his guitar case when he performs.  It's a nice break for Lee and I from taking Jackson to all of his activities, though.  Also, I won't feel like we're risking the exposure to the virus and I can relax a little bit about that.

We had our new washing machine delivered on Wednesday, however, that didn't come without its stressors.  When the delivery/installation man turned the valve, it cracked and started spraying water everywhere!  He managed to turn it tight enough so that only a little bit of water was dripping out, but it was still another problem that had to be fixed.  Nothing's ever easy.  Lee and I called about 10 local plumbers until we reached someone who said he could come around 5 o'clock (it was around Noon at the time).  Some of the plumbers were available, but didn't want to do the job!  Weird.  And another one said that he could come 'next week' which really wasn't that helpful.  Anyway, five o'clock rolled around and no one showed up.  We waited until six and decided we'd try again on Thursday.  I did try again, but that plumber never picked up his phone so we had to find another one.  Finally, we found someone who could come by quickly, and he was very efficient and friendly.  If anyone ever needs a plumber in the Southport area, call JDR Plumbing and Heating (07846 316320).  

So, we're hoping for another fairly uneventful week but we never know what's in store.  We just take one day at a time and make each day as fun as we can for our little boys.

Our photogenic little chaps

Freddie curled up and cosy with Daddy

Jackson showing off his amazing Bonfire Night crafts

Our sweet little autumn baby