Pearly Whites.

Maybe this is a mundane topic, but I'm going to share anyway.

Today, we went for Jackson first dental cleaning. He was amazing!!
Mostly, he sat on my legs and watched the hygienist work on my teeth. Every once in a while he got up to explore. The fish did have to be moved to a higher shelf. And Jackson fiddled a bit with the suction tool. Mostly though, he sat in my lap and considered drinking the mouthwash.

Then it was Jackson's turn to sit in the chair. He sat, he opened, he had his teeth counted, scraped, polished, and flouridated!!! Then, he had a little drink and made spitting noises into the bowl.

At the end, the dentist came in to look at my teeth. Jackson got up again, and managed to briefly get the suction tool stuck to his nose.

There was no running away, no crying, and no wreckage! Yeah for Jackson.

(Jason thinks this is a sign that we should stick to just 1 child. With our family history, another is bound to be a terror!)

Five things I love...

I saw a post on another blog today titled "Five things I love" and thought it might be a good idea to list mine.

First---my boy. I LOVE this kid. He's friendly, intelligent, inquisitive, and FUNNY! I've heard it said that we love our children because we see something of ourselves in them. I love Jack because he is the opposite of me in a lot of ways. He loves people (recent shyness notwithstanding). It is a daily joy to see him learn new things and just enjoy life's little thrills so much. And just LOOK at him!


Second---my woman! Sheree is the perfect wife for a odd duck like me. She is kind, generous, an awesome mother, and she puts up with a lot from both of her boys. I would probably never have taken on challenges like building a house or moving across the country without her influence. To top it all off she's cute too!


Third---(grudgingly), my job. It's some kind of codependent relationship I'm sure, but I like what I do. It seems weird that someone who doesn't like people would enjoy working in retail management, but I really really do. I like that I can help people in the unenviable task of home repairs. I think it is at least partly because I have been there and know what it's like, but also because I like to swoop in and save their day. Try it, it's like crack after a while!


Fourth---My house in the woods. As previously mentioned, I'm an unwilling people person. The hermit life is obviously for me. Not being able to hear or see my neighbors (most of the time) is just plain good for my soul. Being able to hunt in my own yard is awesome too! Mostly, just having clean, wild, space around me is what keeps me from finding something tall and jumping though.

Fifth---Friends/family. I still don't fully understand it, but there are a whole lot of people out there who care about me. People who ask how I'm doing, and really care. That's a pretty big deal. Clarence the angel wrote in George's book "No man is a failure who has friends." Sometimes that's all that gets me out of bed in the morning. I love you all!

So...there it is. The challenge to all reading this is to complete the same exercise. If you blog, write your own "Five Things" post. If not, think it out. It will make you feel good. I promise.

Cheese and paperclips

Jason is getting some stuff ready for eBay. There's a cast iron wok that I thought we had no use for, but apparently it makes a great toddler seat. I told Jackson I was going to take his picture. He put on his best Cheshire grin and said, "Cheee-eese".


I have a jar of paperclips. It's a mixed jar collected over the years--different sizes and colors. Jackson has been playing with it this week. He's been carrying around clips on a little saucer and moving them around. Yesterday, I noticed that all the clips on the saucer are metallic, and all of the clips in the bottom of the storage container are colored and plastic coated.

This is big news!!! First, its a milestone to sort things. Sorting blocks by shape is expected--toymakers go to some effort and expense to market shape sorters. However, this is a bigger milestone. First, there's no marketing involved. It's more a matter of covert sneaking off with the paperclips when no one was looking. Second, there was no prompt. No, "See this is a blue triangle with 3 sides--let's put it in the blue triangle hole with 3 sides. Oh no, it doesn't fit in the orange circle hole, try again." Jackson found the clips himself, made them into a toy, segregated them by type, and plays with them one pile at a time.

For me, its an even bigger milestone. One that signals that my boy is just like me--that's every parent's dream, right. See, sorting is my particular brand of O.C.D. I'm not a neat freak in anyone's imagination (sorry, Mom), but I do like the items on the shelf to be orderly. I like my closet arranged by season and color. I like my books and spices alphabetical (I let a few of these go in the name of having a career and family).

If I'm really really lucky, this is a signal that my child will be analytical. A sign that he'll think twice before making a decision. Maybe he'll even be a technical person with a slant toward the scientific. A mother can dream, right?

Garden mania sets in!

In the dark cold months of a New England winter, there is little to do except plan for next years garden. We have an extra bad case of garden fever this year, and since we have had varying levels of success with gardening over the last few years, we have decided to go all in (and turn it into a parking area if we fail again).



First we tested our soil. PH is just slightly alkaline, nitrogen is low, phosphorous is just right, and potash is non-existent.


Next we procured an enormous pile of seeds. All the usual stuff: tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, broccoli, peas, cucumbers, etc.



Next we plotted our garden. What will go where, in what quantities, paying attention to what was there last year. Drawing is to scale as this is a household with an engineer.



Now if only.....

Random stuff...

This is a collection of random pictures to herald the goings on in Jacksonland.

Sheree is teaching Jack how to make faces. Lets hope this one doesn't stick.

Jackson is very interested in what goes on in the kitchen. Sheree got him a step stool which he uses to help with cleanup.


So patient.

Joy

Snow Day

Maybe you heard that we got totally dumped on by snow this week. I was disappointed. Not because it didn't snow enough, but because I keep being lulled into a false sense of spring. A few weeks ago, we had record high temperatures for a couple of days. High 60's in mid February. I thought winter was over, and then it got very very cold. This weekend was quite nice, I even ventured outside to do some yard work. I cleaned the chicken coop, I spread manure and wood ashes on the garden (hoping for a better season). Then, it snowed and snowed some more.

Today, Jackson and I decided to make the best of it and go out to play. Jackson was enthusiastic about getting all bundled up, he loves to wear his boots. Puts them on first thing in the morning, stomps around all day, often accents them with a stocking cap. (Usually sans pants, but whatever).


Previous snow days, Jackson has been less enthusiastic about the snow and cold than about the bundling up. In the past, he has refused to wear gloves. He can't get up when he falls down because his hands are cold, and he doesn't want to touch the snow. He hasn't liked the sled. Last time we had a good snow, he was happiest after I put away the sled and any thoughts of snowmen and instead brought out the lawn chair.


Today was different. Jackson wore his gloves and threw the snow and pushed it and stomped. He agreed to go for a ride on the sled, saying "Whoo Whoo" and when he looked somber after a few minutes, I asked if he was having fun. He replied with "Weee!". That lasted until I took a corner too hard, and my poor little one face planted. But he merrilly went back to throwing and stomping. I had to drag him back in the house.



I didn't take out the camera today, but I hope these pictures of Jackson not having enough fun outside give you the idea.