Closing Remarks

I'm sure you're all dying to see Christmas pictures. I have every intention of posted them promptly. For now, please accept Jackson's closing remarks from Christmas Day. This is after Jackson's was put to bed. He was at the gate to his room, calling for more attention.

Mom!
Mom!
Mommy!
Jason!
Jason!
Mommy!
Jason!

(Jason and I are down the hall, cracking up! Jason, "He's 2 1/2 and already I'm getting the first name treatment.")

What is that laughing about?!
RIGHT NOW!

A few days ago, I'd come across something annoying that Jason had done. Can't recall what now. Anyway, I mumbled, "Grrr, Jason". Jack heard me and asked who Jason was. So I explained how Daddy's other name is Jason, and Mommy's other name is Sheree. He gave me a funny look. Later he tried telling me that his other name was Jason. A few days later, he checked with his Daddy and was told that indeed, his Daddy did have another name, which was Jason. Guess he decided to try it out last night.

Powder

It snowed. It's the kind of snow that I haven't seen in New England yet--light and powdery and deep. Jackson was so excited to go outside. I made him wait until after breakfast, then get bundled up. The snow was hip deep on poor Jackson. I had to pick him up and put him down in new places because walking was out of the question for him. He had fun shoveling [snow back onto the paths that were cleaned off]. See Jason in the background, wearing his new full body hunting suit? I took a We took a pass around the yard on his sled. Jackson had some nibbles. Unfortunately, making a snowman was out of the question in this powder. I'm sure the next snowfall will be damp.

Here's a picture of Ming, the Chinese soldier who protects our home. He scares the bajeebees out of anyone who stops by after dark, including the residents. This storm turned him into a gnome.

After playing and digging out, we came back inside to get warm by the fire and enjoy hot chocolate (pictures courtesy of the last snow storm).

Jackson's Drawing

This is Jackson's latest drawing. Well, he's actually made 4 since, but this is the one I photographed and have really taken to. Sure, its kids scribbling, but he used so many elements in one drawing. First the orange with solid patches of color placed randomly in both horizontal and vertical directions. Then more of that with pink. In turquoise, circles--big ones made with the edge of the crayon and small ones made with the tip. Plus a smattering of dots small lines, etc.
Nice job, Jack!

This day is off to an exceptionally nice start

This morning, Jackson slept until 8:30! I'm sure this was a result of 2 acts of leniency on my part. First, I let him stay up an extra couple of hours. But we were making mini cheesecakes, and it was only fair to let him enjoy his handiwork. Second and probably more influentially, I let him sleep with me the last half of the night. He's teething, and unless I drug him at bedtime (we're out of baby motrin) he wakes up screaming, "Mommy-I need you!". So at 4 am, on the second round of screaming, I tucked him back in bed, but left his gate open and told him he could come sleep with me if he wanted. He was in my bed before I returned from the bathroom. He does sleep more soundly with another person. I had to get up at 8 after the hunters' gunshots frightened my dog who nosed me out of bed. Jackson only lasted another 30 minutes on his own.
We came downstairs, and Jackson is snuggling in his fuzzy blanket and eating french toast.
Every 10 minutes or so, he said "Mom, you know...I bery lucky." So I say, "You are very lucky. I'm very lucky too." Then he might say, "We both bery lucky." I find these words to be a profound statement of affection from my boy. He came to them on his own, and I imagine they make more sense than repeating "I love you's". I'll take them. I'll also take the "Oh, mom-mom" I used to get with my hugs, but the frequency of those has declined since his vocabulary has increased.

I, Robot

Jackson insists on being called "Jack". If we say, "Monkey" or "Sunshine" or "Silly-head" he counters with "I not, I just Jack!" Jason tends to follow with a W&G "Just Jack" gesture (someday he'll be sorry.)
Sometimes, Jackson pretends to be a puppy, crawls and woof's. After getting a nice scratch behind the ears, he reverts to "Just Jack".
Today, he's told me a couple of times that he is a robot. (Shout out to Elliot!) He follows the statement with some monotone robot speech "I-am-a-ro-bot". At bedtime, he became a robot, and when I asked if he would wear his pants, he said "I-sorry. I-a-ro-bot. No-pants. I-need-my-blank-et."
So, there it is. "I-ro-bot" is the new universal excuse for being disagreeable. Frankly its a huge improvement over the whiny disagreeableness he picked up after getting hooked on PBS's Caillou.