Play Ball!

Jackson and I were just shooting baskets with his myriad of balls, when he noticed one was dented in on one side. He pointed to the dent and said, "Uh-oh!". I told him, "It's okay! We just need to put more air into it." After which he put his mouth on the ball and blew on it, then proudly stated, "I fixed it!"

Jackson and Tera

The first "conversation" Jackson had with Tera was while she was crying in the car (she does NOT like riding in the car). As we pulled into our driveway, Jackson said, "Don't cry, Baby! We home! It's fun!" It was pretty touching how he was trying to console her. Before that moment, the only thing he ever said to her was, "Hi, Baby!"

For the first 4 months of Tera's life, Jackson insisted on calling her "Baby" or "My Baby", but NEVER Tera. Finally, he will now call her Tera about 25% of the time. By the way, his friends have called her Baby Tera since day 1 . . .

Halloween 2010

Ashley, Jackson, Allie, Tera, and Grandma

      Jackson the Giraffe

Tera the Ladybug

Our 1st Pumpkin Patch of 2010

Here are adorable pictures from the Impossible Acres pumpkin patch:

Mom Brain, Newborn Version

Today, after I picked up Tera's birth certificate at the County Health Building, I drove behind a car going 45 mph in a 55 mph zone for several miles, and saw numerous cars pass it before it occurred to me that I could pass the slow car too. Also, I sat at a four way stop for several seconds waiting for the light to change. I'm like a walking/driving blonde joke! :-S I have several other examples of stupid things I've done while sleep-deprived, but I'm too tired to remember them . . .

Peach Berry Crisp Recipe

Our playgroup made this at our latest dinner made easy playdate (at Michelle's house). It has a lot of sugar and butter in the crust, and that's probably what makes it taste sooo good!

INGREDIENTS:
3 1/2 cups chopped peaches
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups butter

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press half of mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle peaches and berries over crust. Sprinkle remaining crumble mixture over the top.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until fruit is bubbly and topping is golden brown.

Jackson's Actions @ 2 Years Old

Talking: 
Mama = Grandma 
Papa = Grandpa 
Oggie = Ashley Ollie & Aw-ye = Allie 
pop pops = candy 
mote = remote 
paint = the action of drawing or painting 
cracker = crackers or cereal 
marney = money or Barney 
baw ball = baseball or basketball 
doggy = Lucky (our dog) 
baby = Tera or any other baby 
my baby = Tera 
toot-toot (usually said while pumping arm up and down) = train 
pack-pack = backpack 
fruck & *uck = truck 

Doing: 
When Jackson gets hurt, he comes to me, shows me the "boo-boo", and sadly says "kiss". After I kiss his boo-boo, he smiles and excitedly says "Is beddr!" (translation: It's better!). 

Jackson likes to fill a muffin tin with water, then hold it out to people and offer them a "cookie". Then we, Jackson included, pretend to take a cookie out of the muffin tin and eat it. 

He loves to give Tera hugs and kisses. Unfortunately we have to discourage the hugging, because they involve him laying on poor Tera and squeezing her.

Jackson's 2nd Birthday Party

This year, we celebrated Jackson's and Ashley's birthdays at Micke Grove Park in Lodi. It was a simple party, but nice and fun. We had a huge picnic lunch, sang "Happy Birthday" to Jackson and Ashley, ate cake, opened presents, then went to the amusement park. Trains are one of the many things that Jackson is into right now, so he was thrilled that our picnic site was close to the train tracks. Every time a train went by he would pump his arm and yell, "Toot! Toot!"

We thought Jackson would be excited about going on the rides at the amusement park, since he enjoyed them so much at the Yolo County Fair this year, but he wanted nothing to do with them. He must have been quite tired by then, because he fell asleep as soon as we started driving home.

Cake Time: Jackson had a Thomas the Tank Engine cupcake and Ashley had a Snow White cupcake.

Quality Time With Grandma and Grandpa:

Kissing Boo-Boos

Here's the latest totally adorable thing that Jackson does: His grandma (Chris) taught him about how kisses help boo-boos feel better, and they kissed each others boo-boos. Over the next few days it evolved to Jackson kissing all of our boo-boos, and having us kiss all of his boo-boos. Now he's cut out the middleman and he kisses his own boo-boos.
:-)

The Arrival of Tera Nicole Medeiros

All Friday night, I had contractions that were just painful enough to keep me awake and annoyed. I assumed they were just Braxton-Hicks (false labor), so I drank tons of water and kept changing positions but nothing helped. They finally just went away at about 4 AM on Saturday morning.

Around 9 AM on Saturday, the contractions came back, but again, I assumed they were just Braxton-Hicks. Matt, Jackson, and I went out to breakfast at Crepeville and walked around the Farmers' Market. On the way home (around 11:30 AM), I decided that since my contractions seemed to be getting more painful, I should start writing down the time when each one started. At 1:30 PM, they were about 20 minutes apart and getting a bit more painful (like menstrual cramps), so I called the ob-gyn on call. She basically said not to worry about it unless they get about 5 minutes apart.

At 6:30 PM, my contractions were still about 10 minutes apart, but a little more painful, and I didn't want to spend another night awake with contractions so I called the ob-gyn again. She said to go to the birthing center and they would check me out. I threw some necessities in my hospital bag and brought it with me just in case.

By the time Matt, Jackson, and I got to the hospital and they hooked me up to the monitors, my contractions were varying from 3-8 minutes and were VERY painful (like the worst menstrual cramps EVER). The nurse said it would only take about 20 minutes to have me on the monitors and make a decision about whether to send me home or do a c-section, so Matt and Jackson went to wander around and I was to call them when I was ready to go (we assumed I would be sent home). Finally, and hour and a half later (at 9 PM), I was told that since I couldn't talk through my contractions they were going to schedule a c-section for 10 PM that night.

Aunt Judy came and hung out with Jackson (who fell asleep and missed all of the excitement) at the hospital, while Matt came into the operating room with me. Everything went quickly and smoothly.

Tera Nicole Medeiros was born at 10:52 PM on July 17, 2010. She weighed 5 pounds 15.4 ounces, and was 18 inches long. She was perfectly healthy, with a full head of jet black hair.

Happy Boy

How do you make a teething toddler THIS happy?

First, on a hot day, let him run around in the backyard with one shoe on. Then let him get soaking wet playing with a hose and playing in a wading pool. Invite his cousins over to play and get wet too. Finally, hand him a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting (or ice cream, as he calls frosting).

Bliss!

Solano County Fair 2010

Just like last year, Jackson's favorite activity was playing in the corn box.





He and his cousins, Ashley and Allie, played there for about 45 minutes. Judy and I enjoyed sitting in the shade and chatting while they played, so I guess it was our favorite activity too! :-)

Future artists

I wasn't allowed on any of the rides because I'm pregnant (not even the kiddie rides, duh!), and the carousel was the only ride that Jackson was tall enough to go on. Luckily, Grandma was willing to go on the carousel with him so he wouldn't totally miss out!

Gardening

Jackson and I did some gardening today. We planted basil, thyme, and some kangaroo paw. Jackson's job was to water, and boy did he do a good job! This is the cute, little 2 step process he kept repeating as he watered:






First, he would carefully fill the pitcher with water.










Then he would pour the water from the pitcher onto the plants (or dirt). He must have remembered using a watering can to water the garden at Fairytale Town, because I certainly didn't tell him he had to water that way . . .








I guess all that work made him thirsty, because he would stop to take a drink from the hose fairly often. :-)

Jackson's Big Boy Bike

I found a super cute, toddler bike with training wheels, for Jackson, at a garage sale a couple of weekends ago. The crazy thing is that he has two trikes that he can't reach the pedals on yet, but on his "new" bike he can. Yes, we might have jumped the gun a bit, because he totally doesn't get the whole pedaling thing yet. However he sure has fun when Mom and Dad push him around on it, so we think it was a good purchase.

I mean, really, how CUTE is that?!

The Potty Fest Continues . . .

I thought that Jackson using the potty the other day might have been a fluke, but he continues to use it! He uses it about half the time that he needs to pee, and he hasn't gone poo in it yet, but it's a start!

Peepee in the Potty!

WARNING: If you do not enjoy reading potty talk, skip this post!

Not only did Jackson go peepee in the potty for the first time today, but he went SIX times! Until now he would tell me right AFTER he went in his diaper, and about a week ago he started taking off and throwing his soiled diaper in the garbage. I was assuming he was doing the same thing today when he took off his diaper, but instead he ran into the bathroom, lifted the lid of the toilet, and attempted to climb onto it. After I helped him up, he sat for (what seemed like) several minutes and then HE PEED IN THE POTTY! 

I don't want to get too excited and count my chickens before they hatch, but if he could be potty trained within the next 3 months, before baby #2 arrives, I would be ecstatic!

An interesting side note: We have a potty training chair all set up for him in the bathroom. It's just his size and easy to sit on, but he ignored it all day and went to the big potty, where I had to put him on, and then he would teeter on the edge the whole time and make me wonder if he was going to fall in. So I went to Target and bought a toddler toilet seat to put over the regular toilet seat, and a step stool to help him climb onto it. So far he's way to interested in playing with the toddler toilet seat., and the step stool still isn't tall enough to allow him to climb onto the potty by himself. 

I'm curious to see what happens tomorrow.

Bedtime Miracle

Jackson is not usually hard to put to bed. I usually just wait until he acts sleepy, and then I put him in bed and sing a few songs while he falls asleep. The hardest part is waiting until he's sleepy, because he doesn't need much sleep (unlike his mother). If we put him to bed at 7 PM (like most kids his age), he wakes up at 5 AM which is MUCH too early for Mommy and Daddy. He generally is sleepy between 8-8:30 PM, but sometimes as late as 9:30 PM.

Now for the bedtime miracle: Jackson put himself to bed for the first time tonight! I was watching TV with him, when he suddenly turned to me and said, "Night-night!" I thought he was kidding, because likes to pretend to go "night-night" by laying his head down wherever he is for a few seconds and then getting back up. But then he climbed off the couch, walked confidently in the dark to his room, and climbed in bed! I sang a couple of songs for him, since he didn't fall asleep right away, and then left him sleeping soundly. *sigh of contentment*

Southern California Vacation -- Part II

Jackson and Luke chillin' in their matching car seats, on the way to the El Centro Fair.

Jackson's first pony ride. He didn't cry, but he wasn't too sure about it at first. By the end he was smiling and enjoying himself.

Chris, Jackson, and Matt petting animals at the fair.

Me, Jackson, Lucky, and Chris all packed up and ready to spend a few days in Vegas. We were all especially ready to spend a few nights outside of the motor home.

Jackson feeding carrots to wild horses and burros, with Simon and Kira Peters, in Ridgecrest. My cousin, MiriLou's, house in Ridgecrest was our last stop on our 2 week vacation.

Jackson's Actions @ 18 months

Speaking: 

nana = banana

bah-boo = peekapoo

bah-boh = bubble

bah-bah = bottle, sippy cup, jar, glass, or anything resembling such

bee-bee = blueberry

bye = I want to go outside OR telephone, depending on which one he's pointing at

eye = eye, glasses, and sunglasses

no = no OR nose

doggie = any animal with four legs (except cats)

meow = cat

roar = lion

quack/duck = bird

Southern California Vacation -- Part I

Lucky and pregnant me at Avala Beach.
We spent the first few nights of our vacation at Matt's cousin's (Scott) house, near San Luis Obispo.







Matt and Iban get eaten by a shark at the Birch At Scripps Aquarium in La Jolla! :-)








Dan, Iban, Chris, Jackson, and Matt at the Birch At Scripps Aquarium. We spent 2 nights in Del Mar with Dan and his family.







The whole gang after a great day at the San Diego Zoo.