Jackson is officially 2 1/2 yrs old. I don’t know where time has gone but it has! I was trying to think about how to sum up Jackson for you (and for my “blog diary”) and the only way I could think of was to tell you about the things that Jackson currently could not live without.

If Jackson was sent to a deserted island I think these are the things he would hope would go along….

His “noculars” aka binoculars… Jackson is a very observant kid. He enjoys looking out the window at the birds and squirrels and he loves going on long walks to explore. He notices things that we as adults just miss because we are so distracted with life. I am amazed at his ability to pay attention to a million things at once. I think school will be tough for him someday..not because I don’t think he’s bright but because he has a hard time not multitasking.

His stool…or one of his 4 stools. We have a plastic stool in each bathroom for him to use for washing his hands. It is not unusual for them to be spread throughout the house by the end of each day. He wants to be in the action. He is no longer satisfied with being on floor level when he knows there is so much more of life going on above. He was always a climber as a little guy but now he feels independent and involved with a stool that he can lift and move to accommodate his enjoyment of life.

His underoos…During our days of being snowed in I told Seth I thought we should hunker down and potty train. Jackson got his potty back when he was 18 months old, along with his big boy baseball undies! Since then he has always been willing to go without any issues but with the move here, the arrival of Owen and all of his adjustments we decided we wanted to focus on his other transitions and wait until he was ready to do it all the way! So, we dove in. So far he is doing beautifully and is very proud of his accomplishment. He now wears a diaper at bedtime and naptime and when we are out and about. But when we are home he is in undies and tells us when he needs to go.

His legos…Jackson has really been expanding his pretend play with his legos. He is really creative about what he wants to build and enjoys “telling a story” as he goes. This has been fun to see!

His light! Jackson has recently gained a pretty intense fear of the dark. We are going through a phase at night where he doesn’t want to go to bed without his door cracked so he can see the hall light. He won’t go into a room unless he can quickly get the switch on. I know developmentally this fear goes along with the development of pretend play because his concept of reality and pretend is being developed but how that plays out at bedtime is quite exhausting!

His Curious George book and his Bible…Jackson enjoys reading lots of books but these are his favorites. His favorite line to say in George is the first “This is George. George was a good little monkey and always very curious”. Somehow I think he and George are kindred spirits, whether that is good or bad I haven’t determined yet. Jackson is much more trust-worthy than he was in previous months meaning I am not needing to be with him every moment but his curiosity is often more than I can anticipate. Because of his ability to carry his stool he is often able to scheme and accomplish his goals without needing to even talk to me. He does come to me quickly when his plans g0 wrong to tell me what disaster has occurred. At this stage I am glad he still confesses!

His microphone…the boy can sing and loudly. We’ve always had music around the house since Jackson was born. At about 9 months we decided to start a bedtime routine with him and sang the same songs each night. Jackson within the past few months has been singing these songs from memory. Often we aren’t even aware that he knows the words and then he will burst out with every verse.  He brings lots of joy to the house through his singing but I will be honest when I am cooking dinner and he is blasting “Jingle Bells” into the kitchen were I (his exhausted, sleep deprived mama) am trying to put together a decent meal my brain just can’t handle it.

His daddy…I think I commented about this recently but Jackson is really going through a daddy phase. Not that he doesn’t need me and love me but he really is enjoying daddy and wants to do everything like him. Dr. Dobson talks about this being important at this stage in development so we are trying to meet this need of daddy time.

Adjustable waist pants….sounds silly I know but Jackson couldn’t be dressed without them. He is still a string bean. I know his grandmothers have probably both wondered if I deprived Jackson of calories as a baby but the truth is he’s a spitting image of Seth and no matter what he eats, he is skinny! I think he just can’t ever consume enough food to match his activity level.

The cellphone…give the boy a phone and he will talk. He loves calling his grandparents and begs to talk when I am on the phone.  Cute but proves difficult when I need to be on the phone for purposes other than chatting for hours on end about toddler topics.

So at 2 1/2 this is a picture of Jackson. We are so thankful for his vibrance and all that he adds to our family. The challenges of living with a 2 something are many but the rewards do outweigh those challenges..for that I am thankful!