2.5 year check-up

We have a  healthy and growing 2 1/2 year old on our hands! Jackson has not exactly shot up in height but he's up to a solid 36 inches which makes him seem so much taller than he used to be! He comes up to our waists and we don't have to reach down to rub his head anymore. Plus, he can easily see up on the counters so there is no more hiding things towards the backs of the kitchen counters! 

He has gone down a little bit in weight as he has slimmed down and lost some of his belly, which we are somewhat sad about. That was SUCH an endearing belly! 

 J loves to read, play cars, watch for firetrucks and ambulances on the roads and narrate every part of every day. His favorite movies are Cars and Cars 2. He sleeps in till 6:30am! He loves chicken nuggets and will eat green peas now. J gives the best kisses and hugs but likes to snuggle on his own agenda. JB and J spend each afternoon flying the remote control helicopter in the front yard. He loves to take care of Lincoln and really wants to walk him but I don't want a broken arm to come from it... My favorite moments of the day are when he walks up to give me a spontaneous kiss for no reason, family story time at night in our bed and snuggling after bath time.  

 J is very proud to be a big brother in September and will voluntarily show you my belly (no thank you!) and the baby growing in his belly too. We know that he is going to be a kind brother who will show Byrne Baby #2 all the ins and outs of life! 

 Over the past few months he has started to play very well by himself, usually make-believe with cars and trucks or doing puzzles. He still doesn't care about art or any fine motor activities except for chalk here and there. Bubbles and playing in our small sandbox are our favorite afternoon activities, especially when all the neighborhood kids come out to play. Recently, J has started to say, "Talk to me, mom". It's usually when we are peacefully eating lunch or doing a quiet activity together.  Sometimes, he just likes to hear me talk I guess!

 Jackson is still gentle and kind, a quiet thinker most of the time. He is learning to initiate sharing his toys with his friends. The other day, he went over to his play car, opened the door and said, "Here you go Lizzy Kay", closing the door behind her. What a gentleman! We love chuckling at his language development and how he is picking up on the things that we say. "GrandmomPopPop I see you in two minutes!" (it's usually...Jackson you have two minutes to play...two more minutes in the bath...two minutes to...). 

 He prays before dinner, which usually consist of him squeezing his eyes shut TIGHT, holding our hands and whispering in an almost inaudible voice, "Jesus loves me...jfjad;fdjaklfkaj....kdjfkasdjfkjafiejfl;iajse....AMEN". He loves bed time kisses and must have a big kiss, little hug, little kiss, big hug from mom, dad and Lincoln :) Goober. We are battling a month-long cough and are doing a rule-in/out allergies followed by a possible asthma test if allergies are negative. Prayers for our little guy. He hasn't slowed down a bit and doesn't seem bothered but we just can't stand to hear him coughing at night...breaks our hearts. 

 J loves to hang with the big kids, including Pop Pop and his friend's motorcycle. He has also become quite the daredevil outside on playgrounds and climbing trees. It's amazing that I am able to stand by and just watch him without stepping in. It takes every ounce of me to let him be a kid and realize that broken bones heal eventually, but I need to let him cultivate his explorer spirit! 

Williamsburg

 In early September we spent a few days in Williamsburg with mom and dad. Jackson loved being with Nah-mah (Grandmom) and Bop-Pop (Pop Pop) and gave them the names that they love so much :) Grandmom is still holding out until he can say 'grandmom'.  We played in the perfect kiddy pool, ate pancakes every morning, read books, went shopping, lounged around snuggling and playing lots of hide-and-seek.  

 We spent a warm morning enjoying Colonial Williamsburg, where Jackson and Bop Pop investigated crushed shells. We found the most beautiful garden and lavender soap as a small souvenir. 

 Playing in the shackles and on the slide 

 In other news, J is starting to like the potty more every day and official potty training may be right around the corner. Since he is only a two year old boy, we are not planning anything right now but I am going to buy some pull-ups when I am out just in case we decide to do potty-training bootcamp! He loves his mini-marshmallow that he gets each time he makes a valiant attempt at going potty.  

We said a sad goodbye to our dear friends Val, Jimmy, Sofi and their new addition, Lilli. They are off to new things in Raleigh (hooray for a new job, Jimmy!) but we are going to miss them terribly. Val and I met when she was in the pew in front of me at church and we were both very pregnant. She walked a sweaty 7 miles with me on October 21st, the day before Jackson came! She has captured our little family with sweet photos and has been such a support to me in these years of being a new mom. We are so excited for your new life in NC, Val and team, but know that you always have a place to stay when you come back to Norfolk! 

Sofi taught J how to give hugs

J (not a climber), Eli, Sofi and Jordan

 I have had the pleasure and joy of so many amazing mom friends with due dates in the several months surrounding Jackson. Now, many of them are onto having their second (congrats!!!) and their first (yippee, Anna!). I realized that these amazing women are all military wives and in addition to Val, the rest of them will be moving away soon. I am so sad to lose the proximity of these women and their children but am grateful for the time we have spent together and how well they have loved Jackson. 

watching a cement mixer pour a driveway

the beach in the fall

 J picked out a beautiful Mum and Taylors the other day. We planted it and I asked him to, "Please water the mum". He proceeded to water my feet :) silly boy!

 Beth and Matt had him for a few days while JB and I were off running from Charlottesville to Williamsburg (more on that later) and they enjoyed lots of fun days at the Botanical Gardens, taking walks, playing with friends and just loving life with the grandparents! 

 I am still trying to come up with little creative Montessori activities for him to do when we can get enough "focus" time during the day. A few days ago we learned about big and small bottles and how to use a funnel.  

I used to think mice were so cute

Mice were alway so cute. Ratatouli, Feivel, Gus from Cinderella.  Plenty of children's songs have mice in them and they are always frolicking through the fields or just being cute little mice eating cheese. And then, you see one in your house and they are not cute anymore.  We have a recent increase in rats in our block and then saw a mouse inside, thankfully just when JB returned from Ireland. We trapped it on Thursday night and when JB woke on Friday to dispose of the trap it was GONE.  There's nothing like a mouse with a spinal cord injury limping around your house. Luckily we trapped it the next day and got rid of it right away this time. Several days later when JB and Jackson were in Massachusetts and Link was at Beth and Matt's, I woke at 1am to the sound of scratching by my bed. After 30 minutes of fearful investigation I realized there were mice in the walls and then the attic. (On a side-note, I realize that I feel much braver when Jackson is in the house; my momma lion switch turns on and I am willing to protect him at all costs).  I lay, wide-eyed in my room with a light on for the rest of the night and went to work the next day looking nervous, jumpy and strung-out.  JB was a gracious husband and took the 'mouse side' of the bed when he got home and we called the exterminator to assist us with mice outside and rats outside (hopefully only outside).  We have had peaceful sleep with no sign of mice since then! WHEW 

 J will finally sit down for some painting and coloring and we hang his art projects on the glass doors in the dining room. He is very proud and constantly points to his projects and smiles!

 We enjoyed a weekend in Hatteras and finally got to spend some time with the Dozier twins, Virginia and Luke, who have the brightest smiles!!! We enjoyed good meals, lots of Settlers, laying on the porch, good conversation that was occasionally broken by toddlers running around, paddle boarding and rest.  Happy birthday to Ross and thanks to Hannah for hosting! We are so blessed to have so many friends to go through life and raise our children with.  

 Dr. JB checks out his pint sized patient

"Chicks dig skinned knees"....and pink tutus. 

Airplane

 Courtesy of Ross (no worries, buddy), Jackson and I have been sick for 2 weeks which has been less-than-fun. J is also cutting his second set of molars and I really feel for this kid. We thought about working on eliminating his whining and clinginess this week but decided to delay it since this poor kid just really feels terrible. This has led us to spend most days inside, usually in just a diaper with a snot-rag nearby, and have some dance parties! 

We try to have some Montessori Mornings and today's was cleaning the dinosaurs with his scrub brush

 Finally, we are just amazed at how big our little guy is getting. He has grown another 2" in the past 3 months and is finally starting to lose some of his gigantic belly. He is no longer a baby and we just love our sweet, curious, kind toddler.  

Big Belly, Big Belly, Big Belly

Writing on the blog used to be a stress-reliever for me and now I've realized that I'm not a talented writer, I Just enjoy sharing pictures of what we do all day. So I'm taking the pressure off myself to be witty (which I'm not), clever (that either), insightful (nope) or fill-in-the-blank and will just post short little blurbs about life in the Byrne household.  

Our days are characterized by lots of learning. J has been learning more body parts including legs, knees and belly button! He learned how to bake cookies (pictures coming soon), water his tomato plant from Mrs. Speasmaker, bring his dishes to and from the table and use a napkin.  I just read a book on Montessori education from 0-3 years old and really resonated with it. It can seem overwhelming to think about doing everything with your child (which we are not going to do!) but I realized I have already been following some strategies of M education by asking J to be involved in all parts of his day. 

We've got lofty goals for the next few weeks (and we hope to make this 'work' fun!):

drink out of a little glass

set the table with placemat and his dishes

assist with part of getting dressed, probably putting his shorts on

folding easy parts of the laundry

Will keep you all posted on how things go!

Sometimes Jonathan will grab a quick breakfast on the couch before going out for a run. Jackson (and Lincoln) has been known to sidle up and try to steal some second breakfast

Nose

hair

(large) belly

I managed to convince mom and dad to come down for a day trip a few weeks ago and we had a great time. They surprised us by arriving early and with many goodies in tow! The brought J a real drum (but it's quiet!), fireman rain boots to match his raincoat from BB and Granddad, a train whistle and Roadmap rugs for his room. He loved hanging out with them at the zoo, staring at the birds and touching a 'hair' from an elephant tail. We can't get enough of grandparent time and are so lucky to have all four so close by! 

The learning continues...

We read the Jesus Storybook Bible each morning but it's not long enough to take us through all of breakfast. So I made bags of colored shapes and each morning we'll pull out one or two and learn colors, shapes and pictures. He's doing pretty well with pictures like fish, trees and firetruck and he is picking up on triangle and circle. Hexagon, octagon, rectangle? Well, those might take a while :)

Gotta' guard Daddy's new shoes...you never know what sneaky neighbor might come take a box!