Jackson Turns FOUR...and Loses His Tonsils and Adenoids!

WHAT A YEAR!!!  Jackson has had QUITE the fourth year of life: he became a big brother, he began riding a bike with training wheels, he started sleeping in a big boy bed, he became COMPLETELY potty trained, he learned to write his name, he learned the colors of the rainbow, he became able to completely dress himself, has given up naps and he started preschool!

 

I have to say that Jackson really seems to love life!  He wakes up each morning asking for Graham and if he can play with him.  He never says no when we ask him to help with Graham by getting his paci or trying to play with him to keep him happy.  He also LOVES school!  He is so excited when it is a school day (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), and he cannot show us his artwork fast enough when we pick him up!  I made him a special wall in the playroom to hang his favorite pictures :)

 

Jackson is still a pretty picky eater, but he is getting more adventurous--baby steps!  Pizza and macaroni and cheese have been added to the more regular choices, as well as peanut butter sandwiches!  Rice Krispies are his favorite breakfast option with a banana.  Lunch is peanut butter crackers or a sandwich with grapes.  Chicken nuggets is still his favorite for dinner with yogurt and fruit.  Jackson LOVES the special treat of eating at Chik-fil-a or McDonald's.  Chocolate milk is still a huge reward in his eyes--excellent!

 

Days before his fourth birthday, Jackson gave up his naps cold turkey!  We consider ourselves SUPER lucky that he did nap regularly this long.  But it was so sudden!  Now, he has quiet time for 1 1/2-2 hours in the afternoon.  I am actually enjoying the flexibility in the afternoon...until Graham's naps become more regular!  This all means an earlier bedtime, which is a nice perk at the end of a day with two busy boys!  I have noticed that if we are in the car in the afternoon, he will most likely fall asleep.  I can never get enough of that sleepy face :) 

 

Jackson still loves to help me bake.  He also really likes to help with the laundry!  Is this my kid, or what?  He also loves to do pretty much anything Josh does--golf, baseball, wrestle, play Mario (this is a new, special treat), and be silly.  He still loves anything with wheels, but is expanding to super heroes!  He loves Spiderman and "his friends" :) 

 

Jackson had a good and informative visit to the pediatrician for his four-year old well-check.  Josh and I had more questions than I have ever remembered having!  He weighs 36 pounds (52nd %ile) and is 35 inches tall (50th %ile).  He got three shots, and that was sad.  The look on his face while he sat on Josh's lap was awful to watch--it was like the three stages of realization :(  But, he got over it pretty fast!  Our big issue that we needed to discuss was his congested head.  He snores very loudly at night, he always sounds congested when he breathes and talks, his tonsils are perpetually swollen, and we seem to be fighting "allergies" without much resolution.  Michelle (the nurse practitioner we saw and LOVE) got us right in with an ENT the day after his appointment.  The ENTs recommendation was to remove Jackson's tonsils and adenoids!  He agreed that his tonsils are quite large and swollen, so they are restricting the space through which he can breathe.  We really liked the surgeon, and we feel really good about this surgery.  It is scheduled for Friday, November 2nd.  Obviously he will miss that day of school, but the Monday and Wednesday of the next week he already had no school, so we really will be able to minimize the amount of school he misses.  I know the surgery is pretty common these days, but I'm still pretty nervous about how it will all go for him!  The actual surgery is quick--about 20 minutes, but they do sedate him all the way and put a tube down his throat.  The doctor said one of us can be with him when they put him to sleep, and then we will be there when he wakes up.  I just hope he isn't too scared!  I'm still not sure how we are going to prepare him, or how he really will be during the recovery.  So far, it seems like he has quite a high tolerance for pain--I'm hoping that keeps up!  Michelle noticed his ear was full of fluid, and the ENT prescribed an antibiotic for it.  After five days, however, it wasn't any better so the ENT added tubes in his ears to the docket for November 2nd.  So, please keep him (and us!) in your thoughts during the surgery and recovery.  We are looking forward to the results of all of this...

 

This next year is going to be so fun as Graham gets older and Jackson gets to really play with him!  I can't wait to see what his list of accomplishments looks like in twelve months :)

Jackson's Fourth Birthday Party!

 Jackson wanted two separate parties: one dinosaur and one superhero, so we decided to combine themes and host a Super Hero Dino Party!

 "Come over in a flash for one big dino bash!"

"It would be super-saurus incredible if you could join us for Jackson's 4th birthday party :)"

 The day before his party, Jackson helped me make his chocolate cupcakes!

 He has become quite the big helper as he has gotten older!

 Truthfully, he could have probably filled the whole cupcake tin by himself, but I was too impatient to go that route ;)

 So, we took turns :)

 Graham was well entertained after we picked up the balloons!

 Decorating Table!  Each child had both a mask and a "super sword" (paper towel roll) to decorate with stickers.  We also colored super hero coloring pages!

 I made a cape for each of Jackson's friends with his/her first initial on it.  I went mostly according to this tutorial.  I went ahead and cut the neck in half too, so I was able to make two capes from one shirt.  Then, I hot-glued ribbon to the neck as a closure.  I used adult medium sized shirts, and that seemed to work pretty perfectly for this bunch.

 Snacks!

 Jackson's special cake with a super hero dino made out of fondant and painted with gel food coloring.

 Fondant decorations--Super "J"s and Super "4"s!

 Happy birthday subway art and the photo books from Jackson's first three birthdays :)

 The birthday boy decorating his accessories!

Super Jackson: The Front...

And, Super Jackson: The Back

These two were quite the pair during the party :)

All ready to go outside for a game!

We played a really fun game outside!  We set up a bunch of balloons weighted down and let the kids "battle" them with their super swords.  They thought it was fabulous to run around whacking the balloons!

Next up, tattoos!

Carefully choosing...

Belly art!

Post Pin the Cape on the Super Dino!

The Supers: Jackson, Mary, Rachel, Izzy, Avery, Maddie, Brodie, and Reagan

With the littlest supers added in: Graham and Levi

Everyone from the back--we totally should have lined them up to spell something!

Family birthday shot

D+J = J and G :)

Dinner time!  Dinosaur chicken was on the menu, of course!

There was also applesauce, chips, and fun cups to drink out of.

After dinner we broke out the bubble machine!  Always a hit :)

Ready for cupcakes!

Singing to the birthday boy!

DELICIOUS :)

I think this guy enjoyed his fun afternoon!

And, then a little fire broke out :)  It felt good as it got chilly as the evening went on!

Graham seems to love watching sports!  Particularly with Joe :)

Graham post-party showing off HIS dinosaur outfit :)

The birthday celebration certainly did not end with the party--more posts to come!

Octoberfest Milkshakes!

 The ingredients above are all that you need for an AMAZING dessert experience!  I came across an article highlighting the Sam Adams Octoberfest milkshakes Red Robin was featuring this fall, and decided to try to make our own.  I found a recipe for a shake using chocolate stout (which I'm anxious to try too), and I just switched out the beers.

 

Makes TWO milkshakes:

2 cups vanilla ice cream

6oz of Sam Adams Octoberfest (DO NOT add extra beer--you will be tempted to, but DON'T!)

2T chocolate syrup

1 large drizzle of caramel syrup

 

Blend all ingredients together and enjoy :)

Graham is Four Months Old!

 Graham's four month check-up isn't for another week, but I wanted to get there pictures posted sooner than later!  I will update with his stats once we get them...

 

Here they are! 

Weight: 16.6 pounds (62nd %ile)

Height: 25 inches (20th %ile)

Head Circumference: 16.25 inches (69th %ile) 

 We took these pictures in Graham's bedroom since he started sleeping in his crib this month!  We really don't mind having the Pack-n-Play in our room, and there really isn't a difference between him sleeping in the Pack-n-Play versus his crib, but what better time than now to make the transition!

 Graham continues to be such a happy baby...for the most part. He has started to let out these awful crying outbursts that sound like he is in such pain :(  Most of the time they are over as soon as they started, but sometimes they go on for a bit.  He is quite grunty these days too--not sure what that is about.  His naps are pretty short--about 30-45 minutes, which leads me to believe he is waking himself up after the first part of the sleep cycle, but then can't go right back to sleep on his own.  However, he is happy between naps, so that is great!  We'll see how the nap thing shakes out--I sense that we are on the verge of more of a schedule settling in.

Graham's thighs are SO chunky!  Jackson's body type was so different when he was a baby!  Graham is still eating well and is happy to make faces at anyone who talks to him!  He is loving to play on his playmat, swing in his swing, sit in the Bumbo, and we think he might be ready for the Exersaucer!  I'm so hesitant to get that out because that signals the true end to newborn-hood :(  Graham talks SO much these days!  His voice is so sweet, and it's super cute to listen to Jackson talk back to him.  He talks in the same babbles as Graham--SUCH a good big brother :)  Graham loves to watch Jackson do pretty much anything--dance, play and sing.  He seems to really enjoy listening to us read stories.

This month Graham went both to Cox Farms and apple picking for the first time!  He is such a trooper  pretty much everywhere we go, and seems to be pretty flexible!  Ah, the life of a second child :)  We LOVE watching our two boys together, and look forward to watching that bond grow as they each get older and learn new "tricks!"

Apple Picking

This was our first year to go apple picking!  It was fun to do something that was a first for not only Graham, but also Josh, Jackson and me!  We headed to Stribling Orchard about an hour away, and it was beautiful!  It was definitely a good pick (no pun intended)!

Jackson getting to pick his first apples!

Two good apples!

The orchard ran out of pickers so we were limited to the apples that were low enough to reach by Josh picking up Jackson--they were a good team!

The big boys

This view is pretty good, but it got even better!

And, some apples we reached by Jackson STANDING on Josh's shoulders!

Apple Picking 2012

We came home with a HUGE bag of apples that included about six types of apples!  I immediately set about baking my first ever pie with homemade crust, no less!  It was a rather chaotic feeling process, but the result was worth it (at 11:30pm on Sunday night because the pie had to rest for FOUR hours)!!!

Before cutting into the deliciousness,,,

The inside of my project :)