24 Months Old (aka 2 years old!!!)

September 4, 2013 - Jack Alexander is 2 years old!  I have completed my 24th and final monthly photo session!

Height: 37.5" (98%)
Weight: 32 lbs (89%)
Head Circumference: 19.49" (72%)

All about 2 year old Jack

• Favorite breakfast foods: green smoothie "moothie", blueberry muffins, Daddy's pancakes, cinnamon rolls, oatmeal, waffles, cheerios, nutrigrain bar
• Favorite lunch and dinner foods: grilled cheese sandwich, corn dogs, chicken, pasta, quesadilla, beef fajitas, steamed broccoli, corn, cheeseburger, pizza
• Favorite snacks "nacks": animal crackers, goldfish, raisins, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, chips, pirates booty, yogurt, applesauce, M&Ms, cookies (he calls a cooke a "rawr"???), ice cream
• Favorite activities: playing outside, going to the playground, the playroom at my gym, throwing balls, kicking balls, playing basketball, throwing away trash, riding in the car, running, jumping, squealing, talking, dancing, taking showers, eating
• Favorite toys: balls, toy cars and trucks, his "buddy" dog toy, anything with buttons (calculator, toy phone, toy laptop), his golf bag
• What does Jack say?: Even though he is now two, when I ask him how old he is he says "almost two!" and when I say "No, you ARE two" he says "no,no,no,no, almost two!"  He has also recently taken to the typical toddler phrases of "NO!" and "MINE!"  He knows all of his immediate family members and calls them by name.  He calls every dog he sees "Buddy."  He knows that cows say "moo" and ducks say "quack quack" and kitty cats say "meow" but for some reason when I ask him what do sheep say? He says something that sounds like "sh*t!"  Not sure where that came from, we might be able to correct him if we could just stop laughing every time he says it.  

Funny facts about 2 year old Jack:  

• He loves to play ring around the rosy and when its time to "fall down" he will go and grab onto a piece of furniture first.  
• He is very particular about his shoes and socks, sometimes he has to have them on, sometimes he has to have them off, he always lets me know his preference.  
• He just started sleeping in a toddler bed, and when he wakes up he immediately gets out of bed, walks over to his dresser and puts his pacifiers (they are only allowed in bed) in the drawer of the dresser.  Then he starts talking to himself until I come and get him.  
• Once he gets up from his nap in the afternoon he is on alert for when Daddy comes home.  If the dogs bark or he hears the door alarm chime he goes running and screaming "Daddy, Daddy!"  Sometimes it is just the UPS guy and he inevitably comes running back to me crying.
• If we are in a parking lot and he sees a black SUV he assumes it is his Daddy's car and again crying ensues when Daddy does not appear
• Although he is generally a sweet and loving little boy, lately he has been a bit of a bully.  Recently I have caught him pushing his friends down during play group or music class.  Ed and I are still trying to find an effective way to get him to stop doing this.

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23 Months Old and First Haircut!

August 4, 2013 - Jack is 23 Months old!  Only one more month of taking these monthly photos!!

Height: 35" (I think)
Weigh: 30lbs (I think)

All about 23 Month Old Jack:  My almost 2 year old really is a little sponge learning and absorbing everything around him.  Everyday Jack surprises us with a new skill or word etc.  A few weeks ago I sneezed and he said "bless you" it was so cute!  He also knows his name now, and when I ask him how old he is he says "almost two."  I guess I will have to teach him to drop the "almost" in a couple weeks!  Jack's favorite activities still involve balls.  He plays basketball everyday, he also throws, kicks and dribbles his balls every day!  I have also noticed that he seems to be becoming a little less picky with his eating.  Jack has willingly eaten vegetables several times over the recent few weeks. He also eats oranges and pickles now.  We (accidentally) gave Jack some peanut m&ms the other day and when nothing happened, we took it to the next level and gave him some peanut butter.  He loved it and so far, no food allergies!  This week he starts school two days a week and will be at school from 8am to 3pm every Tuesday and Thursday.  I am excited to watch him continue to learn and grow at his new school!

After putting it off for just about 2 years, we finally took Jack in for his first haircut.  While his hair is still pretty sparse, it was getting a little long and shaggy over his ears and I wanted it neat and cleanly cut for his first day back to school and for his upcoming 2 year old pictures.  He screamed and cried for about the first 5 minutes, but once he got a hold of his lollipop he was good to go and and sat patiently for the rest of his haircut.  He didn't have much hair to cut, but it was a fun experience and I have a lock of his adorable curly blond hair to put in his baby book now.   

21 and 22 Months Old

We are nearing the end of Jack's 2nd year!  Only 2 months left until my little boy will be 2!  I feel like we just finished his first birthday and already it is time for his second!  Here are some current Jack facts as he approaches the big 2!

-He still loves all balls.  We have a basketball goal in our living room and he plays with it everyday.  We currently have the net set at 5 feet and he can consistently make baskets!  He also loves to kick a ball (he kicks with his left foot) and throw a ball (he throws with his right hand.)  He has a baseball bat and golf clubs but I have to watch him closely with those items because he will take a swing at anything that is not moving!

-He also still enjoys throwing things in the trash.  Generally this is helpful because if I have something to throw away, I just give it to Jack.

-He has recently developed a love for turning on and off the light switches in our house.  Anytime he sees one he says "light?"  Lately if I want to get him to go somewhere or do something, I offer to let him turn on a light and he is happy to comply with my request.

-His eating is pretty consistently the same.  Spinach smoothie everyday for breakfast.  His current favorite foods are blueberry muffins, nutrigrain bars, grapes, rice, chicken, corn dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, milk, beef fajitas and yogurt.  And of course, like his mama, he has a sweet tooth.  He LOVES Oreo cookies!  I still haven't given him any peanut products, I guess it is about time to add that in...

-He sleeps about 11 hours at night and takes one afternoon nap (usually) for 1 to 3 hours.

-He goes to the daycare at the gym several times a week and we still have music class once a week.  In August he will start school twice a week from 8:30 am to 3:30pm!

-Some of the adorable little things he is currently doing that I want to always remember, so I am including them in this blog are:  Several times a day he will just come up behind me (or my husband) and wrap his arms around my legs and give me a big hug and say "Aww", it is the most precious thing and I always hug him back and tell him how much I love him.   He loves to wear his hat and his shoes. He always wants his shoes on, and he will routinely bring me his baseball hat to put on his head.  If I let him, he would empty every cabinet and every drawer in our house and he would love it.  He also loves to take the lids off of any lotion/ perfume/ makeup/ medicine etc that he can get his hands on...and if he finds something that sprays, he will spray it!  He is very good about picking up his toys.  Before we leave the house or before he goes upstairs for bed, he makes sure he puts all of his toys back in the basket.  I am trying to teach him to do this at other people's houses as well.  He is sneaky about taking things out of cabinets/ drawers etc.  Sometimes things go missing for days or weeks at a time and then we find them in odd places.  He is quite a silly little guy!

21 Months Old!

Jack and Mommy!

Summer Fun!

Jack and Daddy napping after a day at the pool!

Jack shooting hoops!

He loves to take things out of Ed's desk during the day!

He wanted to be like "Buddy"

22 Months old!

19 & 20 Months Old

May 4, 2013 - 20 Months Old
Height: 35"
Weight: 30lbs

What is Jack doing:  Like any typical toddler, Jack loves to run and play and get into everything!  He is currently obsessed with trash.  If he finds anything that might be trash he wants to take it to the trash can.  We have to keep the trashcans in our house locked up otherwise he would play with them all day!  His second love is still balls.  All shapes and sizes.  We probably have 10 or 15 balls scattered around our house.  We would have more, but our dog Maggie also loves to play ball, and she is always popping them.  He can throw balls and recently he has learned to kick as well.  Oddly enough, although he appears to be right handed, he kicks with this left foot.  Jack continues to build his vocabulary.  If he is in the right mood, he can pretty much repeat any word or short phrase you say.  His most frequent words are Dada, Mama, trash and ball.  His favorite toys are books, barn and animals, music tower, shape sorter, golf clubs, baseball bat, wooden hammer, cars, blocks and yes he has a toy trash can!  I bought him some colors and coloring books, but he will only sit still for about 2 minutes, so he doesn't get much coloring done.  He does not watch any TV, he has no interest in it.

He is such a big boy now, when it is nap time or bed time I ask him if he is ready to go "night night" and he will repeat it back to me and then go up the stairs.  For nap time, I just follow him up the stairs, help him take off his shoes and put him in his crib.  That is it!  His afternoon nap is anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.  At bedtime Ed and I both go upstairs with him and our routine consists of bath time, brushing teeth (he doesn't like that very much) and book time.  After the bath he likes to have his hair blow-dried, it is so cute.  After we read his chosen bedtime stories we turn out the lights and put him in his crib.  He sleeps from 8 PM to about 7:30 AM.  I guess I am lucky that he seems to really enjoy his bed and appreciate his sleep!  We keep all of the pacifiers (he calls the pacifier his "beesh") in his crib.  He always wakes up in a good mood.  I know he is up when I hear him upstairs talking to himself.  Sometimes in the morning I will let him sit in his crib and talk and play for a bit before I go in, since he seems to be having a good time!

Although he can be a picky eater, he is generally a good eater.  Vegetables are still a struggle, but he drinks his green smoothie every morning so I know he is getting them.  He calls everything he eats "cheese" which is odd because he doesn't even like cheese.  I always correct him and tell him the name of what he is actually eating.  He is big enough now to sit at the table with us in a booster seat so it is nice because we can all sit together.  He has also started using a fork.  We haven't tried the spoon yet, but I guess that will be next.  He drinks mostly milk and water and occasionally apple juice.

Jack still goes to Mother's Day Out once a week, as well as swimming lessons and music class.  He is doing great at swim class and he really loves the water, although he is a long way from actually swimming on his own.  I do think if he fell into a pool he would know to grab onto the side and pull himself out, so I guess that is good progress.  It's hard to believe he has been in music class since he was 4 moths old, but we still love it!  He loves to dance and play instruments and he is starting to sing some of the songs!  

Everyday Ed and I look at Jack and we just can't get over how much we love him and how awesome he is.  He really is a good little boy, and he has a very sweet and pleasant demeanor.  He is friendly and outgoing.  Taking him out to run errands is always a joy because he is happy to be out and about.  He is generally an easy going kid.  We have never had a schedule, every day is different and he pretty much just goes with the flow!

Fun and the Boggy Bayou Festival

Always a ball in hand!

Sidewalk chalk!!!

This big boy can climb into the grown up chairs!

Yes, he even loves to play with the diaper trash can!!

 

Cute baby face boy!!

Playing with Daddy!

"Someone please come swing me!"