Explora!

Monday was our field trip to Explora! the children's museum here in ABQ. I've been wanting to take Jax for awhile, but just never got there. The greatest part is that on Mondays they have toddler time, the museum opens an hour early just for little people 4 and under. Which is GREAT! No big kids or people giving you dirty looks because your two year old is running amock. The second best part is that it was Jaxon's first true playdate. Now, yes, he has had playdates before, but they have been with my friends' kids. This playdate was a friend that he made at Gymboree. Her name is Kate and she is a tom-boy to the core. She loves dinosaurs, rockets, and planes... right up Jaxon's alley.

No more story telling, just pictures. I took loads of them! We were there for 3 1/2 hours! And I still had to drag Jax out. He LOVED.IT!

BUBBLES!

Train room


Craft room... working on a giraffe

Jaxon's giraffe. He's an abstract artist.

Playing with water

Yes, he's licking a rock.

360 degrees of mirrors

Flying the airplane

Not only do they have so many fun activities inside, they also have a great playground!

Happy Birthday Lola!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Jaxon & I made you a birthday video. We figure this is the next best thing to being with you!

We also made Lola a birthday card (which I forgot to take a picture of!) But on the inside Jaxon told me 10 things he loves about Lola...

I Love Lola because...

* She pways puzzles wif me

* She sends me toys

* She cuddles wif me

* She pways toys wif me at her house

* I wuv coffee and toast (When they're together they always have coffee & toast in the morning)

* She makes dinner for me

* She writes paper for me

* I give her squeeze

* She reads to me

* I talk to her on da phone

Happy Birthday to a wonderful Grandma & a great Mom!

Next year, we'll celebrate together with some cake!

The Aquarium

I'm trying to get back into blogging business. It's been over two weeks and I need to get "re inspired". So here goes my first attempt

As you know Brian and I love taking Jaxon on field trips. We love exposing him to new things & places and rediscovering old ones. Last week we decided to rediscover the aquarium. It had been months since we'd been. On this trip, I was amazed at how much easier it is getting going places with him. We just hopped out of the car and walked into the aquarium. No fussing with strollers, diaper bags, bottles, snacks, etc. Granted I did have all of our necessities in my ginormous purse, but still, it just seemed less complicated this time.

For me the best part of the aquarium was the conversation on the way there. As always, Jaxon's vocabulary never ceases to amaze me! I may be biased, but the kid is just way too smart! His memory is amazing. Like I said, it had been months since we'd been there, but he remembered everything about it!

"We see fish at aquarium? We see sharks? How about sting rays? Daddy what your favorite part?

"I like the sharks."

"No, dats my favorite part. You wike da fish. Mama what your favorite part?"

"My favorites are the sting rays."

"I wike da sharks. Daddy wike da fish and Mama wike da sting ray. Papi is scared of sharks. I cover his eyes when we go. I protect him. Papi is scared of da sharks, not me I wike dem."

And on and on for the entire 30 minute drive.

But my absolute favorite was once we had parked and I am getting him out of his seat he puts his hands on his face and squeals, "I SOO HAPPY TO BE HERE! I WUV DA AQUARIUM! WE COME AGAIN OKAAAAY."

Now enjoy our pictures....

My new favorite. How cute is this little sea horse?

We were trying to get a picture of Brian & Jax in front of the giant eel and fish but someone wouldn't cooperate!
"I no wike dos. Day yucky."

Holy giant sting ray Batman!

The only way to get a picture with him is to hold him down!

Tomorrow we are going on a playdate to Explora! The children's museum. Can't wait!

Ride Jax Ride!

Today was the first "warm" daywe've had in weeks. And by warm I mean it wasn't in the 20's or 30's. It was high 40's! Jax & I decided to take advantage of the "warmth" and sunshine and get some fresh air.

So out to the front we went to practice riding the tricycle he got from Santa last Christmas. As we were going outside, Brian says to me, "Let's see how good a teacher you really are! I haven't been able to get him to use the pedals yet." Well, those were fighting words! No one was going to tell me I couldn't teach my kid to pedal, I mean I can teach 20 plus kids each year to read, why can't I do this? To be honest, I was this cocky because I knew Jax was super close to using the pedals so I wasn't going to fail too badly!

I was right! He did it! He is finally able to use the pedals forward and go a significant distance, from our house to the end of the cul-de-sac. That's about 4 houses. Here's the video of the momentus event. Had to have proof so I could rub it in Brian's face :)

PS I love the shout outs he gave as he was riding! He wanted the whole world to see him!

Latest Jaxon-isms

Many times through out the week Brian & I will say to each other, "Who taught this kid to talk? and Why?" I mean the things that come out of his mouth! I absolutely LOVE it! I love listening to the things he comes up with and I LOVE having conversations with him. Over Christmas we began to notice how much better he is talking...longer sentences, reasoning, not just baby talk anymore.

Anwho, here are a few things heard recently around our house.

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The day before we were driving back to ABQ from Tucson, Jaxon tells my parents this:

"Abu, Rora, you cry when I weave. You be sad. You miss me."

"Will you cry too?"

"No, I no cry. I go to my home. You cry. You miss me."

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Jaxon looks right at Brian & me and says, "I growed up." {sigh tear}

I took out the vacuum from the closet and with the most concerned, serious expression,

"No vacuum me up. Dat would hurt."

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Me: "Are you going to have girlfriends?"

Jax: "Yes"

M: "Do you have girlfriends now?"

J: "No, I too wittle. When I bigger I have girlfriend. When I 5."

M: "You have to be nice to your girlfriend."

J: "Yeah, when I 5 I have wots of girlfriends and I share my toys. I have 3 girlfriends."

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We were at a friends house on Sunday and it the middle of the living room, Jaxon is clearly having a "movement".

Our friend Jimmy asks him, "Jax, are you pooping?"

Jax: "Yeah, wanna smell it?"

WOW!

Randomness

I have a bunch of pictures from our latest trip to Tucson, but was having a hard time coming up with a post for each set but at the same time wanted to capture these moments so that I can have them in my blog book (whenever I decide to get my act together and order it!) So I've decided to just post even if it means it's an extra long post.

Our trip started with the annual Christmas Cookies & Craft Disaster War. Which I must say was the most relaxing & calm gathering we have had!

We started by inaugurating the Bunchkins trampoline...

...had our ornament exchange

...made a SIMPLE craft: on 1 inch pieces of craft paper, write a memory of the year. Then stuff it into a clear glass ornament....and had our obligatory picture in front of the Christmas tree taken

The second day brought a play date with my college friend and her 2 girls, Abigail & Kaitlyn. We went to the Reid Park Zoo, but I'm not sure the kids stopped long enough to even really look at any of the animals!

Um yeah, trying to take a good picture of the 3 of them was not successful!The kids favorite part was coloring in front of the turtles

Feeding the ducks was also a hit!

On my Christmas blog, I forgot to post that Jaxon got a black eye on Christmas night. Poor baby slipped in the bathtub and hit his nose on the edge of the tub! I have NEVER seen so much blood come out of any one's nose. Seeing all the blood didn't faze me, but later when he said, with tears streaming down his face, "Mama my nose weally hurts." broke my heart. For days after he would tell anyone who would listen, "I broke my nose. I bumped it on da baftub. It hurt."

Can you see the bruise on his left eye?

A little black eye wasn't going to stop him from having another play date with Abigail & Kaitlyn! This time we went skating. I was worried since obviously Jaxon isn't the most coordinated kid out there, but he did GREAT! He had an absolute ball!

Our first go around the rink we held hands. I was paranoid of him falling and hitting his head. Let me tell you, the rink is MUCH bigger when you are holding onto a 2year old's hand who goes negative 5 mph! It seemed never ending, but we got around. On our second go around, I reached for his hand and he tells me, "No. I can go by myself. I no need to hold your hand." Ouch. Another heartbreaking moment. Doesn't a little boy always need to hold his Mama's hand?Oh, but he could hold Kaitlyn's hand. How adorable are they?

The skating crew: me, Jaxon, Kaitlyn (still holding hands), Abigail, Becky, Shannon (another college friend), & Samantha (Samantha's identical twin sister, Anabel, was home sick)

Our fun with friends ended on New Year's Eve with the Bunches and the Kochvars. My camera was acting weird so I didn't need many pictures. But Jaxon was awake to ring in the new year! And even though it went against my sleep schedule, my heart couldn't have been happier to have Jaxon sitting on my lap and Brian next to me when the ball dropped.

Playing with 2 of the Bunchkins, at a reasonable hour.
Oh, you thought that was it? Well, one more thing. On New Year's Day Jaxon discovered that he could fly down Abu & Lola's driveway in his new firetruck!

Look at the pure joy on his face!