Jackson: 2 years old

Jackson McClain turned 2 years old on Saturday, December 6th. We celebrated with a big party at the Interactive Neighborhood for Kids. Most of our family and friends came out to enjoy pizza and Lightening McQueen cake before heading to play in the museum area. Jackson was showered with tons of presents from a Black & Decker Tool Bench to a wonderful Christian children's CD (which he loves btw, Steph!). Afterwards we headed to the farm to spend the evening with some of Jackson's favorite people and the following day we hunted down the perfect Christmas tree and cut it down.

Jackson had his 2 year well check on Tuesday and weighed 29lbs (75%), was 36" tall (90%) and had a head circumference of 20" (95%). He only received one shot, the flu vaccine and then had his finger pricked for a CBC. He did well with both but definitely was not as tough as his sister. He is now sleeping in his toddler bed for naps as well as bedtime. He does quite well with putting himself to sleep but sometimes needs a little reassurance and likes for Mommy or Daddy to sit by his bedside for a few minutes. He tends to wake up around 6:00am and come to our room with both of his "babies" (blankets, cars & tractor), 2 stuffed dogs and a cup! He still wants to go to bed with a cup at night and does not feel fully ready for bed unless he has drank an entire cup and belched...it is so funny, he will drink his cup and lay still for a few seconds until he belches and then immediately falls to sleep. He already has his own manly routine! He still takes a 2-3 hour nap, normally going down around 1pm and sometimes sleeping until a little after 4pm. Jackson still drinks from a sippy cup at all times but can use a regular cup well, although he loves to play in his drink! His appetite is almost nonexistent unless it involves cheese, yogurt, oatmeal, bananas, nutri grain bars or chips (of course, go ahead and laugh!). His weight has maintained so the Peds aren't worried about his lack of interest in food at the moment. He will begin taking a multi-vitamin this week. He still drinks whole milk, normally 16 ounces per day and then many 8oz cups throughout the day. He refuses to drink water out of a sippy cup but will always drink it when we go out to dinner. Normally he has 90% water and 10% juice. He LOVES to drink, he can suck down a cup in a matter of seconds. He is in a size 5 diapers, only Pampers Cruisers will do, or else he will be soaking wet within 5 minutes of a diaper change. His speech has blossomed tremendously over the past several weeks. He is now speaking in 5 word sentences, tries to count and sing the ABC's and is learning his colors. I have not had much time to work with him because of school, but I am very impressed at how much he has been picking up on his own recently. I plan to start really working with him and Tris both over the next several months.

Jackson is still the same sweet, loving and sensitive little boy that he's always been. He loves to be snuggled and still curls up on our shoulders when he is tired or upset. He gets his feelings hurt very easily and will not recoup until he gets at least one hug and kiss! He is completely in love with his sister and mimics everything she does. They still play together very well, however they are beginning to argue a little more these days. They tend to get into hitting wars that are justified by "he hit me first" or "sissy hit me" but overall they are very pleasant around each other. 

Jackson loves playing with trains, especially Thomas. He calls him "Tom" but doesn't love him nearly as much at the movie Cars! He always walks around going "Pa CHOW!" and making train noises. We got him a train table for Christmas and can't wait to see how he interacts with it. He also loves dinosaurs but is afraid of bears. Sometimes while we're playing he'll run to me and say "Mom hold me, bear gonna get me!" He is SO cute. I could just eat him up, and so could Tris because she talks about doing just that very often ;)

We cannot believe our baby boy is growing up so fast. It has been amazing to watch him grow and change over the past 2 years. I cannot wait to see what the next year has in store :)