Dr. Seuss Week!!

This week is Dr. Seuss week at Happy Harbour! They sent a note home that this week on Thursday, they would need to wear silly socks to school. Over the weekend, while at my favorite store, I found Dr. Seuss t-shirts! What are the odds that it would be Dr. Seuss week and I'd find shirts for him to wear?! So I bought one for each day! AND, on top of that, Memaw and Papaw went on a car rally trip this past weekend, and while shopping at a cutesy little shop, Memaw found a Dr. Seuss bag and pocket book! Needless to say, he's been pretty excited and could not wait for school this morning!




I picked him up today, and asked him what I always do, "Did you have fun today?" "Yeah." "Did you play with anyone new today?" "No, just the Ryans and Piper." "Did you do anything new today?" "Yeah, we ate green eggs and ham. And guess what? I like them. Yup yup I do!" After reading the preview week calendar, I saw that green eggs and ham was their snack today.

Another funny story. Jackson has a pair of shoes that he wears with no socks. And they make his feet smell terrible. But, he still wears them with no socks. I put baby powder in them every time, and it doesn't help! Just ask Brian Lewis (long story). So Jackson wore those shoes yesterday. And then refused to take a bath last night. He told me "I'm not hopping in the bath tub, and I'm not hopping in the shower." Not snotty, just matter of fact. Fine. "Then the kids at school will call you the sticky feet kid." "Momma, I put just my feet in the tub and wash them that way." You are correct. But did we remember to do that last night? No. This morning? No. Oh well, it's not like they are going to be taking their shoes off at school, right? WRONG! It's was The Foot Book day and they did an art project where the teacher took their shoe and sock off of one foot, painted it, had them step on something, and put their shoe back on. uhhhg. Seriously?! The one time I let my kid go without a bath, WITH stinky feet, is the one day I get caught. Damn it! I'll be sending an apology note, along with some air freshener to school on Thursday!

Good Boy Chart

Two weeks ago, Jackson managed to get himself put in timeout at school. Yup. My angel was in timeout. And I was pissed. Apparently, him and "the Ryans" (there are two and they all hang out together) were too rowdy and wouldn't calm down, or listen, so they all went to timeout.

This is something that has been going on for a while at our house--being wild, not listening the first time, talking back, telling me "NO!", using silly words (that is the worst of it--I hate it! I'd rather him say "ass" then "Fart head! Poop!! Stupid!" AHH!! Drives me up a freaking wall!!), and just all around being a brat. And I use the word brat because I HATE bratty kids. Hate them. And some bratty kids are that way because their parents don't discipline them...you know the kind. "So-and-so....that's not nice. Please don't do that....so-and-so, I said stop, ha ha ha....he's just a silly boy! He just never listens!"...in that annoying sing-songy voice. Really? He won't listen? Raise your voice a little...put him in timeout...smack his ass!

I've never been a sing-songy parent. Ask anyone. I'm pretty hard on Jackson. Timeouts are no longer working, spanking doesn't do anything but force him to stick his tongue out and roll his eyes (yup. quite the attitude) and he's apparently no longer afraid of my loud voice, because I get louder, and he tunes me out.

So, I had to go back to the drawing board. A chart was the only thing that made sense. Praise praise praise the good, and the bad will weed itself out. And so far, it's worked like a charm. And don't get me wrong, every kid is different, this is just something that works for us because Jackson is a PLEASER. If he does something that makes you praise him and tell him he's the best, he's all for it! Now, if it's something he's not good at, he wants no part of it! (kinda like his momma! If I'm not good at something, I quit doing it! Fortunately, I'm good at most things! HA LOL!!! *insert sarcastic pat on the back!*)

I made a chart with 30 squares. And Jackson and I sat at the table and had chat about what makes mommy mad. HE had to be the one to tell me what makes me made. HE had to think about all the times he's been yelled at....and this is what he came up with:

--when I say bad words
--when I don't sit and eat my dinner
--when I don't pick up my toys
--when I'm silly and yell and scream
--when I don't listen
(and I threw in the "I will brush my teeth everyday, b/c this is something that he ALWAYS does, so I knew he would ALWAYS get that sticker, even on a bad day! Ah! Psycology!)

So the squares were formed. And as a reward, it just so happened that the day before, he'd been watching Disney channel and a commercial for some "new cool toy!" came on and he looked up and me and said "Buy that for me." Excuse me? NO. You have to EARN it. You don't just get toys because you want them. If that were the case, Mommy would have had her Lexus 470 a long time ago. So, he had to EARN the stars, and as a reward for earning and being good, he could pick out one toy of his choice (obviously within reason) So the first week, it would be a Hot Wheels Color Splash that he saw on TV (it was $15.00).

Again, there are 30 squares on the chart (Monday-Friday). It's not reasonable to require him to get all 30 stars right off the bat. We had to work up to that. So I came up with 18. And sure enough, he got his 18 stars that first week. And he got his Color Splash. Last week, he fell short, at 16 stars. He didn't get a toy. But he earned a few EXTRA stickers for being extra special to his brother, and using his manners in saying Thank You and I love you without being prompted. Again, praise the positive. And it's working. Like a charm!

I said to my mom "I finally have my angel baby back!" Mom repeated this to him the other day "Jackson, I'm so happy we finally have our angel boy back!"....and he looked right up at her and said with a straight face "...but not for long." Uh, we'll see about that.

Funny thing: it's the age. Jackson is not the ONLY 3 year old I know that is pushing buttons. The kids in his class are ALL doing it. Believe me, I've asked around. It's like a switch turned and suddenly he had a HUGE attitude. We SAILED through the two's without a stitch of terrible, but the trying threes? We are SOOOO there. So much so, that he hurt my feelings one day by telling me "I don't like you anymore." WTF? You aren't supposed to say that til puberty! I'll keep you all posted on the progress....

Jackson helped me make the entire thing--can you tell? It's orange!

These stars are Post-its. Fabulous!

Everson Loves Jackson

These are the best baby kisses you will ever get...and the minute Jackson sticks his cheek out, Everson gets him every time!

Just the Two of Us and Valentine's Cake

Jackson and I took a trip to Target the other day, sans Everson. Actually, we had a "just mommy and me" day. Jackson's school offered a play day the Friday before Valentine's day. They had jumping things and snacks and chapel and songs and games...it was going to FUN!! I asked Jackson if he wanted to go, and he said, "yeah, I want to, but do we have to take Ev?" That came out of left field! He's never wanted to leave Everson--ever! But, apparently, he just wanted some Mommy time, and I can't blame him--I was wanting some Jack Jack time too. I sometimes miss our fun adventures, just the two of us! So I called Mom and asked if she would watch Everson--which of course she jumped at! It is only the 2nd time I've left him with her. Once with Daddy all day when I was shooting a wedding, and once with Mom when Adam's dad was in the hospital (I was not about to take a baby to MHH!). Any other time, he's stuck with me and the boob!

I fed Ev just before we left, dropped him off, and Jackson and I were out for the day! We met up with some friends at the playday (Jackson's lil girlfriend Piper and her momma were there!). As we were leaving, we got a call from Memaw that Everson was refusing a bottle. Refusing, as in, you won't get that nipple near me! NO YOU WON'T! She tried every kind of bottle we have: Dr. Brown's, Avent, Medela....he wasn't having it. So I told Jackson we had to go and quickly feed Everson, and then we'd continue with our day.

After our little pit stop, we headed over to Chick-fil-A to meet up with Piper and Kathy again. The kids ate all their lunch and then played for about 30 minutes. After a quick phone check in to Memaw again, Jackson and I went to the one place that will always be home for us: TARGET!! We spent FOREVER wandering the aisles like we used to! We spent about 20 minutes just in the dollar junk. This is where we found a great Heart-shaped cake pan and sprinkles! YAY! From there, we went down EVERY aisle in the toy department and said "OOHHH! I want that! Will you buy me this?!" to just about everything we played with. In the car on the way home, he told me he missed Ev. "But Momma, I like it when it's just me and you, and me and you. That okay?" "Jackson, anytime you want it to just be me and you, you let me know. You just have to tell me! I love spending days with just me and you like we used to!" "Me too...like we used to!"

So later in the week, we made a strawberry cake with white icing, and I let Jackson decorate it with sprinkles....and it turned out FABULOUS. That cake had more meaning than anyone will know....

Snapshot

Memaw stopped by the other day on her way home from...somewhere. I don't remember now. We had spiked Jackson's hair for Super Bowl Sunday (it was too cute! He NEVER wants it spiked, so it was a treat!) and he must have liked it because he wanted it spiked again the next day. Mommy apparently didn't do it as well as Daddy-O did, but Mommy only has about 5 minutes in the morning to get Jackson's teeth brushed and his hair done, while Daddy-O on the other hand, takes 20 minutes of precious time to spike his hair "just right!" That's the difference between Mommy's and Daddy's. Mommy's understand that there are only so many minutes in the day, and every one counts for SOMETHING (laundry, vacuuming, cooking, changing diapers, putting on mascara, picking up underwear, flushing toilets that someone forgot to flush, unloading dishwashers...you get the point!) Memaw mentioned that she needed a new picture of Jack Jack for her frame in her kitchen; back when Jackson was just a wee-one, we changed out her frame every month. We have all the images labeled with what month he was....but that ended when he realized that he didn't like the camera any more! So these were some quick shots we got before he decided he STILL hated the camera....until the other day (see post below!)

Everson watching and learning....well, kinda!

I told you they were quick....he doesn't cooperate well with the camera these days...hence no Christmas card this year!

Super Bowl

On Super Bowl Sunday, we had a few friends over and laid low. Honestly, I just wanted a night in, to watch the game, and actually SEE and HEAR the commercials! And the ONE TIME we stay in for the commericals, they SUCK! Damn Economy! Really...there was not a single one that I even liked. Okay, the Doritos commercials where good, and the Volkswagen one was pretty good too, but the rest were awful! But, Jackson's best dudes were there, and that's all that matters:

"Momma, can I have a cupcake?"
"Sure."
"Okay, I just like the frosting...."

...and he licked everything from the top!

Everson was all dressed up from cousin Ashley's babyshower

Captain Jeff
His best friend, Brian Lewis (brian woowis--it never gets old!)

Little Super Model

I couple of weekends ago, I did a photo shoot at the house with a little boy names Colton. During the shoot, Jackson and Everson stayed upstairs with Aunt Tacey. When we were all done, and I was home again, Jackson came down and asked me "Momma, why you go out and take pictures of THOSE little boys, and don't take any pictures of me?" Well!!! I was THRILLED! Because, you see, little man, the reason I have not taken pictures of you is because 1) You look down or away from my camera and 2)You make the dumbest faces on purpose and it FRUSTRATES me to no end! So when little man said he wanted to go on a real photoshoot, I jumped at the chance! We went upstairs and threw on some clothes, and took off! We went to some grassy bushes that I had seen and wanted to go to for a while now (and I knew his clothes would work great against that backdrop) and to the old barn. He STILL wants to go to the railroad tracks, but the weather has been so bad...

During our little excursion, he told me "I'm really good at this, so you should bring me every time. Okay? Okay Mom? That's be a good idea, huh?!" I love this kid!!