3 Years Old and 16 Months Old - Cabo San Lucas

We took the boys to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with both sets of grandparents.  It was a wonderful trip!  Jackson started out the week by just jumping into the pool from the side but by the end of the week he was swimming quite a distance.  It helped that there was a pool in our backyard.  Carson started the week by saying "no, no" when we asked him to get into the pool but by the time we left he was jumping in. 

The resort was a beautiful property built on a hillside.  Several mornings we walked the kids all the way down to the beach.  Neither one of them loved the beach.  They would watch the crabs for a minute and then be ready to head to the pool.  There were exotic birds around the property that the boys enjoyed watching.  When we were done with our downhill walk, we got on a "bumpy cart" and headed back to the house.  (A bumpy cart is a golf cart that zooms all around the hilly resort porperty.

 

We watched whales from our balcony.  They would spout off in the distance.  Sometimes, they would jump out of the water.  The boys loved watching all the fishing boats too.  One evening we got to go on a sunset tour.  Unfortunately, it was wavy so the whales were not very active but we did see sea lions.  Jackson kept Drew busy on the boat.  They explored every inch.

We did go to a beach where the snorkeling boats did their tour.  Drew, Dad, and I got to use our goggles to swim out and look at the pretty fish around the rocks.  It was some of the best snorkleing we have ever done and we just went right off the beach.  A starfish got washed in by a wave so the boys had a good time looking at him.  We also picked up sea glass and shells for Jackson to take to school for show and tell.

3 Years Old and 15 Months Week 4

Happy Birthday, Daddy!  We took Daddy to a big indoor playground to play on his birthday.  I think it was more for the kids than dad but Drew had a good time.

I went to Jackson's first parent teacher conference on Friday.  His teacher says that he is "sweet boy and a pleasure to have in class."  His only bad marks were for joining in when the other boys were disrupting class.  She said that he is doing really well with his work assignments.

Carson continues to amaze us.  We are trying to figure out if it is the difference between a premie and a full-term baby or just having an older sibling.  He catches on to things to so mush faster than Jackson did at the same age.  I am going with the latter since Carson mimics Jackson all the time.  They truly are best friends right now. 

We have all been stuck inside this weekend with a stomach bug again.  It was just as well since the weather was not nice.  Hopefully, we will all be well for our vacation to Cabo.

3 Years Old and 15 Months Weeks 2 and 3

Drew and I got to have a weekend together in Asheville last weekend.  Grammy and Poppy kept the boys for us.  They had fun playing outside and going to the Baxter's Bunch which is full of inflatables like slides and bouncy houses.  Unfortunately, both boys got ear infections upon our return.  Jackson's ear drum burst while we were at the doctor and then Carson got one a day later.

By the end of the week, it was raining cats and dogs so we took the boys to Plaza Fiesta which is a local mall with a HUGE indoor playground.  Drew had so much fun that we are going back with the kids and some family friends to celebrate Drew's birthday tomorrow.

Carson is kissing us and saying "night, night."  It is adorable.  Today, at the gym, the child care lady told me she was very impressed with the boys manners.  Evidently, Carson said "thank you."  To date, I have only heard him say "thank."

Both boys absolutely love reading books.  It is interesting to see how different they are even in this respect though.  Jackson has always wanted to hear the same book at both nap time and night time until he has it memorized then we can pick a new one and repeat the process.  Carson likes to "read" books by himself.

Drew got the boys an easel this weekend.  They have had a blast painting, using chalk, coloring with dry erase markers and putting stickers all over the paper.  Our kitchen corner is now used for basketball and art.  I was wondering what that space was meant for.

3 Years Old and 15 Months Week 1

The boys and I went to visit Nana, Papa, and Aunt Aimee in Tennessee for New Year's.  Jackson talked Nana into baking cookies with him.  The boys had fun playing ball in the yard and helping remove the ornaments from the Christmas tree even though Nana wasn't ready to take it down.


The boys were helping me do laundry when we got home from Tennessee.  They loved it when I would push them around the tile floor in the kitchen in their laundry baskets.  What a workout!


Jackson had a dentist appointment last week.  He will tell you that he was a bad boy and did not let them brush his teeth. We will try again in 6 months.
Carson and I played with bubbles one day while Jackson was at preschool.  Carson caught onto blowing them very quickly.  He loved trying to catch them and squealed when they popped.


The boys have been playing basketball in the kitchen.  We took the Christmas tree down and left the basketball goal in the house.  It is nice to have on cold days when we cannot get outside.

Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus visited our house last night.  His reindeer at all the glitter food in the front yard but Santa left a few crumbs from the cookies on his plate.  He delivered a basketball goal with two balls as requested by Jackson.  The boys love playing basketball in mom's kitchen.  They also got a lot of new books, train sets, ornaments for the tree and other fun toys. 

Jackson got a bicycle that trails behind our bikes.  Now Carson can have the bike trailer all to himself.  They both got a kick out of riding around the neighborhood.  It was good exercise for mom and dad too.

Drew got a huge helicopter that we have flown three (3) times today.  Jackson loves watching it fly.

Carson said, "Happy," today.  He is so cute.  He also loves to give his brother hugs.

3 Years Old and 14 Months Week 3

The boys have been sick this week.  Jackson has pneumonia and Carson has bronchitis.  Needless to say, we have not done much.  We did make Chex Mix, fruit cake cookies, gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate reindeer for Jackson's preschool class.

Last Friday, we went to Nicole's house for a family Christmas party.  Each family brought $5 gifts for the kids to open.  It was fun to watch them tear through the paper.  All the kids are so excited about Christmas!

Jackson tells me daily that Santa is going to land on his roof and come down the chimney with presents.  He wants to know if the reindeer will come inside too.

At the doctor's office, Carson weighed 30 pounds and Jackson weighed 42 pounds.  Both kids have big feet.  They are growing up so fast.

Carson is talking up a storm.  He is saying "santa, ball, brother, dog, Riley, good, hi, all done, outside, shoe, down."  He repeats everything.  In the morning, I say, "Hi" when I open his door.  Carson says, "Hi" back.  Then I say, "How are you?" and Carson says "Good."

3 Years Old and 14 Months Week 1

 
Jackson is loving every minute of Christmastime this year.  We started decorating for Christmas this week.  We decorated inside and outside the house and then went to the mountains with friends to cut down a Christmas tree.  The boys were very helpful trimming the tree except they take off more ornaments than they put on.  Also, the candy canes were a bad idea.  I found Carson eating one right before bed last night plastic and all.

 

Jackson told Santa that he wanted a charger for the helicopter.  We tell Jackson the helicopter has to charge when we are tired of playing or he would never stop.  I guess he thinks we need a better charger or that two might be more helpful.  He also wants a basketball goal with two basketballs.  I think the second ball is for Carson so Jackson will not have to share.

 

We believe that Santa may have been Santa Claude, Santa's Claus's brother from the South Pole.

 



 

Jackson is trying to keep Carson in the picture in front of our tree.  Carson is too busy walking around to be contained.  Jackson helped Drew saw the tree down.  We hung out at the farm for about 2 hours waiting on Santa Claude.  The property is beautiful and we had fun playing badminton with the boys.