The BIG 3-0

Jackson's 30 months, or 2 1/2 years old!




*He's discovered the 'Books on CD' section of the library and LOVES it! He's darling as he sits in his car seat while we're driving, listening to the CD, and turning the board-book pages! Oh the cuteness...

{His favorite books on CD that we've checked out repeatedly are Baby Einstein's On The Farm and Lullabies and Sweet Dreams. They are such cute rhyming stories!! My goal in life is to be able to read-aloud like Julie Aigner-Clark!! She's unbelievable!!}

*We ran to the dry cleaners and I ran into the store and left him in the car and when I came back 2 seconds later he was pointing to the flashing OPEN sign in the cleaner's window and read slowly and deliberately: OPEN. Oh the brilliance...

{When I asked him to spell it for me, he said N-E-P-O. Hmmm... I haven't quite figured out why, but he spells right to left. I'm hoping it's something he'll grow out of!}

*He can spot a STOP sign anywhere in a 50-yard radius, and he LOVES to read all the letters on the sign to me- P-O-T-S!! Oh the cuteness...
{I think the right to left thing is sort of endearing!!} Ha Ha

*Jackson's obsessed with rubber stamps and inkpads lately! I have alphabet-letter-rubber stamps, and he loves to stamp words and write notes to daddy! Oh the creativity...

*The other day he came running down the hallway toward me, crying and screaming, with blood gushing from his hands. After I was able to stop the bleeding, I discovered that he found our stapler and had severed a huge chunk of skin from his thumb! Luckily there weren't any staples in his fingers! He called it his "ouchy" and loved wearing Thomas the Train band-aids for over a week! Today he brought me the stapler, repeating over and over, "Ouchy!"

*For Family Home Evening recently, Jackson wrote and illustrated a story entitled "I Thank Heavenly Father For..." It's the cutest story ever! We glued pictures of things Jackson's thankful for on each page and then had it laminated and bound into a quiet book that he can read during the Sacrament at church each Sunday.

{One the of thankful items is "Home". We glued a picture of Jackson mowing the lawn to that page, since Jackson's favorite thing in the whole world is daddy's lawnmower. During the very-silent Sacrament last Sunday, he turned to that page and super excitedly and emphatically screamed, "LAWN MOWER!" Ha Ha So much for a 'Quiet Book!'









*Jackson's BIG news is that he's POTTY TRAINING!! YAY!!

In preparation for this big event I read:
-Stress-free Potty Training by Sara Au & Peter Stavinoha (BEST. BOOK. EVER.)
-Potty Training Boys the Easy Way by Caroline Fertleman (SO FABULOUS!!)
-The No-Cry Potty Training Solution by Elizabeth Pantley
-Toilet Training by Vicki Lansky
-Toilet Training In Less Than A Day by Nathan Azrin
-Potty Train Your Child In Just One Day by Teri Crane
-Diaper-Free Before 3 by Jill Lekovic
-The Everything Potty Training Book by Linda Sonna
-Toilet Training: The Brazelton Way by Berry Brazelton
-Potty Training Your Baby by Katie Warren

{I learned that there are quite a few methods and theories out there that definitely don't work with my teaching style or Jackson's learning style!}

I knew I couldn't do the "Just stay home for a week" theory, because there's not even 1 day where we stay home, let alone a whole week!! I really believe in the "Sessions" method and theory and it seems to be working really well with Jackson. We also do a lot of "Naked-Time" (at home) and I think it works great in teaching Jackson to be aware of going tinkle, and in being able to go a few hours without having to tinkle. {That's a lot of over-sharing!!!} Ha Ha

In preparation for his huge milestone, Jackson read:
-Too Big For Diapers by Sesame Street
-A Potty For Me! by Karen Katz
-It's Potty Time for boys by Chris Sharp
-The Potty Book for Boys by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
-My Big Boy Potty by Joanna Cole
-Once Upon A Potty for boys (book, dvd, and cd) by Alona Frankel
-Where's the Poop? by Julie Markes
-Potty Time by Fionna Watt
-How to Potty Train Your Monster by Kelly Dipucchio
-Big Boys Use the Potty by Andrea Pinnington
-Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Tot (songbook and cd) by Bruce Lanksy
-No More Diapers (dvd) by ConsumerVisionOnline.com
-Elmo's Potty Time (dvd) by Sesame Street
-My Potty and I (Berenstain Bears Baby Board Books)
-Does A Pig Flush? by Fred Ehrlich
-You Can Go to the Potty by William & Martha Sears

After reading all those books, Jackson was SO SO SO excited to use the potty!! And the incredibly manly Mickey Mouse briefs we bought him were a huge hit!!

One of the biggest obstacles we had to overcome was Jackson's inability to sit on the potty long enough to tinkle. (Holy Cow, it takes a LONG time!!) So, we created a 'Potty Book Basket' of books he could read while sitting on the pot, we kept a CD player in the bathroom so he could listen to the potty songbook while on the pot, we got a few bottles of Curious George bubbles that he could blow while sitting on the pot, and we got him a rubber stamp collection that he could use while sitting on the potty!

One of the greatest suggestions I read about was in The No-Cry Potty Training Solution by Elizabeth Pantley.

Make A Custom Potty Book

"The most perfect potty book is one about your very own child! You can create a personalized toilet training book for your child that will reinforce what you are teaching. It will likely become your child's favorite book.

Simply take photos of your child at every step of the potty process. The first photo should be of your child playing with toys, so you can explain that he must first identify the urge and stop what he's doing. The second will show your child's trip down the hallway, and the third is your child entering the bathroom. This sequence of photos will continue right up to the final hand washing and drying and leaving the bathroom afterward with a look of pride. Yes, a picture of poop and pee-pee in the potty will make a gleeful addition to your homemade book! And happy Mommy and Daddy faces are a great ending.

Making the book an interactive adventure will give it even more value. Simply leave empty spaces on each page or place a handful of blank pages at the end. Allow your child to add a sticker or draw a happy face into his book after each successful bathroom visit. I guarantee that your child will enjoy having his own special book, and very likely it will help him enjoy the process."

*Jackson's other BIG news is that he's in a BIG BOY BED!



I was hoping to keep him in his crib until he was 3 years old, but he learned how to scale the railing of his crib and climb out! We even removed the metal frame from the crib and dropped his mattress to the floor inside his crib for a while, but he still managed to monkey his way out. So, we converted the crib into the toddler-daybed.

He seems to really like his bed. As soon as it was assembled, he hopped in and then proceeded to scale the side-rails to get out. We had to teach him that he could just get in and out of the bed like a normal person, without climbing the rails. I think he's a little upset with us that we took away all his fun!! Ha Ha

Last night he rolled out of his bed and hit his lips on the wooden railing and busted his lips open! There was blood everywhere!! So, if you look closely in his pictures, you can see his swollen, bloody lips!! Ouch! Apparently, he's more dangerous to himself 6 inches off the ground, than scaling the railings 4 feet off the ground!! That's our little monkey!



We love Jackson more and more each day! He keeps us laughing, smiling, and exhausted!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE being his mom; he's seriously the cutest boy ever!!