When a teacher hears the due date of August 31, they think, well that’s going to be hard to start the year. I had that thought and as you know me, became anxious about having someone else set up the routines and procedures in my classroom. I was also missing my go to sub, Jared did my maternity leave for Jackson, but with him having a full time job he wasn’t an option. It took the first week in July for me to realize that it was a perfect due date!! Having #2 at the end of the summer gave me the entire summer to enjoy Jackson!!
We had one week as a family of three prior to Jared starting his summer job. We had a nice time together, we visited Jungle Jolt, which is an indoor play/climbing place in Webster. Thankfully Jackson is a 15 month old trapped in a 3 year old’s body, because he was able to maneuver all of the climbing parts and had no fear of the slides!! It was nice being able to go with Jared because there was one part that I couldn’t fit my belly through, so Jackson was still able to enjoy that part with Daddy’s help.
You know how they talk about different types of parents at play places. You have the bench sitters – They are either on their phones, Ipads, reading or talking to a friend who also has a little one playing. You have the hoverers – They are right on top of their kid ready to pad any fall or divert any tragedy. Well, I am definitely a hoverer – I think it is because he is a 15 month old trapped in a 3 year olds body so he moves with speed and the delusion of good balance and coordination. What is nice about the indoor play places is everything is padded so I could hover from a safe distance, by the end of the summer I was able to transfer my “safe distance hover” to the outdoor play places – but I never ended up as a “bench sitter.” Truthfully, I hope I never do, as a hoverer I get to watch and feel Jackson’s excitement with each moment of play, I am afraid the “bench sitters” are missing out on the pure joy of their children because they are on electronics or disengaged.
Jackson and I kept busy while Jared was at work. We filled our days with play dates, trips to the zoo, walks and playgrounds, and sunny days at the spray park. The zoo was fun because Jackson was starting to notice the animals. He would watch them for several seconds, then look to the other side of the cage, point and his face would light up and he would go “ball, ball.” Maybe next year the animals will be the highlight of the zoo! The splash pad was also a great source of fun for Jackson. I wasn’t sure how it would go over since he doesn’t really love his kiddie pool, he hates my mom’s pool, and as of recently doesn’t even really like taking a bath. So I went into the splash pad experience with low expectations. . .he loved it!! He was very cautious around anything that sprayed water, but loved splashing in all of the puddles. Each time we went he became slightly more adventurous, but is still cautious of water streams hitting him.
We had a nice 4th of July Weekend as a family. Jackson was a ladies man at the Pignagrande’s lake house. He was accepting all of the attention that Ella, Aubrey, and Olivia were giving him. He would sit on their lap, give them hugs and kisses, and allow them to hand feed him pieces of cheese, even though he is capable of feeding himself. He was his usual good self and went to sleep nicely in his stroller around 7. This gave us both hope for an easy bed time on our Family Camping Trip in a couple weeks.
So it was time to camp, Jared convinced me that we should start with just one night, originally I wanted to go for two. The only hard part of one night is you can’t reserve a campsite for only one night, so we would have to hope for a nice walk in site for the night. We were packed (thanks to me) and ready to go. We set out during his morning nap (hoping he would sleep in the car) and arrived at Stoneybrook State Park a little bit before 11:00. Jackson fell asleep in the car and got his nap in – score. We got the LAST available campsite at Stoneybrook – score! Our campsite was across from a little sandbox – score! We were set up and ready to explore by 11:30 – score!!
Jackson LOVED splashing in the brooks. Unfortunately, the video footage of his happiness got erased (I really don’t want to talk about it, let’s just say I learned some lessons when it comes to uploading videos). The pictures freeze the excitement, but don’t come close to capturing the true fun he was having splashing around. So far camping was a success!! Unfortunately, for some reason you are not longer allowed to “wade” in the water, you are only allowed in the pool area. The park ranger had to kick many of us out, Jared wanted to get back in once he left, but I felt like we were pretty noticeable with a one year old and a pregnant lady! We headed to the pool area, he had fun watching the other kids, but it wasn’t the same. After a picnic lunch and playing on the playground we headed back to the campsite in hopes of an afternoon nap. Well, that did not happen, but he seemed fine, so we didn’t stress about the lack of PM zzz’s. Jackson did a good job playing in the sandbox, playing with his toys on the blanket, and most importantly staying on the grass and out of the road! He even sat in his camping chair and entertained us with his animal noises (adorable videos also lost L)
So 7:30 hit and we figured we would attempt bed, we gave him his bottle and laid him in the stroller and hoped for the best. Well, unfortunately the sound of all of the other kids playing was too much for him, he was craning out of his stroller to watch all of the other kids play – attempt #1 FAIL. We tried putting a blanket over the stroller and taking him for a walk – attempt #2 FAIL. Now many of you are probably thinking, let the kid live it up and stay awake. However, with no afternoon nap that was not an option; lack of sleep does not make Jackson calm, it makes him CRAZY!! So eventually we decided to try just putting him in the tent, our tent is tiny and the only thing inside was an air mattress, blanket, and pillows. We figured with all of those luxuries that are “not allowed” in his crib he would be in heaven, play a little bit and then pass out. Whelp, we were wrong! Boy did he exercise his lungs and scream and scream and scream – attempt #3 FAIL! After several minutes we couldn’t handle it so Jared decided to get him and try the car seat, something more familiar. Jared crawled into the tent, Jackson snuggled up against to him, and was asleep within 30 seconds. He just needed a little daddy snuggles I guess.
Jackson was asleep and we got to enjoy the fire and relax. The forecast for Sunday projected heavy thunderstorms around 7:00 am, so before we went to bed we packed up the truck so that the only thing we would have to take down in the rain was the tent. Around 11:00 we went to bed snuggling our sweet little man! On my second trip to the bathroom around 12:30, Jackson woke up. I figured he would be nestled into Jared and asleep by the time I got back. WRONG!! Jackson was soooo excited that mom and dad were in bed with him that he thought it was play time!! He was crawling all over us, playing peek-a-boo, bouncing on the air mattress. . . we tried our best to ignore him and get him to snuggle. Well, he was not having that!! In my mind I said, “Boy you have until 2:30 to settle down or we are out!!” Thankfully, a little after 2:30 he was snuggling in sucking his thumb and twirling his hair, and by 3:00 he was asleep!!
We got up around 6, packed up camp and drove home in the pouring rain. On our way home Jared proclaimd that next year we’ll have to get a bigger tent, I simply think we will need two tents, a boy tent and a girl tent. Now since I think #2 is a boy, that means momma get a peaceful night of sleep J Thankfully we were able to keep Jackson awake so that once we got home, we could ALL take a nap!! And nap we did!!
Mid-July Jackson transitioned into his new bedroom with success. He loves every aspect of his new room and gets up in the morning pointing to the pictures on the wall going, “uck” (truck), or “beep beep” with pure excitement!! He did a great job with the transition. Slowly we have been taking “baby” things out to help him adjust to the fact that a baby will be coming around soon. He kisses his baby doll, he kisses my belly and says baby and then 5 minutes later he is taking the baby out of the vibrating chair and throws it on the ground. So we shall see how it plays out when #2 comes along.
We also made a trip to Buffalo so I could visit with my college friends and their kids. Boy how our life has changed. We started our friendship funneling beers, bar hopping, and recharging at the Pizza Hut Buffet the next morning to do it all over again. Now, we meet for an early cook out where none of us drank and we were chasing toddlers and holding babies! Two of our group couldn’t come because one was about to pop her baby out and the other had a sick little newborn at home!! Needless to say, it as if we still live two streets over, we are able to see each other infrequently, but always pick up right where we left off. I love my C-State girls and can’t wait for future years and the possibility of our little ones causing a ruckus together!
After Jared’s summer job ended we were lucky enough to have time as a family of 3 (not sure if it is because the baby is patient or stubborn). . .the videos below capture some of that time together. This first video is of Jackson and Jared being frogs, again I am not sure who is more entertaining.
We had a summers worth of stale bread, so we made a trip to Charlotte to feed the ducks, and this was the first time that Jackson actually fed the ducks instead of himself!
We had a Parley Pool Party in honor of baby #2. . .thankfully the party was prior fall weather that hit the second week in August! Jackson had a great time with all of his friends!
Jackson can feed himself “sticky” foods with a spoon. However, he is pretty Italian and at times he just wants to be fed because it gets the food in his belly faster! He knows various animal sounds, can identify various body parts, and we have started to work on different colors.
We also visited every jump club and playground in Monroe County. . .it was so fun watching him climb and jump at the jump clubs. Each time we went you could tell he “grew” a little more and needed a little less help clamping up the ladders to the slides and playing in the different bounce houses.
I know realize that August 31 is the perfect due date, because it gave me the entire summer to enjoy Jackson and our family of three before we became a family of 4.
Enjoy the photos. . .
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