Thursday, April 18, 2013

Milestones and Celebrations!

Guess which little Dino turned 3! Happy Birthday to our BIG BOY!

Balloon Fight!

A Monkey pinata for our little Monkey! Big Fun!

Making Birthday pizza's. Emmitt likes Mushrooms and made a Mushroom Volcano pizza

Emmitt and his Best friend Amy

Happy Birthday Sweet Sweet boy! Aunt Sara made him a t-rex cake!

Giving Thank You Hugs. This one for Wyatt.

Presents. Emmitt was very generous and even let his cousins open up his gifts. He is a sweet generous little boy.

The "Big One", a doll house. Now used as a dino launch pad...maybe he wasn't quite ready for a wooden doll house. Actually, I think I care about it more than he does. Silly Mom!

A day trip to Falcon Park.


Emmitt Joy!

"Take that" piece of wood!

A little lemon

Silly face

Emmitt and Jeremy, the vacuum sales man. Kevin (sucker) agreed to a sales pitch to receive a couple of free nights in a hotel...3 hours later we got the sales man drunk and Emmitt took a ride on the coolest vacuum I have ever seen. Oh' and we got the sales man Jeremy to clean the house with his amazing $3000 vacuum...what a weird night! Emmitt really liked the guy. We did not buy the vacuum.



Vacuum Ride! WhooHoo ride that vacuum!

Day trip to Genesse Park

Cupcake making on a cold winters day!

Holden and Killian turn 4!!!!!!Happy Birthday Boys! Party at the Jump House!

Watching the "rules" video. Not Sure that Holden is Ok with this :)

Air Hockey! Emmitt is actually pretty good at this game!

What is better than an afternoon "snow day" with my kid...and making a snowman!

Emmitt having a bite of the Snowman's nose!

Sweet boy in bath, with car

The many faces of Emmitt in the bath



Sledding at Genesse Park

Totally Love these guys!


Emmitt LOVES Kevin's boots. He wears them on his legs and arms!

A boy and his T-rex

A winters walk in Fort Collins

"catch the snowflakes on your tongue!"

A Day trip up Pouder Canyon with Grandma Jo

Throwing Rocks. Everyone gets into this activity. It is not just for little Monkeys...but big ones too!


Love that Grandma Jo. Oh' and she was into throwing rocks too :)

Emmitt and Grandma  Jo trying to push the snow and ice down stream. This activity is addictive!

Emmitt peeing outside for the first time. Now, he drops his pants in the yard and just starts peeing!

Getting Ready for an outdoor adventure. Kevin's new plan for keeping snow out of the suit is to Duct tape his gloves and boots on. This seems to work, even though looks a bit questionable!

The Boots

A day trip to the River "our spot", a stop at Ziggy's Frozen yogurt, and a trip to the park. Emmitt has this trip down and informs his grandparents about where to go, when to stop, what to eat, and how to play. He is one lucky guy!


Looking at "Red Velvet" outdoor sculpture. It is a weird one!


Spring time! Time to get out the hose, make rivers and lakes in the yard!



Easter Hunt at Nana's house!!!!!

"Candy filled Eggs?" What an amazing gift from the Easter Bunny!

Emmitt wanted to immediately eat his Chocolate Bunny, and did!

Yummy Bunny!

Still working on that Bunny

Nana lets the boys make mud rivers and lakes in her garden. What up plumber E?

Boys and their creatures!

Emmitt loves his cousins, if they don't always love him back.

Uncle Jimi

Easter Shrimp

Emmitt's play had gotten quite sophisticated. He set this whole thing up. Dino's and robots all around, on bridges and in corners. Shark and Croc infested waters. I thought it was amazing. Last year he would have been tipping the entire thing over and throwing his toys across the yard. He had lots of fun with this creation...so did I!

This picture is way out of order. Oh' Well, Snow day!
Emmitt Peyton Jackson
(Emmitt is very particular about his name these days...must say entire name)
3 years 3 months
Growing, growing, growing
Wow, what a couple of months! I know, I know it has been tooooooooo long since I last posted, but WOW has it been busy. Many of you may know I have been studying for my LCSW (licensed Clinical Social Work Exam) and I have been focusing on climbing this mountain. Last week I PASSED! WhooHoo! I can now post on a more regular basis...as my free time is back. Speaking of last week.. little monkey got the flu. So, while studying and stressing about passing the exam, I was also dealing with a very sick little guy. Thank God for Grandma Jo. She came to the rescue and did many loads of laundry, many dishes, gave many words of encouragement, and love to all of us. One benefit of the flu? Emmitt was not allowed to have bottles...we have now gone 9 days without one. If any of you know Emmitt, you know this is HUGE. Emmitt has loved bottles since he tried his first one. He has been drinking about 4 or 5 in a 24 hour period for 3 years. Yes, I know you may be questioning my decision to allow this, but I have felt strongly that the bottle wasn't hurting anyone and it has really been his transitional object, comfort when I am gone, comfort when sleeping, and all around best friend. I have been debating about ending the bottle insanity lately...hoping his sleep would improve, but have not had the energy to follow through with this. The flu was the perfect opportunity! Emmitt now gets a prize (or 3) every morning when he doesn't have a bottle over night. Throughout this period he has been trying to figure out what is missing in his life. He has been waking often and says "I want something but I can't remember what?". He requests that I tell him his options. I always give the option of fruit, toast, muffins, ect. He usually requests a muffin (I have made 4 batches this week) and then he is ok. Occasionally he can't seem to fill the void and gets angry. He is grumpy and irritable. It is really like we have taken away his addiction and he isn't sure what to make of that. I have been amazed by his ability to eliminate his prized bottle from his life and to make this transition well. I am also fascinated by the process. I see now that this is for the best, but as a mother who wants nothing to harm her kid or cause him pain...it has been trying and anxiety producing for me. He doesn't ask for the bottle but, by his words it is clear he misses them. How amazing is that.

So, besides bottles what has E been up to over the past 3 months? Well he turned 3! We had a Dino party at our house. You would be amazed by the weather, sunny and 65 degrees out. We had a monkey pinata. Kids made pizzas and ran around like banshees. He had all his favorite people over and seemed to enjoy the celebration. The play room was filled with balloons...and they are still around! Since turning 3 Emmitt continues his adventures into "big boy" world. He is still obsessed with dinosaurs, loves to play cars (his dad buys him a new matchbox every week at the store...Daddy's addiction), attends Tumbling classes (his favorite activity is jumping into the "ice cubes"), still loves to run, jump, and use his body, and loves to make "friends". He is always looking for a friend and when he finds one he doesn't ask what their name is, just calls them Friend. Emmitt loves his grandparents and has a special relationship with each of them. They spoil him with fun when they are here and he eats it up. He knows he is smart ("because you told me so") and funny and works hard to make you realize these qualities. Emmitt can now pee standing up and has taken to peeing in the wild (otherwise known as the yard). We continue to work towards pooping in the pot. Emmitt loves his cousins, even though they still get frustrated with him at times, and has built quite a relationship with Killian. He is really a joy (except when detoxing from the bottle) and is a much more sophisticated little guy than I ever could have imagined. He is curious about the world...sometimes too much "what is that?", "why is that?", "how is that?", "why?", "why?", "why?"???????questions!  But says the most hilarious and entertaining things, you have to appreciate every word.

Favorite foods: In the last week Muffins, corn dogs (prefers them to be frozen-gross), fish sticks, cucumbers, chocolate, popcorn, and bananas (although since he could only eat them for a week while sick he hasn't really been asking for them as much), also apparently he LOVES Thai food- Grandma Jo ordered some and he has eaten then entire container in 2 days, who would have thought!

My favorite Emmitt Words: Hilarious, mystery, awesome, cool, complicated, annoyed ;)