A New Jackson

Today is the last day of 2009 and it's also my mom's birthday. I just wanted to take a second to acknowledge this beautiful woman who has shaped my life so profoundly. She is one of the strongest women I know. Happy Birthday Mama! I love you!!

This little piggy went to the market...

We've been counting Jonas' piggies since he was able to giggle and it's always been the cutest thing ever! Now it's more of a struggle to keep him still as he full-body-wiggles with laughter. But the biggest advantage to counting his piggies at an early age is that at age 2, he counts ours! He even wants to count Jack's piggies, which is absolutely hysterical!

Jonas loves to bang on things... toys, floors, walls... So when my mom found a small drum kit at Tuesday Morning for $14.99, we thought, sure, at least it might keep him from destroying our walls. For Christmas, Jonas received this spiffy little drum kit and he LOVES it! I think we might seriously have a drummer on our hands. Not only does he identify the drums (and guitars) in music, I am quite amazed at how fast he has picked up on playing them. Here are some photos and video of Jonas with his new drum kit.

I have wanted to do this for sooo long, but every time I try, Jonas gets shy... the same thing happens with videos. He'll babble, play, perform until the electronic device comes out, then it's all over! Anyway, Jonas has been learning some Christmas carols lately and I was able to capture all the cuteness on "tape" (aka, record on my iPhone). In the clip below, you can hear Jonas sing We Wish you a Merry Christmas, You Are My Sunshine (not Christmas, but still cute), ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Jingle Bells. How did I get him on "tape" you ask... night time in the car, he never even realized it!

Some cute little nuances to listen for...
Jingle Bells = Jingle Balls
"oh what fun it is to ride" = "oh what funny..."
laughing all the way, haha

I'm still hoping that he'll find the correct 'pitch'... I guess that just takes practice.

Warning: this clip has sound and it's kinda low, so you may need to turn your speakers up a little. If you read my blog with an rss reader or get it in email, you may have to come to the site to hear the clip.

...for trying to entertain a two year old while getting some Christmas shopping done. Not an easy task, to say the least. Jonas only gets to play with my iPhone on certain occasions, and this was one of them. I found a series of photos he took while playing.






20 extra points for anyone who can guess what store we were in...

Jonas has been on a teething roll lately! I noticed another two year molar has made its way through his gums. The teething diagram is almost full!

I had my hair cut over the weekend and came away with more than just a little trim. I now have BANGS! I haven't had bangs since the 80s and we all remember those days. Kimberly (at Salon Piper Glen) did and AMAZING job on my hair. I just love it!

As if my last few posts didn't make it obvious enough that I've been woefully behind in posting, I found these photos of Jonas that I took months ago that I forgot about and just had to share. These were taken in June when Jonas was 22 months old. In a rare moment of posing, I was able to capture this sequence of photos and I just LOVE them!

Jonas has always liked listening to music... what kid doesn't!?! Lately though, he has been asking for it everywhere we go, mostly in the car. No more getting my news from the radio; Jonas gets mad if I try to and repeats "Music? Music?" over and over until I switch over to the DVDs. I guess I'll have to resort to the internet now for my news since we have basic cable and I mostly dislike local news broadcasts.

In Jonathan's car, not only does Jonas ask for music, he has an opinion on what's playing as well. If it's too slow, he let's you know his desire for something else. It's a good thing for Jonathan's Zune + his affinity for listening to all kinds of music. There are definitely more options in his car versus mine.

We have also setup a radio in our living room where I can plug in my iPhone or Jonathan's Zune for Jonas to listen to music. This past weekend Jonathan instituted "Music Time" where he and Jonas will sit and listen to music. I captured them with my iPhone listening to music... Jack got in on the action as well. Unfortunately I missed where Jonas was laying on Jonathan's chest and listening so peacefully (a very rare occurrence).