Jackson's 3rd Birthday!

December 11th, 2013 marked Jackson's 3rd birthday.  We celebrated by going to My Gym with some of his day care buddies (past and present) and some of our friends' kids.  We had attended a few birthday parties at this place or places like this and thought that Jackson might enjoy it for his birthday.  In our past experiences, Jackson has experienced some sensory overload and I was concerned about making some minor tweaks in the program and signing him up for some classes to get used to the center.  Unfortunately, due to time and illnesses, I was only able to bring him and Grayson once prior to the birthday party.  So Jackson definitely had some sensory overload, but overall had a good time.  The ball pit is his favorite (which surprises me since I feel like that is some MAJOR sensory input), but he honestly could stay in there forever.

Ripkin and Reese in "baby jail".

Not wanting to participate in circle time.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Almost getting him to participate in "Wheels on the Bus"

Getting silly with the big ball!

Loved the zip-line...was very mad he only got to go twice.

Voted "Best zipline reaction"!

Uh, why is everyone singing and looking at me?

Warning - This toy has no "off" button, nor a "volume control".

 And after all the generous gifts were opened, he played with...drum roll please...

The paper!!!

Thank you to all who came out to celebrate Jackson's birthday...we feel very blessed to have an accepting day care and wonderful, loving group of family and friends to celebrate Jackson.  He holds our heart and I think we are going to see some amazing things from him in his upcoming year.

Fall

On the recommendation of my friend Kim, we headed out this fall to Larriland Farms.  She had gone with her granddaughter and had a wonderful time and thought the boys would get a kick out of it as well.  We headed out there in hopes of picking apples and pumpkins. 

 We arrived to this great space with live music, yummy apple fritters, and plenty of space for our littlest to work on his running around. 

 Grayson would head straight for the water, of course. 

 It was my first time apple picking (that I can recall...I know I've been strawberry picking before) and I'd like to add it to our fall traditions.  Jackson wasn't too interested, but I think this is yet another thing that will be fun once he is able to walk on his own. 

 Grayson, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy whatever was in front of him... although getting him to pick apples off the tree and not off the ground was a challenge.  

 Once we collected a bag of apples, we had to drive back down the road to where they had the pumpkin farm.  We waited a bit late to go pick out a pumpkin, but there was still plenty to choose from although it was a much further walk. 

 Being a young walker, Grayson kept getting his feet caught in the vines, but loved exploring around the field. 

 Jackson got some practice with assisted walking.

Yes, that dark blue mark on his pants is pee due to a diaper that desperately needed to be changed (Parent-fail).

Looking forward to going back next year and perhaps in the spring/summer to pick our own strawberries.  Jackson enjoyed a pant-less ride home since his were soiled.  Whoops.