Life With A 2-Year-Old

Life with a 2-year-old can be rough sometimes.  At 2 years old, a kid has a mind of their own and knows exactly what they want...even if it's not possible or logical.  Jackson often wants his shoes on so that he can go outside, but he isn't quite able to do it himself just yet and doesn't want any help...cue the tantrum.  And that's just one example.

Unfortunately, this past week was a rough one.  The days were filled with tantrums, whining, and doing exactly what he knows that he's not supposed to, but thankfully we got through it, and coincidentally enough {or not}, I am now reading one of the parenting books that was recommended to me after putting a poll up on Facebook.

Thankfully the week wasn't 100% horrible though.  Despite the "terrible twos", we actually had quite a bit of fun together, and there were even quite a few sweet moments that I hope to remember forever...

While raking leaves one afternoon, Jackson ran up to me with a water bottle that he had gotten out of the cooler on the back porch saying "mommy, water".  The timing was perfect, and I thought it was so sweet that he stopped playing with his trucks and running around like a mad man to think of me.  Of course, he took the bottle from me not long after I had opened it and had a few sips, but it's the thought that counts, and I hope to always remember how I felt at that exact moment -- so loved, so in love, and so proud.  This week, he also started singing "all board choo-choo train" {all aboard the choo-choo train} and then "c'mon" {little birdie, c'mon, c'mon and flap your wings} in the sweetest little singing voice, and one morning, while sitting at the breakfast table, he started eating my cereal in addition to his {I have since learned that he likes my kind better} and then stretched his arms out for a big hug almost as if to say "thank you".  These are the moments that remind me that I am {hopefully} doing something right and that toddlerhood is just a stage.

Jackson loves spending the workdays with Mimi and is never quite ready to go home with me.  I chalk most of it up to the fact that he knows that going with me will result in sitting in traffic for another 20-30 minutes, but on this particular day, I thought we may never make it out of my office garage.  I mean, why be strapped into the carseat when you can crawl into the driver's seat and mess with all of the controls instead?

I love painting, but I absolutely hate trying to find the perfect color.  I really liked the purple in our guest room, but it's obviously not the ideal choice for Jackson's new room, so our goal was to find a gray to go with his new bedding and navy/gray color scheme.  We ended up choosing "Gray Matters" by Sherwin Williams, which is in the middle and on the left.  The plan is to paint this weekend, so hopefully I like it as much when it's on all four walls.

This guy has recently grown fond of both his rain boots and cowboy boots and is going to be really disappointed when we put together his bed and is no longer able to walk/jump all over the boxes.

Jackson's last sportball class was this week, and although we made quite the entrance on our last day {flinging himself on the gym floor as a result of being told that he could not take his cup of cheerios into class}, the rest of the 45 minutes went pretty well.

Cheering on all of his friends.

Receiving his ribbon from Coach Moe.

Jackson and Harlon...or as Jackson says "Hardon".

Such a fun group of 2-year-olds -- Luke, Sam, Emily, Harlon, Jackson, & Reid.

We also went to Ramsey Park this week to check out all of the renovations that were made over the past few months.  They redid the baby area, added a jungle gym of sorts for the older kids, and overall, I'd say Jackson is a fan.

And as luck would have it, the garbage truck happened to come by to empty all of the nearby dumpsters while we were there, and Jackson was in heaven.  Seriously, I'm pretty sure that the only thing Jackson loves more than the park is the garbage truck.

A front row seat complete with concessions.

And of course, as it drove away, Jackson ran after it saying "follow garbage truck".

As we were leaving the park, Jackson climbed up on the fire hydrant and said "water, on".  Haha.  I don't think so, little guy.

Cheryl and Avery came over for a playdate on Thursday morning, and between Jackson and me, I'm not sure which one of us was more excited.  Jackson always loves getting to see Avery, and of course, Cheryl and I always have the best time, too.  And because one garbage truck sighting in a week is not nearly enough, Icing on the cake included getting to watch the truck collect our trash while playing in the front yard.  Of course, Jackson immediately stopped what he was doing to stare and wave, and as an added bonus, because the pizza boxes from our neighborhood party didn't make it in the first time, Jackson got to watch me attempt to throw them in {and miss!} and then watch the garbage truck pick up our can a second time to collect just those.  Amazing...except not.

This week Jackson also finished an entire jar of peanut butter.  An entire jar is less than one week.  He is DEFINITELY a Liggett.

Cheeeeeeese.

Yesterday afternoon, we went across the street to play in the Armstrongs' sand box.

I reminded him to keep the sand in the box {especially since dumping it out of the box was his very favorite thing to do the last time that we were there}, and after two "accidents" that included the words "uh oh, mommy, sorry" and two reminders to keep it in the box, he blatantly dumped a shovel full out right in front of me, and then I knew I had to be true to my word.  It was time to go back home, and obviously, he was not happy about it.  The walk back home was a long one that included quite a bit of crying and throwing himself down on the ground not just once but twice, but eventually we made it home, and within a few seconds, he forgot all about it.  Life with a toddler = quite the emotional roller coaster.

The love between a man and the hardware store starts early.  A quick trip to Lowe's for some primer and other painting supplies...

...and Jackson was pretty much making his Christmas wish list.

Baby's 1st Milo & Otis viewing, which was a movie that my G introduced Holly and me to when we were little and one of our very favorites.  He obviously did not sit through all of it, but he loved the parts that he did see.

The secret to a successful trip to the mall with Jackson is snacks and a drink -- and now that he knows Pottery Barn Kids has a water dispenser and cups, we have to stop by every time that we pass it.

I have always told Ben that I'm not good at drinking out of a cup and walking at the same time {honestly I never realized anyone was before I met Ben}, but apparently my son is already more advanced than I am.

On the way home today, we stopped by the grocery store, and as I was checking out {and doing my best to keep Jackson from pulling all of the candy off the shelves and all of the other random items off the checkout counter -- chapstick, donation cards....you name it, it's sitting there}, the cashier was going on and on about how rough his morning had been due to the fact that he had to wake up at 10 to get to work on time.  I really did try my best to be sympathetic, but eventually the comment "try raising a toddler" kinda, sorta slipped out.

It's not till I got out to my car that I realized I had forgotten to bring in my green bags and had to load all of my groceries into my car...one by one.  Karma much?  Maybe I should take a hint from the parenting books and start practicing what I preach: be sweet and stop whining.  Because even with the tantrums, I really am so blessed to have this kid in my life.