2008 In Review

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Jaxin has grown so much this year. This slide show covers from 9 months to 20 months. He's not a little baby anymore. He's such a ham with a big personality. He struts when he walks now...it's hilarious and actually reminds me of my Dad (he walks w/ a bounce). He's very independent, yet has to be the center of attention when he's trying to be cute. I know 2009 will bring many new adventures and great memories.

Merry Christmas

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New Pics

Just wanted to post some photos I took a few days ago. The first pic with the candy canes is very similar to a pic my sister took of Piper. I kept trying to get him to look at the camera, but he is so stubborn now. I can never get his attention. Doesn't help that my camera is slow either. Only a couple of more days until Christmas. I can't wait to see the expression on Jaxin's face as he walks down the stairs and sees his presents from "Santa". He's going to be so happy!

FIRE?!?

This morning I heard sirens...then horns...and it was close. I looked out the window and saw a firetruck in our court and initially panicked. Was someone's house on fire in our court? I scanned the courtyard quickly and couldn't see smoke or flames. Were one of the houses that are connected to ours on fire?!? And then I glanced at the firetruck again and realized there was someone standing on the top of it....And he was dressed in red and white and had a white beard. It was Santa. Silly me. I had forgotten that each year before Christmas the fire dept. parades Santa through each court for the children to see and wave at. I lifted Jaxin up to the window and let him stand on the ledge. I know he has no clue who Santa is....in fact he's been very afraid of Santas this year. But I knew he would like the firetruck. He pointed and smiled and squealed with delight. Then Santa turned right toward us and waved at Jaxin and then exited the court. Jaxin waved happily and said, "Bye bye!"

Road Runner vs. Mr. Elephant vs. JAXIN!!!

Aunt Mi-mi got these balloon animals at Mike's company Christmas party and Jaxin absolutely loves them. I'm very surprised that he didn't pop one while playing though!

Breakfast With Santa

Our development had their annual "Breakfast with Santa" today. This is the 2nd year that Jaxin has went. This year, however, he was terrified of Santa. I'm sure it's just his age and that next year will be better. The only way to get him remotely near Santa for a picture was for me to be in it too. I look horrible in this pic...I look like I weigh 300 lbs! After pictures with Santa, we all grabbed some breakfast. Jaxin started playing with a fork and spoon pretending he was cutting food. Then decided to try Na-Na's cinnamon roll. He ended up eating a lot more than what I wanted him to...but he was having so much fun and it was pretty darn cute. Upon leaving, Jaxin was carrying his toy from Santa and absolutely would not let go of it. Now I can't wait to see him open presents on Christmas morning!

BUBBLES!

Jaxin absolutely loves bubbles! And I love seeing him freak out over them and hearing him laugh.

Festive Night

Jason, his mom, and I strung popcorn to hang on the tree. This is something that they used to do together when Jason was a kid. The glitter presents in the window weren't making it easy to get a good picture.

It started snowing tonight while we were stringing the popcorn. We took Jaxin over to Na-Na's and Jason and I went to Target so Jason could get Jaxin his Christmas present from him. He got a wooden activity table with a wooden train set to put on top. We then picked Jaxin up and brought him home and I let him walk around in the snow and check out our neighbors lights. We weren't able to put lights out front because we don't have a light socket outside! Jaxin really enjoyed the reindeer because it moved. And I love this picture because you can see the snow that's falling.

Then I let Jaxin color some paper with markers and when he was done I made little "snowflakes" and hung them on our tree.

My Own Little Crocodile Dundee

Jason and I were in the kitchen when Jaxin dragged in his stuffed croc pillow and started bouncing on it. Then he dragged it back into the living room and continued to give it a beating. He looked like a miniature Crocodile Dundee wrestling his lil croc.

Many kisses for Minnie & Mickey

Pop-pop bought Jaxin a set of holiday Mickey & Minnie stuffed animals that are nearly as tall as he is. He really likes them and has been giving them hugs and kisses all day. He's so sweet & such a cuddle bear!

Happy Turkey Day *gobble gobble*

Jaxin painted the "feathers" himself. I added the eyeball though. He did a great job and followed directions well for his age! He made tiny brushstrokes for the feathers after I showed him how and surprisingly didn't get each color all over the paper.



He was checking out the ads with mommy for some good deals. :)




Here he is watching cartoons and about to drift off to sleep. I love these pj's. Too bad he's only got to wear them twice before out-growing them!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was wonderful. We had dinner at Jason's mom & step-dad's. Jason's sister was there as well as Frank's son & his wife & their two kids. Their son is 13, and Jaxin absolutely adores him. Nicky is such a good kid and entertained Jaxin a lot and they had fun playing. When everyone was getting ready to leave, Jaxin went and gave Frank's family a hug and kiss goodbye. It was so cute. Especially since he's only been around them maybe 4 or 5 different times.

Mama's Boy

I love the expression on my lil munchkin's face in this pic. He has always been a mama's boy, but lately it's been getting worse. I can't even take a shower without him screaming like a banshee! The second I walk out of a room, he comes running after me like a lil puppy. He'll cling to my leg and whine, "Mommy! Mommy!" As I'm typing this he's sitting in the recliner with me, playing with my hair. Which is actually quite adorable and I like it. Wanita said that Jason used to play with her hair when he was Jaxin's age. I've heard that all lil boys simply adore their mommies....and I'm lovin it.

He LOVES Chuck E. Cheese

For Jaxin's 19 month "birthday" we went to Chuck E. Cheese. This was the first time that I have been with him. He's been several times with Grandma, Aunt Michelle I., and Daddy. This time, everyone went. He absolutely loves that place. The second we pulled up he saw the sign outside and just pointed and went crazy. Then when we walked in the door I could barely get his coat off before he started running off to play. He had a ton of fun and it didn't even cost us anything because we had leftover tokens from the last time he'd been there. We're going back on Sunday. He'll be pleasantly surprised!

Rainy Day Art

This past Saturday I had planned on taking pictures of Jaxin & Jason outside. However, it ended up raining all day. So instead, we had a very artsy day! We did several different art projects. For the project above, I glued cheerios, pasta, and cut-up pieces of straws on paper and let him paint it. He seemed to really enjoy the different textures.



Then it was time to get messy with purple paint and two hues of green with just your basic fingerpainting. And last but not least was a very interesting project, which is my favorite thus far. I took an empty can (mine was bread crumbs...a Pringles can would work well too!) and inserted our blank piece of paper. I then soaked tiny sponges. One with red paint and one with blue and dropped them inside the can. Next, I coated marbles and dropped them in as well. I put the lid on and taped it (just to insure there was no mess). Then I handed it off to Jaxin and told him to shake it. I sang songs and he shook the can and danced. The marbles made a lot of noise which he liked. I think younger babies would enjoy this project as well because it's basically a homemade rattle. So after our little shakedown, I pulled out the paper and we admired it.

I got a dollar. I got a dollar. I got a dollar...Hey, Hey, Hey, HEY!!

Jaxin earned his first dollar by helping Grandma pick up all the leaves on her deck. He had a lot of fun doing it and now has more money to put in his bank. This picture is blurry and the lighting was bad, but he wouldn't hold still or look at the camera for long, so I gave up. Ha! It's still cute though.

Bobby!

I painted this pumpkin for Jaxin since he loves Spongebob Squarepants so much. I know Halloween has passed, but I had to share this cute pic. As I was posting, Jaxin was sitting here pointing, saying, "Bobby...Bobby!"

Here's Jaxin doing his Yo Gabba Gabba dance. The theme song is playing in the background. This is one of his top 5 fav. shows I think. Personally, I think the characters are cute, but the DJ is verrrry annoying. Hey, at least we don't watch it at home often. Most of the time he watches it at Grandma's. He has a dancemat that has all the characters on it and they all have different songs and sayings that go with them that he really enjoys. Kid shows these days....sigh.

Halloween 2008

Trick or Treat....Smell my feet!

Jaxin's 1st piece of candy.



Stopping to pick up bucket on way to house #2.



Jaxin loved the Jack-o-lanterns the best.



Stopping to pose with another jack-o-lantern.



Jaxin eyeing up all the goodies. This is our next door neighbor, Dave. Dave was sporting his Phillies gear and had just gotten home from the parade because the Phillies had won the World Series.



Hmmm....how did I make out?



Oh, FINALLY, they let me have a treat.



Getting candy and a card from Na-Na & Pop-Pop.


This was Jaxin's second Halloween, yet his first time trick or treating. We walked him around our court and then went and visited Na-Na & Pop-Pop. He had so much fun. Everyone commented on how adorable he was. He carried his bucket himself most of the time and picked out his own piece of candy to put in it at each stop. Most of the time he reached for seconds...and thirds at some. But they all let him because they thought he was so cute. Ha! I think his favorite part of all was seeing everyone's jack-o-lanterns lit up. He giggle and pointed every time he saw a new one. He kept wanting to sit on their porch's and just stare at the pumpkins. Then while we were chatting with our neighbors after he had gotten his candy, he saw Dave eating a lollipop. Now, he's never actually had a lollipop before, but he was smart enough to sort through his bucket of candy to find them and had to pick them out and lick each and every lollipop! He sat there for a good 5 minutes just licking them....keep in mind they were still wrapped. So we finally let him have one. He giggled because he knew it was something he's "not supposed to have." Then he dropped it....so he threw a fit. Later in the evening after his bath we realized he still had a sugar rush. He climbed on Jason and played the "giddy-up" game bouncing up and down on Jason's stomach. He did this laughing like crazy until Daddy bucked him off. And now they're both fast asleep....

Chim chimeny chim chimeny chim chim cheree!

Jaxin loves to sweep the floor. He's going to grow up to be a clean freak just like his daddy!

Cutest Costume

This past Saturday our development had a Halloween Party. They usually have a parade, pony rides and a moon bounce, but it rained all day. So the festivities were held inside this year. The Rhonnda association really does a lot for the kids on holidays. They had pizza & pasta from Pizza Hut along with different baked goods that people had brought. There was a clown making balloon animals and they had costume judging for each age group. Jaxin was in the 0-2 years group. They give away 3 prizes for each group. And once again, like last year, he won for cutest costume! He won a $15 giftcard to Toys R Us. (These pictures were taken at Sears.)

Fall Fun

Linvilla Orchards

We all went to Linvilla Orchards on Sunday. Jaxin had tons of fun...even though he was very sleepy. They had a huge pumpkin patch with some of the biggest pumpkins I've ever seen. There was a bakery and a produce market. We took a hay ride through the orchards. Some of the many fruits they grow are cherries, apples, pears, apricots, and plums. Jaxin got to ride a pony whose name was Peanut Butter. Then he went on a train ride which he really enjoyed. They had a huge playground and a corn maze as well which we didn't do this time...maybe next year when he's a little bigger. We had a lot of fun and will definitely go back next year.