Grandma's Balcony Oasis

Grandma Shirley bought Jaxon a little splash pool for her sunning balcony today. He had so much fun playing in it.

New Underwear!

Children's Museum of Tacoma

Today Jaxon and I visited the Children's Museum of Tacoma. We went during their happy hour between 3-5 p.m. when it is half price to get in. We spent a little over an hour checking out the few exhibits they have there. Jaxon seemed to enjoy himself in the "Dig In" garden exhibit and the "Design, Build, and Play" exhibit the most. I don't think I would pay full price for the one in Tacoma but I hear some of the other Children's Museums around the Sound are quite good. Tacoma's was really small and half of the exhibits he had no interest in.




DESIGN, BUILD, & PLAY EXHIBIT






DIG IN EXHIBIT







PAINTING IN THE STUDIO

Toddler Teaser Games

For about the past few weeks Jaxon occasionally plays this game, Toddler Teasers, on my iPhone called Toddler Teasers: Shapes. It was a free App that he really seemed to like so I would give it to him to play with when we in a place where he was getting bored or frustrated (i.e. waiting for the bill at a restaurant or on long walk with mommy). He gets to pick stickers and keep them on a sticker page as he completes a certain number of rounds. For the most part at the time he knew basic shapes like circles, squares, and triangles. He would play with this game and get some right but mostly get them wrong. Then this week he started playing it right. He would go for 10-20 minutes playing it with barely any errors at all. I thought I gotta record this for his blog. Well he gets all camera aware while I am filming but I got some decent footage of him playing.

Now when he plays it he tries to eliminate all the shapes that aren't the one the guy is asking for and he leaves the requested shape until last. He thinks it is funny when the guy says "Try Again" and he shakes his head no and smiles. I bought him the rest of the game for $1.99 and it has numbers, letters, and colors in the same format. He is really into numbers right now. He can count to 10 when he wants to though it is a rare event right now but every now and then he goes the full number line to 10. This game makes sure he can also identify which number is which and not that he can just count them out loud. He does pretty well at it too. Colors are hit and miss. He has little interest in letters at this point except for H, J, and X. J and X because they are in his name and H because it was on Sesame Street one time and it stuck for some reason. I think my guy is much more mathematical and linear in his thought. He loves numbers, shapes, and building. He loves reading books but I think it is a sequences or order of events interest as he gets caught up in the plot and details which is also a linear/logical thinking habit. It is so cool how you can see their learning styles so early in their life.

Anyway...I thought this was really cool so I tried to record it. He has a hard time with the touch screen sometimes and gets frustrated that it isn't responding the way he wants but for the most part he loves it.


Shapes Part 1


Shapes Part 2



Shapes He Knows:
Circle
Square
Rectangle
Oval
Heart
Crescent
Hexagon
Diamond
Star

We are still working on (not in the game) octagon and trapezoid which are on his clock.

Fun in the Sun!

We have had a few hot days this week and Jaxon has had some time to be outside. Earlier this week he went to Grandma's friend Rhonda's house to play with her grandchildren in their big blow up slide pool (same one from last year). Today we went to University Village to help Aunt Shannon find a wedding dress (which she did) and while we were there Jaxon took a little "fun in the sun" break to play in a fountain of water. He had a blast!

Let the Potty Training Begin!

Jaxon has been showing some signs that he is interested in potty training and I thought that while I have the summer off we could give it a solid try and see what happens. Well Jaxon is never one to disappoint. He really understands the concept of what the toilet is for. Every time we put him on a real one or his potty training toilet he makes something happen. We went a week straight with no poop in his diaper and only in the toilet which I thought was really impressive. He is still struggling to tell me before he goes but now lets me know during or right after that he needs to go to the potty, which is a huge new development. I think it will be only a few weeks before he starts to understand and tell me before. For now I am putting him on the potty at regular intervals including when he wakes up from sleeping, about 10-15 minutes after each meal or large drink, and about every hour on average. He is already starting to get the routine down and asks to go potty first thing in the morning. I think in the next week we will try some of Dr. Sears tips for PT including "bare-bottom drills".

We are also reading about potty training with an interactive Elmo book and by watching the Elmo Potty Training video. He seems to make the connection that Elmo is telling him about going in the potty.




Another thing I want to do is get him some big boy underwear so he can try them out. They have these really cute Yo Gabba Gabba undies that I think he will love.


I think the most important thing is to make it positive. There will be many mistakes and oopsies but I am just so excited that he is understanding and enjoying it so far. I am so proud of him. He is getting to be such a big boy. Where did my baby go?

Happy 4th of July!!!

We spent the morning in Kirkland again watching the parade with our friends and their kids. Jaxon had fun with his buddies Mason and Conner, as well as Amehra and Mehki. My mom came with us to spend the day. After the parade we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for family time with my mom and Jennifer and the kids. Jaxon didn't make it to fireworks time as he fell asleep around 9 but was awoken by the Tacoma Fireworks show at around 10:20. He thought they were "pretty lights" and thought they made the sound of a cat "meeeeeoooowww".