Painting #1

I encouraged some really terrible painting today.  

You don't feel well today Jaxson, and you are considerably less fun.  High five to all moms and dads out there for dealing with the frustration I'm feeling today on a daily basis; I don't know what to do to make you feel better or how to get you to understand that napping, eating, and drinking water are all good ideas.  Hoping that you can start to feel better soon.

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First

I came to visit for Father's Day last Saturday night, and that was the first time you and I had a conversation.

At least... I think it was a conversation.   You tend to use yes and no interchangeably right now.

Since the day you were born, I have been impatiently waiting for you to start talking.  Jaxson, I am not a baby person.  I am not excited by babies, have no interest in holding babies, and in general, do not find babies cute.

Babies in A Song of Ice and Fire onesies are better.

For the first time since I've met you though, you look like a little boy, and the fact that we had a conversation blew my mind.  You are almost 19 months old, and you seem to understand a lot more than I figured.  I honestly thought I was going to have to wait until you were... 5.  Or 7.  I don't know.

You and I were on the deck at Grammy and Grandad's house when we heard a tractor going.  I asked you if you heard it, you said yeah, I asked you if you wanted to see it, and you answered yeah again.  I told you that you couldn't walk in the grass because you didn't have shoes on.  I asked you where your shoes were, and you said you didn't know.  I explained that I had shoes on, that I could carry you around to the front of the house, and asked if it was ok.  You said yes and put your arms up so I could pick you up.

This may not seem like a big deal, but EVERY TIME I saw you before that, I was not allowed to hold you.  I snuck it in when you were only a few days old.  (nice gloves by the way) 

...but after that, you were not a fan.  I'm pretty sure you weren't remembering me since we don't see each other all the time (confession... I grabbed you when you were already mad about something else for this picture... I have always wanted one for some reason).

I'm "on vacation" this week at Grammy and Grandad's, and yesterday, I took you outside after a huge rainstorm.  You ran down the driveway, through a stream of puddles.  It was obvious that you didn't realize the puddle existed because as soon as you splashed through, you turned around and said "uh-oh" in a concerned tone. 

Sidebar - You say "uh-oh" a LOT.  Like, ALL THE TIME.  At this point, I am pretty sure you're saying it because something happened that wasn't supposed to, but you definitely throw your sippie cup on the ground and say uh-oh or you throw your bottle out of your pack and play (some fancy name for a baby cage... don't worry it seems nice).  I'm pretty confident you're throwing these things out on purpose and that the uh-oh part is all lies.

Anyway, you were concerned about splashing, but then I stepped in and splashed around.  We splashed in puddles all over the place for 25 minutes before your dad said you guys were going to leave.  I had to clean your feet off so your mom wouldn't be too mad at me, but also, you are pretty certain that you don't want stuff on your feet.

Today, Grammy asked me to dig through some of your dad's old toys and clean them up for you.  You're supposed to come back on Friday so we'll see how dirty we can get you then.  I'm looking forward to it.

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