Jackson is officially 2 1/2 yrs old. I don’t know where time has gone but it has! I was trying to think about how to sum up Jackson for you (and for my “blog diary”) and the only way I could think of was to tell you about the things that Jackson currently could not live without.

If Jackson was sent to a deserted island I think these are the things he would hope would go along….

His “noculars” aka binoculars… Jackson is a very observant kid. He enjoys looking out the window at the birds and squirrels and he loves going on long walks to explore. He notices things that we as adults just miss because we are so distracted with life. I am amazed at his ability to pay attention to a million things at once. I think school will be tough for him someday..not because I don’t think he’s bright but because he has a hard time not multitasking.

His stool…or one of his 4 stools. We have a plastic stool in each bathroom for him to use for washing his hands. It is not unusual for them to be spread throughout the house by the end of each day. He wants to be in the action. He is no longer satisfied with being on floor level when he knows there is so much more of life going on above. He was always a climber as a little guy but now he feels independent and involved with a stool that he can lift and move to accommodate his enjoyment of life.

His underoos…During our days of being snowed in I told Seth I thought we should hunker down and potty train. Jackson got his potty back when he was 18 months old, along with his big boy baseball undies! Since then he has always been willing to go without any issues but with the move here, the arrival of Owen and all of his adjustments we decided we wanted to focus on his other transitions and wait until he was ready to do it all the way! So, we dove in. So far he is doing beautifully and is very proud of his accomplishment. He now wears a diaper at bedtime and naptime and when we are out and about. But when we are home he is in undies and tells us when he needs to go.

His legos…Jackson has really been expanding his pretend play with his legos. He is really creative about what he wants to build and enjoys “telling a story” as he goes. This has been fun to see!

His light! Jackson has recently gained a pretty intense fear of the dark. We are going through a phase at night where he doesn’t want to go to bed without his door cracked so he can see the hall light. He won’t go into a room unless he can quickly get the switch on. I know developmentally this fear goes along with the development of pretend play because his concept of reality and pretend is being developed but how that plays out at bedtime is quite exhausting!

His Curious George book and his Bible…Jackson enjoys reading lots of books but these are his favorites. His favorite line to say in George is the first “This is George. George was a good little monkey and always very curious”. Somehow I think he and George are kindred spirits, whether that is good or bad I haven’t determined yet. 🙂 Jackson is much more trust-worthy than he was in previous months meaning I am not needing to be with him every moment but his curiosity is often more than I can anticipate. Because of his ability to carry his stool he is often able to scheme and accomplish his goals without needing to even talk to me. He does come to me quickly when his plans g0 wrong to tell me what disaster has occurred. At this stage I am glad he still confesses!

His microphone…the boy can sing and loudly. We’ve always had music around the house since Jackson was born. At about 9 months we decided to start a bedtime routine with him and sang the same songs each night. Jackson within the past few months has been singing these songs from memory. Often we aren’t even aware that he knows the words and then he will burst out with every verse.  He brings lots of joy to the house through his singing but I will be honest when I am cooking dinner and he is blasting “Jingle Bells” into the kitchen were I (his exhausted, sleep deprived mama) am trying to put together a decent meal my brain just can’t handle it.

His daddy…I think I commented about this recently but Jackson is really going through a daddy phase. Not that he doesn’t need me and love me but he really is enjoying daddy and wants to do everything like him. Dr. Dobson talks about this being important at this stage in development so we are trying to meet this need of daddy time.

Adjustable waist pants….sounds silly I know but Jackson couldn’t be dressed without them. He is still a string bean. I know his grandmothers have probably both wondered if I deprived Jackson of calories as a baby but the truth is he’s a spitting image of Seth and no matter what he eats, he is skinny! I think he just can’t ever consume enough food to match his activity level.

The cellphone…give the boy a phone and he will talk. He loves calling his grandparents and begs to talk when I am on the phone.  Cute but proves difficult when I need to be on the phone for purposes other than chatting for hours on end about toddler topics.

So at 2 1/2 this is a picture of Jackson. We are so thankful for his vibrance and all that he adds to our family. The challenges of living with a 2 something are many but the rewards do outweigh those challenges..for that I am thankful!

So I tend to be a worst case scenario-type person. In all honesty, I think it’s my way of being prepared and working through my emotions ahead of time rather than me being down right pessimism.  Anyhow, as we approached the arrival of Owen I ran into a million well-meaning people that warned me about life with 2 kids. So, in my mind I began to prepare myself for the worst case scenario. Even with horrible reflux, behavioral outbursts from Jackson and many sleepless nights it has been really quite good so far.

Here are some of my recent random mommy thoughts….

Someone is going to be crying at some point throughout the day…may be Owen, may be Jackson, and if it isn’t one of them it might just be me! I had to let go of making everyone happy every moment. With 2 there are bound to be times when someone is waiting for attention. And that’s okay!

It is a blessing that God gave us 2 boys first because he must have anticipated that I would not be good at doing girls hair. He gave me a 2 yr grace period with Jackson and then boom…wild, wavy hair to manage. Owen’s hair has been receding and is now growing back…I better get ready!

With 2 kids we have double the possibility of someone waking up at any point in the night.  that translates to a lot less sleep..It applies in the same way to double sickness, etc.

Owen is starting to smile….having a second has reminded me of those wonderful milestones we enjoyed with Jackson. This time around I feel like I can anticipate and savor it more!

It is so apparent to me that God made Owen for us! He fits right in to our family and it feels a little like he has always been around. Yesterday Jackson went up with me to get him out of his bed and Jackson said “come downstairs Owen, and be part of our family”. We love having him around!

I cannot imagine being a single mom. In that same thought I am so thankful for Seth, a daddy who is a great daddy! These days he is smothered constantly by Jackson who thinks he hung the moon. Jackson is currently referring to Seth as “my own daddy”….so this morning it was “mommy, I want my own daddy to hold me”. We have had to start setting our timer throughout the evening when Seth is home so that Jackson will leave him alone for 10 mins here and there so Seth can at least check email or news.

There is plenty of love to go around. I know lots of people worry that when you have more kids it will be hard to love them as much as your first child. We love our boys and Jackson knows that we love Owen just as much as him…probably a healthy place for him to start understanding that he isn’t the first and favorite ( I think he still has confusion in this area)! It’s fun to hear Jackson talk to Owen about how much he loves him.

Teaching one little boy about God, the world, life, love and other mysteries feels daunting…adding another child doesn’t lessen the weight of that task. As Jackson asks about his world around him and seeks to learn I am humbled that God thought we could handle this….the great thing is he doesn’t want us to do it without his help. Last week on my birthday Seth and I saw a beautiful, full rainbow on our way to dinner. We took a picture because we knew Jackson would have loved to see it. After seeing the picture he rushed to get his bible to read the story of Noah.

A lifestyle that would include grandparents close by would be highly beneficial. I would love for the boys to get to have more time to learn from their grandparents and have quality times with them in ways they can’t with our constant moving.

I saw a 6 month old the other day, bouncing around on his moms lap trying with all of his might to get free and take off…..that leads me to our next worst case scenario in the Kolb house….moving again, this time with a 6 months old and an almost 3 yr old!!!! The house hunt has begun and the calendar is narrowing in on our takeoff dates.  For today I am going to enjoy the fact that life with 2 is better than expected!!

We are still smitten with our new little guy. He has been having a hard time with a cold first, diaper rash and then now reflux but we are getting through the long nights and enjoying his sweet personality. Jackson is enjoying being a big brother but wants full privilege to wake Owen up to “play”, use monster claws to tickle him and sing at the top of his lungs right next to him whenever he wants, among other things. So we are faced with new parenting challenges by the day.

Owen returned to the doctor on Thursday because of the reflux. We got to have him weighed again just to make sure he was continuing to gain weight despite not feeling great. Yep, he’s gaining weight alright. In fact, he has gained over an ounce a day for quite some time now. On Thursday he was 9 lbs 14 oz. The week before on Friday he was 9 lbs 4 oz. He is long enough that even as a “big baby” he looks like a strong bean still.

Here are a few pictures of Owen!

cuddly outfit from his Nama

Dr Jackson is ALWAYS on call. With every cry Jackson hollers “you okay, Owen?”

Tired but happy sums up the Kolb house these days. Seth and I had to laugh last week when we both commented on how calm life has been over the past few months. That tells you how much has gone on in the past 4 yrs of our lives when moving to temporary housing with a 2 yr old at 6 months pregnant, having a baby the weekend of the DC blizzard and starting life with a newborn, sleepless nights, and a very precocious 2 yr old  seems calm.  It is a controlled chaos I guess. And for us it is a time to savor as we are already needing to begin preparations for yet another move.

Owen and Jackson got to meet on Wednesday a couple of days after Owen was born. Because of hospital policy Jackson could not come up to the hospital…which was sad for me but Jackson was having so much fun with Nama (my mom) at home that  he wasn’t too phased. We made a video and Seth showed him me with Owen in the hospital. On Wed Jackson greeted us at the door with great excitement!

Here is a video of his greeting!

Here are a few pictures of Owen coming home from the hospital and meeting his big brother

Not so sure about this going home stuff

Jackson was very sweet when he met his brother. When he first got him in his arms he said “he’s tiny, mommy”.  He said “I am your big brother and I love you baby Owen”. So far he is still loving his brother. He frequently wants to help with him…which is scary at times. He will say to be “I am just picking him up”. We are having to watch very closely that our helpful boy doesn’t carry out most of his plans for Owen!