Muddy Bottoms

 Jackson was playing with the water hose one night last week

 and discovered a bare spot in the yard.

 He did what any little boy would do.

 Then Katherine noticed the excitement and wandered over to check things out.

 It was so much fun, she needed both hands in order to splash.

 Taking turns

 Apparently her turn wasn't finished yet.

 Jackson's clothes began to come off

as the water started getting on him.

 Before we went inside, he was completely undressed, and  

before he completely stripped, I was able to get this shot of him.

I can't decide if I like it better in color or b/w, so I included them both.

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A quick little Jackson story.  Yesterday, Jackson, Katherine, and I were in the waiting room for a flu shot and a girl about Jackson's age started playing with Katherine.  The little girl started laughing and getting louder which attracted her two older brothers over.  The three of them were all laughing and Katherine was enjoying the attention.  Jackson was keeping one eye on the trio and the other on the tv.  The little boys started reaching in and trying to tickle Katherine and Jackson started growling.  Yes, growling like a dog.  I was a little taken aback by his response and told him it was okay, they were just playing when he responded simply, "Mama, they're hurting Katherine."  So, if anyone starts bothering his sister, I guess he's going to use shock factor and start growling like a rabid dog!  It was sweet and funny.  I'm just glad he loves her.

A Full Day

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from last weekend.  Katherine fell victim to a stomach bug early in the week and Zach has been ill the last several days.  I'm the last one standing and doing my best to avoid the misery.  Last Saturday Zach judged his first bbq competition in Jackson, which was perfect timing to add the state fair into the mix!  Jackson and Katherine have never been, so we were anxious to take them!  We dropped Zach (aka 'Judge') off early in the morning at the competition and headed to my parents until Zach was finished.

While Katherine napped, Jackson had a little bit of fun with Grammy and Grandpa!

Headed down the driveway

Katherine managed to sleep through Jackson's musical performance

My old Hot Wheels made an appearance

We've finally arrived at the fair and Jackson was pretty excited!!

On our first ride of the evening! 

Katherine was not happy about having to watch from below!

Jackson in his blue truck,

which was Katherine's very first fair ride!

Zach took Katherine on the Ferris Wheel and she loved it!

He said she squealed, "Weeee!!" the entire time!

I'm glad Zach has found his Ferris Wheel riding buddy since I wasn't cutting it!

Poor baby wanted to ride the blue truck.

In case you were wondering, blue has recently become his favorite color. 

As I'm sitting here typing this, Jackson is looking at the picture and reminding me that he wanted to ride the blue one and was sad since he had to get in the orange truck.

 

Jackson loved the obstacle houses

This picture reminds me of

this picture from May 2009!

So long, fair! 

We had a fun time and look forward to the next one!

Just for Size

Katherine hit the 18 month mark last Friday, October 7!  She had to have a camera, aka 'cheese,' in order to cooperate for her picture.  She had her 18 month check-up today and is weighing in at 19.2 pounds and is 31.75 inches long.  She is obviously small, but the doctor said she is parallel on the growth chart to other baby girls her age in growth, just smaller.  I hope that makes sense-the doctor explained it in a way that it made sense, but I'm not so sure that my explanation does.  He plans to continue to monitor her weight to make sure she steadily gains.

To celebrate 18 months (not really, it just sounds nice), she went to her grandparents and the fair the following day.  We already knew it, but she confirmed that she is our little daredevil.  She loved the rides and had no fear!  Zach took her on the Ferris Wheel and said she yelled, "Weeee!" the entire time while peeping her head over the side.  Of course, there will be pictures!

The Blues

We've been trying to recuperate around here and get back to 100%.  Jackson was sick with a stomach virus all day Sunday, stayed home from preschool on Monday (which he was none too pleased about), and Katherine went to school and ended up coming home early.  We received a call from preschool saying she had been involved in an incident on the playground.  Thankfully Zach's office is next door and was able to get to her in a few minutes.  Apparently some of the 2 year olds were misbehaving and when the teacher started to try to correct their behavior, they all froze, one lost his balance causing several to fall and they landed on Katherine.  Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  She has two scratches on her face (one is very small), had a goose egg on top of her head and several other bruises scattered about.  When we arrived, they had a huge bandage on her face and I was terrified to take it off and see what was under it.

On the way home, Katherine was trying to take the big band aid off and Jackson kept trying to explain to her by yelling that she had a boo boo and needed to leave her band aids on.  {I'm sure he was a little jealous that he didn't have a band aid!}  When we got home, they both relaxed a while on the bed and Jackson was pretty concerned about her for a few minutes.  Then he asked me to get her off of him. 

 Our poor little sweetie was pretty shaken up until well after we made it home.

The damage
(taken the following day when she wasn't quite so beat up looking all over).

It wasn't as bad as I had prepared myself for, but it's still a pretty big cut for such a small little face.

Moving on to today . . .

 Jackson brought home the "Me Bag" on Tuesday.  It's like Show and Tell where they bring something they like and tell about it.  The teacher limits it to 3 items--she obviously has experience because Jackson was cramming everything he could into that bag.  He finally settled on his John Deere tractor, Percy, and a triceratops.  Tom Baby was supposed to be in the bag, but he fell victim to one of Jackson's 'upsets' on Sunday and is still recuperating.  Jackson is able to sleep with him again, but I'm not sure that poor little teddy bear will ever be the same.

 When I picked Jackson and Katherine up today, I asked Jackson's teacher how he did with the Me Bag and she said he did great.  He can be shy and his teacher admitted she thought he would be pretty quiet when talking about his items, but he surprised her and did really well!  I think she is also making an effort to talk to him individually a good bit each day.

I tried to get a picture of the two this morning, but this was the best I could get.  Jackson gave me a glimpse of a smile, but Katherine just gave me a dazed look the whole time.

One more of Katherine.

We are well aware of the danger involved, but she loves sticking things in her ears and up her nose.  Whenever she finds a match, she says "Birthday" and then sticks it in her ear.  :)

Sneak Peak

We've received some Halloween magazines in the mail recently, so Jackson and I looked through them and saw a train conductor costume.  I asked if he wanted to be that and he said, "Yes!!"  I've learned to act quickly with Jackson before he loses interest, so the next day I found him a pair of overalls and ordered a little hat to match.  I picked him up from preschool after buying the overalls and had them in the car and he had to try them on at that moment.  So while still in the parking lot and in the car, he stripped down to his undies and put on the overalls.  In true Jackson fashion, he said they were too big and wanted them off as fast as he wanted them on! 

Then he said he wanted to be a  policeman.

  

 I managed to talk him into trying his outfit on again this past week and he wore it around for a time while eating a little candy.

 Someone else found the conductor's hat

 Katherine's outfit came in yesterday, so we had to try it out!

So far, she likes it and will keep the hat on!

At this point, we have a handsome train conductor and sweet ladybug.  We'll have to see if that stays the same once Halloween actually arrives!