My Son, The Class Clown

Yep, it's official. Jax is the class clown. There have been little things throughout the school year that made us suspect this, but yesterday we witnessed firsthand the behavior that makes our kid so popular among 3-year olds. He's a total goofball, and the kids seem to love him for it!

Yesterday Jax had an end-of-the-year performance at his school. We've had the event on our calendar for weeks. Anh made sure to keep his schedule clear so he could attend, and Aunt Nguyen even took off work for a couple of hours so she could make it. We knew the program would be centered around music because Jax has been singing the same 4 or 5 songs for weeks, and when I'd praise him for singing so well, he'd tell me that he was "practicing for my program." Clearly, the teachers had been working hard with all of the kids to insure a wonderful performance.

So, finally, the big day arrives. The program was scheduled to start at 11am, but the parents were told seating would begin at 10:15am. Being a rookie, this seemed insane to me. Jax attends a very small school. Why in the world would we need to be there 45 minutes early to get a seat? I was clueless, but thank God I followed the instructions and arrived early. You would have thought that we were fighting for the last seats on the Ark! Parents were cutting each other off and pushing to get to "the best seats." So much for setting a good example for the kids!

We took seats on the end of the 3rd row. It looked like we'd have a good view and be able to snap a few pictures and some video of the program. What we didn't account for was that the first 2 rows of parents would go into a frenzy when the kids came out. They were jumping up and down out of their seats. Lunging from side to side trying to shoot pictures and video around each other, completely clueless to the fact that there were rows of parents behind them that might actually want to see their kids. Oh, and they weren't inconsiderate for a few minutes. No, they acted this way throughout the program.

At first, I was beyond annoyed. Neither Nguyen nor I could get one decent picture of Jax. I didn't need to capture every second like the other parents, just a couple of decent pictures of my kid to share with the grandparents and post to the blog! My frustration level was rising and rising with each song, but then I realized something. My kid wasn't even singing, and it wasn't because he didn't know the songs. I had listened to him sing these songs perfectly for weeks. No, my kid wasn't singing because he was too busy dancing around and putting on his own little choreographed show. He definitely doesn't suffer from stage fright! Quite the opposite really. He seems to thrive on having an audience, but the audience also seems to bring on some form of ADD which made him incapable of following the rehearsed routine.

By this point, my growing fury had subsided. As Anh and I sat there observing the class clown, we were somewhat amused. I mean, he wasn't behaving like a brat or anything. He just seemed oblivious to the fact that he was supposed to be performing the program they had practiced for weeks. We decided Jax was just being 3. We noticed that most of the kids weren't singing. Some were standing there with glazed-over looks on their faces. One had thrown in the towel and was actually sitting on his mother's lap in the front row. Ultimately, we were just thankful that he wasn't the kid on the other end of the stage that cried throughout the entire show. Yeah, at least he wasn't the crybaby!

Exception to the Rule

I've always heard that the more kids you have the more money you'll spend. Well, I guess I am the exception. Today was my first outing alone with the kids. Okay, technically it was my second because I was alone yesterday when I took both kids to Baylor's pediatrician. I don't count yesterday's outing though because we just went from point A to point B and didn't really have to deal with being in a crowd or anything.

Today I was bold and made a trip to Target ALONE with a 2 week old and a 3 year old! I was just a tad nervous about how things would go. I just knew today Jax would act like a complete brat, and Baylor would have one of his "I have to eat right now" squealing fits even though I fueled him up right before leaving the house. The kid can't seem to go an hour without eating. So, I was brainstorming how I would feed him in the middle of Target while somehow keeping Jax under control.

I completely lucked out though, absolutely no drama. Baylor slept the whole time, and Jax was surprisingly well behaved. There were no tantrums or battles over whether it was better to walk or ride in the cart. He didn't try to run away when I stupidly let him out of the cart in the toy section. Really, the trip was rather uneventful. So, of course, my next outing will be a complete nightmare. That's how my life works! ; )

Anyway, getting back to the original point of my post, I was expecting to spend a small fortune. This is what happens every time I go to Target. Items scream at me from the shelves begging for a new home, and then they just leap into my basket. Seriously, it's not because I have no control over my spending. Target is just an evil store with supernatural powers.

This trip, however, it was nearly impossible for me to spend too much because there was simply no room in my cart for anything, but the essentials which now equates to diapers, wipes, and household cleaning supplies. Why was there no room you might ask? Well, because once I put Jax in the child seat and mounted Baylor's car seat to the front of the cart, there was about an 8 inch opening to squeeze items into the cart's cargo area which only had a limited amount of space thanks to my purse and the diaper bag. So even after utilizing the shelf on the bottom of the cart, i still wasn't able to buy that much.

As a result, I'm quite sure Anh is jumping for joy as he reads this post. But, don't celebrate too much, Dear. You'll now be required to accompany me on all Target trips because we'll need one cart for the kids and a second cart for the stuff. Aren't you thrilled?!

2 Week Check-Up

Baylor went in for another follow-up appointment today. He weighed in at an impressive 9 lbs even and measured 20 3/4 inches long. The nurse seemed surprised when she read the figures. I thought maybe she was waiting for him to poop on the scale again. Luckily, we did not repeat that little performance.

When Dr. N calculated out the amount of weight he gained each day since his last visit, she was astonished to discover that Baylor is gaining double the amount that he needs. I'm not sure whether he's just going through a growth spurt or whether he's going to be a giant. Either way, all he does is eat! We're so proud! You better be nice to your little brother, Jax. At this rate, he'll be able to beat you up by the time he's 6 months old!

Dr. N still detected the slightest heart murmur, but again stated it was nothing she was concerned about. She said that it is somewhat common to be able to detect slight murmurs until 8 months of age. Surprisingly, I'm not worried about the issue at all. Dr. N is very reassuring. We'll go back in 2 weeks for another follow-up, but for now all looks good!

Rub a Dub Dub

There were no ducks in the tub because we were expecting a repeat of Jax's 1st bath (blood-curdling screams so loud that we feared the neighbors would call the police and report us for child abuse), but Baylor got his first "real" bath tonight. Since the stump fell off last night, we knew it was time to move past the sponge bath.

I wouldn't say he loved it, but he didn't have the extreme reaction Jax did either. He fussed in the beginning. Then he calmed down and seemed to actually enjoy it until we washed his head and face. That worked him up into a frenzy, but he calmed down instantly when we wrapped him his towel. Now that the ordeal is over, he's quite relaxed and seems happy to be squeaky clean.

Of course, that fresh feeling didn't last too long. He pooped within a matter of minutes and started working on accumulating the baby funk again. Oh well, that's life!

Beppo

"You might not know what beppo means or maybe you've forgotten. It's just the tiny hippo way of saying BELLY BUTTON!" If you haven't read the Belly Button Book, then you really must check it out. It's a super cute children's book that we read many, many, many times to Jaxon.

Tonight Baylor heard it for the first time to celebrate his new cute beppo. Check it out! Not sure yet whether it will turn out to be an innie or an outie, but either way it's better looking than before. I thought that nasty stump would never fall off!

Let's Go Racing

Speaking of bragging rights...Grandfather, Anh, and Jax were all inhaling my exhaust Saturday night!*


*Anh wanted it noted that he disputes my victory. He feels he and Jax were the true winners, and I only lapped them because they slowed down to wave to Mommy. Either way, I lapped them & all's fair when it comes to racing!

Another Round of Pirate Golf

Our family tends to be a tad competitive. If you've ever spent a Christmas or Thanksgiving with us, then you know how intense games can become with everyone fighting for victory to maintain their bragging rights from the previous holiday get-together. So, it should come as no surprise that in our family a friendly game of miniture golf can take on the competitive spirit of, oh let's say...the Masters! That's exactly what happened Friday night when we decided to challenge Grandfather to a round of Pirate Golf.

Grandfather walked away victorious with a score of +2. Technically, Anh and I tied at +9, an improvement over our first round scores a few weeks ago. BUT, I must point out that while Anh bogied 3 holes, Jax and I both managed to pull off a hole-in-one! Yep, as amazed as I was by mine, everyone was stunned when Jax nailed his perfect putt. Maybe he will be the next Tiger!