Like a fish...

We had another good weekend in the Horwath household, but a busy one as usual.

On Friday night I went to a Jewish Temple on Summit Avenue, Mt.Zion, a requirement of the World Religions course I am taking at Century College. It was a wonderful experience and a very great learning opportunity and now this week, I'll be writing a paper about my adventure.

Ron and Jackson stayed behind and spent some time learning to kick a ball around and made a trip to the hardware store. Ron is building an easel for Jackson, one side chalk board, the other a paper roll for endless drawing fun.

Saturday evening we had our friends, Jon and Dianne Sivald over for a pizza dinner. They got to see how much Jackson has grown and learned. And after Jackson went to bed we had some grown up time talking around the dining room table.

Sunday I went scrapbooking with my friends Heather and Darcie... I'm getting addicted to this new hobby of mine. Despite a raging headache, I kept on going before the headache got the best of me and sent me packing. There will be more scrapbooking in my future though, we are doing a girls night in a few weeks at Archiver's, I can't wait.

Ron, Jackson and Ron's Mom, Jan, spent much of Sunday outside enjoying the nice weather and our new driveway. Thanks to my dad, our sinking driveway is now filled with recycled cement, so I will not have to worry about disappearing in quick sand every time I back down the driveway.

And finally, Monday I took a vacation day. Ron and I spent the morning with Jackson swimming at the Maplewood Community Center. And the reason I took the vacation day, one of my very best friends was in town so we went to lunch together and took a trip to Pier 1. It was so nice to see Katie and catch up.

And tonight Ron is at the first Twins game of the season with his friend Brandon. Go Twins!

Here are some pictures from the weekend:


Yes, he managed this all on his own

Ron is teaching Jackson how to use his new tools from the Sivalds

Jackson loves to spend time looking out the front door at the trees and the squirrels

Jackson had a blast at the pool

I am a true Minnesotan...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: North Central   "North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.
The Inland North
The Midland
The West
The Northeast
The South
Philadelphia
Boston
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

The Wiggles are coming...

So far Jackson has not been interested in television. We've tried on a few occasions to pop in a video or turn on a program to keep him busy for a few minutes. We've tried Teletubbies, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Caliou and Dora but nothing has kept Jackson's attention beyond the first 30 seconds.

I know this is a good thing. I would much rather Jackson play with pots and pans, and run around the living room than watch TV. Sometimes though, when either Ron or I are not feeling well, it would be nice to have him interested is something that keeps him still for a bit so that we can relax.

This was the case on Friday, I was having some crazy bouts of vertigo. Ron went into work for a couple hours, and I just needed Jackson to sit in my lap, and be still for a bit. I had recorded an episode of The Wiggles earlier in the week to try, and so I turned it on... it worked! For almost 20 minutes, it worked! Yay! Jackson danced and clapped his knees to the music of The Wiggles.

I've just read that The Wiggles will be in the Twin Cities on August 7. I wonder if by then, Jackson will appreciate them for more than 20 minutes and would enjoy the whole show?

Keeping tabs on vocabulary...

From another blog I read, the author was asked at her son's 15 month appointment how many words he knew. She started counting on her fingers and came up with a number, the doctor was quite surprised by his underperformance and discussed with her some speech therapy options. When she returned home, she realized that her son was capable of so much more than she gave him credit for.

I started to think what words Jackson knew and decided to start recording them:

Words
Ball -"alllll"
Duck - "du"
Hat - "at" while patting head
Hi - "hi"
Uh Oh - "uh oh"
Daddy - "daddy"
Peas - "eeeez"
Cheese - "cheeez"
More - "more"
Frog - "og"
Dog - "dawww"
Socks - "aaacs"
Diaper - "dada"
Fish - "ishy"

Signs
Hat
More
Milk
Play
All Done
Bye Bye
Sleep
Eat
Bath

Sounds
Moo (cow)
Woof (dog)
Roar Roar (lion)
Vrroooom (car)

A fork in the road...

Jackson is really starting to practice his table manners, though we have a long way to go before Emily Post gives him a passing grade. Here is Jackson trying his best eating ravioli and lima beans with a fork:



"More lima beans, please!"

Let's play animal sounds together...

Jackson is starting to learn his animal sounds. So far he's gotten these down:

Mama/Daddy: "What does a cow say?"
Jackson: "Boooooo"

Mama/Daddy: "What does a dog say?"
Jackson: "Wufff"

Mama/Daddy: "What does a lion say?"
Jackson: "Roooar, ra"

We are trying to work on cat next, but he isn't catching on.

Cousins, science experiments, dimples and more...

Dad and Jackson did a little science experiment. "What happens when dry ice is put in a glass of water?"
Mama and Jackson read lots of stories together.
Crash! Jackson wears his helmet to go for a ride... in the laundry basket!?
Cousin Luke stops by for a visit.
My new highchair fits me perfectly

Second kiss captured...

Ron captured this one on camera:

First kiss...

I got my first slobbery toddler kiss last night. I've been trying to teach Jackson "kiss" for a few months now. Giving him kisses on the cheeks and then saying "kiss". "Give Mama kisses, Jackson" and last night, he came at me mouth open and gooey and planted one right on my mouth. I melted! What mother wouldn't?

I tried to get him to do it again so Ron could capture it on camera, but no such luck. Maybe next time!

Dancing Bug

Bath time fun...

Just a little bath time fun for the Horwaths

Here kitty, kitty...

There isn't much to do in Winter with a one year old, but I've been trying to come up with some things to make life a little more exciting. On Friday, we went with my girlfriend Jamie and her son, Bodhi, to the MOA to Underwater World. We checked out the sharks, the stingray and the turtles... Jackson tried his best as saying fishy, but it comes out a little more like ishy. Then we played in the sand box with the boys and did some dancing at the play area. It was a great day for both, Bodhi and Jackson, and the moms too.

On Sunday, Ron and I took Jackson to PetSmart. Figuring we'd check out what the adoption center was housing so Jackson could take a peak. We poked our heads in on the cats waiting to be taken to a loving home, I'm sure there are plenty of cat lovers out there for Herman and Cheetah, ours is not one of them. I had Jackson on my knee and was calling out to the pretty calico cat. As the chosen kitty decided to saunter over for a little rubbing, Jackson screeched!!! And I don't mean a calm under-his-breath gasp... I mean a full-blown adult-sized screech for dear life! Apparently our little bug is not yet, a cat-loving boy, we'll try to work on that.

Calling Dr. Horwath...

I'm going to diagnose my own kid. Can I do that?

He had a crazy-high fever for 4 days. Monday the fever suddenly disappeared, and in its place appeared a red rash that started on Jackson's tummy, reached his arms and legs and made it all the way up to his forehead. Last night it was just on his legs. This morning I had planned to call the doctor, but when we took of his little train pjs... the rash was all gone!

I did some research last night online. Most of you know I'm pretty good at this! And this is what I found: Roseola Infantum. All signs point to it! Have I just diagnosed my own kid saving us a $25 doctor trip, to add on to the first $25 doctor trip and the $100 ER visit?

Video Of Jackson...

Watch a video of Jackson dancing.

First visit to the ER...

On Thursday afternoon I got a call from Jackson's school, "Jackson has a 100 degree temp and needs to go home." So I packed up, left work unfinished, and went to pick up my sick little bug. Jackson seemed to be fine, a little whiny, but mostly just had a fever. I soothed him and gave him tylenol, he took some naps, but still woke up with a fever on Friday morning so into the doctor we go. Dr. Mayrand couldn't find anything wrong, thought maybe a stomach bug. We kept the little guy happy with Tylenol and Motrin Friday and Saturday. On Sunday morning he woke up with a screech, Ron checked his temperature, and it came in at a high 104.2. An early morning call to Dr. Mayrand suggested we take him to Children's Emergency Room. So, we brushed our teeth, and packed up the little guy for a long morning at the ER. Dr. Reid checked him out, the nurses took some blood, and in the end still couldn't find anything wrong with him. Poor Jackson would scream every time a nurse or doctor came near, we calmed him with food and with toys in between, but as soon as another scrub wearing person came in that room, Jackson would start up again. In the end, we ended up back home to keep his fever at bay with meds.

This morning Jackson woke up at 6:45, pushed the button on his music box and was singing away when I came in. As soon as I walked in I knew something was wrong, the smell of poop was too strong to miss. He had an explosive bout of the runny poopies! It was everywhere... from his neck to his toes, through his sheet, blanket, and mattress pad. And the little bug didn't seem to mind. On to another day... he may have had poop, but he didn't have a fever, and I'll take it.

Picture perfect...

I've finally uploaded some new photos to the computer.


Remember this Mom and Dad?


Smile!

Jackson's new favorite toy is this MP3 player that he got with a Valentine's Day giftcard from Grandma Jan and Grandpa Joel. The player is made by Parents, which must be based in Great Britian, because the cute toddler songs like This Old Man and Ba Ba Black Sheep all are sung with a British accent. (Kids who drool shouldn't wear gray)

Aren't I sweet?

Jackson has found a new little spot that is just the right size for him

This was the view from my hotel room in LA. The Hollywood sign is just beyond that building