Not The Mama!!

Oh yes, this child is completely in a daddy phase. When he goes to sleep at night he asks for Daddy. When I put him in bed with us, he immediately snuggles as close as humanly possible to Justin and stays glued to his side all night. First thing in the morning, he wants-you guessed it-Daddy.

When did mommy become a second class citizen in the house? I am like the B side on a cassette tape (Hello 1980!) in my own household. As much as I miss being top dog, I really do love the fact that Jackson is so attached to his Daddy. And why wouldn't he be? Justin spends so much time with his baby boy and he is an amazing father to him. Don't you know Justin is EATING it up. He loves it!

At least I still get hugs and kisses, but only after Justin gets them first. Also, Jackson still gets upset if I leave the room, but as long as me and Justin are both in the room Jackson seems to prefer hanging with Daddy a little more. Oh well, I will let Justin have his glory. He deserves it. Maybe Jackson will swing back to a mommy phase soon. Either way, he knows he is loved so much by both parents and that is a wonderful thing!

**Okay, I realize baby Sinclair said "not the mama" to his Daddy as he was beating him over the head with a frying pan and that he was usually pretty mean to his dad, which is the opposite of what I am trying to say. It's just that the title seemed to fit perfectly for this post!

18 month stats

Weight: 24.5 lbs- 29th percentile
Height: 35 inches-97th percentile
Head Circumference: 19 inches- 61st percentile

Jackson is long and lean! He didn't gain much weight from his last visit, but our pediatrician said that was perfectly fine. He has grown several inches and we think he had a big growth spurt in Hawaii. We had a great visit with Dr. Drew. Jackson got two shots but the DTaP vaccine seems to really bothering him this time. He was fine after the visit earlier today but tonight he has been saying "knee" over and over and pointing to the leg that got the DTaP shot. He is also limping from the soreness. We gave him a warm bath and Tylenol tonight, so hopefully he will feel better soon. I think it is the Tetanus part of that shot that is really getting him.

We're famous!

Ok, well not really. Not really at all. BUT.....

A while back we got all dressed up and went to a local downtown restaurant, Circa 1886, for some drinks and appe-teasers while they took photos for their new revamped website. Well, the website is up and we are in one of the photos :) We didn't think we would end up in any of them since we had to leave halfway through the shoot to come home and put Jackson to bed. We saw the website today and the new pictures on the website are beautiful! Of course, we got a good laugh at ourselves. I am not sure why it's so funny to us but we both cracked up. Justin says the reason he is shown more than me (you can barely see me) in this photo is because I look 12 years old, but we all know the real reason is that he is so DANG good looking! :) Still, this was a lot of fun and I am glad we made the cut! Check us out!

http://circa1886.com/restaurant/overview

Hawaii!

ABCs!!

18 Months

Kissing his pal, Pooh

Opening his Valentines Card...Notice the chocolate around his mouth. :)

Jackson is 18 months old!! A whole year and a half....where is the time going? I feel like a broken record, but we are just enjoying this age so much! Jackson is learning new things every day and we are constantly surprised and entertained by all that he does. At 18 months:

-Jackson is a talking machine! He can repeat most words and we are working on teaching him his ABCs. His new favorite word is Hawaii. I am constantly amazed at how quickly his vocabulary is picking up by the day. He also loves making all kind of animal noises. His current favorite is a monkey (go figure!). He will be sitting there and then all of the sudden go "Ooh ooh Ah Ah Ah!" Then I will say to Justin "Daddy, is there a monkey in here? I think I hear a monkey!" That gets Jackson really excited and he will keep doing it over and over again. He also loves to "blow" his nose (like Daddy) and smell flowers.

-His new favorite show is Special Agent Oso on the Disney channel. He still loves to read and his new favorite book is "Little Red Riding Hood". It is a really colorful book, and I think he likes the pictures a lot. He also still really loves his truck books. One thing he loves to do is point out momma and daddy in any book or magazine. Basically if he sees a man, he points and says "Dada", and if he sees a woman it is "mama". This is really funny when he gets ahold of a magazine. The other day I was reading People magazine and he saw a picture of Charlie Sheen and said "Dada". haha!

-He still loves to hide and pop out to scare us. He gets ALL excited and will start running around like a wild man while laughing. He also loves to run free. In Hawaii he got to do that a lot on the beach and around the resort, and I guess he got spoiled. He will still hold our hand, but he doesn't like it. When we let him go he will run as fast as he can and I can tell he thinks he is hot stuff.

-He is not biting or hitting at all anymore, which is great. If he throws a fit, it is not too severe at all. An occasional screech or cry is usually the worst of it. It mainly happens when we take him out of the bath at night. He is not happy about that, but he calms down really quickly. I am thankful that we are not in the throws of tantrums right now, but I know we have a long way to go before we see the worst of it. I heard the 3's are the worst! Time out is still completely effective when he does act out. He will walk to his "time out" spot in the room and stand there until we tell him to come out. He usually just looks at us and whines during his time there.

-He is completely off baby food now! Shortly after my last post he flat out started refusing it. He still loves his yogurt, though. He calls it "yo". This has been really convenient, especially when we went on our trip. I have found that some days he eats like a bird and other days he cleans his plate at every meal, so I know that is completely normal. Still, I am really trying to push some green veggies since he is not getting them via baby food anymore. Also, his yogurt is green bean and pear. Sounds nasty, but he loves it! He was really open to trying new foods in Hawaii. Some of his new foods: bacon, blueberries, loved Hawaiian french toast, broccoli, breakfast potatoes, rotisserie chicken (yay).

-He is still nursing 3-4 times a day, but only when he sleeps or wakes up in the night. This was KEY in helping him to adjust during our vacation. I think that was such a huge part of why the sleep transition/travel was so easy. He associates nursing with sleep, so he basically went to sleep at night/naptime whenever we wanted him to. Although I thought I would be done nursing at 18 months, Justin and I were so thankful that I still was for this reason. Yes, I plan on weaning him soon but I am taking it day by day at this point. No, I never thought I would be nursing him this long. Yes, I am really gonna miss that time with Jackson when we are done. No, I'm not going to be that girl that you see on the news who nurses her child until he's six ;).

-It may be time to convert his bed to a toddler bed. He can crawl out of his crib now. It doesn't really matter, though, because he sleeps a good portion of the night in our bed. He slept in our bed every night during vacation and he doesn't want to give it up. We sleep fine with him there, but it will have to stop soon. We just haven't made the effort yet to deal with that battle, and believe me, it will be a battle. He loves to snuggle with Justin and he will stay glued to his side all night. I don't know how Justin can sleep so well, but he does. Still, we know it shouldn't go on too much longer.

-He loves to sing "head, shoulder, knees and toes", although it comes out "nanana". We are teaching him to say please and thank you. He still really loves music and will dance and clap when it comes on. Also, he loves to color and put stickers everywhere. I love to watch him play independently and with others at Mother's morning out when I go to pick him up. He is always going up and down the slide over and over. He loves to interact with other kids.

-Jackson is simply the sweetest boy! We love that he is so affectionate, happy, loving, and attached to mommy and daddy...yet he is so stubborn, independent, and adventurous all at the same time. Also, he has THE GREATEST sense of humor and always finds something funny to laugh at. He is just the best!

Hawaii Photos

Hawaii-Part 1

We are back and it was a PERFECT trip from start to finish! I still can't believe that it is all over! Gosh, where to start....I guess I will go from start to finish. So, here goes.

Part 1-Oahu

We woke up bright and early at 5 am to catch our flight from Chas To ATL. Jackson woke up happy and ready to go, which was great! We got to ATL and then had a couple of hours before boarding to Honolulu. We just let Jackson run and run until he was exhausted. When it was time to board, Jackson was well worn out. He fell asleep very easily. Our flight was supposed to be 10 hours, but we caught a great tailwind and arrived just short of 9 hours. The flight went great! Jackson slept for 3 hours and the DVD player got us another couple of hours of relaxation. Otherwise,we were playing with him, reading, coloring, etc. He was great and traveled like a true champ. No breakdowns or crying...just a couple of seconds of fussiness here or there. We got to Honolulu and picked up our rental. We got an upgrade-a Chevy Traverse with a DVD player inside for Jackson to watch...score! This was key in allowing us to have nice happy car rides around the island. We made our way to the hotel-Marriott Resort and Spa in Waikiki. It was about 5:30 pm Hawaii time (10:30 pm SC time so waaay past Jacksons bedtime but he was happy as can be). We ordered room service and gave him a bath and we all crashed at 7 pm (midnight SC time). The next morning, we all woke up at 7 AM. I realized then that Jackson had only been up once to nurse the whole night and that I had gotten over 11 hours of sleep that night. Unheard of! We thought it was a fluke, but it continued throughout the whole trip! No interruptions in sleep or jet lag...it was a seamless transition for us all! Jackson would even nap for about 2-3 hrs every day and only wake once per night-heaven!! I got some of the best sleep I have had in years during our vacation.

Anyway, for our first day in Hawaii, we headed straight to the place we have been talking about eating breakfast at again since our last trip: Dukes Canoe Club at the Outrigger. We had the breakfast buffet and it was amazing! Jackson had his first taste of bacon there and gobbled it all up! Then we headed up the Haliewa and the North Shore. We had lunch at a local place called Kono's, which was delish! Next was a stop at Matsumotos for some shave ice. It did not disappoint and we got our traditional tshirts as well. We even got Jackson one. Then we headed back toward Waikiki to get Jackson back for a nap. After he woke up, we walked around Waikiki and did some shopping. We stopped at Hula Grill (owned by same people as Duke's) for dinner. I have to add this funny story. The whole time during our trip, Jackson was fascinated with the elevators. Everyone thought it was adorable how excited he was. At the hotel, this couple got on the elevator with us and we got into a conversation. Somehow we ended up telling them how one time a few months ago, we were in an elevator with my brother and his family and we were too busy talking that nobody pressed a button. All of the sudden we realized that we weren't moving and we felt like idiots. The other couple said they had never done that, but we all got a good laugh about it. Well, I guess we were tired after a long day, because after dinner at the Hula Grill, Justin and I took the elevator down and were talking and then realized that we hadn't moved because neither one of us pressed the button. HAha! We laughed about it the whole way back. I mean we had just told that couple about doing that and here we did it again. We felt like biscuits! Well, It was a great day! We had planned on the first few days being rough with the time change, but we were so glad to be able to do so much on our first full day in Hawaii!

The next morning we headed back to the North Shore for breakfast at Breaker's in Haliewa. Again, this is a restaurant we visited during our last trip. I had a fresh fruit parfait, Justin had some sort of Acai berry parfait and Jackson had pancakes...it was all so good! Then we made our way to the Dole Plantation because we thought that Jackson would enjoy the train ride. It was a little cheesy, but the views are so gorgeous. Jackson really seemed to enjoy it. When we got back, Justin headed inside for a famous "Dole Whip" while I had Jackson's name painted by a local artist who does Rainbow Art. It is really cool. I will have to take a picture and post it. I am so happy how it turned out. After that, Michelle's Dad and Frances met us at the Dole Plantation and they treated us to lunch at a nearby restaurant. They are so sweet and it was wonderful to see them again! I think they got a kick out of seeing Jackson. Afterwards we headed out for a drive around the island while Jackson napped. The North Shore waves were rockin and the surfers were truly a sight to see. They are so brave to get out in those ginormous waves! I had forgotten just how beautiful the North Shore of Hawaii is....just breathtaking. We wound our way around the island just taking in the gorgeous views around us and got back to the hotel just in time for the streets to close down due to a huge block party for the Pro Bowl. I forgot to mention that Honolulu was so busy during our stay due to the Pro Bowl happening the next day. We ended up walking to the Cheesecake Factory (another tradition) for a quick bite. We got some cake to go and headed back to the hotel. We were feeling really tired this night and delirious once we got back to the hotel. We couldn't stop laughing at everything. Another fun day!!

Day three we headed down to the hotel restaurant for the Breakfast buffet. It was good, but not as good as Dukes. We then walked to the Honolulu Zoo with Jackson. He enjoyed it ok, but I think he would have been just as happy running around in a large field. He just wanted to run free! He noticed the animals, but started to get fussy toward the end. I really enjoyed seeing the monkeys. They were wild when we were there! Since it was almost time for us to head to the airport for Maui, we wrapped it up and headed back to the hotel. We ate lunch at the airport and then took our very short flight to Maui. When we got to Maui, it was raining slightly but otherwise beautiful. I was surprised how different Maui was from Oahu. Oahu is bustling and crowded, but Maui is much less developed and a lot less people. We got our rental car and then headed for the Grand Wailea. WOW, what a treat it was to stay here. It is hands down the nicest resort that I have ever stayed at. We were greeted with fresh leis and our room was gorgeous. We checked in and then drove to a natural food store to pick up some organic fruit/meat/cheese for Jackson that we could put in the fridge. Then me and Jackson ordered room service while Justin had his welcome reception downstairs. Again, we slept like babies that night!

Stay tuned for pictures and Parts 2 and 3 to come soon....

Hawaii Part 2

On our first day in Maui, Justin had a meeting that morning so he headed out and Jackson and I ordered some pancakes for breakfast. After we ate, we went out to explore the resort and check out all of the different pools. Jackson was so excited to see the pool and kept saying "wawa" over and over again, so I realized that it was time for us to get our bathing suits on and play in the pool/beach. We bought some sand toys and a baby float and went to the "baby beach", which was part of their huge pool system. It starts out a small beach with sand on the bottom and as you get deeper, you are led to the lazy river, rapids, slides, swim up bar, volcano, rope swing, water elevator, etc. Me and Jackson stayed in the lazy river, volcano area, and the adjoining pools. Needless to say, I got some great exercise swimming around while pushing Jackson in his float. He had a blast! We also walked down to the real beach and I let him run around in the sand. I waited to take him to the ocean until Justin could be there to witness Jackson's first time touching the Pacific. That afternoon, Justin was done with his meeting so we chilled a little bit in the room before heading to the Luau put on by his company. It was fantastic! Jackson and I got to meet all of Justin's coworkers and the food was wonderful! I was surprised by how many people brought their babies. There were lots of kids and the entertainment was cool. There were hulu dancers, fire dancers, etc. I wish I had taken my camera that night. We did get one photo from the night. Jackson was in the BEST mood all night. He was charming everyone by saying HAWAII all night, while giving a big smile. We had a classic Hawaiian feast and it was just a wonderful evening with the most amazing backdrop of a perfect Hawaiian sunset to go with it.



The next day was a free day for Justin, so we started out by having breakfast at the hotel restaurant, which was wonderful! Then we headed to the I'ao Valley. This valley is surrounded by the walls of the Pu'u Kukui Crater, which is the second tallest crater in Maui. A little history: This valley is the site of one of the most famous battles that occurred in 1790 and changed Hawaii history forever when King Kamehameha destroyed the Maui army in an effort to unite the Hawaiian islands. When we were there, parts of it felt like we were in the movie "Jurassic Park" with the giant cliffs surrounding us. It was so beautiful! Next we headed to the Maui Tropical Plantation and took the tram ride through the plantation. Halfway through, we got off for a coconut demonstration. Our guide taught us how to properly choose a coconut and demonstrated several tricks of how to get one open. Then we got to sample the fresh coconut. It was a great tour! We then stopped at Cafe O lei for lunch take out and went back to put Jackson down for a nap. Later that evening we drove to LaHaina for dinner. We met some really sweet people who had recommended a place called Kimo's for dinner. We had a wonderful view and ordered some excellent Opakapaka, which was the special that night. It is only available during the months of Dec-Feb, so we took advantage. Then we walked around the town before heading back to Wailea for the night.



Wednesday Justin had another meeting, so Jackson and I headed back to the baby pool and beach again. Jackson had so much fun playing in the sand and water. He napped like a champ that day because he was so worn out! When Justin came back from his meeting , I left to go shopping at our hotel shops. I bought a new dress and shoes to wear at the company dinner for that night. Then we all got ready and went to the dinner. This was another great night! The food was excellent (again!) and Jackson was so well behaved. This time I brought my camera and got some great photos. I really love the ones of Justin and Jackson in their Hawaiian shirts!



Thursday was another free day,so we all went out to the beach/pool together. Justin had a great time checking out the pool with us and did the rope swing several times! :) We also took Jackson down to the beach to stick his toes in the Pacific for the first time ever. Jackson loved the water and just watched it for awhile. We went to the baby beach and let Jackson splash around until he got tired. Then I wrapped him in a towel and gave him his snacks while Justin and I kicked our feet up and laid out with our tropical fruity drinks. It is really one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was a peaceful half hour where we all just chilled out and took it all in. Then we got some lunch and went in for a nap. For dinner that night, we went to Stella Blues Cafe in Kihei and it was an amazing meal!


Friday we woke up and did the breakfast buffet at the resort once again. Although everything was soooo good that we ate there, I have to say that my favorite was the Hawaiian sweet bread french toast....to die for! After breakfast we decided to attempt to drive to the top of the largest crater on Maui, Haleakala. It would be a drive to just over 10,000 feet. We decided to take the drive in hopes that Jackson would nap on the way there. We started on our way and stopped at Zippy's for lunch (had to have Zippy's at least once during our trip!). As we started getting closer to Haleakala, the altitude was definitely climbing. Our ears were popping the whole way up. Jackson was still awake and starting to get fussy. It is not like him not to fall asleep easily in the car, so we wondered if the altitude was bothering him. Then all of the sudden we reached the clouds and our visibility went to zero. I mean, it was difficult to see anything and we were on the crazy twists and turns on cliffs. I know it had to nerve wracking for Justin! As we got higher and higher, Jackson started to really cry...it was a painful cry and we still were in the thick of the clouds. We decided to turn around and just as we made it into Haleakala National Park (at 7,000 ft) Jackson passed out cold and the clouds parted. Wouldn't you know it! We still decided to turn around b/c the last 3,000 feet are nothing but sharp turns and I didn't want to press our luck. We know we'll be back one day and we can try it again then. It just wasn't worth it to chance it. So we headed down and back to the hotel. That night we went to the Shops at Wailea and then had dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Next up-The road to Hana!

Hawaii-Part 3

Saturday we woke up and decided to head to the surfing town of Paia, which is on the north shore of Maui. The concierge said it was a hippie town, but I don't think we realized how serious she was. We stopped at Maui Coffee roasters on the way for a light breakfast and then headed toward Paia. When we got there, we saw many hitchikers and tree hugging hippies. It was a neat town! We went to all of the shops and in one shop, the owner was definitly on some kind of drug. Still, she gave us the lowdown on where to go for lunch. We went find beach access to let Jackson play, but all we found was one access point with a ton of people sitting around playing guitar and smoking the wacky tabacky! ;) So instead of taking Jackson down there for a contact high, we let him run in a nearby field. He had a blast! Then we stopped at The Flatbread Company for lunch. They use all organic ingredients and cook in a wood fireplace. It was so good, but Jackson got fussy toward the end. We packed up and headed to Hana. Jackson fell asleep immediately and so Justin and I really got to enjoy the drive without too much distraction. The road to Hana is a 68 mile stretch of highway that is EXTREMELY windey and often goes to one lane. It takes about 2 1/2-3 hours just to get to Hana one way. There are many bridges and waterfalls along the way, but the views are simply breathtaking. You see black sand beaches, rainforest, and I even saw a mongoose! Since Jackson was sleeping, we werent able to get out and go exploring much but the drive in itself was enough. We made it withing 5 miles of the end and then we decided to go ahead and turn around. Jackson slept about half of the way back before waking up peacefully. We made a couple of stops along the way. One of which was Twin Falls, which we decided to hike to. We ended up passing right by it (nothing is marked) and then turned around and finally found it. I got so excited every time we saw a waterfall! Finally we drove back to the hotel and ate dinner at 808 cafe in Wailea. We had an excellent dinner in the terrace. I definitely recommend it!

Sunday was our last full day in Maui, so we had breakfast at Mala, the restaurant inside the Marriott Hotel and Spa. Then we drove to Mackena to the Maui Ocean Center so that Jackson could see all of the fish and run around. He was a WILD man inside the aquarium! I think he was so excited and he just kept running wild from tank to tank. We really had to run to keep up with him. We then grabbed lunch at the 808 deli and took it back to the room to eat. Jackson crashed and took a good long nap! Justin and I watched a little superbowl while Jackson napped. That night we went to a nearby restaurant, Pita Paradise for dinner. It was a cute boutique-y restaurant that served Greek Food. The owner is a fisherman and brings his catch to the restaurant every morning. They determine their menu on what he catches. The fish we ordered was literally caught less than 24 hours before we ate it. Everything was so good! We were sorry we didnt find the restaurant sooner. That night we had the most perfect sunset. It was our last sunset in Hawaii and was the most beautiful one of the whole trip. We were definitely sad to say goodbye.

Monday we had breakfast at Mala again because it was so convienient and then packed. We headed to the airport for our flight to LA. Jackson, once again, did great and once we boarded our flight from LAX to ATL, he passed out cold. He slept the whole night, although all but 2 hours were in my arms. Nothing says comfortable like holding a 30 lb child most of the night :) Neither Justin nor I got any sleep that night, but at least Jackson was getting some good shut-eye! We finally got into Charleston when Jackson woke up. Then we headed home to begin our life back in reality. Jackson took about 2-3 nights to fully adjust back to sleep, but it wasn't bad at all...just a few nights where he woke up for about 2-3 hours around 10 PM. Now we are back to normal.

Some highlights of the trip:

Jackson learned to say Hawaii out of nowhere. We landed in Hawaii and Justin said "It feels good to be back in Hawaii". All of the sudden, Jackson goes "HAWAII!" with a big grin on his face. We looked at eachother like "did he just say that?" but then he continued to say it constantly. Everyone we met just melted when Jackson said it to them. The locals really loved it. One night in Maui, Jackson said it in his sleep. He still says it every now and then. I swear, it is just the cutest thing ever!

If Jackson could tell you his favorite part, it would be the elevators. He was obsessed with the elevators everywhere we went and would get so excited. We had to take MANY rides for fun to keep him happy. All of the other hotel guests thought he was so adorable with how excited he was.

We were all healthy!! There is so much crud going around here in Charleston (croup, RSV, pneumonia) that we made the decision to pull Jackson out of Mothers Morning out a few weeks before our trip to try and prevent any sickness. We were also crazy with the anitbacterial gel (more so than usual! :) It all paid off and made our trip that much more enjoyable.

One major highlight was just all of us being there together. We were worried about how it would be traveling so far with Jackson, but he exceeded our expectations. Many people thought we were crazy for taking him, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Although Justin and I are pretty adventurous and there are things we would have like to have done (hikes/ziplines!!) that we werent able to do with him, nothing was more fun than having our sweet boy with us. We made so many fun memories as a family together and I know Jackson won't remember it, but me and Justin will. We hope to be back soon. It was a perfect vacation from start to finish!