The Whaleys

Lets back up for a bit...

Back at the end of September, we took what is becoming our annual vacation to Disney World. We had to go at the end of Sept/Early Oct this year and of course the forecast called for a solid week of RAIN the whole time. We were bummed, but prepared by buying some ponchos and a double stroller cover, and planned to wear swimsuits and swim shoes to the parks if needed. We stayed at the Contemporary Resort again this year and it didn't disappoint! We splurged for a room with a view of the Magic Kingdom and it was so great! Some of the highlights:

-Unbeknownst to us, we happened to plan our trip for the same time as Justin's sister and her family so we got to spend a half day at the park together! We surprised the kids, so the cousins had no idea that they would be playing together at Disney! It was great!

-The weather cooperated with us big time! We had a small rain shower during our first day at the park that lasted less than 15 minutes. After that, no more rain. In fact, we had several days of beautiful sunshine and one double rainbow!

-Watching the fireworks and night time shows from our hotel balcony each night was amazing!

-We scored some amazing dinner reservations, some of which I found during the week leading up to our trip on a whim. I must have searched for restaurants every night to find some openings, and it paid off. We got to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle (probably the only time my boys will let me take them:), Liberty Tree Tavern (Rhett decided to begin eating Mac and Cheese here and it was a Disney miracle!), Be Our Guest, Ohana, and of course Chef Mickey!

-Both boys really got into the rides and characters this year, but Jackson wouldn't do the roller coasters like he has in the past. Maybe next year. Jackson's favorite rides were: Peter Pan, People Mover, Buzz Lightyear, the Tomorrowland Speedway, Aladdin carpets, and Pirates of the Caribbean (tied for favorite with People Mover). Rhett's favorites were: Dumbo, People Mover, Small world (tied for favorite with People Mover), the teacups, and the Carousel. We didn't get to ride the Seven Dwarfs mine train because the fast passes were sold out every day we were there....bummer!

-Funny story-We were trying to go on the Ariel ride, but went in the wrong entrance. We found ourselves first in line for a meet and greet with Ariel at Ariel's Grotto. Since we were there, we convinced the boys to go sit and have a photo with Ariel. Rhett loved it and snuggled right in with her. Jackson seemed to like ti too. Then she said "thank you boys for coming to see me". Jackson responded with "Well, Actually we took a wrong turn and were trying to go on the ride and ended up here by mistake". She laughed and was a great sport about it. You never know what he is going to say! :)

-I loved being able to walk back and forth to the hotel from the Magic Kingdom. It's so convenient with small kids, especially to do a quick nap before round 2 of the park every day. For our next trip, we'll branch out to do more parks..probably Animal Kingdom and maybe even Hollywood Studios.

-We usually break up the trip by staying on St. Simons Island a night there and back. This year we of course had to make our annual stop at Southern Soul BBQ-so good! We also found THE BEST cupcake shop called Smallcakes and stopped both on the way there and back for their delicious goodies!

-Disney is always such a fun vacation with our babies. How can you not have a blast at the happiest place on earth? I always feel bad because we end up spoiling them WAY too much with special snacks, toys, stuff that vendors sell, etc...but really the memories are priceless. I love being together as a family for the whole week and I miss them so much when we have to come back to the "real world" of work and day to day life. Here are some photos of our awesome vacation!

Jackson's 5 year stats:

Weight: 19.9 lbs-68th percentile
Height: 45.5 in -92nd percentile
BMI: 15.1-39th percentile

Jackson's height as an adult is estimated to be between 6' 3" and 6' 4". He is very long and lean. I was surprised that his weight was in the 68th percentile...he has no fat on his body! But I guess his height adds weight and I am happy that his BMI is great. He had a wonderful 5 year appointment. Everything checked out well and he is right on track to where he should be.

Now, I have always thought of Jackson to be a bit of a precocious child and I know he is very outgoing. We saw a new pediatrician for this visit and she was blown away by his personality. She said that he was, by far, the most precocious 5 year old child that she has ever seen. He had all kinds of things to talk about with her. He spent a lot of time talking about how he is just girl crazy and thinks that he is falling in love with a girl in his kindergarten class! She did say that there is no doubt that he is ready for and will thrive in Kindergarten this year. That made us really happy because he barely makes the cutoff every year for school and is usually the youngest in his class.

One things for certain: Jackson is a l-o-v-e-r! He wears his heart on his sleeve and is a very affectionate child. He will tell you that the happiest moments of his life are when we snuggle together on the couch or bed as a family. He cannot contain his happiness during these times and asks if we can snuggle as a family on a regular basis. I love it! He is looking forward to the winter because on the weekends, we will take big blankets downstairs and watch a cartoon huddled together under the blankets before I start breakfast. This love of affection also has moved into a bit of girl-craziness. He is lovestruck often and talks about falling in love with and dreaming about kissing girls that he likes. I am not sure where this is coming from...we limit what he sees and watches on TV, but of course there is kissing in movies, especially Disney. We have talked to him about not kissing girls, especially at school and he understands that hugging is ok, but that's as far as it goes. Still it doesn't stop him from daydreaming and talking about it.

Jackson had a great year last year in 4k. I am going to post some photos of him throughout the year that his teachers sent us leading up to his graduation from 4k and then also some photos of him starting Kindergarten. We are not crazy about the public school system associated with where we live, so we chose to keep him in a private Christian school for Kindergarten. It is wonderful! He has amazing teachers and we are thrilled with the curriculum. He has had to make all new friends, as his friends from preschool all split up and went to different schools, but he has done so well with the transition. He has a weekly homework assignment that he gets on Monday that is due on Friday. He works on it and completes it Monday evening. We are trying to instill good homework habits early. He also has a daily homework reading assignment that we do every night.

We have begun giving him chores and he loves it. He does things like: lay out his clothes for the next day every night before bed, clear his dishes from the table, help bring in recycling bins on Monday, clean up after himself, etc. We give him a weekly allowance ($1) and are teaching him about the importance of saving. After a couple of weeks where he just had to spend his money, he has finally saved $5 and he's excited about that.

Jackson is becoming more and more independent every day. One challenge of his want for independence is that he is talking back more and not listening as well. We have really good days and occasionally a more challenging day behavior-wise, but what can I say-He is a really good kid. Of course we are biased, but Jackson is no doubt a people pleaser and does not like to disappoint us. His behavior at school is wonderful and we talk about how important that is and how proud we are of him, but he seems to save the good stuff for us when he gets home. We don't have any major outbursts or anything, just a little defiance at times. But that's not necessarily a bad thing :)

He has been experiencing a good amount of competition and jealousy of Rhett lately. We just constantly have to remind and reassure him of these three things: 1) It is not a race or a competition. 2) Be kind to your brother, and 3) We love you both equally. Most of the time they are so sweet and play well together, but we have our moments for sure.

Jackson got his first and only ear infection right around his 5th birthday. One Sunday evening at dinner he said that his ear hurt, which he has never done. I took him to our peds after hour care and they said he had a mild ear infection. We gave him some meds that night and he never complained of ear pain again. I knew he'd probably get an ear infection at some point, so I am glad that he made it to 5 yrs old and that it was quick and easy. It actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise...I'll elaborate more on that in the future.

Funny story: We went to breakfast one morning at our regular spot and we were meeting our new awesome babysitter Cacie there so that she could meet the boys. As I was telling Cacie that you just never know what Jackson is going to say, a regular waitress stopped by to say hello to us and and boys. She had recently dyed her hair super dark. Jackson looked at her and said "Hello there spooky lady." She said "Spooky? Why am I spooky?" Jackson then said "Well with your black hair you look just like a witch!". Oh, this child! Thankfully she has two young boys and was not offended. Justin recovered by saying something about how Jackson had recently seen a preview of the new Wizard of Oz movie where Mila Kunis is a witch..yada yada. But we did have to talk to Jackson about keeping some opinions to himself. :) Cacie was very amused by this. Speaking of Cacie, by the end of the breakfast, Jackson was walking with his arm around her, telling her she was beautiful, and inviting her to live with us! haha

Now on this his party-despite having his party here the last 2 years, Jackson chose to have it at the Children's Museum again. We originally had it planned for Monkey Joes, but then he changed his mind right before invitations were ordered. Thankfully I was able to get our deposit back. As per usual, Jackson birthday party was a rainy day. And I should add-It wasn't just rainy...it was a MONSOON downtown! I am not being dramatic when I say that. About 20 mins before his party started, it begun to downpour. Then the wind started and was about 30-40 mph. Some of our guests were waiting in their cars outside and said trash cans were blowing by and the sign to the museum went flying. Inside the museum, the doors kept bursting open from the wind. I think we might have had a couple of microbursts or something. And the rain never let up! We have amazing friends and family that eventually made a run for it and ended up 100% drenched from head to toe and shivering. That afternoon there was also major flooding in downtown Charleston...but the party was still wonderful! Jackson had some of his favorite people there, including his friends from when he was a toddler, McLean and Scarlett. He had a blast playing with his buddies and being the center of attention! Rhett really enjoyed the museum this year as well, although he was a little clingy to Mommy :) I think he had a hard time with Jackson being the star that day. But I will say Rhett did enjoy the windfall of presents that he had to play with from Jackson's bday. Rain aside, Jackson had a wonderful birthday and party.

I can't believe my sweet baby is already 5. Time is going by too quickly and he is growing so much. My neighbor Cheryl mentioned that his voice has gotten deeper. I went back and looked at old videos and..shes right! That baby voice is disappearing by the day. He's so tall and such a big boy in so many ways, but he still lets us love on him and needs his Mommy and Daddy. I am cherishing this time with him and loving him every second I get! Happy 5th Birthday Jackson! We are overwhelmingly proud of the boy you have become and love you more than you could ever know. Don't ever change! xoxo

These are photos of highlights from 4K that his teacher sent to us back in May along with his 5 year old bday photos. Ill also soon be adding 1st day of Kindergarten pics (coming soon)!