Jordan 3.0

Jordan has reached the ripe old age of three. He was simple in his wishes for his birthday. He wanted a chocolate cake and orange soda. We don't give the kids any soda, so he didn't really know how to describe the soda when he first tasted it. He confused "carbonated" with the word "spicy."

Happy Birthday to the happiest pajama-wearing, woobie-loving, orange soda drinking three-year-old ever.

Seperated at Birth

He's been walking around the house for days with my boots on. He's quasi-obsessed with "Boots," the monkey from the Dora the Explorer cartoon.

Knuckle You

Okay, so the cool thing in Dylan's book right now is giving "knuckles" to people. You know, when two people make a fist and tap them together. Well, he taught Jordan to do it. That's fine. That's not what I'm concerned with. It's just that when Jordan wants to give knuckles, he announces it first. The problem? He can't pronounce "knuckles." He says "fuckles."

Par-tay, baby.

It's poor quality, I know. It was one of those choices in life though. Take it now and have it for sure, or try to catch it later when the lighting was better. This was taken on the way to pick Dylan up from school.

To avert confusion: Jordan never actually sings. He lip-syncs. It looks kinda scary, and like it may hurt a bit. He's already half way to rockstar status.

Introducing.....

the world's youngest PETA spokesperson.

Two

Flash Slideshow

It's that time of year again. In between holidays, the males of the family celebrate their birthdays. First in line- Jordan.

Jordan was born the day before Thanksgiving. Every seven years he will share his birthday with the holiday. This year, he celebrates the day after.

As some of you may remember Jordan's first year, it was anything short of chaotic. Most of his screaming and crying came from medical problems. In his second year, he screamed from habit and frustration. I am happy to say that in the last two months he screams only as much as an average baby. It's been blissful.

Because of his "fussiness" (Dr's words, not mine), we didn't get a chance to get to know his personality beyond the screams.

Some things about Jordan we've come to learn:

• He's loves music.
  
• His favorite show is The Little Einsteins.
• His favorite books are Goodnight Moon and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog.
  
• He calls me Mama; calls Mark Daddy; calls Dylan NeeNee; and himself Jojee.
  
• He's a wonderful dancer, partly due to the fact that he's inherited my double-jointedness.
• He loves to run his fingers through hair. His own or mine.
  
• When he's outside, he'll tip his head back and smile as the sun warms his face.
• He loves animals, mostly birds, cats, monkeys, and some puppies.
• He hates insects.
  
• He'll eat anything. The only things he's picky with are apple skins and bread crust.
• When he screams, his voice is insanely loud and high pitched.
• When he talks, his voice is quite low. (Think Barry White)
• Some days, he acts like a puppy. He will walk, bark, pant, and eat like one. I don't discourage this behavior.
• On average, he says the word "why" most in a day. He gets this from NeeNee.

So, in honor of this sweet child, today we celebrate. Happy Birthday, Jordan!

A Rare Bird

I'm alive. I've just been busy, and when I'm not, I've temporarily run out of quality things to say. (aka- I've been lazy) I should be updating within the next few days. Until then, enjoy this one. I had to sneak up on this little guy to catch him in such a state.

These two are for dad- we made sure we found those birds. I wish the last was a bit more clear.

Everyday Jordan

My sister specifically asked for a Jordan update. She's at school, and hasn't seen either of the kids since Christmas. Since I updated Dylan, here's Jordan:

Jordan is up to a few words. The words that he can say clearly enough to understand are: car, wow, hot, and hi. Other words deciferable only to those fluent in Jordan are: bird, baby, truck, water, and our names.

While he has (mostly) outgrown his crying-all-day stage, he still has some incredibly aggrivating behaviors.

He bites our toes when we are least paying attention- watching tv, eating dinner (he'll crawl under the table and bite Dylan). Dylan has given him the nickname of "The Toe Taster" because of this.

Jordan also likes to play with the toaster oven. We have had to keep it unplugged when not inuse for obvious reasons. We forget to plug it bacjk in all the time. This makes it incredible frustrating when I try to make toast in the morning, and after 20 minutes, cannot figure out why the toast isn't even a little bit brown.

He screaches. Loud. It would remind you of a hawk- if that hawk was sitting on your shoulder being pierced by a flaming arrow, engulfing him in flames instantly.

Yes, it's that loud. He does it when he is mad, sad, happy, or excited. There's no escaping it.

Don't get me wrong, there are some more humorous/endearing qualities he holds. He laughs at his belly button and cries when he sees dogs. Strangely enough, he is fascinated by the way animals eat. He tries to copy that. Hey- as long as it keeps him happy/quiet/fed, I don't care.

He blows kisses to everyone. Yes, I know it sounds cutesy, but it is, and I can't change that. It makes the checkout lady at Walmart smile, the kids at Dylan's school blow them back, and even the neighbor's kid gets a kick out of it.

He dances whenever he hears music. He says, "wow" each time he sees a motorcycle. He can eat three pieces of pizza in one sitting. He'll try any food I put out in front of him. He tries to do everything Dylan does.

So, I hope I covered the major parts for you, Lauren. If you want specifics, you'll just have to come home....hint, hint.

The pictures are blurry, not the best lighting, and compostion could be better, but they are very accurate of an everyday Jordan.

I'm ready for my close up

We watched "Polar Express," and Dylan, predictably, fell in llove with it. I attempted to take a picture of him in awe, but Jordan is a bit of a ham and kept moving to be in front of the camera.... Yes, I know they are dark and not too good, but I believe that's part of the charm.

Put down that turkey leg, and raise your glass.

It has been a turbulent year for all of us. There have been no exceptions for Jordan either. From hypoglycemia, colic, and MRIs to hospitalizations, allergies, and acid reflux- Jordan's been through a lot for one year.

Before Jordan, our house was quiet. Very quiet. My biggest fear when I was pregnant was to have a baby who was loud, wouldn't sleep, and would generally disturb the "zen" our family coveted so much. Jordan was born, and cried through the majority of his first year.

Jordan screamed new life into our family. He drove us to our breaking point, and pushed us even further. For all of this, he has rewarded us with a more dynamic, colorful, and humorous view of family, love, and life.

Happy birthday, sweet boy.

You think it's funny, but it'snot

Think you've had a bad day? Imagine having a runny nose, no way of wiping it yourself, and the only person that can help, is taking a picture of it.

All Sales are Final: No Returns or Exchanges

Jordan is a very tall baby. He has always been this way. He was almost 23" when he was born. For this reason, we have given him the most horrific nickname of "Lurch." We have tried to stop calling him Lurch, but it has really stuck, especially with Dylan. This is besides the point...

Due to Jordan's great height, he is able to reach things that a normal 11 month old shouldn't- the computer mouse, the power button on the T.V., and things that are on the top of our kitchen table. I have yet to decide which is the worst of his abilities. Yesterday he may have decided all on his own. Jordan saw a glass of water on the table, and like any baby, reached for it. He succeeded in reaching it. The glass came flying off the table, shattering (predictably) in a million pieces.

Mark scooped him up from the floor so that he wouldn't step on any of the glass. Dylan freaked out because of the water, and glass, and all the ice... (We knew that was coming). But when we looked over at Jordan, we saw a stream of blood running off of his bare foot. (Insert screams from Dylan about the blood on the floor now) We quickly put his foot under cold water to see how much damage there really was. It was really only a tiny cut on his big toe.

After bandaging Lurch, and thoroughly cleaning the floor- checking it for shrapnel, I sat down with Dylan to try to explain that it's okay to have things out of place, and nothing is horrible about a little spilled water. He was having none of that. In fact, he was so upset that even Jordan was now considered damaged goods. He said to me,"Mama, we have to get a new baby now, this one is dead."

I guess he assumed that when you shoot a deer, it bleeds, and then it is declared dead. The same should therefore apply to babies. Obviously, I told him that Jordan was very much alive and that we were not going to be going out to get any new babies. He told me that he loves babies.

Note: There are many kids at Dylan's school who have little brothers and sisters who come with them when they are being dropped off. Barry (you remember him- the one Dylan kept calling 'Bear in the Big Blue House') is a little kid in school, who has a baby sister. The family also happens to be one of the only black families in the area. Dylan just loves the baby.

Dylan explained to me, because I obviously wasn't getting the point: "Well, this one (pointing at Jordan) cries because he is broken, Mama. Maybe we can get a new brown baby!"

Toothy Jordan

Only because I love him...

It's a honey of an "O"

All parents mess with their kids. Seriously. We do it all the time. The only difference between us and all the other parents, is that we document those special times. This was taken a few days ago. Mark, Jordan, and I all finished our dinners, and were patiently waiting for Dylan to finish. Jordan became a bit antsy, so we fed a fudgcicle to him. Once he finished, I went to kiss him and our faces stuck together. I did what any rational human being would do. I stuck Cheerios to his face. Mark and I thought it was a riot. Dylan, on the other hand, thought it was disgusting. Once he saw the Cheerios, he started to gag. As many of you know, he does not have a strong stomach at all. He is also quite the perfectionist. "Food," he said, "doesn't belong on Jordans." Ever since the incident, Dylan gags everytime he sees Cheerios.