Jaxon has been up to all sorts of fun this winter. He recently finished a tumbling class where he learned some basic sports skills (throwing, catching, kicking, etc.) and movement. During the last class, each child got a medal and fruit snacks. He really enjoyed it.
He's also become quite the chatter box. As some of you know, he's had a bit of a language delay and we've been having regular in-home visits with a speech therapist to help him (she works with him in Spanish). He's made lots of progress since we first started these visits. We're still working on pronunciation of certain letters, but he can really talk up a storm. Here's a video of him talking to himself about the batteries in his toothbrush. I put captions on it so you can read along, but you need to click on "Watch on YouTube" and then on the CC button in order to read them (I hope you understand Spanish! ;) ). So, here it is- proof that he doesn't "babble".
In preparation for Valentines Day, I decided to check out a book about Valentines Day for Jaxon. It was a very simple book with one sentence per page, and nice photos of kids celebrating. He absolutely loved it. His favorite pages were of kids eating cupcakes and chocolate, so he'd sometimes call this book "libro de comer", or just "de comer" ("the eating book"). I was also sure to constantly remind him how many days were left until Valentines Day, hoping to build anticipation. I also promised we'd do whatever the kids in his book did on Valentines Day.
Needless to say, he was VERY excited for dia de San Valentin!
We made a card for daddy that morning before he left to work, and then we made red velvet cupcakes and heart-shaped sugar cookies all morning. Jaxon loves to help me cook. He'll often bring me random things from the pantry that he thinks we need to include in the recipe. I don't have the heart to tell him "no, we don't need that" because I recognize he's trying to be of help on his own accord. So I just say "gracias!" and pretend to add whatever he gives me and then ask him to get something I actually need. He'll even mimic what I say as I go through the steps. A favorite phrase is now, "Y ahoraaaa...." ("And now....")
We took most of the cupcakes to my visiting teachee and another family in the ward who sometimes watch Jaxon while Travis and I are in Sunday meetings. Jaxon loves them. They have fans.
That evening after Travis came home, he put some candles on the table and turned on some nice music to add to our Valentines Day dinner ambiance. The music was from "The Nutcracker", which I thought was a little odd, but whatever- it's still nice music, right?
Well, after our candlelit dinner I go to give Jaxon a bath and I see two packages of Snicker Nutcrackers just sitting against the mirror for me! I couldn't believe my eyes.
These special edition, holiday Snickers are my favorite "candy bar" in the whole world. They're unlike regular Snickers because the outside has a thicker layer of chocolate, which provides the much needed balance to the rest of the heavenly bar. But these only come out twice a year- Easter (in the shape of eggs) and Christmas (nutcrackers). Travis usually gets me some for Christmas, but this year he stashed a couple extra packages to give to me on Valentines Day. BEST VALENTINES EVER.
Here's a clip of Jaxon "reading" his Valentines book. He has it memorized.
