A Big Week

As if vacation weren't exciting enough, it's been a pretty stellar week in our house.

First things first, Ava started Primary this past Sunday -- she's a Sunbeam!! In our church, children attend nursery from 18 months - the January after they turn three. Once they're three and January hits, they go to Primary (Sunday School) which is broken down by age group. The youngest Primary kids are called Sunbeams. Ava has been patiently waiting to be a Sunbeam since the day she turned three. Many of her friends turned three late 2008, so they got to move up in January 2009. But, because her birthday is in March, she had to wait almost a whole year. Once December hit, I began preparing her for Primary -- how we act, what we do when we want to ask a question, etc. So, once Sunbeam Sunday finally rolled around, she was ready. She walked into the Primary room, sat next to some of her little friends, gave me a kiss and told me I could go to my class. After church I wanted the full report on her first day of Primary and she told me she got to say the opening prayer in front of all the Primary children IN THE MICROPHONE! Oh my goodness, she was so excited! I gotta say, so was I!

In other Ava news, she finally got to ride her brand new bike outside! Jax and I accompanied her for a few laps around the block (me on foot, Jax in the stroller). Ava maneuvered all the corners and sidewalk bumps like a pro, and even kicked it into high gear to show me her "super speed." We were out for about a half an hour, Ava smiling the whole time. It wasn't until she pedaled into our driveway that she realized just how cold she was (it was about 20 degrees out) and began yelling, "My hands are freezing! I can't feel my hands!" Next time, she'll wear gloves.



Jax was in desperate need of a haircut, and I was in desperate need of professional help. The kid will not let me cut his hair. He wiggles, he screams, he freaks out about the clippers. I've given him some pretty bad haircuts since I began cutting his hair just seven months ago. So, I decided to take him to a cute little place called Cookie Cutters. It's actually a hair cutting place devoted to kids. What an ingenious idea! Rather than chairs, the kids sit in some sort of vehicle. Jax chose a blue car that actually beeped and Ava chose a pink car (of course). As the stylists cut, the kids got to watch a movie OF THEIR CHOOSING. Jax chose "Cars" (DUH!) and Ava chose "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" (Double DUH!). I wasn't too worried about Ava, she's had her hair cut before. So, I focused most of my attention on the little dude. He seemed okay in the car, until the guy came at him with clippers, that's when he frantically began saying, "No. No. No. Out. All done." When I informed Weston (Jax's cutter guy) that Jax was afraid of the clippers he busted out an ultra-quiet pair, and some bubbles (with a screwdriver shaped bubble wand) for Jax.

After that, the mancub was fine. He sat quietly, honked his horn, blew some bubbles and laughed when Lightning McQueen jumped over the wreckage of cars and stuck his tongue out Michael Jordan-style. How great is that?! I am totally sold on Cookie Cutters!

After their cuts. Ava had about two inches cut off, Jax looks like such a little boy now and less like a baby!

And speaking of Jax, the big boy is done with his binky!!! He hasn't used it at bedtime or naptime all week, as a matter of fact, he hasn't even asked for it. He was pretty attached to that thing when it came time to sleep, so I was pretty surprised by how easily he gave it up. But, quite possibly the biggest news of all is that he has peed on the potty twice now! Every time I change his diaper he tells me he wants to "go potty." So, I take him in, he for about 15 seconds then says, "All done!" But THIS time, he came at me saying, "Potty! Potty!" So, I took him in and sure enough he had to go potty! I, of course, began cheering and clapping. Jax barely even cracked a smile. He had no clue what the big hoopla was about and simply got off the potty, washed his hands and went back to his normal business. Then, the next morning as I was getting him dressed I asked if he needed to go potty, he said yes, and he did! Now, I'm not counting my chickens before they're hatched and going out and buying "Thomas the Tank Engine" undies just yet, but the prospect of having him potty trained soon is just so exciting! Ahh, to have NO diapers in our house for a while... that's a happy thought!

Obviously, this is NOT where Jax went potty, but I couldn't resist this picture I took last week of Jax literally sitting on the pot!


So many exciting events in one week, I just wish Andy could have been here for it all! He returned home last night after a week in Mississippi, visiting the lab where he'll be working in a few months. He thinks he's really going to like it there and is even more excited about his job than before. He met some nice people, toured Vicksburg and even saw a Piggly Wiggly! Ahhh, the South.