Play Dates

Jackson got to have a play date with one of his friends this week. When I told my sister this, she laughed and questioned the fact that an almost 2 year old would have a "play date". I told her it was a title we use to disguise the real purpose--babysitting. Since we tend to do a lot of babysitting in our house, it's much better to refer to them as play dates. I volunteer to babysit so often because it entertains Jackson while I can do other exciting things like make pizza dough.

Little C came over yesterday, and he and Jackson enjoyed the beautiful weather by playing on the porch for an hour and a half straight. 80% of the time they played amazingly well: throwing balls, sharing cars, etc and making messes with their snacks.

20% of the time, they were territorial boys defending toys from being stolen by the other. Unfortunately Jackson's sharp claws were one of his defensive tactics. C was so tough, I didn't even realize anything had happened until 30 minutes after the fight, when a nice red harry-potter-esk scrape appeared down his forehead, and a little red gash next to his nose. Jackson got a 2nd punishment when the results showed up. No constitution here. Hopefully C's family is not planning to get family pictures this week!

A little while ago, D came over to play. As notable in the picture he's a bit bigger than Jackson, which made Jackson play the part of the little brother. He followed D around like a shadow, and the two of them were so entertained, I only had to intervene with one or two fights for the 5 hours they were awake together. Incredible creativity and lots of silly laughter made everything come alive for the two of them.

Jackson's all time favorite playmate is Dad. Thankfully Dad can also be a babysitter! I've determined Jackson is so attached because they wrestle 40% of the time they're together (minus eating time--which usually includes Cheezits), and also because Mark will do fun things like this:

And then get really excited about something like this:

What a lucky boy to have such awesome playmates! But no more scratching, Jackson!