our quotable kid: Jackson quotes from 2012

I always thought I'd be one of those moms who wrote down the first word and all of the funny phrases that came out of my child's mouth. I bought a pocket-size moleskin journal for that very purpose before Jackson was even born and I kept it in the diaper bag for...well, forever. But sadly, two and a half years later there are very few things written in the journal because once you become pregnant, you fore-go a large section of your brain and while you hope to recover it one day, that day never seems to arrive. Maybe there's still hope.

Alas, I have to rely on the text messages of Jackson quotes that I've sent to my Mom in Florida and that still remain in my outbox...or the posts I've put on Facebook and hope that somehow technology never fails me as my memory always and inevitably does. In an effort to immortalize the funny and cute words of our firstborn, I'm going to publish a small collection here and hope that this is not the last of such posts. We'll see how I do once there are two chatterboxes running around...

Anyhow, here are some of the funny/cute/memorable phrases or conversations we've heard our Jackson Cole utter over the past year:

While bowling for the first time without bumpers, each gutter ball resulted in an eruption of clapping, jumping for joy, cheers, and "I almost maked it!"

In his sleep, Jackson shouted (at Dan) "Ouch, you pulled my Bieber hair!"

Irritated with Jackson's stall tactics one night, I finally told him no more talking. The next morning, the first words out of his mouth were "Mommy, can I talk now?"

From his seat on his froggy potty, Jackson poured over the story of Moses in his Jesus Storybook Bible. "Mommy, was Pharaoh a mean guy?"
Me: "He was a pretty mean guy. He didn't love God and wouldn't let the people go."
Jackson: "Maybe he needed a nap. That's why he was mean. I think he needed a nap."

Jackson was getting pretty excited about Christmas and kept asking me if it was Tuesday yet. One night at the kitchen table we were going over what day of the week it STILL was.
Jackson: "Mommy, is it Tuesday yet?"
Me: "No, it's still Wednesday. That's why Daddy went to Proxy."
Jackson (pointing): "Is it still Wednesday in the living room or is it Thursday?"

Jackson was stoked to be helping Dan with the Christmas tree this year. Of course, he was convinced that the task required a screwdriver. "Daddy, I need a tool!" While Dan set up the tree stand, Jackson got busy, all the while chanting "This is how I work" repeatedly as he tweaked each tree branch with the screwdriver.

While eating dinner Jackson casually asked me "Mommy, is Tom Cruise good? Did he help Val Kilmer?" (He had seen a few minutes of a Top Gun flight scene with Dan the day before.)

Jackson: "Mommy, what are you doing?"
Me: "I'm doing a load of laundry."
Jackson (with lots of enthusiasm): "Well, you're just doing a really great job!"

Jackson: "I want my Baby Emma and I want another baby. Can you have another one, Mommy?"
Me: "We'll pray to Jesus for another baby and if He says yes, then we will have another one."
Jackson (clearly dissatisfied with my answer, shouted to Dan in the other room): "Daddy! Can we have another baby?"
Dan (from other room): "Okay, sure."
Jackson: "He said yes! Can you cook it, Mommy?"

Jackson: "Mommy, where's Ben at?"
Me: "Well, he's either at home with Becky or he's still on his way home from work."
Jackson: (holding imaginary cell phone up to his ear): "Ben! Are you home from work yet?" (then to me) "I think he is home. I called him. I brought my phone in my pocket."

When I asked Jackson if he wanted butter on his pumpkin bread, his response was "I don't want butter. It makes me too sad."

Each Tuesday morning I drop off Jackson in the church nursery while I go to women's Bible study and each time I pick him up I get the tattle-tale report. "So-and-so pushed me!" or "Mommy, nobody pushed me today!" One morning I told him that it was my turn to serve in the nursery and I was going to be in his class that day. His response had me stumped for a second, "Mommy, are you going to get pushed?"
Me: "What do you mean, baby?"
Jackson: "Are my friends going to push you?"

Jackson (holding up Dan's tape measure to my legs): "Mommy, let me see how tall you are."
Me (lifting the tape above my head): "How tall does it say I am?"
Jackson: "Pretty tall."

"I don't want any jammies! I'm just gonna run away!"

Jackson (on the floor playing with his toy jeep): "Oh no! Mommy, I'm hit! Can you come to my rescue?"
I lifted the plastic jeep off his hand and all was well again.

As I snuggled with Jackson before putting him to bed one night he asked me, "Mommy...when My Baby (that's how he refers to her) is born, can I have it?"

"When I was born, I saw King David play golf."

Prior to finding out the sex of baby #2 one day as I lifted Jackson from his crib after a nap, Jackson said in exasperation "I want a sister and a brother and a baby! Mommy, you need to pick one!"

One night as we were finishing up our dinner, I asked Jackson if he wanted to get down and play for a little while. He sighed and said "It's getting kinda late. I should go to bed." 

Me: "Jackson, your baby sister's name is going to be Emma Jane. You can call the baby 'Baby' or 'Emma Jane' or 'Emma'."
Jackson (thinking for a moment first): "I'll call it Justin."

Jackson (amid the wildflowers at Mount Rainier): "Mmm...they smell nummy! Smells like a potato!"

While driving one day we saw an obese man walking down the sidewalk along the street. "Mommy, what's his name? He's bouncing!"

When little friend Adeline was sick one day, I asked Jackson if he wanted to draw a picture for her. "I'll draw her a back hoe! That'll make her feel better. And I'll draw her a forklift. And a prince." Once his picture was complete, he looked up at me and announced "Now she feels better!"

Jackson didn't want to go with us to the farmer's market one Saturday.
Dan: "But we're going to get you a mini donut."
Jackson: "I want a super giant donut. Those are my favorite!"

One of our favorite parts of the day comes when Jackson awakes from the night or from his nap time, stands up in his crib, and shouts at the top of his lungs "I'M AWAKE!"....and if I take too long to respond to "Mommy, come and get me!" then I'll eventually hear "Jill Blankenship! I'M AWAKE!!!" 

I asked Jackson how his mosquito bite was feeling one morning. He responded with a stoic "It's not doing too good."

Jackson was starting to become restless on a long road trip so Dan reminded him that the park we would stop at shortly had a big slide. "I need a little one" was his response.

Passing a golf course on our way home from church one day, Jackson explained to me "Jackson goes to a golf course at home. Daddy goes to a golf course outside."

Thanks to Daddy Dan's influence, Jackson blames his "toots" on outside sources. For example, "That was a squeaky floor, Mommy!"

Jackson grabbed his pair of long underwear from a pile of clean laundry and announced "We're going to the snow!" as he ran from the room with them.

Driving through traffic, a taxi drove by us. "That was my taxi! It's taking me to a toy store!"

Spotting a skateboarder on the street, "Dude! I totally should've brought my board!"


Standing over the toilet bowl mid-flush, "Bye-bye, poo-poos! See you later! Have fun in the sewer!" 

Jackson noticed the UPS store next to our local grocer for the first time. "Somebody but UPS on that building, Mommy! That's so silly! Ha ha!"

Accustomed to my question of "How was your nap?" upon Jackson waking up each afternoon, he started waking up and simply shouting "Good nap! Good nap!" until I came to rescue him from his crib.