Breakfast

Oooh...breakfast time!

Wanna share?

Hey, where'd it all go?

I'm gonna get ya!

This was too cute of a series not post! I think I've mentioned before that Jackson loves going to Paxton's crate while he eats and this was too funny!

Traveling Man

July was basically a vacation month! I think Josh went to work a total of eight days :) Yes, it has been a good month! We actually started at the end of June with a long weekend in Virginia Beach to celebrate our anniversary (5 years!)! That was Jackson's introduction to the beach and while he loved the sand, he and the ocean did not begin an instant love affair. After a few days at home, we left on a long car trip to Evanston to visit our family and many friends. Jackson did great on the car trip and loved seeing everyone. We were home for a grand total of four days (just long enough to do laundry and re-pack everything) before heading to Myrtle Beach for a super-long weekend. Jackson did really well again in the car (I was a little more nervous since there was no nighttime, and therefore good sleeping time, involved). Once low tide hit on the first day, Jackson was all about the water! YAY! He loved crawling in the wet, smooth sand! Basically he couldn't get enough of it! He was such a busy guy that he was more than happy to take a time out and nap on my lap each day. We had a wonderful vacation to end Vacation Month!

We have a few things planned into the fall, but nothing like this whirlwind! We are heading to Virginia Beach for a weekend with Josh's family to celebrate his grandma's 80th birthday! We also have plans to spend almost two weeks in Evanston to celebrate Jackson's first birthday! Lots to look forward to!

Loves About My Lovebug

Racing Daddy to the stairs

On a lunch date with Paige

Trying out a Big Herms' hotdog...

Sharing the activity table with Jonah

Tasty railing!

Showing Rachel Scout

Things I Love About Jackson Albert:

*He waved once (at Daddy) and since then it has turned into this parade wave where he sticks his hand up and out--we decided to take it and run with it and taught him to high-five :)
*Now when we say, "Say, 'Hi!'" he more often than not "waves."
*He is SO busy ALL of the time!
*The big smile he gets on his face from banging his toys together.
*His love of the beach, and finally the ocean!
*Watching him start cruising along the furniture and grown-ups legs.
*Seeing him learn to crawl up the stairs with NO fear...:/
*Seeing the love he has for his puppy.
*Laughing at his "new food" face where he crumples up his face like the food is yucky, but then swallows and opens his mouth like a baby bird for more.
*How absolutely adorable he looks in his new, Big Boy pjs even though I miss the teeny, tiny sleepers more than anything.
*The peaceful look on his face when I cuddle him before bed.
*The HUGE smile on his face whenever I walk into his room after he wakes up.
*Watching him "play" with friends--they are just so cute at this age! They love seeing other "little" people, but they don't quite know what to do.
*The fact that he is totally laid back and go with the flow.

Bug and Dog

Jackson follows Paxton EVERYWHERE! It is the cutest thing! They are still figuring each other out, however. When Jackson had just started crawling, he was working his way towards Pax while Pax chewed on a bone and it was the first time Paxton ever growled at Jackson! I couldn't tell if Pax was trying to play or saying, "Back off!" He also wasn't used to this little person crawling around! Jackson's new favorite pasttime is to supervise Pax eating. We toss Pax's kibbles in his crate and he eats in there. Jackson crawls over and doesn't go in, but sits right on the edge reaching for kibbles. Surprisingly, Paxton lets him do his thing. I think it's because Pax knows he will end up getting all of the kibbles in the end :) This morning Jackson was playing in his room while I put away laundry and Paxton poked his head in. Jackson crawled towards him and Pax left and then came back. Jackson was still there, ready to play in his eyes. Pax did the paw stomp like, "Come get me! Let's play!" and ran downstairs. I think he was a little disappointed when Jackson didn't follow him. They are both having fun experimenting with this playing thing--they'll get the hang of it soon enough and be good buddies :)

Happy Fourth of July!

Almost Nine Months Old!

We cheated and took Jackson for his nine month check-up about a week early. That was necessary because we will be celebrating that nine month mark in Evanston! YAY! We have a nice, long trip planned, so we needed to take care of those important things before leaving :) Jackson weighed in at 19 lbs 11 ozs and measures 27.5 inches tall! I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief that he was under 20 pounds! While I have done plenty of research and settled on our next carseat, I'm definitely not ready to give up our wonderful infant carrier yet! We definitely have bought ourselves a few more months with it--woo hoo!

Part of the reason that I've been so lax on blogging is that we have a very busy boy on our hands! He just does not stop going! He much prefers being left to his own devices to crawl around and explore everything! Josh successfully installed one baby gate and is working on being creative for the other one we need. Our stairs just don't lend themselves to the traditional gates... I know he'll come up with something :) Jackson has a new toy, a LeapFrog activity table and he loves standing at it and pushing all the buttons. He pulls himself up to standing on almost everything. I have to say his favorite place to play (much to Mommy and Daddy's dismay) is under the computer desk with all the cords, wires, and modem with flashing lights! There just is no good way to separate all of this so we just keep a close eye on this stealthy boy ;)

My goal for the next couple of months is to get better at giving Jackson "real" food to try. I told the doctor that I'm so terrified of him choking that he will probably have pureed baby food in his lunchbox in 1st grade! Luckily, Jackson loves to eat pretty much everything so I'm sure he'll be thrilled to try some new things :)