Weekend Fun

We had quite a lazy weekend, but a fun one! We were hoping to go to the pumpkin patch, but it poured all day Saturday, and was awfully squishy on Sunday! We will try again when we get back from our upcoming trip to Evanston :) We spent Saturday in our pjs and Jackson did lots of standing by himself and walking with a little help!!! He has always loved standing, but was too busy to try walking by holding hands. We thought to try again and he just started cruising around holding one of my hands! Such talent! LOL

Sunday night he was a HUGE eater at dinner! I had great success sneaking finely chopped "real" veggies and chicken into his oatmeal/veggie combo. The peas in the mixed veggie bag don't chop well, so I put a few on his tray and he gobbled them right up! I added some green beans, carrots, and sweet potato and he ate them all! He actually ate enough finger veggies that I would have been satisfied with that as his portion for dinner. He kept eating, however! He polished off a big jar of mixed veggies and beef, a tub and a half of applesauce, a bunch of grapes, and some puffs and banana cookies! Sheesh! Tonight wasn't as big of a success with the finger foods, but last night made for such a happy mommy! I was starting to think he'd be having oatmeal and pureed foods forever!

After his fabulous dinner, Jackson sat on my lap and played and gave me bunches of kisses! Such a sweet boy! I am ecstatic that he is starting to sit still for stories again. He really seems to enjoy them. I've made a more conscientious effort to read him a story before naps too. It seems to calm him down and set the scene even more for sleep!

Happy 80th Birthday Meemaw!

This is a touch belated, but last weekend we drove to Covington to help Josh's grandma, Jackson's great-grandma, celebrate her 80th birthday!!! We had a great time visiting with family, eating yummy food, and enjoying some tasty birthday cake! Jackson was a champ and let everyone hold him. He also sat really well throughout dinner. I think he knew the best was yet to come since we let him sample some cake. We figured he had to practice for his own upcoming festivities ;)

Kisses from Meemaw

Three generations :)

Helping the birthday girl celebrate!

Chatting with Sherri and Meemaw

Helping Danny order :)

Visiting with great-Uncle Larry

Silly Mommy!

Happy Birthday to you!

It's a TV! No, it's a cake!

Purple frosting!

Tired boy

The Stroller Walk: A new dance move?

Jackson stayed busy while we visited his Meemaw in the nursing home by pushing his stroller around and around in circles! He did this for probably an hour at a time! It was great walking practice!

Big Boy Carseat

I finally bit the bullet and bought the next carseat for Jackson. He has always loved riding in the car and sitting in his seat. However, lately, he had become fussier in the car and I figured he needed some more room. Boy, was I right! He almost never fell asleep in the car anymore, but he dozes quite often in his cozy new seat! After much research, I settled on the Graco MyRide 65. It is a newer seat and I think it's one of the only American seats to support higher weight limits. This one should last us for a while!

This Too Shall Pass

I can't believe we are coming up on Jackson's FIRST birthday! How did that happen? I agree with Josh: something on the calendar must have broken! LOL I have been reflecting a lot lately on how far we've come. One recurring theme is how big of a deal things seem while they are happening. Funny enough, I never was that worried about the night feedings ending. However, there have been plenty of phases that have followed to make my blood pressure rise because it feels like it will never get better!

Let's see:
*My obsession over the quantity that Jackson drank in a day
*Worrying about how long it took to retrain Jackson by crying it out after a vacation,
*Jackson only wanting to roll over on the changing table (not a very helpful position for changing and dressing)
*Jackson's hand going straight into his dirty diaper
*What foods/amount of food was age appropriate
*Teething (comes and goes)
*Wondering if Jackson would ever sit still to listen to a story
*Suddenly being unhappy a large amount of the time in his carseat (the new, bigger seat helped)

I find it very helpful to think back on all that we've conquered when I become overwhelmed with the current challenge. Right now, it's mealtime, dinner in particular. This too shall pass...

*Deep Breath!*

Dinner Picnic at The Zoo

What a fun night!

Visiting the cheetahs

Bear and Bug

What a fun way to see the animals!

Munching a yogurt melt appetizer while Mommy mixed up dinner :)

Josh did have Monday off, but he had to meet an old co-worker for a drink. Jackson and I followed him a bit later and met him at The Zoo for a picnic dinner! It was the perfect time to go! All of the inside exhibits were closed, but most animals were still out and there weren't any crowds! Woo hoo! Jackson got to stay up about an hour and a half past his bedtime--lucky boy! He had fun checking out the animals :)

Buddies

Lunch Bunch!

Come on over and play! It's fun by the door!

Fun times

THIS is how you open the door!

A Report on Cuteness

Hat attack!

Is this right?

There we go!

I think I need to hire a photographer to follow us around so that once I help create a photogenic moment, he/she is ready to capture it! Yesterday there were two times I wished I had my camera:

1) I was putting laundry away in Jackson's room and the boys were playing on the floor. Jackson got out a random book from the closet (one we have never read before) and brought it over to me to read! LOVE IT! I definitely didn't take enough advantage of his sitting so still as an infant to read to him before he began squirming so much or trying to eat the book! So, he sat happily while I read If You're Happy and You Know it, Clap Your Paws! After I finished, I put him on the floor with the book and he opened it and showed it to James!

2) While feeding the boys lunch, James was working on some puffs while I fed Jackson. James kept reaching over and holding a puff out to Jackson! He never actually gave it to him, but he kept offering and it was so cute!

Again, this morning Jackson pointed to a book he wanted to hear and sat mostly still while I read :) I LOVE to read and am so hoping that Jackson will inherit that passion!

The pictures of Jackson playing with Josh's hat. Josh hasn't worn it for a long time and Jackson loved that he wore it the other day!

Eating Challenges: A Lifetime Endeavor

Am I ever going to be able to calm down about Jackson's eating??? In the very beginning we had to count diapers to make sure he was eating enough and staying hydrated. Then I worried about the length of his nursing sessions, the size of his bottles, and when to start solid foods. Once we got that figured out, I felt the pressure to start finger foods. That has led to all new anxiety! Jackson ate anything and everything we offered him...out of a tub. He LOVES fruits he can pick up and for Josh or me to feed him yogurt. He's not such a big fan of cheese or veggies. We used to be able to get him to eat the veggies if we fed them to him on a fork, but now he just looks at them on his tray, closes his mouth, and shakes his head. *Sigh* I'm trying to tell myself that this is just a phase, but the thing is, I wasn't ready for this phase to start so early! Yikes! I know little kids will eat anything they can dip...is 11 months too young for dip? :)

The Never Ending Baby Products!

I swear that I bathe my child and do his laundry! Frequently! However, as of his eleven months of life, we have barely gone through one jug of Dreft laundry detergent, half a bottle of bath soap, almost a whole bottle of baby lotion, and I've had the same two tubes of Desitin going since he came home from the hospital! I don't know how these containers keep refilling, but I like it :)

A Day in the Life of a Jackson Bug

I thought I would take a minute to document what our schedule has been for the last while. While Jackson has been an exceptional baby, he hasn't always been the most consistent eater or sleeper. Both have been good, just not very predictable. However, for the last few months, he has been working into a great little schedule. I am sensing change in the air, so I'll revel in this for a few more days :)

6:00-6:30am: Wake up and drink part of an 8oz bottle
6:30-7:00am: Breakfast (In the beginning it was a tub of fruit mixed with oatmeal, but now it's a piece of wheat toast and a WHOLE banana!)
7:00-8:00am: Playtime, i.e. push stuff around time!
8:00-9:30am: Nap time and finish the rest of the bottle
9:30-11:30am: Get dressed, take a walk with Paxton, and lunch (In the beginning it was half a tub of fruit/veggie with oatmeal, then we added yogurt, then we changed to a full tub, now it's either a full tub of fruit/veggie and yogurt or some finger foods.)
11:30-1:15ish: Nap time
1:30-3:30pm: Read some stories, playtime, run errands with Mommy, and have a bottle before a nap
3:30-4:45pm: Nap time
5:00: Dinner (This is getting tricky, but a favorite dinner is sweet potatoes, blueberries, and chicken or beans.)
5:30-6:30pm: Hang out with Mommy in the kitchen while she makes dinner (time to play in the spoon drawer and with the blender lid--two favorites), greet Daddy, play in the living room, and sometimes keep Mommy and Daddy company while they eat.
6:30-7:00pm: Bath time, story, bottle, and bed with three pacis (isn't he high maintenance? LOL).

It's a good life!

Dining Al Fresco

Daddy Game!

Daddy and Jackson spent a good portion of Monday morning playing the Jackson Pushes Daddy Around in the Desk Chair Game. I think it's going to be a big seller at Christmas :)

Get a Job!

Just hanging out, checking out the progress

Snacking on a bagel that HE dug out of Mommy's bag!

I don't know if you can really tell, but he is double fisting the hammer and the bagel!

Josh likes to joke that Jackson should get himself a job to pull his weight around here and I think he has found one! We helped our good friends, Emily and Josh, paint their new apartment Friday and Jackson was a great foreman! He helped pick out tools, took breaks for snacks and naps, and crawled around with a smile on his face! Seriously, he was a rockstar hanging out all day in a space with no real room for him to roam! He hung out with Auntie Em in her gigundo walk-in closet and played with some new toys. His favorite, however, was playing with the big boy toys: the tools!

Balloon Boys

Anyone who has had the pleasure of dining with us knows that it's pretty easy to get a good tip out of Josh if you follow two simple rules: 1) Keep drinks refilled throughout the meal and 2) If we are at Red Robin keep the fry refills coming. It's not hard. I've added a third rule myself: 3) Interact with my cute child! My mom and I met Mary Jo and her son, James, for lunch at Champps. The waiter was probably nearing the end of his high school career or getting ready to go to college. All the same, I wouldn't have expected a guy his age to really interact with the boys. He surprised us all by bringing the boys balloons! Throughout lunch he would stay an extra minute or two at our table to smile with the boys or play with the balloons. While that was pleasant in itself, the balloons were a huge hit! Good to know...

Funny Jackson #1-#4

Nobody told me how amusing parenthood would be! Jackson definitely keeps us laughing all day! Of course I didn't get pictures of his hilarity, but the stories are pretty good.

#1: A new door to lock: I was writing a quick e-mail and looked over at the patio door and Jackson had slid it open just enough to wiggle out! He had both hands and one knee out! Little escapee!

#2: Naturalist: Jackson is loving this beautiful weather because all of the doors and windows are open and there is just more to explore. He especially loves hanging out by the patio screen door. Yesterday I looked over and he was bending over the track that the door slides on. There was a spider that he was "playing" with. Kinda poking, kinda watching. Hilarious!

#3: He's a pusher: Jackson spends the majority of his day pushing things around. Laundry baskets, toy baskets, the lid to the blender, small plastic watering can, chairs, pretty much anything not nailed down! This morning he was hanging out in the living room while I cleaned up from breakfast and he comes toward the kitchen pushing a toy basket that he has added my shoe to!

#4: Possessed shower curtain?: Jackson LOVES bathtime! I will post soon what he looks like standing naked in front of the tub waiting for the water to be the right temperature and for the tub to fill. He always goes right to the tub when the bathroom door is open. I was brushing my teeth and saw the shower curtain moving out of the corner of my eye and couldn't imagine what it was. It was just a Jackson crawling between the tub and the curtain :)