03.31.08 - Mr. Independent

Jackson is really starting to become independent. I find myself just sitting and watching him entertain himself a lot during the day now. Of course, I still play with him a lot too, but he can really entertain himself for quite a while now, which is nice because I can get a little more done around the house that way. He loves using his walker and goes back and forth too many times to count, all by himself. He talks to all of his toys and he loves using his toy hammer to bang on everything (probably won't be such a good thing before too long). He started holding his own bottle just today. He did it several times and it was so funny - he'd drink a little, take it out, look at it, giggle, and pop it back in his mouth. Too cute for words. We started brushing his teeth a few nights ago, which did not go over well at first. Adam had to hold him down while I pried his mouth open and stuck the little fingertip toothbrush in there. The last couple of nights though, he is loving it! I guess he thinks it's a game now or something because he laughs the whole time. I think we've lucked out with that! He was quite fussy today and the culprit seems to be a new tooth coming in on the top side. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll sleep tonight.

03.26.08 - Something new everyday

Jackson is learning so quickly, I think he is literally picking up something new every day. The other day he learned how to say "i yi yi" (or something that sounds awfully similar anyways). Yesterday, he really got the hang of clapping his hands. He had been doing this on and off, but now he really seems to have mastered it. He is also starting to bite our couch and ottoman fabric, which is not good. He is ripping it! He is not listening when we tell him no, and is not interested in biting his teething ring or another toy instead, so I've resorted to turning on the mini-vacuum every time he puts his teeth on the fabric. He's terrified of the noise, so hopefully he'll learn to stop doing that.

03.24.08 - First Easter

Yesterday was Jackson's first Easter! He met the Easter Bunny the other night at the mall and did really well. They met up again at the Easter egg hunt at church on Saturday. Shockingly, Jackson really seems to enjoy the Easter bunny. I'm not counting on that lasting next year. The Easter bunny left Jackson a monkey dressed up like a bunny and a card. He left more loot at his grandparents' houses. We went outside and took some family Easter pictures, even though it was pretty cold. The trees around the parking lot here are starting to bud, so we found the most flowery one as a backdrop. We went to Martinsburg for Easter dinner at Grammy and Granddaddy's house. Jackson was going on almost no sleep since he skipped his afternoon nap, so he did pretty well considering. Today is a boring day, with nothing to do. Tomorrow is a playgroup and another trip to Martinsburg to visit Uncle Doug. Hopefully he'll get a nap in between the two sometime!

03.19.08 - 9 month checkup

Jackson had his nine month checkup with the pediatrician today. He was as happy as could be until we got back into the exam room. He started screaming as soon as he saw the nurse and didn't stop until we got into the car. Poor baby! He didn't even have to get shots today, but he obviously remembers all the traumatic experiences he's had in that place before. He did have to get his finger pricked for a blood test, which came back normal. He now weighs 18 pounds, 3 ounces (16th percentile) and is 29 inches tall (77th percentile). So he is definitely a tall, skinny little thing! The doctor was a little concerned as his weight has dropped off the curve a bit, but after I told her what he ate and how often, she said that was plenty and that there's nothing to be worried about. She also said no more puffs, hmm. He doesn't eat that many anyway, so no big deal. She said it's just "junk food for babies". He can start eating even more table food now. She said yogurt, cheese, even the meat we eat as long as we cut it up or puree it for him. No eggs or peanut butter for a while though. No juice until he's a year old, which is not a worry because he has very little interest in a sippy cup anyways. We are also going to start brushing his teeth...I'm not expecting that to go over well, but he may surprise us. We're hoping to go out this evening to see the Easter bunny. I'm hoping Jackson will be just as intrigued as he was with Santa Claus. Wish us luck!

03.16.08 - Talking (sort of)

Jackson has been quite the little babbler lately. I'm pretty sure he said "doggie" the other day, although it sounded more like "doddie", but what can you expect from a nine month old? He also can say "da-da", but he calls everything a "da-da". He knows a lot of words now too: baby, monkey, dog, duck, peekaboo, daddy, ba-ba (bottle), no, and probably a few more I can't remember right now. We've had an eventful last week. Last Monday, we went to a St. Patrick's Day themed playgroup. On Thursday, we walked a couple of miles at the park in Berryville with the playgroup. Friday, was our usual coffee house playgroup and my parents came over for dinner in the evening. Jackson was proud to show off his new walking skills. On Saturday, we had planned on taking Jackson to the mall to get his picture taken with the Easter bunny, but I've come down with a cold and didn't want to go out, so we stayed home and did an Easter photoshoot of our own. As he is getting older, it's getting harder and harder to get him to sit still, but the pictures turned out amazing. We went over to Adam's parents' house on Saturday evening for dinner and Jackson was happy to take over the place and leave his mark with handprints all over any glass he could find (the windows, the fireplace). Today, we've all just relaxed a bit and enjoyed a day at home by ourselves. Tomorrow, we have another St. Patrick's Day playgroup (hopefully I'll feel up to it). I need to find something green for us both to wear so we can avoid getting pinched!

03.10.08 - 9 months old

Jackson is nine months old today. Check out the new videos I uploaded last night. There are four: one of him being hyper and going "boom" in his crib, one of him chatting away, one of him playing peekaboo, and one of him walking with his lion.

03.08.08 - Walking!

We got a pretty good tax return this year...a lot of that being thanks to Jackson, so we decided to go out tonight and get him some new toys, since he hasn't gotten anything new since Christmas. We got him an adorable little house that has a door he can crawl through, window he can open and shut, a mailbox to put letters in, balls to play with, clock to spin, etc. It is so cute! He also got his own computer - a baby laptop. We got him a portable booster chair with a tray that will be nice to take with us to places that don't have high chairs. He also got a little lion walker. We put that together first and while we were putting on the wheels, that little stinker took one of the parts that holds on the wheel and hid it! We were going crazy looking around for and almost thought we wouldn't find it. Well, he had dropped it down inside one of the photo albums on the shelf of our entertainment center. I found it by pure luck! Once it was finally put together, I stood him up holding onto the handle and he took off almost running! He was laughing and having the best time ever. I couldn't believe he actually knew what to do. Everyone has been telling me that with as active as he is, he is going to be an early walker. Well, now I'm starting to believe that! He was walking really well with the lion all evening. I think he was upset when we finally put away everything and said it was time for bed.

03.06.08 - Little Piggy

Jackson is turning in to a little piggy. Now that he can have a little bit of table food here and there, he is constantly begging for our food. He grabbed an entire roll out of my hand at dinner the other night and shoved it in his mouth...not quite ready for that much food there Jackson! He also got his first taste of ice cream the other night and he loved it. Just as of yesterday, he is finally able to feed himself puffs and cheerios. Sometimes he ends up chewing on his hand at the same time as a puff, but he's getting the hang of it. Now we have to work on holding his own bottle and/or using a sippy cup. He's got time though, so I'm not worried about that yet. We had a fun playgroup on Tuesday and I got to have fun tonight during "mom's night out" at Passage to India. Yum. We have to miss morning coffee tomorrow since I have to be home to let the pest control guys in for their routine bug spraying or whatnot. Jackson was a bit cranky today. One of his top middle teeth is just starting to cut through, so I think that was the culprit. We'll see how he sleeps tonight. He's already gotten up once since he's been asleep, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he sleeps the rest of the night!

03.03.08 - Busy, busy!

Now that Jackson is finally feeling better, we've been getting back into our old routine. Last Wednesday, we had a playgroup, which Jackson and I both really enjoyed. Poor Jackson got his fingers run over by one of the older kid's ride-on toy, but he was fine within minutes and back on the floor playing. We've really got to work on the sharing thing because he has a habit of taking toys from the others. I guess they all do that at this age though. We had another playgroup on Friday, at the coffee shop. Jackson was very well-behaved there and had fun playing with his little friends while I enjoyed my coffee and adult conversation. Jackson got to see all of his grandparents over the last few days, which was nice. Yesterday, we went to church for the first time this year (I know...we're horrible). We planned on leaving Jackson in the nursery, but when we got there, we found out that they only have a nursery for early church, not 11:00. Ugh. So, we were a little trapped. We went up to the sanctuary, but Jackson got antsy before the first hymn even, so I took him downstairs and called my mom to come pick him up. She was there within minutes, so I got to go back up an enjoy the service. I guess we'll need to work something out amongst all the grandparents and/or sitters on who can start watching him on Sunday mornings so Adam and I can get back to church on a regular basis. Today, we went to Chet Hobart Park in Berryville with the playgroup for a nice walk in such beautiful weather. It's a two mile, gravel trail...and I know I'm incredibly out of shape because I could only do one loop. It's extra hard when you have a stroller to push. Jackson slept for most of the walk, so I guess you could say he enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to more nice days like today so Jackson can enjoy the outdoors a little bit more. Today is Adam's birthday, so we're going to Coldstone tonight to celebrate a little bit. Maybe Jackson can have his first taste of ice cream...