05.25.08 - new vids

Two new videos have been uploaded - one from today, dancing in the tub, and one from a few weeks ago, playing with the diaper pail. Jackson spent the day at his grandparents' house today while Adam and I did some birthday shopping for him. We got him the little chair we had been eyeing, a couple of wooden puzzles, a book, and a cup with his name on it. Two more weeks till the party, woohoo! In other news, Jackson now says "nighty-night"...well, "ny-ny". He is really good at saying "hi" in his southern accent and waving. He knows where his feet and hands are if we ask, although he is better with the feet. He is running everywhere now. He loves opening the few drawers at home that don't have locks on them and hiding things in them. He is very into putting stuff into holes, drawers, cabinets, etc. He has his little hiding places all throughout the house now. He also loves shutting doors...well, slamming doors! He loves to get down and boogie with Ellen on TV. He'll dance for pretty much any kind of music now. He loves to headbang.

05.20.08 - Atlanta trip

We're back from our Atlanta trip, finally! Jackson did better than we thought he'd do. He was so good at his great-grandmother's house. He basically just ran laps around the downstairs all day long. He was friendly with everyone and only had a couple fusses. He slept well in the pack and play, which was what we feared he'd have the hardest time doing. We actually had to wake him up in the mornings because he was so sound asleep! Unfortunately, he wouldn't sit still to have a picture taken with his great-grandmother. The car ride down was about half and half - half happy or asleep, and the other half fussy, crying, or screaming. The car ride home was even worse. He barely slept and was just angry. I sat in the back with him the whole way home trying to keep him calm, but he was just so upset he even threw toys at me, ugh. It was quite miserable. I'm glad we're home and back into our old routine.

05.15.08 - animals

Yesterday, we went to Wilson's Wild Animal Park with the playgroup. It was a fun morning, although the stroller needs a good hosing off from walking through all the mud. I don't think Jackson paid too much attention to the animals, but he did watch the pig in the beginning quite a bit. I took his picture in front of a monkey - the real thing. He still thinks a monkey should be neon orange and yellow. Oh well. We leave tomorrow morning for the 10 hour car ride down to Atlanta. I'm not optimistic about this trip. Jackson thrives on a routine and this is not going to go along with that! It's only four days, so hopefully we'll all survive. I know all three of us are going to be exhausted.

05.12.08 - Wonderful weekend

It was a wonderful first mother's day weekend for me. Jackson got me some wonderful gifts, let me sleep in, and helped daddy make me a mushroom omelet for lunch in bed. The greatest gift of all though - he blew me a kiss for the first time! A real one, complete with smooching sound. Made me get all teary-eyed. Jackson has been super, super clingy for the last week or so. I'm pretty sure he's cutting a tooth or two. I can't leave the room without him screaming. He doesn't want to be put down, doesn't want to nap, isn't sleeping well during the night, etc. It's been very tiring! We're leaving for a long weekend trip to Atlanta on Friday and I'm crossing my fingers that he'll feel better by then. It would be a disaster of a trip if he clings to me the entire time we're down there and doesn't get a good visit with his great-grandmother.

05.08.08 - birthday gifts

So, I've had several people ask me what they can get Jackson for his birthday. I thought I'd try to list a few practical things here that would be good ideas, since he is swimming in toys and clothes and really doesn't need anymore of those (I know, those are the fun things to buy though!). He can definitely always use bibs, especially with eating so much table food now. The bigger the bib, the better...and the ones with pockets would be great too. He can use some bowls, baby sized utensils, more sippy cups (he prefers the Nuby kind with no valve), or any kind of food container that will survive in the bottom of the diaper bag when we're on the go. We're going to the beach at the end of the summer, so anything beach-related would be great too - toys for the sand, beach towels, swim diapers, sun hats, etc. Another thing that would be handy would be some good shoes to wear out it public now that he's walking - some really nice baby sneakers. I know Finish Line at the mall has Reeboks and stuff like that. He is wearing a size 4 now, so maybe in a size 5 or larger to grow into. If you do want to go the toy route, he can use things like puzzles or blocks. In clothing, he is currently wearing a 12 month size, so I would go at least a size up from that to leave some room to grow. There is always the option of just giving him some money for his savings account. He has his own ING account and is already richer than we are...gotta start saving for college from the start! We're getting him his own little chair for the living room, a bubble blower machine, and some monkey/jungle themed plates and cups. I'm sure anything he receives will be much appreciated by Jackson...especially the tissue paper and boxes :).

05.07.08 - Just in the last two days

Jackson can now stand up on his own, without holding on to anything to help him up. He also figured out how to climb onto the ottoman all by himself today. He had done it a few times and this evening when I was making dinner, I glanced into the living room and there he was, sitting on the ottoman, watching TV. Silly boy!

05.05.08 - Walking machine

Jackson has pretty much mastered the walking since the last update. He can walk all the way from the kitchen to the bedroom without stopping at this point. He's still working on standing up by himself...for now, he still needs a little support to climb up to a standing position. It's hard to believe that there is only a little more than a month left until his 1st birthday. I'm working on the invitations and those will hopefully be in the mail by the end of the week. I've gotten his slideshow up to date and tear up pretty much every time I watch it in amazement of how far he has come. I had an appointment today with the doctor that got us pregnant and I was so happy to show off pictures of Jackson and talk about how wonderful he is.