And He's Off!

It's official!  He's off and running!  Well, not exactly running, but moving quickly.  On Sunday, December 1, 2013, while we were hanging out and playing in the living room, Jackson decided to take his first steps.  He took a few steps and then slowly sat down.  He didn't do much more walking that day and we weren't able to catch it on video but after a few days of walk with support (holding our hands), he walked again by himself.  It wasn't really until December 6th that Jackson felt confident enough to walk around by himself.  Here is a video of him on December 15th.

When this was taken he was still crawling more than he was walking but now, he is pretty much walking everywhere!  He can stand up by pushing up from the ground now and every once in a while, will really get moving quickly.  It is very exciting but we are even busier now then ever!  So much more to explore and get into!

A Little Michael Bolton Please

This afternoon Jackson was playing in the living room and we had the Bears pre-game on.  A Honda commercial with Michael Bolton singing came on and Jackson stood up and started dancing.  He is just starting to gain better balance when standing so he doesn't dance much on his feet.  When he started dancing to the commercial it was pretty funny.  He has only done this a couple other times to random songs.  We decided to YouTube the commercial to see if Jack would start dancing again and he did...again and again and again.  Every time we played the commercial and Michael Bolton started singing, Jackson started dancing.  We tried a few other songs but they didn't get the same reaction.  It must be Michael Bolton that he really likes.  Nice choice kid.

13 Months Old!

Last Sunday my little J man turned 13 months old.  It seems like we just had his 1 year party!  Sunday was a pretty busy day for us, running around and doing errands, so I didn't get a great picture of Jack playing or doing any thing super cute.  I did get a cute picture of him falling asleep while daddy was holding him.

I saw a lot of changes in Jackson from 10 to 12 months but I haven't noticed that much within the last month.  Here is what I have noticed:

• Jackson has supersonic hearing and notices every airplane that passes over our house.  When he hears them he points up.  If he happens to not hear an airplane and we ask him if he hears one, he will point up.
• He will repeat "bath" when we ask him if he wants to take one, but only if it is truly bath time.  We have tried to get him to say it at other times but he will only repeat when it is after dinner and actually time for his bath.  He's smarter than we give him credit for!  
• Rubs his ears when he is tired and falling asleep.
• Signs "more" for anything he wants more of (food, toys, reading a book) and if he needs help.  We are working on the "help" sign.  He also uses "all done" but very sparingly.
• Jackson loves to feed himself with a fork.  
• He loves to eat meat but it takes him forever to chew it.  He is also really good at keeping the meat in his mouth while he drinks.
• Jack loves to drink water out of an open cup.  It gets everywhere but he still loves it!
• When Jackson doesn't want any more to eat he will stiff arm the food but if we hold his hands down, he opens his mouth to eat it.  
• Jackson has 6 teeth now.  He has his bottom and top central incisors, top left lateral incisor, and top right first molar.  His mouth is looking kinda crazy right now.  

• He likes to play peek-a-boo but no longer puts his hands over his eyes.  They are now just on the side of his face.  He can see better that way.  
• Jack likes to crawl over to me and put his head in my lap to signal that he wants me to hold him upside down.
• He pulls up on everything and walks around the house holding onto things.
• J likes to open the cabinet with the tupperware and spices in it and pull everything out.  I don't really mind because he always ends up putting everything back in the cabinet, even if it is very messy. 
• Jackson likes to throw food on the floor from his high chair, especially when Willow is around.
• He likes to turn on our cell phones to look at the screen and the picture of himself.
• Jack loves to look at pictures of himself and look at himself in the mirror.  He always smiles and laughs.
• Jackson points to photos of Arnold and I hanging up in the house and says "ma" and "dad".
• He is very chatty, saying a combination of vowel-consonant blends.
• Jackson doesn't like to wear hats but will keep them on if he's distracted.  
• He loves to wear his mittens.  He laughs and claps his hands when I put them on him.
• Jackson will clap when we say "yay!" or ask him to clap.
• When he wakes up in the middle of night he usually goes back down better when daddy comes into his room.
• Jack likes to throw balls on the hardwood floor to hear the sound they make.
• He has also begun rolling a ball or car back and forth if we sit across from him.
• Jackson still loves to read books but not very much when it right before bed.  He would rather throw himself on our bed and roll around.  
• He can stand by himself unsupported for a few seconds.  
• He will throw a mini tantrum when he can't have something he wants or we take something that he wants away from him.
• Jackson is generally a very happy boy who is smiley and playful!

Here are Jackson's current favorite toys:

Fly & Learn Airplane, Sesame Street shape sorter, ball tower, orange truck, Sesame Street touch phone, Sit to Stand Learning Walker, and Farm Mash-up. 

Almost all of his favorites have buttons that will turn a sound on when they are pushed.  He loves anything that has buttons and makes noise.  He can put the circle in the shape sorter by himself and pull Oscar the Grouch up so the shapes fall out.  He also loves putting the balls at the top of the ball tower.  

Here are his favorite books: 

And here is his favorite page in each of his favorite books:

Such a silly boy!  I love him though!  He makes me so very, very happy!  All 13 months of him!

My Little Reader

Jackson has always loved reading.  When he was in my belly Arnold would read to him and from the time he was born, we would have always read before bed, among other times throughout the day, and he was always so attentive.  When he was about 6 months old and was beginning to manipulate things, he started reading books by himself.  We got these awesome books called Indestructibles, that are tear proof, water proof, pretty much anything baby proof picture books.  Jackson would open these books up, and just study the pictures.  He would look at them for a minute or so and then turn the page.  Then, when he figured out how to point, he would point to pictures in the books.

(Don't mind the hair.  We were going through a phase...)

After a few months of the Indestructibles, Jackson started to become more interested in board books.  He quickly learned how to turn the pages and learned "Can you turn the page?" when we asked him.  When Jack started crawling he would pick up a book, crawl over with it, and hand it to us to read.  When he starting signing "more" he would sign "more" after a book was read to him so we would read it again.  He could sit there while we read the same book again and again and again.

Right now Jackson has a few particular books he really enjoys, including the Skippyjon Jones board books, a set of books called "Boats!", "Helicopters!" and "Trucks!", "Good Night Chicago", "Hugs and Kisses", and any book by Sandra Boynton.  And within each of those books, he has a favorite page.  So now he hands us a book, we try to quickly read the text in each page before he turns it, and then when he gets to his favorite page, he would stop, look at the page intently and point to the pictures he likes.  It is very funny and really interesting.

Yesterday I was reading to Jackson and I decided to see what he would do if I started reading his book upside down.  While the book was upside down, I read the title, opened to the first page, and read that, and then Jackson took the book out of my hands, turned it right side up, and gave it back to me to continue reading.  I did this a few other times, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and he turned to book right side up each time.  He as probably thinking "Mom!  What are you doing?  This isn't right!  Don't you know how to read?  Let me show you how."  We took a video of it that night:

Before I know it he's going to be reading to me!

I finally figured it out!

Probably a little over a month ago, Arnold was getting Jackson ready for bed one night and Arnold made a grunting noise.  Jackson then made a similar noise, made two fists, and put them in front of his face.  We thought this was so funny!  We had never seen him do this before and we didn't know where it came from.  At first we thought he was showing us his muscles.  (You know how little kids do that and it is so cute!)  But we had never done that with him before.  Then I was thinking maybe Jackson learned this from watching Arnold laying on the floor on his back with his arms above him fixing our furnace.  He makes all kinds of noises when he's working on things.  Then I thought maybe he learned it from watching Arnold lift heavy things.  Jackson would continue to make this noise and put up his fists every once in a while and I still wasn't sure where it came from, but I thought the furnace thing was my best bet.  So I stopped thinking about it and we just laughed and played every time Jackson would do this.

Today, I was in the kitchen, Jackson was playing on the floor near the kitchen, and Arnold was standing in the living room watching the bears game and all of the sudden I heard a loud, deep "YES!!!" come from Arnold.  I looked up at him and saw his fists clenched and up near his face.  Ah ha!  I got it!  THIS is what Jackson was doing and this is where he got it from!  Arnold did it a few more times during the game, without noticing, and each time, Jackson would do the same.  I got a great photo of the two of them watching the game right after the game winning field goal:

Aren't they cute?!

A Word? Maybe?

Tonight we were finishing up dinner and Arnold asked Jackson if he wanted to take a bath.  We do bath time after dinner every night and I'm not sure we ask him if he wants to take one, but we do at least mention that he is getting a bath every night.  Tonight when Arnold asked him, this was what happened:

Pretty awesome!  It was so exciting!  He's not really using any verbal language yet but he did imitate the word pretty well.  He'll be talking before I know it!

Halloween 2013

Happy Halloween!

The didn't exactly turn out like I had planned.  The weather was pretty bad.  It was rainy and cold all day.  We had plans to go to the Aler's and meet up with David to do some trick or treating in their neighborhood but that didn't work out due to conflicting nap and dinner time schedules.  I heard on the radio that the local malls were doing trick or treating so we decided to stop by on our way home.

 

 We got a few cute pictures but that was about it.  The mall was PACKED and almost all of the stores had signs out that said they were out of candy.  So we walked around the mall for about 10 minutes and then continued home.  By the time we got home it was past Jack's dinner time and he was pretty crabby but of course it had stopped raining.  Willow needed to go for a walk so we decided to take Jackson and go to at least a few houses.  Our street is comprised of mostly condo buildings so there weren't a lot of houses to go to but we rang two doorbells.  One opened and we got some candy!  Although it was very brief we did get to trick or treat!

We came back inside and Jack went through his loot.

M&Ms!  He had no clue what they were but they made a nice noise when he shook them so he held onto them for the rest of the night.  It was pretty cute!  And he loves his bucket!  He held that all day long and he still likes putting stuff in it and taking stuff out.

Halloween wasn't exactly what I had planned or expected but it was still fun and our little dinosaur was just as cute as ever!

Happy 1st Birthday Jackson!

What??  Is he really one already?  I feel like we were just in the hospital with him after being born.

 I remember then thinking how far away his first birthday was and now it's here.  I can't believe it.  It has been such an incredible year!  On October 24, 2012 I become a mom and began experiencing a joy and love I could have never imagined.  It is so amazing.  I love waking up every day with my baby, and watching him play, learn, change, and grow.  I really try to enjoy and appreciate every moment with him.  I want to remember everything.

Jackson has grown so much over the past month!  He now weights 19 pounds, 15 ounces and is 29 3/4 inches long.  He's a big boy!  This is what Jackson is doing now:

• He's crawling all over the place
• Jack pulls himself up on things easily and holds on to walk around
• He has started standing unassisted for a few seconds at a time
• Jackson easily walks around using his walker and can walk when on of his hands is held
• J is using the signs "more" and "all done" not only for food, but when he plays too
• Jackson likes to kiss his toys and stuffed animals
• Jackson gives us open mouth kisses when we ask for kisses
• When we laugh Jackson starts laughing
• Jack LOVES books!  He reads them by himself and will constantly hand us books to read to him
• J loves any toy that plays music when he pushes buttons
• Whenever we wash our hands, Jackson mimics us, washing his hands
• Jackson understand and responds appropriately to "Turn the page.", "Can I have some?", "Can I have a kiss?" and "Come here"
• J likes to feed us 
• He likes throwing food and toys on the ground to watch them fall and listen to their sound
• Jackson loves trying to climb into the refrigerator
• Jack likes to open and close draws and doors
• Jackson has begun throwing very short tantrums when something is taken away for him.  He starts crying, will throw his pacifier, and sometimes will pull off his socks and throw them.
• When Jackson is already upset and we try to give him a toy he will take it and throw it
• Jackson points to things he notices and has begun to follow where we point to
• When he sleeps Jack constantly moves around from one end of the crib to the other, turn from his back to his side to his stomach
• As soon as he is put in the bath, Jack pushes everything on the side of the tub off
• J started waving and very infrequently says what sounds like "hi" 
• Jack says "mama" and "dada" when he sees our pictures
• Jackson will make two fists, put his arms up by his face, and say "arrrrrrr!" kinda like he's making muscles.  (I think he learned this from watching Arnold work on the furnace, laying on his back with his hands up by his face moaning and groaning while he works.  It's really funny.)
• Jack LOVES looking at himself in the mirror and at pictures of himself

I love how much Jackson is doing now!  It is so much fun!  I love learning and seeing his little personality.  

On to the birthday day:

On Jackson's birthday, he decided to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to let us know that it was his birthday and that he was ready to party!  It's too bad mommy and daddy weren't ready to party yet.  After "laying" in bed with us for a few hours (laying = constantly sitting up, laying down, rolling up, and flailing about), I decided to get up with him.  We played for a little bit, ate our regular breakfast of oatmeal and yogurt, played a little more, and then took our first morning nap.  After nap time it was time to celebrate!  Jackson, Arnold, and I headed out to Wagner Farm to see some animals.  We ended up in Glenview around lunch time so we decided to try out Dickey's Barbecue Pit for lunch before hitting the farm.

It was pretty good.  Jackson seemed to enjoy it as well.  He has brisket, mac and cheese, and green beans.  He mostly just has brisket though.  Then he had his first ice cream cone and loved every bit of it!

After our bellies were full we stopped in a cute toy store, just to look, and then headed over to the farm.  It was a cold, windy day so we had to bundle up.

We walked around and saw the horses, chickens, and cows.  We were able to get close to the horses but Jack wasn't really comfortable with being so close.

After the farm, we headed back home and got ready for Jack's family birthday party.  We had dinner and opened presents.

Jack loved ripping the card envelope and wrapping paper.  For his birthday he got two books: Touch and Feel Happy Birthday and Birthday Monsters.  Next it was time for the cake!

It was quite the experience that elicited a range of emotions and thoughts:

This is fun!

Nope, I was wrong.  Not fun.  I can't get this stuff off!  Get it off!

Hmmm, mama and daddy seem to like it...

Maybe I'll play Peek-A-Boo.

What??  Are you laughing at me?

This is kinda funny.  But now I have a hunk of cake stuck on my hand...

Can someone help me get this off?

Maybe I'll just try eating it. 

That's pretty good!  And it's my birthday!

After birthday cake fun we took a much needed bath, read his new books, and then went to bed.  What a fun first birthday!  I love my baby!

Next Two Teeth

A few weeks ago Jackson starting waking up in the middle of the night and had trouble falling back asleep.  It didn't take me long to figure out that he teething again, this time on top.  Slowly, his top, left middle tooth came poking through and his top right middle tooth followed a few days later.  It took a few weeks for them to push through so I could really see them and get a good picture but here's his new smile:

Peek-A-Boo

One of Jackson's newest favorite things to do is play peek-a-boo.  He seems to like playing it when eating and when on his changing table, and will usually initiate the game.  It is pretty cute!

It is so fun now that Jackson is initiating play.  My baby is growing up!

Toy Sale of the Year

Joan introduced me to this yearly used toy sale at a local school in La Grange.  The community comes together and sells all their used toys for incredibly low prices.  Things go fast so we got there early Saturday and waiting until the door opened at 8:00.  Joan arrive a bit before me and got us a good spot in line.  The doors opened and it was on!  Things go fast so you have to know what you're looking for, grab, and keep going.  I grabbed a bunch of stuff and then after walking around for a while, Joan and I sat down and took a good look at what we had to decide what we really wanted.  Here's what I ended up with:

 Board books for $1 each, wooden puzzles (some sound) for $2 to $2.50 each, plastic animals for $.05, wooden tool box and tools for $4, mallet and pegs for $4, and a large set of train tracks for $4.

 Wooden play kitchen for $12.  It is perfect!  Just like new!

 Wooden rocking horse for $3.

Brand new carpet for $2.

I spent a total of $45 for everything!  It was amazing!  I wish they had this sale more than once a year.  I now have Jack's Christmas shopping done (I'm sure I'll get more later) and toys for the future!

After the sale, Joan and I went for breakfast and ended up spending 3 hours at the restaurant eating and chatting.  It was a great day!  Great deals and great fun with a great friend!

Would you like a treat?

So this is a staged photo.  It is of Jackson holding a dog treat.  I couldn't get a picture of the real thing so I did this.  Let me tell you what happened...

Jackson and I walk in the door with Willow after taking her on a walk.  I go through my usual after walk routine which is put Jackson on the floor, take off his coat, give Willow a treat, and take off my coat.  If you haven't been to our house, when you walk in the front door it is basically one giant room comprised of the kitchen, living room, and dining room.  So I put Jack down by the entrance and he immediately starts crawling towards Willow.  Typical.  After I give Willow her treat I turn around and hang up my coat.  I walk about 10 feet into the living room to get something and Jackson comes crawling over.  This whole process, from walking in the door until me being in the living room couldn't have taken more than 30 seconds.

So Jackson comes crawling over to me, I pick him up, we sit on the couch and I start nursing him.  I nurse him for a few seconds and he stops.  I look at him and it looks like he is chewing a little bit.  I stick a finger in his mouth and I pull out a chunk of dog treat.  Nice.  I continue nursing Jackson for about 15-20 minutes.  When he is finished I sit him up and it looks like he is chewing again!  I stick my finger in his mouth once more and pull out another, smaller piece of dog treat.  I then search his whole mouth for more but don't find any.  Did that really happen?  I don't really know what else to say about this situation!

First Sign

Two days ago I was giving Jackson lunch and he had finished everything on his tray.  I verbally asked him if he wanted more to eat and he did this:

It was so exciting!  It was amazing because I sign to Jackson pretty often but this day, when I asked him if he wanted more, I hadn't signed at all that day.  He's so smart!  I love my boy!

Christmas in August

This post is way too long overdue.  I always seem to have things to blog about but don't seem to have the time.  Many times I end up just not blogging about stuff because a few days go by and then there's something else to blog about.  This is one post I've wanted to do for a while and am not going to pass up.

Over the summer, sometime in July, I noticed that Jackson recently started to become more active.  After thinking about it, I realized that Jackson was growing out of his toys and there were a bunch of different types of toys I wanted to get so I could challenge him.  I made a list of toys that included stacking/nesting toys, cause/effect toys, sorting toys, toys that roll, and a few other things I can't remember now.  I went to a few stores and started looking around for toys.  Individually they weren't too expensive but with everything I wanted, it would cost quite a bit.  So, I did what I do best and started stressing about it.  I was feeling like I needed to get the toys in order to advance Jackson's development but couldn't really afford them.  I decided to talk to my best teacher friend, Joan about what was going on.  I expressed my feelings and Joan, being the sweet, amazing friend that she is, asked me what kinds of toys I was looking for.  I was hesitant to tell her because knowing Joan, she would do something silly like buy all the toys.  After much persistence and letting me know she would just keep an eye out for the toys if she passed by any garage sales, I told her what I wanted.  End of story.  I didn't really think much of it after that.  Joan made me feel a ton better, telling me that I am an amazing mom even if I don't have the toys I wanted for Jackson, and we continued on, texting each other a million times a day.

A week or so goes by and Jackson gets a package in the mail from Auntie Joan.  We open it up and find this:

  

It's a Sesame Street shape sorter.  Perfect!  It is so cute, exactly what I was thinking, and Jack loves it!  However it was very unexpected and unnecessary.

A week later or so we take our trip to North Carolina and when we get home there are 4 more packages waiting for Jackson.  We open them up and Auntie Joan has sent Jack 4 more new, perfect toys!  It was like Christmas in August!  This is what he got:

The classic shape sorter, stacking/nesting bowls that can be put together to make balls, a ball and mallet toy, and stacking/nesting cups that can also be used in the bath.  They have different animals on each cup and all have different holes at the bottom to let water out.

AMAZING!  This was exactly what I didn't want to happen but am SO grateful.  And Jackson truly loves all his gifts!  Now, 2 months later, Jackson still loves playing with all of the toys Auntie Joan got him.  They are among his favorites.  He is able to put the circles and squares in both shape sorters, loves knocking down the nesting cups and rolling them around, enjoys hitting the balls with the mallet (and hitting everything else he can with the mallet), and loves to watch the water fall out of the bath nesting cups.  We're still working on stacking the nesting toys, figuring out how to put the other shapes in the shape sorters, and matching the balls to the coordinated spots before hitting them with the mallet.  But we have plenty of time to keep working on these skills as Jackson's little self continues to grow and develop.  Thank you so much Auntie Joan for all of your love, support, and generosity!  We love you!

11 Months Old!

What?  He's 11 months old already?  Wasn't he just in my belly?  That's right, Jackson is 11 months old already.  Crazy!  Such a sweet 11 month old!

Jackson has changed so much over the last month.  I think he's made the most changes this past month.  He is doing so many things now!  Here is what I've observed:

-Jackson is crawling!  He is quite fast now.
-Jackson can pull himself up and does so often using the coffee table and my legs.

-Jack can walk a few step when assisted or when using his walker.

-Jack often blows raspberries and says "mama" and "dada"

-He can now clap!  J claps when we say "yay!", clap ourselves, or just ask him to clap.

-Jackson points to objects including pictures of mama and daddy.
-Jackson has begun to say "mama" and "dada" referring to us but not to get our attention yet.
-He gives us kisses when was ask for them (and when he feels like it).
-Jack greatly enjoys chasing Willow, especially since he's fast now!
-J puts his hand over his mouth and makes the "ahhh" sound.

-Jackson still dances (waves his arms in the air, bobs his head, swivels his hips) whenever he hears electronic baby music and has begun to dance to big people music
-When we start laughing Jackson will laugh too.
-Jackson will pick things up and hand them to us.
-Jack enjoys reading books and loves to be read to.  He is so attentive when we read books to him.  We recently learned however, that Jack does NOT like pop-up books.  Those are really scary.
-Jackson likes to drop balls on the hardwood floor to listen to them make noise.
-Jackson likes to play in Willow's water, with diapers and clean laundry, and attempts to go inside the refrigerator whenever it is open.

 

I can't wait to see what this boy does next!!

Crawling and Such

On August 27th, 3 days after Jackson turned 10 months, he started crawling!  

His motivator was a green Starbucks straw.  He had been trying for so long to get somewhere, rocking and moving back and forth from his knees to his bottom, and at 10 months and 3 days, he got it!  

It only took him a couple of weeks to get really good at crawling.  Now his is really fast.  He loves to crawl over to Willow's bowl and play in it, is fascinated by an open refrigerator, and of course wants to get into any cabinet I have open.  

About 2 weeks after he started crawling Jack began pulling himself up, and now that is his favorite thing to do.  He loves to pull himself up on the coffee table and my legs when I'm in the kitchen cooking.  My good friend Pam recommended a walker she had for her daughter that she loved.  We picked that up and Jackson loves it too!  He loves pushing the buttons on the front and now can pull himself up on it and take a few steps with it.  This video was taken a few days ago and you can see how much better his crawling has gotten in just a couple of weeks.  

Before I know it he's going to be up and running around the house.  I don't think I'm ready for that yet!

Be Careful of Your Surroundings

Yesterday we put Jackson in this super cute outfit for the first time.

I love it!  I bought the shirt on clearance at a baby boutique when Jack was in my belly, bought the jeans, which are Calvin Klein, at Goodwill for $1.99, and the socks at Target.  He looked so stinking cute so I asked Arnold to take a picture of Jackson.  He took several because it is hard to get a good one now that he is crawling around and pulling himself up.  After our little photo session and Jackson was in bed, I decided to take a look at the photos.  I turn on the camera and this is what I see:

If you don't see anything wrong with this picture, take a look at the TV in the background.  Nice.  Usually Arnold takes really great pictures.  This isn't one of them.  It is funny though.

Big Move to the Big Tub

After July's incident with taking baths in the kitchen sink (click here), we decided to move the party to the real tub.  The big boy tub.  It was quite the experience.  When we first put Jackson in the tub he didn't really know what to think.  He just sat there for a few seconds.

 But then I think he came to a realization: so much more room!  More room to splash, more room to move, more room for more toys, and new things to grab.

When we first put him in the tub we didn't have a mat on the bottom of the tub so he was slipping and sliding quite a bit.  For the following few bath nights we put his baby tub in the bathtub and sat him in that which was alright, but he kept trying to climb out of it or would drop toys out of it and then try to get them.  I picked up a tub mat a few days later and we were back in business!  Jackson loves baths even more now!  We have played with all kinds of toys and Jackson is still trying to grab ahold of that water that runs out of the faucet.  He likes to crawl back and forth across the tub, grab anything that is sitting on the sides of the tub, pull himself up on the side of the tub, and of course, splash.  A few days ago we introduced Jack to bubble bath which was a great hit.  

There's always lots to do, so much to explore and learn, when you're 10 months old, even if you're just supposed to be getting clean!