He's Using A Fork

Over the past few weeks Jackson has been really interested in the spoons we use to feed him.  About half of the time he will grab the spoon and help us bring it to his mouth.  We have also started giving him small pieces of fruit and cheese, and so I decided to buy some forks and see what would happen.  Of course we have to put the food on the fork for Jack and it takes quite a while for the it to get to his mouth, but he does make a good effort and surprisingly, he actually gets food in his mouth.  Such a smart boy!

Newest Face

This is Jackson's newest face:

Now, it looks like I may have gotten a really great, caught-in-the-moment shot.  Nope.  It also looks like he is upset.  Not true either.  He does this all the time and for no apparent reason.  And each time he does it, it lasts a good 10 seconds.  He scrunches up his nose and forehead, and breathes heavily through his mouth.  He'll stop for a few seconds or a few hours and then will do it again.  Such a funny guy!

8 Months Old!

Yesterday, my tiny baby turned 8 big months old.  I can't believe it!  He is always so happy and brings so much joy to our lives.  Over the last months I've noticed Jackson doing the following:

• Reaches midline and transfers objects from one hand to another
• Uses a pincer grasp when picking up small items, especially to feed himself
• Shows an interest in feeding himself
• Got upset for the first time when we took something away from him.  (Thankfully that has only happened once...so far.)
• Looks at pictures in books and studies toys
• Loves the sound of a hair dyer but gets upset by the noise of a blender and vacuum
• Shows dislike for certain things (throws pacifier when doesn't want it, pushes your hand away when trying to give him his vitamin)
• Shows preferences for people
• Gets very excited when he sees his reflection in the mirror
• Loves to grab faces.  Anything on it including noses, lips, neck skin, eyes, glasses, and hair.
• Periodically sits up from laying down
• Reaches behind him when an item is moved there
• Mommy and daddy must always be in view when they are around
• Fake coughs 
• Makes noises that sounds like a dinosaur
• Produces the consonant-vowel blends ba and pa
• Loves to shake things, especially things that make noise
• Still reaches for Willow whenever she is around, but Willow only comes just past arm's length now

Right now, Jackson's favorite toys are:

Sofie, crunchy block, green boat, Willow, fish rattle, orange truck, Indestructibles book, Chicago police rattle 

More than any toy, Jackson loves and would prefer to have tissues, a cell phone, TV remote, keys, plants, and a straw.  What a funny guy!  Happy 8 months baby!

First Consonant-Vowel Blend

About a week and a half ago Jackson started saying his first consonant-vowel blend.  He is blending the b and a sounds.  He got a little distracted by Willow (of course), but listen to what he has to say!

It is very exciting and cute!  And just this morning I woke up to J saying papapapapa.  So now he has 2 consonant-vowel blends!  Such a big boy!

First Haircut

Last Saturday we took Jackson to get his first haircut.  We went to Church Street Barber in Evanston where Arnold normally gets his hair cut.  Arnold got his haircut while Jackson waited patiently, and then it was his turn.  Oh no.  He sat on daddy's lap and was OK with everything at first.

Then the clippers came out.  After a few seconds of that, Jack was done.

He cried most of the time but did a good job otherwise.  I sat across from them, taking pictures and watching as Jackson's baby hair and curls came off.  It made me a little sad and afterward I felt I might have gotten his hair cut too soon.  He is only 7 months old but it made me feel like he is a big boy.  Now, a few days later, I'm OK with it.  The barber gave us his curls to keep and now I think he looks even cuter than before, which I didn't think was possible!

Teeth

A few weeks ago Jackson and Willow (12 years old) were tied with teeth:

They each had one.  Willow's is much longer and pointier while Jackson's was just a tiny stump.  When Jack was born Willow was excited to no longer be the family member with the least amount of teeth.  About 3 weeks ago things started going wrong when J's first tooth poked through.  Willow wasn't thrilled, but she was okay with it since they were on equal ground, both with one tooth.  But now, things are really bad.  This happened:

Baby J has two teeth now.  Twice as many as Willow.  And Willow still only has one.  Not good.

My Favorite Guys

Just a few pictures of a nice day out with my two favorite guys!  Love these pics!

Kiwi

Tonight Jackson tried kiwi for the first time.  Kiwi is generally tart so I wasn't confident that he would like it but I thought we'd try.  For the first 10 bites or so everything seemed to be alright.  Jackson didn't make any crazy faces and kept opening his mouth for more.  Then, something changed.  I don't know if it all became too much and was just to tart or what happened, but with every bite, Jackson's tolerance got shorter and shorter.  This is how it went:

Bite of kiwi.

Sour face and hands to mouth.

Rub hand on nose 

and mouth.

Open mouth for another bite.

Make a sour face. 

Hand to face.

Rub hand on nose and mouth.
Repeat.

This happened 5 times until Jack decided he was done with the whole thing.  The poor thing did a great job putting up with me feeding him kiwi.  We will try kiwi again another time but I have a feeling this might be the first food Jackson really doesn't like...at least for now.

Our Trip Downtown

Yesterday we took J downtown for the first time.  We planned on leaving around 12 but Arnold had to install Jackson's big boy car seat and needed to get it just right.  We ended up leaving around 3 but Jack seemed to enjoy the seat, falling right asleep.

We got to the train station and tried to transfer Jackson to his stroller while sleeping but that didn't really work.  He's such a great baby though; he didn't seem to mind.  After carrying Jackson, his stroller, and all his things up 2 flights of stairs, we were on the train for the first time!

Jackson didn't really know what was going on and despite all the noise, ended up falling back asleep.

We got of the train at Harrison in Printer's Row and walked around the Lit fest for a few hours.  It was a book festival/artsy festival.  We got a couple of cute books for Jackson and then he took his picture for Monsters University.

I know, cheesy, but super cute.

After the festival we walked across the street to Joe and Ashley's house to watch the Hawk's game.  Jackson went right down to sleep (thank you!), we had a great meal cooked by Joe and watched a great game.  Fun times with my family and friends!!

My New Favorite Thing

A couple of weeks ago Jackson started doing this:

He is so cute!  I love it!

Jackson vs. Water

Last Wednesday when we were rinsing Jackson off in the bath, he noticed the running water...and tried to grab it.

That didn't work out too well but he sure was persistent!