TWO!!

Our little boy is 2!!

This past year has really flown by! We headed to Chuck E. Cheese on his birthday and he loved dancing to the music and running around!

Dancing and clapping

"Playing" skee ball

Happy Birthday!

Those Days

This was how the majority of our day was yesterday--

Our usually happy boy has been a bit fussy the last couple of days. We think he's teething, but at this age we're still just guessing.

Later in the morning and for some crazy reason, I took a box a Goldfish into Jackson's room and then forgot about them. But Jackson didn't.

When I walked back into his room, he ran toward me with a half grin on his face; I don't think he knew whether I would laugh or fuss! It's hard to be too upset with a sweet face like his though! While I was taking a picture, he ran behind the rocker and started peeking out! He later actually helped me pick all of those up without having to be asked!

After his nap and he is trying to put his cup together

Concentrating

Even though he was fairly fussy, there actually were some smiles yesterday!
I wish I knew what he was thinking here

Figuring it Out

As you will see, not much has been going around here lately! I figured I better post at least some pictures before the grandparents start calling and demanding new pictures!

Jackson is going through a not-eating phase and we've been trying everything to get him to eat, with virtually no luck. Desperation is setting in, so I let him have a lunch of just cheese puffs one day. I know, not the least bit healthy, but at least he ate something.

It took him a few minutes to figure them out. He just licked them at first and made them mush before he decided he would actually bite into them and eat them!

After he finally ate one, he realized they make a pretty big mess on your hands

Licking his fingers, all five at once

He's also figuring out how to play ball!

And, I think he's figured out that when he flashes us a smile like this, he can get away with pretty much anything!

And, there you have it, there's obviously not much going on around here!

Waking Up is Hard to Do

I caught Jackson playing in our room yesterday after his nap

Holding onto his blanket (aka "dinkit") and his bear

"Nyte nyte, puppy!"

Getting into his blocks

Lining them all up

What Happened?

What is going on with Jackson's hair?

For the majority of his first year, he sported just a few hairs on top, then he turned 1 and hair slowly started to appear. This past December it started to curl (which we loved), and then literally one week in April it stopped curling and just went haywire. It wouldn't curl, it wasn't straight, it was just everywhere. Now, within the last couple of weeks, his hair has become completely straight. It honestly looks like we've had it cut, but shears have never touched his hair. Just this week his hair has become fluffy all over. What will happen next week?

See the difference--

March 2009

July 2009

There was also a debate from the beginning as to what color his hair was. Depending on the light, was it blond? Was it brown? Did it have a little red in it? Well, within the last month, it has definitely turned blond, which we attribute to the sun (and Zach had blond hair as a tot). In fact, it is so light and fine, that when you see him from a distance, it really looks like he doesn't have any hair.

The way his hair keeps changing, I won't be surprised if we walk in his room one morning and after a long night's sleep, he has a head full of black hair!

Morning Coffee

A peek at our morning--

Following breakfast comes an attempt to get clothes on him. Four out of seven mornings he fights me while I'm just trying to get a shirt on. Then it must be the perfect shirt, which wasn't this shirt today (even though he wore one very similar in style yesterday without issue). Notice where his right hand is.

His Grandmother got him several shirts similar to this, but they have buttons on the back of the neck. He's done well wearing them a few times, until today. He tugged and tugged and fretted until I changed it. Distracting him didn't work today.

As you can see in the next picture, I had to change his shirt. Now he's happy in another shirt and is playing with the blinds in his room. His daddy won't let him do this, but it was making for some cute pictures, so I let him. For a minute.


And this is why Daddy won't let him touch the blinds . . .

he tears them up

so I made him quit;
which led to this

and this

and this

and finally this

until I distracted him with his phone and chair

until he spotted the camera and darted

Summer Fun

We are back home after spending a good bit of June on the road! We went to my parents' the weekend before the 4th of July, got home Sunday evening, and headed to Zach's parents' the following Tuesday. Jackson still does well traveling, but there's only so much a little boy can take while being strapped in a carseat hour upon hour (about 10 hours to be exact for this trip)! The following pictures are on our trip to Alabama. We were also able to spend almost the entire week with our niece, Emma. I'm glad she and Jackson were able to "play" together, although I wish they could be around each other more often.

The first two pictures are of a crop duster in Greenville, MS. We don't live in the Delta, but we drive through a good bit of it when going to see both sets of parents. Ever since we've lived here, I've been fascinated with the crop dusters and enjoy getting to see them in action this time of year! We caught this one flying really low. In fact, I think this is about the lowest I've ever seen one. Since Jackson was still awake, I made Zach pull over so I could take some pictures!

Coming in!

I don't know if this picture really shows how low this plane was. I bet it was only 50 feet off of the ground at some points, which I'm sure is against FAA standards!

Emma and Jackson eating breakfast one morning!

Say CHEESE! Emma, the photographer!

Jackson is figuring out how to play pool and has picked out his stick. I think he picked the same one out each time!

Setting up

"If you hit this ball, this ball will go in and help set up your next shot!"

All smiles except our child! We headed to the lake one day and had a really good time, even if this picture says otherwise! Jackson opted to sleep rather than getting in the water and threw a fit when we put his life jacket on! Once he woke up, he loved watching the water while we were moving.

Zach found a museum that has daily train rides, so he reserved tickets for all of us on the 4th. Of course, Jackson loved it (and we love watching him get sooo excited)!


Sweet babies waiting on the small train to take us around while waiting on the real train ride!



We were on the caboose of the real train. The ride lasted about an hour and it was hot! At the end of the ride, Jackson was able to get a ride in the engine. (I have pictures, but they're not posted.) I was standing there watching Jackson and Zach in the engine when they stuck their heads out the window to wave; one little boy saw him and asked his mom if the baby was driving the train!

I know it's blurry, but I love this picture!

Sweet picture of Emma swinging with "Gam-pa" and "Gam-ma"

Playing with his train while riding the train!

Taking a snooze with his favorite pup on the way back home!

I have hundreds of pictures from the past week that I've been going through and decided to just post these. There are so many cute ones, but I had to draw the line somewhere! Some of the other pictures may get posted later on! Until then, we're getting back into the normal swing of things!