Be Mine

Jackson has been going to a church daycare a couple of times each week and we went this morning for a Valentine's Party. We've both been looking forward to taking him since they were going to have several activities and games set up for his age, but when we arrived, they said most of the kids had gone home sick this morning but we could let him go play if we wanted. Well, we chose to scoot on out before any of us hung around long enough to catch anything. They did have cute door hangers for each of the kids' Valentines!

Filled with goodies!

Digging in!


I took several pictures of Jackson (imagine that, ha!) while he was going through his stuff and kept noticing his chubby little feet and all the different positions they were in, so I decided to combine a few!

From Here to There

I was in another room and heard a strange noise, so I came around the corner and saw that Jackson had climbed into a chair and was acting like he might try to climb on the table. I stopped before he saw me just to see what he would do, and low and behold he climbed onto the table! Nothing is safe in our house anymore!

I'm sure he's thinking something along the lines of "Maybe if I cram these napkins back in here, no one will ever realize I was up here!"

I think he looks so big here. His noodles started off in the plate, but by the end, noodles were all over the table, chair, and floor! We have some work to do! Although he's getting better at using a fork, he'd really rather use those fingers instead!

Another Pampers picture!

(previous Pampers picture is here.)

I think this picture of my Dad and Jackson is sweet!
Jackson is really starting to look like such a little boy than a baby--bittersweet!

Just when you need it most . . .

This little fella walks around a corner looking like this and all you can do is smile, hug and kiss him. The three of us were at my parents' house and Jackson had been in their cabinets and made off with some Tupperware. This picture was taken just a short time after we found out my Grandfather passed away. At the time, we needed something happy and Jackson walked in and gave us what we needed.

This was taken when Jackson was 3 weeks old with my close family (parents, both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins). You can barely see Jackson's little head in Zach's arms and my grandfather sitting at the end of the couch. Among other things, I can only hope that Jackson will inherit some of my grandfather's sense of humor, calm disposition and sweet spirit.

For the Grandparents

Zach and I caught the little duck on tape tonight! He usually plops down and doesn't move once the towel is on him, but I guess he knew the camera was out!

Since the Super Bowl is on and the Budweiser commercials are being played, Jackson has been making his horse noises! Of course when we try to tape it, he quits! During the Ole Miss v. Texas Tech game, we were trying to get him to throw his arms up after a touchdown and never would. As soon as the game came on tonight, he started throwing his arms up and we guess saying "touchdown" but it sounded more like "wawon"!

Side by Side

I've learned that when the new season's baby clothes hit the stores everything disappears fast, especially the size I'm always after. I've gotten to where I stock up on everything even if Jackson isn't quite into the next size just yet since when he'll need the larger size, I won't be able to find it anywhere. All that said, I was showing Zach some of the things I got for Jackson. I think it was a shock for Zach to see how big Jackson's new pajamas are compared to how scrawny he was when he was born. After his reaction, I decided to pull out some of Jackson's clothes when he was a newborn for a comparison.

The little onesie on the left is a preemie size which he was in for a few weeks. Next is a newborn size. In the middle is a 24 month one piece followed by a 0-6 month gown that swallowed him for a long time! And finally, one of his new pair of pajamas! The picture really doesn't do the sizes justice!

Wow!

Jackson is a whopping 18 months old today!

He went to the doctor last week and weighed in at 25 pounds. For whatever reason, 18 months seems like some sort of milestone to me, almost like a birthday or something . . . no, we're not having cake, ice cream or presents! So, since it's a big day in my mind, I've been taking pictures of him most of the day and I'm sure he's ready to grab the camera and throw it (maybe even in the toilet like he did some crackers the other day)! Speaking of the toilet, there is a toilet picture below that was actually taken before these first two, but I didn't want to start off with a picture of the toilet!

I gave him a bath this morning since we had good friends over last night and we decided to skip bath and go to bed. For the last few days, once I get him out of the tub, he plops down on the rug for several minutes. I just started putting the towel over him partly to play and to keep him warm since he's wringing wet. I know this picture really doesn't mean anything to anyone but me, but when I took this picture this morning, from under the towel, I kept hearing "Quack, quack . . . quack, quack" over and over!

I set the camera on the floor, lifted up the towel, and just snapped! I was hoping I would get a sweet smile!

No, we don't let our son play with the toilet!
I walked in as he was lifting up the seat, and when he saw me, a huge grin came across his face, he started shaking his head left and right, and said "No, no!". The little sucker knew what he was doing! But it obviously doesn't mean anything to him since he didn't want to quit playing with it until I walked over and made him leave it alone!

Little monkey

Hmm . . . I guess he's winterizing it?
The other day I was starting to cook supper and got a skillet out. Thankfully, I took the lid off before I turned the burner on since I discovered a measuring tape hiding out in there.
p.s.-we had the fridge organized but Jackson came through like a tornado . . . haha. :)


Fast food.
He's just started wanting to keep whatever toy he's been playing with with him while he eats. A couple of times I've given in and let him keep the toy and each time something like this has happened. There have been blueberries in that car and more ham chunks in the caboose of a train! He mainly gets to do this, because as my Mom once told me, you pick your battles (and maybe also for the fact that he's pretty darn cute). Needless to say on this day I really would rather him eat than go to war, so he got to keep the car. And yes, he did eat pretty decent during this!

The little fella is napping right now, but since it's a big day and all, I may add more pictures later on!

Fun at the Park

The weather was nice, so Jackson and I headed to the park this afternoon. I realized today that for him to really have fun, we need another person. Right off, I helped him climb up the slide and then all the sudden he turned his back to me, laughed, and started to dart. I looked where he was headed and my heart skipped a beat . . . he was headed right toward an opening where older kids can climb down some ladder type thing, but something that an 18 month old will just fall flat on his face. Thankfully, he stopped before he plunged and I was able to get to him. Talk about an eye-opener! From then on, whenever he was "inside" the gym, I was right beside him.

He's laughing while trying to wiggle out of my hand so he can run off and scare me again!

Playing with the fence. He liked to pull it back and forth, again and again and again. There is a walking path at the park also and he liked to follow the people walking by. Needless to say, I ran as much as he did today.

He did eventually make it up the slide by himself!

Right after this picture, he found a packet of some hot sauce from Taco Bell that a litterbug had left behind. Before I could get to him, he had it and was squeezing it. Of course it was open and his hands were covered. All I had on me was about an ounce of juice left that I poured on his hands. We left soon after. Thank goodness he didn't rub his eyes before we got home.

My baby

He loved watching his shadow.
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This picture was taken a little over a year ago and one of the first times in his highchair. I remember thinking then that it wouldn't be long before he really filled it in. Also, notice the straps that he has on (like he's really going anywhere, a bit overkill at this point).


And a picture of him today! How he has grown and changed!

Remember those straps? Not long after we started using the highchair, I took all of the straps off not really thinking to the future--well, they would be nice now . . .

Under the Weather

Jackson has been sick this week. Thankfully, this is the first time in months, but as soon as he spent a day in daycare, he came home with the crud. I'm beginning to wonder though if it's not sinus or allergy since neither me nor Zach have come down with it. This picture was taken this morning; his sweet little eyes were puffy this morning after they started draining goop yesterday. This eye stuff has never happened to me, so I'm a little worried of why they're doing that, but Zach said his have done it before, so that calms me a little. Zach gave him a bath not long after this picture and that seemed to make him feel better.

Everything in hand to feel better--

blanket

chocolate milk

Tom Baby

(Zach's teddy bear when he was little!)

After an artic blast the last few days, the weather is beautiful here today, so Zach was outside trimming some trees with a helping hand!

Out to show Daddy how it's really done!

Trimming the bush while Daddy takes care of the tall trees!

His eyes are still puffy :(

Boys and their toys

Busted

Trains and Things

Jackson has recently discovered trains!

During Christmas, Zach came across some tv show which just shows moving trains and occassionaly has some narration. I think it's called Trains & Locomotives and looks like it was filmed in the 80s, but Jackson saw it and was instantly mesmerized! So, we've set the tv to record it anytime a show comes on and we tend to turn it on when we need Jackson to calm down! He'll stop what he's doing to stare at it and says "toot, toot" over and over! So when we hear a train going through town and have the opportunity, we'll try to load him up real quick and let him see one in person!

Derailed by Conductor Destructo

Staring at trains on the tv!

Nothing to do with trains, I just caught a cute smile!

After Jackson was born, we of course were sent home with a bunch of 'this n that' from the hospital. One of those things was a blue bowl . . . don't know what they used it for, but at our house we started using it during bath time to rinse him off, etc. Jackson now loves this bowl-likes to pretend he's stirring stuff up or filling it up with water and dumping it everywhere, or more recently, wearing it!

This bowl was perhaps the best thing we were sent home with! Well, maybe it's the runner-up . . .