Hot Summer Days

Just some pictures from yesterday afternoon--

Playing in the sand

Look at that hair!!
It's just fluff and sticks straight up when he gets hot!

We were outside when Zach came home from work yesterday and Jackson immediately ran to him and grabbed his hand so he could walk down the street

Jackson and Sadie

Last but not least, everything was perfectly fine until I wouldn't let him drink water out of Sadie's water bowl (no, he wasn't sticking his head in her bowl, he had a plastic water bottle he was filling up with water from her bowl!). He got mad and wouldn't let me near him, so I just took pictures!

On the Map

I was watching TV when all of the sudden I heard the words 'mascot' and 'boll weevil' mentioned in the same sentence! I looked up and low and behold, they were poking fun of our nearby college!! At first I thought it was a local ad, but turns out, it's nationwide!

Did the 'fighting okra' not make the cut?!?!

Crossed off the List

Even though it's just the first of August, I've noticed Halloween costumes hitting the stores. I was on Gymboree's website and came across this train conductor outfit, thought about it (even though he has no clue that it's associated with a train), and then remembered a recent picture of him in overalls.

Umm, I don't think we'll do the conductor this year

Naptime

For the majority of Jackson's naptime, I've been putting these together--

Don't let this fool you! Everything you see had to be put together. The helicopter pad, the train shed, and bridge were put together with about 518 itty bitty screws! There are 1,083 other pieces that go with this set that have yet to make their debut! The people, trees, cars, trucks, houses, animals, etc. are all still neatly wrapped up just waiting to complete this scene. Within a matter of minutes after those items are unwrapped, they will be scattered from one end of this house to the other. As you can see, this track currently decorates our coffee table, but it will soon be transported into Jackson's room (as in, when he wakes up)!

And his train table! Now that I have an idea of how the track above should be put together, hopefully we can scale it down some and put it on his train table so he can be able to interchange everything!

It was only a matter of seconds before he spotted everything!

He loves the bridge and has been playing with his new train sets for the majority of the afternoon!

Now, if I could just go take a nap and when I woke up, the house would be clean . . . .

Trains Galore!

We celebrated Jackson's birthday yesterday with family and friends! Of course, the party was train themed! Surprise, surprise!! Every present he received, except for maybe two, were train related! So, he's in heaven and we have enough trains in this house to span cross-country!

Peeping at his cake!

His cake!

Oh, how he wanted that train!

Blowing out the candles

He obviously really didn't care about the candles!

Emma

Trying out some of his gifts today!

His present from us . . . we haven't taught him how to steer yet, so he just rides around in circles! He still loves it, though!

Even though it was raining cats and dogs before and during the party, we had a great time and appreciate everyone celebrating with us!

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!