February 29 = Leap Year

Our weeks seem to get more and more busy.  I have not been feeling well, so Tim has being taking care of a lot of stuff around the house including Jackson! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband!

We are loving our new van!  It is wonderful, and Jackson LOVES looking out the window.  He also loves the built-in sunshade!

We went on Monday to get Jackson measured for his tot collar.  This should help correct the head tilt.  We should get it in about a week, and then the real fun begins!  I am not looking forward to making Jackson wear it, but it needs to be done.  We went to therapy again today, and Jackson did great!  He did not cry even once!  It was so nice to sit there and watch him do his exercises and not get upset.  I always felt so guilty about his crying, but he loves Mrs. Kelly again! Now that we have mastered rolling, we working on going from a sitting position to a crawling position and then a crawling position to a sitting position.  The good thing is that Jackson is actually interested in moving now.

His front two teeth have finally broken though, and that makes everyone happy! Jackson also went to his first baseball game on Sunday.  We went to watch Briggs scrimmage.  Jackson also got to swing for the first time and loved it.  We left the park and went straight to buy a swing.  Tim has a new project for the weekend!

Tim also put together Jackson's car.  We bought it after Christmas when Little Tikes was having a huge sale.  Jackson loves it.  We drive it around and around the house.  My mom also learned that he likes to sit in it parked at the front door!  I think it is so funny that he knows how to turn the steering wheel and beep the horn.  It is too cute!

Time is Flying By!

Time is flying by ,and I can't keep up with the blog! We have had a busy week.  Jackson is getting new teeth, and he is becoming more mobile.  He is making all sorts of noises! I can't believe how big he is getting.  He loves to go shopping and ride in the cart.  Jackson is nosy.  He wants to know about everything.  I am glad he is so curious!

We also bought a new car!  Tim and I spent Monday car shopping!  We ended up getting a Toyota Sienna, and we love it!  We drove home and took my mom and Jackson for a ride.  He loves it.  We drove it over to see Brent and Whitney.  Then we took my dad for a ride too.  Jackson sits up higher, so he can now see out the window.

Jackson's First Valentine's Day

Jackson had a good first Valentine's Day.  He got lots of sweet cards. Noni and Papa J got him a Thomas train and a new book.  Tim and I gave him a zoo membership and a new toy with racing cars. Getting pictures of him was almost impossible, but we did get a few.

We enjoyed a quiet Valentine's with dinner from JC's and an early bedtime!  I have had bus duty this week, and Jackson has been waking up a zillion times a night crying for the past couple of nights.  It has been awful, and Tim and I are both exhausted!

Therapy went better today.  Jackson rolled both ways, and we learned new ways to start him crawling.  He didn't scream the whole time, so that was definitely a plus.  He even smiled at Kelly again.  That was the first time he has done that in months.  Maybe things are getting better!

Winter is here!

Unfortunately, winter arrived in SC this weekend.  A week ago it was in the 70s and now it is in the 40s.  Yuck! This past week was very busy for me, and Tim ended up picking up Jackson 3 afternoons/evenings.  I have had tons to do at school lately , and I have had to stay late to even stay afloat.  Hopefully, things will calm down in the coming weeks.

We spent a lazy morning at home on Saturday.  It actually wasn't that lazy since someone got up at 5:30.  Jackson obviously does not understand the concept of sleeping in during the weekend.  We need to work on that.  Tim fixed us a wonderful breakfast, and Jackson enjoyed yogurt and grits for the first time.  He loved the yogurt but not the grits. Then we went to Haywood Mall for the Dr. Seuss celebration.  Jackson met the Cat in the Hat.  We had lunch at Frodo's and then headed home.  We took Jackson with us to the grocery store, and it was his first time to ride in the cart.  He LOVED it! He is becoming Mr. Independent.  He also has a new trick.  When we put him on his tummy, he turns around in a circle!  I am sure he will be crawling before we know it! 

 Here are some pictures from the past week!

Ohhhh, Jackson!

Today I took Jackson to therapy for the first time in a month.  My mom has been taking him.  We have been trying different things to try to get Jackson to work harder during therapy.  We tried having sessions at different times, having my mom take him, and having his therapist take him back by himself.  Nothing has helped.  His therapist is so wonderful. I always feel horrible after a session because he cries the whole time.

Today we met with several therapists. Kelly was there with some of her colleagues brainstorming ways to best help Jackson.  He was holding his head in the middle when we got there. It immediately goes to the left when he gets mad or tired. He was fine when we got there, but he cried as soon as we went back to the room.  He did show off some today and rolled across the mat.  Finally!!! He did it all by himself!  That was the first time I have seen him do it. We have decided to the Tot Collar.  Jackson will have to wear it for 2 hours each day, and we are hoping that will help with the tilt.

We also talked to another therapist about the possibility of reflux.  I don't see any of it, but I usually only feed him once a day.  It made me really sad that I couldn't give her more information about his eating, but I am not around him that much during the day.   The therapists at Pediatric Therapy Works are wonderful!  (I do feel bad that Jackson screams the whole time we are there.) They have gone above and beyond to help Jackson.  I am so thankful that we have a place so close to home that works with children!

Blessed

I am so blessed. I have a precious son, a wonderful husband, supportive parents, a great brother and sister-in-law, great in-laws, and the best family ever! I have a house, a job, food, and clothes.

The weather has been wonderful!  It was above 70 on Sunday, and we enjoyed every second of it.  We went for a walk around our neighborhood, and we spent some time swinging on the hammock.  I cannot wait until spring and warm weather.  Jackson loves to be outside, so I know we will be spending a lot of time on the screen porch.

Jackson was cute when I picked up from my mom's house on Monday! He was doing all of his tricks-screaming, blowing raspberries, and playing Patty Cake.  It was so cute!  He also had to show off when Charlotte got there. I love when he is excited when I get there. By the way, I am also so blessed to have my mom take care of Jackson.  He gets tons of attention and love.  There is no place I would rather him be!

I ended up working late at school today.  It has been a long time since I have stayed past 5:00, but there were just things I had to get done. Tim picked up Jackson, and then we went to eat at Moe's.  This was Jackson's first time to Moe's, and I think he really liked it.  We put him in the high chair, and he loved swinging his legs and banging on the table.  He also loved the music.  As the music got louder, so did he. He screamed and laughed the entire time we were there!  It was so funny. He was so loud we thought we were going to get kicked out of Moe's!

We came and took a bath.  Bath time has been really fun lately.  Jackson is totally into his toys and splashing around.  He has also learned how to turn around in the tub. 

Jackson is trying to move more on his own.  He scoots every where and can turn around on his bottom. He is trying to pull up on furniture and toys.  He is trying to go from a sitting position to a crawling position, but then he doesn't know what to do.

His new favorite toy is his personal remote.  That child can sniff out a TV remote, so we bought him his own.  Of course, he still likes ours, but he is pretty happy to play with his remote too.

I apologize for all of the random thoughts, but I had some time tonight.  I just don't want to forget any of these fun things!

Jackson-8 Months

This past month has flown by!  I can't believe that Jackson is 8 months old!  His first birthday will be here before we know it!

Jackson:

• Wears mostly 9 month clothes.  He can wear some 12 months.
• Wears size 3 diapers, but will be moving to size 4 soon!
• He eats 3 meals a day: cereal in the morning, veggies at lunch, and fruit for dinner.  He pretty much loves everything, especially sweet potatoes, apples, and bananas. He tried his first puffs today.  He was a little unsure at first, but I think he liked them.
• He sleeps through the night.  He will fall asleep in his car seat, but otherwise, someone has to be holding him.
• He has 4 teeth including the 2 bottom middle and two upper on the sides of the middle ones.
• He can finally roll from his tummy to his back.  He still hates rolling from his back to tummy.
• He screams all of the time (in a good way)!  He loves to make noises and talk. He especially loves when you mimic him.
• Jackson loves to play! His favorites right now are still his Jumperoo, his tool bench, and his table. He loves anything that lights up and makes noise!
• He still loves to read and chew on books.  
• He loves to chew on his socks. 
• Katy Perry and Elmo always cheer him up!
• Jackson loves to splash in the bath tub.
• He has tried to pull up on some furniture and can stand for a few seconds independently.
• He scoots on his bottom and can turn himself around, but has not attempted crawling yet.
• We had to lower the crib today (like he sleeps in it or something.).

These are some pictures from this past week.  As you can see, he was not really in the mood to take his official 8 month pictures.

Eating Puffs

Moving the crib mattress

Trying on my new bathing suit!

Get me outta here!

No more pictures!