6 Month Well Visit

Official stats:

Weight: 18 lbs 12 oz-63rd percentile

Height: 28 3/4 in-96th percentile!

Head Circumference: 17 1/4-67th percentile

He is getting SO big!! He did GREAT at this dr. appt. He was exceptionally happy on Thursday when we took him to his appt. He was flirting with the nurse and even smiled for Dr. Baker when he walked in. The appt went well and everything looked great. The dr said he is right on track and he was really impressed with how interactive Jackson was at this visit. It is always great to see Dr. Baker-Justin and I are so happy to have him as Jackson's pediatrician. You can tell just how much he really loves his job. He told us at the end of the appt that Jackson was a lucky baby to have us as parents...that was so sweet! Jackson got 3 more shots and only cried for a second. I was all ready to nurse him afterwards, but he didnt want to and was absolutely fine as soon as it was over. I guess he was letting me know that he is a big boy now!

Jackson had his first overnight hotel stay last weekend in Savannah. Justin had a meeting there last Monday and we drove down on Sunday to spend the day. Jackson slept the whole way down there, which was nice. It was a great Valentines Day and Jackson even wore his Valentine's onesie! We did lunch down on riverwalk and walked around a bit. He did well that night and he and I spent the day on Monday together and shopped. When it started raining we went back to the hotel and played, sang songs, danced, and ordered room service for lunch. When Justin got done we drove home and he slept the whole way home...success!

We also tried to give Jackson peas on Sunday and lets just say he is NOT a fan! He immediately got a disgusted look on his face and spit them all out. I kept trying to give him small bites, but then he began gagging after each one...how dramatic! :) We tried again on Monday and got the same result, so we switched to applesauce which he liked. We will try reintroducing peas again in about a month. Tomorrow we will try carrots-fingers crossed that he likes them!

We are transitioning Jackson to naptime in his crib. As I have been typing this, he has been fighting sleep. He just fell asleep in his crib about 5 minutes ago after 30 minutes of fussing/crying/yelling. It takes all that we have not to go get him, but it is for his own good (and ours). I hope he will stay asleep longer than 30 minutes. As I mentioned before, when he naps in his swing, we get at least 1 1/2 hours of a good nap twice a day. Pretty soon he is going to outgrow the swing, though. I want to make this transition before that happens. Funny story-On Thursday afternoon after his appt, he fell asleep in his swing. Justin went to the gym and I went in our "office" room to do some work. I had the door cracked so that I could hear Jackson. About an hour into his nap, I heard our front door creak and it made me jump because I knew Justin shouldnt be home yet. I thought it was my imagination, but then Jackson woke up and started crying. I walked out to check on him, which means I have to walk past our front door which has a big window on it. There were two Mormon boys peering into my door and looked right at me. The funny part is that I was only wearing flannel pants and my nursing bra. Sometimes I forget to put my shirt back on if I have just fed Jackson. HAHA! I jumped back into the office and waited for them to leave and they started KNOCKING again! Eventually they gave up and Jackson (of course) never went back to sleep. How ANNOYING (but funny).

Nights are still going well. Jackson sleeps for about 8 hrs straight until he wants to eat and then will sleep for another 3 after being fed. Occasionally we still have night waking, but for the most part our nights are pretty predictable. Also, Jackson has begun "saying" what sounds like "HI" all the time and has also started blowing raspberries. He also laughs constantly. He thinks it is so funny when he has a dirty diaper and we will say "stinky stinky stinky". If Justin blows a raspberry on his tummy, Jackson will laugh and blow one right back! He also LOVES his daddy! If Justin leaves the room, Jackson will scan the room constantly looking for him until he reappears and when he sees him, he will get so excited!

We will be starting a mothers morning out program in the next 2 months or so. We are looking into taking him to probably 2 days a week from 8:30-12. I am looking forward to Jackson being able to interact with other babies and socialize more. I am not looking forward to his inevitable first illness, if it doesn't happen before then. Other than that, things are going well and we are looking forwared to warmer weather. These pictures are from today downtown at Waterfront Park....it was a gorgeous day! I can't believe that it is almost March!

Let it snow, Let is snow, Let it snow!

Today Jackson saw his first SNOW!! It started snowing yesterday evening at about 6 PM and went until about 1 AM. We awoke to the most beautiful sight outside! It was so much fun watching all of the neighborhood kiddies get so excited over it. Most of the houses on our street made snowmen. We bundled Jackson up and took him outside to see all of it as soon as he woke up. He really seemed to take it all in, but was more interested in watching the kids play in it. We ended up getting 5 inches, and it was the first snow accumulation here in over 10 years! I don't remember ever seeing this much snow in Charleston since the 6 inches we got after Hurricane Hugo in 1989. This was a rare treat for us! It has been a nice morning spent watching the snow melt and fall from the trees. Jackson wont remember it, so we took lots of pictures and video!

It's bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Jackson seems to really like his bananas. I am posting a video of his first taste. At first he was unsure, but he seems to enjoy them now. Please disregard my annoying "zoom" noises. At least Jackson seems entertained by them! Also, although Justin mentions "cheesy eggs" in the video, they are in fact bananas. That comment is a joke meant for my sister in law! :) Next on the menu is organic peas, which we will start tomorrow!

Updates...

Just a couple of updates:

Jackson's new cousin Caroline Parker was born on Feb 08 at 10:07 AM, and weighed a whopping 9 lbs 8 oz!! I think everyone was shocked at her size, as Becca (her momma) is teeny-tiny. What a healthy baby! She is such a cutie, although I still can't decide who she looks more like just yet. I also included a picture of her big sisters, Emma and Olivia. I think maybe she slightly favors Emma. Caroline weighed more at birth than Emma and Olivia combined and Becca says she is a champion eater already...YAY!! I can't wait to meet baby Caroline in person and squeeze those precious cheeks!

Jackson is doing great and is growing like a weed. He has his 6 month dr. appt next week, which means more shots =( He has also begun really exploring things with his hands over the last week or so. When he is nursing he now likes to grab at my face, ears, hair, nose, etc and pull as hard as he can. I have several scratches from this. His fingers try to go in my mouth, eyes, nose...and a couple of times I have gotten smacked in the face! I know he is just feeling things out, but it can be painful at times! I think he must be comforted by it because he does it every time he nurses now. This is sometimes no fun at his 4:30 am feeding! I have been trying to hold his hand instead so that I dont look like I've been beaten the next morning :) He has also found *another* thing that he loves to grab onto during diaper changes. He will immediately give a big smile and starts to laugh over and over again. It is so funny!

He is still trying to scoot on his tummy and is getting good at pushing backwards. He gets frustrated after a while when he can't figure out yet how to move forward. He tries all different ways to figure it out. He'll get there soon!

Our next challenge is going to be getting him to nap in his crib. He will sleep in his crib all night, but he wont go longer than 30 minutes in his crib for naps. If we put him in his swing, he will nap for about 1 1/2 hours twice a day. Sometimes he has gone for up to 3 hours! The problem with this is that the swing is downstairs in our living room, which means we have to tiptoe around while he is napping. If one of us has to go outside or if the UPS man rings our doorbell, we run the risk of him waking up. And that makes for a cranky baby, which is no fun! Hopefully this transition will go better than I am expecting.

Dancing a Jig!

6 Months old!!

Jackson is almost 6 MONTHS OLD...where has the time gone?! Our sweet boy just gets funnier and cuter every day! He loves to use his voice now and I often wonder what he is trying to say. He has started to try and "scoot" along when he is on his tummy. I think this must be the very beginnings of him figuring out how to crawl. He still doesn't have any teeth yet, but he goes through several bibs a day from the constant drool. I recently read my baby book and I didn't get my first tooth until 8 1/2 months! I don't know about Justin-we really need to look for his baby book. It was really interesting to look through my baby book and read everything that my mom wrote down. I learned that I:

-was breastfed for 9 1/2 months

-sat up by myself at 6 months

-crawled at 6 months (won a crawling contest at 8 1/2 months because Im fast like that! :)

-said "Dada" at 6 1/2 months, "Mama" at 8 months

-walked at 9 1/2 months

-ate rice cereal at 13 weeks

I had to laugh when my book said "Child is good at:" and my mom wrote "EATING! She loves all foods!" Haha some things never change! :)

Jackson is now getting about about a tablespoon of rice cereal or oatmeal every night. I think his tummy is still trying to adjust because his diapers have been knocking us out lately! He thinks its hilarious when he has a particularly bad one. Tomorrow we are going to try bananas. He loves for me to make an airplane noise and wave the spoon around. He will open up big and wide to take a bite and then give a big smile at his accomplishment. I think he enjoys our "airplane" game more than the food itself! :) He has also really been enjoying his toys lately, especially the musical ones. He will play with them for a few minutes until they inevitably end up going in his mouth. When he gets them to make noise, he is so thrilled with himself. He is also now ticklish under his chin, armpits, and back. We tried weighing him today and we are estimating that he weighs just under 18 lbs now. We need to schedule his 6 month well visit this week. I am always interested to see what his official stats are. He has officially busted (lengthwise) out of most of his 6 month clothes and is now wearing mostly 9 months. I forgot to add that he has started reaching for us when he wants to be held-it is the sweetest thing!!

On Monday (at the latest), Jackson's newest cousin will be born in NC. We can't wait to meet baby Caroline! Jackson will also have a new cousin, Kendall, in April. We are so excited for Allen, Becca, Brooke, and Adrian! Also, Jackson's little buddy, William, will be born in March. Lauren and Will are going to make such great parents!

These last 6 months have been the most exciting, happy, challenging, and wonderful times of our lives! It always amazes us just how much he changes and grows, even in one day. Nothing beats waking up each morning to our smiling baby and ending each evening holding him as he sleeps peacefully. I know that we both feel so lucky and privileged to be Jackson's mommy and daddy. We wouldn't trade any thing in the world for each precious moment with him!

Baby Pictures

Pictures of baby Justin:

Pictures of baby Amber

Baby Jackson!



Who does he look like? We think he is a perfect combination, although Justin thinks he favors me a little bit more. I think he looks JUST like Justin in this one, though: