Jackson is WALKING!!

Fun in the Sun!

We recently took a mini-vacation to Hilton Head for a few days of fun in the sun. We stayed at the Marriott resort and spa, which was awesome! They had four beachfront pools and a beautiful stretch of beach to enjoy, which was perfect to take Jackson to. We got a suite and we have found that works so well when traveling with Jackson because we don't have to go to sleep at 7 pm when he does! Nothing beats a day of beach, pool, and an early bedtime for a sleep baby-which provided the perfect opportunity for Justin and I to make gluttons of ourselves on a 3 course meal of room service. One of the best parts was that all of the sudden we looked out of our window and saw a beautiful fireworks show right outside. We headed out on the balcony and just relaxed and watched the show. Jackson slept through the whole thing. It was really nice to see them, especially since we missed 4th of July fireworks this year. What a wonderful little getaway it was!


Nekkid Baby Alert! Here is Jackson getting ready to put on his swimming trunks and head down to the beach:



Fun in the sun with Daddy!


I think he likes it!
Cooling off in the pool with Mommy!

Dinner at Skull Creek Boathouse...it was delicious!

The other morning I woke up exhausted from a couple of nights of nightwaking with Jackson. (thankfully it seems to have passed for now and he is sleeping better). I was just feeling so tired and cranky and so Justin took Jackson out for a little while to give me some rest. They came home and brought me something that I have been wanting for YEARS! I know it seems silly, but I have been wanting an edible arrangement for so long. It really picked me up and I was so excited that I was jumping up and down. The bonus to the day was that Jackson took a great nap later and I was able to get another hour of sleep. Thank you to my boys for my fabulous (and delicious!) bouquet. :)

More pool time in the backyard!

Check out that Buddah-Belly!

He is a happy little guy :)

Happy Birthday PaPa!

It was my Dad's 60th (wow!) birthday a couple of weeks ago. We took him out to dinner at Hanks, one of his favorite seafood restaurants downtown. My grandma also came along and we had a great time. Jackson brought my dad some balloons that said "Happy 60th" just to make sure everyone in the restaurant knew how old my dad was turning (hehe). We had a delicious meal followed by some dessert and a song for birthday boy. Happy Birthday Dad!

11 Months Old

Wow, the next "month" post will be for our ONE year old!! I just can't believe how fast time has flown. This month has been so much fun! Here are some updates:

-Jackson waves at everything! Seriously. We call him the "Jackson Whaley welcome wagon" because from the second he wakes up, he starts waving. He will start with the fan and then make is way around the room. As soon as he sees me or Justin, he will give us a big enthusiastic wave. I have even caught him waving in his sleep. What a sweetheart!

-He also gives kisses-big, wet, sloppy ones and then he will bury his head into you afterwards for a few seconds. I don't know if it is a hug or if he's embarrased, but it is adorable. He also points to things that he wants and is now holding his toy phone up to his ear like a big boy.

-We now have his first official word...MAMA! He says it ALL the time now. Sometimes it's just Mum, but we are pretty sure he knows that I am Mama and that he means to say it now. He is also saying DADA to Justin non stop. He started saying Dada just a few weeks after Mama. It melts our hearts every time. He has been quite the little talker these days.

-He has taken his first steps! He hasn't gone more that 3-4 at a time, but he's getting there! Justin saw his very first step, but together we saw his first couple of steps. That was really special. We were like "Oh my gosh, did he just do that!?" I think he will be officially walking by his birthday or very soon after.

-He loves music time with Daddy in the evenings. Justin takes Jackson after dinner while I shower and he pipes Pandora music through our TV. Jackson loves it! Justin says his favorites are definitely Sting, Dave Matthews, The Eagles, and Jimi Hendrix...although deep down I KNOW his favorite is Counting Crows. :) (Yes, although my obsession with Adam Duritz has slightly lessened through the years, Counting Crows will always be my favorite band!) Funny story, as we were driving down the interstate this past weekend, I put on "51st Anniversary" by Jimi Hendrix because he LOVED that song when I was pregnant. Towards the end of my pregnancy, he would go crazy every time I played that song and I felt like he was going to punch through my stomach. Well, as soon as the CD started, he began clapping, smiling, and kicking his legs in his carseat. I guess he really is a Jimi fan!! :)

-Ahh the biting continues. When he gets mad or frustrated he leans into us and bites our shoulder. That little stinker has some sharp teeth! We respond by saying "No biting!" and then we say "That hurts Mommy/Daddy". If we make a really sad face then he will instantly get a pitiful look on his face and start crying. Of course then we have to give him a big hug and tell him that "it's ok, just no more biting". It is the sweetest thing. The biting seems to be lessening a bit. I know he's not doing it to hurt us-it is definitely a frustration thing. He will learn. Something that I am really learning is that he is keenly aware of my emotions, tone of voice, etc. I was holding him the other day and I walked into a spider web. I immediately starting kind of nervously jumping around, swatting at it, and saying "ewww ahhh" and Jackson took one look at me and started crying, a real sad cry. He gets so upset if he senses that I am upset

-He has eaten some more "table" foods: chicken, peas, carrots, grapes, toast (finally without throwing up! I think it was a texture thing.) He still really loves cheese, yogurt, puffs/cheerios, and mum mums. We are still giving him a good bit of baby food, but we are slowly trying to transition to more finger foods. Now that he will eat toast, I am going to attempt a flattened grilled cheese. I also bought some fresh oranges and peaches to make some chunks to give him. Mashed egg yolks and scrambled eggs are next on the list as well. He is also master of the sippy cup! I can't remember the last time he's taken a bottle. He also loves water. He is still on the fence about apple juice, though.

-He is still nursing, nursing, nursing. I am trying my best to wean him and we have finally been able to cut out some feedings. For the first time in awhile, I am noticing a dip in my supply. I am thinking I will end up going a bit past my goal of a year simply because I dont want it to be an abrupt ending for him (and me?!). I don't think it will be much longer than 13/14 months, though. I am really just trying to be as flexible as possible while still sticking to my goal of a year.

-Sleep...Ahh, does anyone else out there have an 11 month old that doesnt quite sleep through the night yet? He used to until we cut out the swaddle at 4 months old and sleep hasnt been the same since. We also had some good nights until all 6 teeth decided to pop through in the span of a few months. That was fun. I have been hoping for some better consistency, and I think we are finally getting there. We are getting some good 7-8 hours stretches until he briefly wakes up to nurse. He is still getting on average 11 hours of sleep per night and is very consistent in his nap schedule (9:30 AM and 2:00 PM).

-This month has been a blast as his personality has really been shining through. He is becoming more fun and interactive. I love to watch him play with his toys and "talk" to them. It's amazing to watch him grow and learn new things right before our very eyes. It's getting harder to remember how life was before Jackson was in it. We just couldn't ask for a more perfect and sweet baby to spend our days and nights with!

Jackson's 1st 4th of July! (plus lots of pictures)

It was a gorgeous weekend here in SC for the 4th of July!! The highs were in the mid 80's and the mornings were nice and cool. As for Jackson, he was just getting over the tail end of a very mild cold, but in great spirits as always! Unfortunately it looks like Justin has caught his cold, but thankfully he isnt feeling too under the weather. Still, it wasn't enough to keep us from enjoying this wonderful 3 day weekend!

On Saturday we went to Summerville's July 4th celebration at Town Square called Red, White, and Blue on the Green. There was music, food, fun kiddie booths, and a non-motorized parade. Our neighbor is a pastor of a church that was having a booth there and they told us about this event. We are so glad we went! We got Jackson dressed up in his patriotic outfit and it was a lot of fun. We ran into our neighbors who were all decorated and decked out in their patriotic gear. The neighbor girls even won an award in the parade: most patriotic! I attached a picture of their wagon. So cute! We also ran into our other neighbors from across the street who have a baby girl, Annesly, who is two months older than Jackson. Justin ran into some friends from high school. There was a great turnout for this event and it was very family-friendly. Jackson even got to meet his first "character", who was Mister Pig from Piggly Wiggly. This is really fitting, since that was my very first job and I worked there for 4 years! We werent' sure how it would go, but Jackson just seemed intrigued by the giant pig and just stared him down-no frowns or tears, though.

The next day (July 4th) we set up Jackson's baby pool in our backyard, and it was A HIT! He loved it and splashed, clapped, and smiled over and over. We had so much fun watching him. Annabelle also joined in on the fun and inched closer and closer and did her best to try and get some attention from us. I know we will be using that pool a lot this summer! He was also so cute in his little swimming trunks! The rest of the day we took it easy and did an early dinner before his bedtime. We didn't get to see fireworks this year, since Jackson was asleep by 7:45, but maybe next year we will. We did hear them, though! Thankfully he slept right through it.

Monday July 5th was a holiday and we met Matt and Meri for lunch before they headed back to ATL. It was great to see them, but too short, as always. The rest of the day was spent running errands and doing some shopping. Annabelle got a new kitty perch and we got rid of her old one which we had for 4 years. While I was doing my weekly cleaning of our screened in porch, I found 3 baby frog dead bodies, a few crickets, and several dead wasps and bees. Annabelle has been busy! Justin snapped a photo of me in my socks out there cleaning. Isn't that outfit sexy? It gives new meaning to the words frumpy housewife. I love how I am so pale that you almost can't tell where my legs end and my socks begin. ha! Hey, they can't be all cute pictures of Jackson on here...Just keeping in real! :)

Annabelle giving her biggest smile!

My favorite thing that Jackson did all weekend was point, wave, and clap-at everything! He is now waving to us and clapping ALL the time. Now I can tell that he is doing it to express his happiness. In his baby pool, he probably spent 70% of the time looking at us with a big grin and clapping. I love it!