to this:
to this:
to this (the night before giving birth):
In active labor-Ha! But seriously-that pain is NO joke!
And then, at 2:17 PM on 8/8/09, Jackson entered the world and our lives would never be the same.
And he was so peaceful when he was born, which worried us at first because he wasn't crying. Looking back, I now think it was just a part of what was to be his general disposition. To this day, he is still a pretty calm and chilled out little guy, which I love about him. He still lays back in his high chair and stroller and kicks his feet up, which causes so many comments from strangers about how cute, relaxed, and content he looks. More than anything, though, he seems so completely
happy, which reassures me and Justin that we've gotta be doing something right. Here are some updates about Jackson at 12 months:
-He is walking everywhere now and he is unstoppable! He started a little after 11 months and now he has gotten so good at it. He has also started walking so fast that he is almost running and he will run right into our arms to give hugs/kisses. He loves to walk while holding our hands and pull us around the house while waving at everything he sees along the way. He climbs up our stairs at lightening speed and holds our hand to walk back down them. Whew, our days of kicking our feet back and relaxing while he is awake are way over!
-He has 8 teeth and is still using them to bite when he gets frustrated. It's not too often, but we are still trying to teach him not to bite. The pediatrician suggested that we implement time out-1 minute per year of age. We will probably start it soon now that I am noticing the very beginning of his assertiveness coming through :) Sometimes he goes through stages where he bites more often, and I am trying to determine if that corresponds to teething. Speaking of teeth, he loves to have his teeth brushed. We do it twice a day and he opens up wide and then claps when we are done.
-We are slowly making progress with introducing new foods. He is trying new foods, but it is a slow process to get him to really be interested in them. He still LOVES his baby food, though. We usually include chunky "table foods" and a whole jar of baby food in with each meal until we can get him eating more of a variety of table food. We have been given the go ahead to start cows milk, which we will start soon. Recently we have tried giving him scrambled eggs, mashed egg yolks, blueberries, and watermelon with no luck. He will put them in his mouth and then take them right back out and throw them on the floor. I am going to just keep trying in hopes that he will get used to them. We have had success with pancakes, bread, grilled cheese, stage 3 chunky baby food (which used to make him gag), and noodles. And speaking of food, I reached my goal of breastfeeding for a year!!
YAY! The last few months have had their challenges, but I stuck through it. We always kept a small stock of formula on hand just in case we needed it, but we never did, so Jackson ended up never having a single drop of formula. I feel fortunate to have been able to do this, and it has also been a huge cost savings for us this year. (side note-I know not everyone can breastfeed or do it this long for a variety of reasons, and I certainly don't judge anyone for using formula. I am happy that it exists and that there is another option for women who need it or prefer it!)
-Sleep, sleep, sleep-I feel like a broken record, but it is still inconsistent. And it has been awhile since I got a full nights sleep without waking to nurse him back down. I know I have said this before, but the time is upon us to start working to make this better. I am going to quit offering it up at night in hopes that he will learn not to rely on it to get back to sleep. Then I will continue to slowly cut out his daytime feedings until he is completely weaned. Who knew weaning would be so hard? I think the reason it is harder than I thought is because we have tied nursing and sleep in together, which in hindsight, probably
wasn't the best idea. Still, he is happy, healthy, and he still gets an average of 11 hours of sleep per night and 3 hours of naps a day, so I feel that we
aren't a total failure in the sleep department. I am looking forward to getting a full nights sleep again soon...hopefully that is not just wishful thinking! :)
-Jackson had been very clingy to me the last few months, but lately he has become quite the Daddy's boy. He flip flops over which of us he prefers each day, but he seems to become increasingly more affectionate with Justin by the day. Sometimes Justin will be holding Jackson and Jackson will spontaneously lean in and give him kisses over and over and lay his head on Justin's shoulder. He had been doing that with me for a little while, but now some days
Justin gets more
lovin' than I do! Jackson also seems to have begun finding more and more things about me and Justin that he finds funny. We make him laugh all the time. The difference is that he laughs a lot at us when we
aren't trying to make him laugh. Usually we will just be talking and there is a phrase or sound that he finds hilarious. It is ADORABLE!
-Jackson's latest obsession is with anything involving water. I swear as soon as he sees or hears running water, he yells out "
WAWA!" and gets really excited and begins to wave at the water. He continues to love
bath time and the other night I took some of the bubbles from his bath in my hand and blew them on him. He thought that was just the greatest thing and we had to do it over and over again while he giggled the whole time.
-His favorite bedtime stories are: Goodnight Moon, I Love You Stinky Face, I Love My Daddy, and My Go To Bed Book. He now has his favorite pages in each book that we have to spend extra time looking at during
story time so that he can "talk" to them. He is great at turning the pages and pointing things out.
-He is becoming a pro at rolling and bouncing a ball toward us. He is also mastering simple commands. If we ask him to bring us a ball, book, or car from his toy collection, he will pick out the correct item and bring it to us. If we ask him where things are (aka the fan, kitty, etc), he will look toward that item and point to it. He also loves playing with magazines and ripping out pages to bring to us so that we can make over it. He gets so proud of himself when we make a big deal out of it. He is really into sharing everything right now ( I know this will change one day!) and wants to share with us his toys, food, and basically anything he can get his bear paws on.
-This little man is a dancing machine! Anytime some music plays he starts clapping and bending his knees and bouncing, all with a huge smile on his face. I really think I could sit there and watch him do that all day long! And I know I may be biased, but I think he's got some good
rhythm...he often claps and stomps his feet the beat!
I have to admit, the night before Jackson's birthday, I had a little moment right before I laid him in his crib for the night. He was in such a peaceful sleep and I just looked down at him and I felt sadness that he is not really a baby anymore. I also felt such pride and happiness of the little boy that he is becoming everyday. Still, it seems like so long ago that we held him for the very first time, yet also like no time has passed at all. And I thought about how even though the next day, he would officially no longer be a baby, he would always be
our baby. I guess that's how our parents must feel too, and maybe I am beginning to understand a little bit why our grandparents keep saying that they can't believe that the "babies are having babies". Jackson has brought us more joy than we could have ever imagined and I thank God for him every single day. Our little boy is truly the light of our lives, and our love for him grows with each passing day! :)
Speaking of growing, Jackson is growing like a weed! His official stats from his 12 month visit are:
Height: 31.5 in ~92nd percentile
Weight: 22 lbs 8 oz~45th percentile
Head Circumference: 18 inches~65th percentile
PS-1st birthday party photos coming soon! Also, Jackson takes his 1 year photos tomorrow...will post them when I get them back!
Jackson had a wonderful birthday!! I really don't think that the day could have gone any better! He woke up that morning in bed with Mommy and Daddy. I kept him in bed with us after he woke up at 5 AM to feed, and he slept for another 2 hours in between us. He woke up at 7 AM with a big smile on his face and, as always, a huge amount of energy. Justin's mom and Carl were in town staying with us and we took him downstairs so that he could get his first "birthday song" of the day from them. Then we played a bit and then Justin's mom took over so that we could start getting things ready for his birthday party. Because Jackson LOVES the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, we made that his party theme. We kept it small and at our house so that he would be the most comfortable.
Lauren made the most perfect cake ever for us and it was also delicious! When it was time for Jackson to eat cake, he did much better than we thought. He actually ate some cake and icing, which we were surprised by, given all of the people watching him. He also enjoyed playing with it and feeding it to everyone else! He was eating up all of the attention from everyone! Then it was time for presents, and it's safe to say that Jackson was completely spoiled! He loved all of his gifts (and the boxes that they came in! :)
We also had a special treat at Jackson's party, since it was his great-grandma's 80th birthday as well. We surprised her with a cake and sang Happy Birthday to her too. I think she was really surprised and really enjoyed spending her birthday with her great-grandson and family!
After the party he took his afternoon nap and then we headed to dinner to meet my Dad and Grandma A to celebrate. Jackson did great at dinner, although Mommy and Daddy were pooped! He also enjoyed opening even more gifts that evening from my dad and my grandma. What a fun day! Next years birthday will be a much bigger celebration, but this year was perfect in every way!
