Life Lately

We have been so busy lately with play dates, Cradle Talk, music class, and swim lessons! He is one entertained boy for sure! And I am loving every minute of it!

Jackson likes going to Marissa's house with Macy. It's fun for us moms to hang out too. Marissa's mom is Kerri and Macy's mom is Jen. Jackson really liked Marissa's toy but she doesn't look too pleased that he's playing with it.

"Who told him he could play with my toy?"
While Marissa and Jackson were playing, Macy was having a snack in her carrier. She just got her band vinyl wrapped and it is soooo cute!

Friday morning we had our first swim lesson. Addison and her mommy Renee are taking lessons too. We "learned" how to get in from the side of the pool, hold on to the edge, back float, kick our legs to get a toy, and go under a fountain. Jackson was more impressed with the lights on the ceiling than the water.

This is us after the swim lesson....right before his huge meltdown. He was one tired kid!

Saturday mornings are my chance to sleep in. Bryan gets up with Jackson and I usually try to sleep another hour or so. This morning was no different and Bryan even had Jackson in his high chair eating when I came down. He had prepared carrots and cereal for him. I asked about having carrots for breakfast but he said he couldn't find the fruit. Oh well! Jackson doesn't know the difference! Daddy lets him get pretty messy while he eats though!

Bryan even did all the clean up too! I am pretty sure he used half a roll of paper towels but he did it all himself!

Dear Jackson,

Is...

it...
even possible...
for

me

to

be

more

in love?

Love,

Momma

Happy Half Birthday Jackson!

We had our six month photoshoot today and I could barely get him to smile again. Although it was annoying, I was mostly worried that he would do the same thing with his actual six month pictures later in the afternoon. I didn't plan well and scheduled them for the day after his six month shots. He did great with the pictures though and I can't wait to get them in a couple weeks. In the meantime, here are his monthly pictures.

Jackon, at six months old you are:

• weighing 17 pounds and 4 ounces.
• 26 and 3/4 inches long.
• in the 83rd percentile for head circumference at 17 and 3/4 inches.
• sitting up all by yourself. I still have to be careful though because you topple over sometimes.
• eating rice cereal, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, and golden delicious apples. You make the best faces when you get a new taste in your mouth.
• have a sippy cup on your high chair but you see it more as a toy right now. You always look surprised when water comes out of it.
• have one bottom tooth that is barely poking through your gums.
• starting to make some consonant sounds. You say mamamamamama a lot.
• very unpredictable when it comes to sleep. Some nights you will sleep 11 hours straight and other nights you wake up and want a bottle. You used to take great naps in your crib but now you cry and cry until I pick you up. We'll keep working on it!
• reaching for toys (or mommy's cell phone) that are just out of reach.
• chewing on EVERYTHING !
• ONE AMAZING LITTLE MAN!!!

Mmmmm...Food!

Jackson had his first real food last week! I was too excited to wait another week so he had it one week early. Oops. I was really excited to make it too. I am making all his baby food and wanted to give it a shot. I made acorn squash, sweet potatoes, golden delicious apples, and pears. He had the squash for a few days and then I gave him sweet potatoes. He really prefers the sweet potatoes. I bought everything organic this time. I think that I will continue to do that even though it takes away some of the cost effectiveness. Making my own allows me to feed him organic food at a lower cost than even the regular pre-made baby food.

I just microwaved the potatoes in a cup of water after peeling them and cutting them in one inch cubes.

After the potatoes cook they are ready to be dumped into the food processor.
All pureed and ready to go. I had to add a little water to get the right consistency.

The puree is poured into these ice cube trays with lids. They are one ounce portions that I dump into freezer bags. I write the date I made it and then it is good for two months! So easy!

Jackson is ready for his first bite of squash.

Ooooh, gross. He wasn't sure what he thought of the first bite.

A weird joker face.

Still worried about bite #2

Stuffed. I wish I could be done after an ounce of squash a 3 tablespoons of cereal.

Christmas in KC and Cincinnati

Christmas was in Kansas City this year. We were able to go a week early and Bryan worked in the KC office Monday through Wednesday. It was great to be able to see friends and family while we were in town. We saw my whole family, and friends Julie (and her momma), Shawn and Carrie and Marianne and Garrett.

On Tuesday night the Alexanders came over for stew and Jackson and Teagen were able to "play" together. Teagen is 12 days younger than Jackson.

On Chrismas Eve, everyone came to our house for presents. Here is all of Jackson's first Christmas gifts.
And this is my favorite picture, I think. I forgot he was sitting below me and and he toppled right over. I was just too focused on the presents. Luckily, Bryan had quick refexes and captured it on film, er, whatever it is now that we don't use film. He was across the room so he couldn't have caught him if he tried.

These are JJ's second cousins, Bailey and Cole.

Aunt Robin and Uncle John

Great Grandma and Grandpa (Gma and Gpa)

Here are our Christmas pajamas.

Jackson really couldn't have cared less about his stocking. But here's what Santa left anyway.

On Christmas we went to my Aunt Linda's house. This is our Christmas family picture.

The whole week proved to be too much for JJ. He was zonked. And got sick shortly afterwords. He was coughing and stuffy the whole way home.

We were back in Aurora for a few days before we headed to Ohio. Actually, we got home at midnight and then had to shovel 8 inches of snow out of our driveway so Bryan could go to work in the morning and the furniture delivery people could get in the driveway. It was a crazy busy several days as we had to treat Claire and Lily for fleas, flea bomb the house and then clean everything, I had a weird stomach bug and then we had to pack for Ohio. It was crazy.

Friday morning we got up at 6 and left for Columbus for the Pancake Breakfast. We stayed at Lee and Lea's and really enjoyed being with the Quad to ring in the new year. Jackson especially liked playing with Steven's toys.

Uncle Jeremy was taught the best way to suck on your fingers.

Uncle Dan is a pediatrician. He gave Jackson his bedtime bottle. I really can't believe both Steven and Jackson slept through the craziness that night. Well, slept through until 4am. He was up and ready for the day at 5:30. Ugh.

We left Columbus the next day and headed to Cincinnati for "Christmas." Upon arrival, we played for a bit, JJ napped and then the we opened presents.

Jackson enjoyed showing off his sitting up skills.

Grandpa spent a lot of time on the floor playing with his grandson.They read stories together too.

Before bed, Bryan read Carl's Christmas to Jackson. It's a book with pictures only that allows the "reader" to tell the story based on the pictures. I can't wait until Jackson is old enough to make up his own story.

We travelled over 1,700 miles over the holiday and are really glad to be home for a while!