Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We stayed home this year and had family visit us. Jackson enjoyed all the extra attention from everyone! I snapped some fun photos of Jackson today at a couple different local parks:
These last two pics were taken exactly one year apart at the same location. He was tired of the paparazzi in both photos, but I love the comparison of how much he has changed in the last year!

18-Month Doctor Appointment

I took Jackson to see Dr G for his 18-month doctor appointment earlier this week. Jackson must not like Dr G's new office as he started screaming the moment I turned my car off in the parking lot until we were driving away an hour later. I was physically exhausted when we left, it takes A LOT of energy to hold and try to calm a screaming toddler for that long!

But anyways, the appointment itself went well, at least the part that I could hear :) Jackson weighs 25.3 pounds (50 percentile), is 32.5 inches tall (75 percentile) and still has a big ol' head (75 percentile). Dr G commented on how he was such a tall boy and was pleased with his development. Jackson had a little bit of fluid on his ears, no noticeable infection, but since he has had a little fluid at each of the last couple appointments, Dr G placed him on an antibiotic as a precaution. We go back in a couple weeks to have his ears rechecked (can't wait). The only shot Jackson received at this appointment was his flu shot, but he also had his hemoglobin checked and it was completely normal.

Here are a few recent pics. The first one is Jackson's second trip in the Mustang. He was a happy boy!This was Jackson over the weekend riding his John Deere and eating cheerios:

And finally here is a funny video of Jackson after he learned how to close the doors to Scott's office:

18 Months Old!

Jackson is now 18 months old! Time flies when you are busy chasing a little monkey around all the time! His 18-month checkup with Dr G is on Tuesday, so I will post more after the appointment with all his key details. But in the meantime, here are a couple photos from his recent school pictures (sorry about the quality, they didn't offer electronic images):

Here is what the crazy little monkey is doing these days:
- We only have a handful of consistent words, but he is starting to string together 2 and 3 word sentences to tell us what he wants

- The newest word is his attempt at saying "water"...he says "wa wa" and it technically means anything in a liquid form

- He will say the same words repeatedly until you acknowledge that you also see the "car", "ball", "mmmm" (cow), or "wa wa"

- He is very attached to Skipit; we lost Skipit one day not too long ago and he protested sleep (for awhile) because he didn't have his buddy to cuddle with

- He loves to share his love...he loves to cuddle, give hugs and blow kisses; he occasionally will try to give an actual kiss but it is very wet

- He has mastered the art of walking backwards and loves to practice; he typically giggles if anyone is watching him because he is so proud of his accomplishment

- He has finally learned how to crawl down the stairs on his belly, makes me slightly more comfortable with the many stairs in our house

- He loves to be outside! Lately he has really enjoyed walking up or down the street with me, we hold hands while we walk...so very sweet! He still loves to go for a ride in the stroller or wagon too!

- He is getting a little bit better about eating, at least at school. He is still pretty picky around us but will eat most of the foods offered at school. He still hates cheese, deli meats and mac & cheese. And has started to turn up his nose at some veggies that he used to like (peas, carrots) but they continue to offer them to him at school on a regular basis

- He still loves to sleep in on the weekends! We are very blessed with a great sleeper!

Rollin' in the Mustang

Jackson took his first ride in the Mustang today. Scott bought a racing themed car seat for the Mustang and we installed it this morning. Here's Jackson trying to "help" daddy make sure it is properly installed: Jackson really enjoyed the new ride! Here he is laughing and enjoying himself:

Happy Halloween!

Jackson was an adorable little monkey for Halloween this year (or a mouse or a bear as some people thought...) We weren't too sure what he would think of Halloween, all the dressed up people and excitement, so we were pleasantly surprised when he had a blast. There were some costumes that he was a little afraid of, but for the most part just wanted to be in the middle of all of the fun. We had a small trick-or-treat bucket for him, he was happy to carry around his Cheerios in it. I did take him to a couple houses for trick-or-treating, but he didn't want to take any of their treats. His favorite part of the night was getting to pet a neighbor's golden retriever. The dog was very gentle and was happy to let Jackson "pet" him (i.e, hit him) and pull his tail. Jackson also had a blast running around the driveway, showing off to whoever would pay attention. I even let Jackson try an M&M, he quickly made a face and spit it out.

Some cute pics: