Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The Bug

I find it ironic that in my Friday post I mentioned how you have been well for about two weeks now with no runny nose, ear infections, etc. Saturday morning you threw up after breakfast and continued to all day long. It lasted about 24 hours and only today are you able to hold down solid foods. You caught "the bug" and then decided to give it to Daddy and me. I was up from about midnight until early Monday morning with it and Daddy woke up at about 5:30 Monday morning with it. Needless to say yesterday was a long day and with two sick parents it's hard to take care of a sick baby. It's even harder for two sick parents to take care of a baby who is feeling better and wants to play! But we made it through. The bug only lasted about 12 hours so by yesterday afternoon I was feeling better and by bedtime Daddy was feeling better too. Thank goodness it's over.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Language Update

You are "talking" up a storm. In the past week you have become so much more vocal. You are constantly vocalizing and experimenting with different sounds. We are hearing lots of g's and b's and a few m's and n's and of course your favorite "dadadadadada". I love hearing your sweet baby voice. You were quiet for so long and I am so thankful that you are beginning to babble again.

It's also exciting to watch you learn that words have meaning. As I posted awhile back, you understand "that's a no-no". You also turn to your name and have been doing that for awhile. You understand the word "up". While in your high chair and after your mealtime routine I will ask you, "do you want up?" You get really excited, start bouncing up and down and lift your arms up to me. Another word you understand is, "night night". During the day as nap time approaches I will tell you that it is time for "night night". As soon as you hear those words you start whining a little to let me know that you don't want to go.

Other Updates: You are getting closer to walking. You now cruise around the house one handed and you even take both hands off of whatever you are holding onto and stand on your own for a couple of long seconds. When you get really excited you take off walking with me holding just your waist. You are eating more table foods: peas, carrots, bananas, strawberries, pears, kiwi, and cheerios. You continue to just play with your sippy cup and not really drink from it. We will keep practicing. You have stayed well for over two weeks now. No runny nose, no congestion, no coughing and best of all, no ear infection! Yea!

Here's Jackson standing up all on his own!!!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Spring Break

Daddy and I both had the week off for Spring Break. We had a lot of fun! Aunt Erin let me borrow her "professional" camera and I am hooked. The clarity is awesome and I can get the close up pictures of you that I want without the blur. I really enjoyed playing with her camera this week. So here is what we did:

Monday:
Monday was rainy but we still got a lot done. We got new tires on the car, took a family trip to the grocery store and visited your great grandmother Nana. Nana was so excited to see you and you were anxious to show off your favorite tricks. We had fun at home too.

Tuesday:
Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! Tuesday was sunny, warm and beautiful so we headed to Veteran's Park. I have taken you to the park before but all we did was walk. So we were excited to see what your reaction would be to the slide, swing, etc. We also took your walker and let you walk through the grassy field. You had a blast. You actually didn't like the slide all that much...it scared you. But you loved the swing! You were a little hesitant at first but you warmed up quickly...

Wednesday:

Wednesday was another beautiful day so we headed out to the Botanical Gardens. I really wanted to take you to the Gardens to get some good pictures and they turned out precious! Daddy and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll and admired the beautiful tulips and daffodils that have already bloomed. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day:



Thursday:
On Thursday we went to the zoo. It was your first time as well as Daddy's first time at the Birmingham Zoo. You really seemed to enjoy all the new things to look at. We got an up close look at the giraffes which you didn't seem to like. We weren't sure if you were actually scared of the giraffe or if you just didn't like the terrible smell! Your favorite animal was definitely the monkeys! I could have guessed that because they ran around and chased each other, swung from the ropes and the trees and jumped from branch to branch. You were thoroughly entertained and thought that they were hilarious. But you did not want to get close to those flamingos!!!

Friday:

Daddy left early this morning to go camping with some friends. He really can't wait until he can take you with him...but not this time. So you and I headed over to play with our friends Ian and Cannon. It was nice to play with friends and it was good to talk with another mom and ask her my most recent "new mommy" questions. Yes, I still claim to be a "new mommy" because with each new stage brings a whole list of questions and things I don't know but am trying to learn. We had a nice lunch and a nice chat. Thanks Erin!

As you can see we had a very busy week. It was lots of fun though. It was great having Daddy around all week as well. This week I noticed a couple of new things that you are doing: You are initiating and playing peek-a-boo. You will pull your blanket up over your eyes and then quickly bring it down with a huge grin. It's very cute and you do it over and over again. You also have a new face that you learned to make. I call it the "fish face". I caught it a couple of times on camera throughout the week but I see you making it all the time now. It's really funny. "Fish Face"

Monday, March 16, 2009

Wedding in Chattanooga

This past weekend you attended your second wedding. This time was a little more complicated than your first wedding because Daddy and I were both in the wedding and the wedding was at night and went way past your bedtime. Daddy and I went to the rehearsal dinner on Friday night in Chattanooga while Grammy stayed with you here in Birmingham. We drove back late Friday night and headed back to Chattanooga on Saturday for the wedding. You enjoyed the car ride and did great but you didn't get your afternoon nap in. So after missing your afternoon nap and staying up later than usual you were a bit tired to say the least. It was fun to once again see old friends and some of those friends had not met you yet. We had a great time and we were so excited to be able to be a part of the wedding celebration of Marchant and Faye. This week is Spring Break and Daddy and I both have the week off! We are looking forward to spending some family time together and doing lots of fun things. Today the weather is rainy but we are hoping for sun for the rest of the week so we can enjoy the outdoors.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

First Pair of Shoes


I bought you your first pair of shoes this past weekend. Now that you are cruising and wanting to play outside I thought it was time. They are so cute on your little feet. They are a little big even though they are size 9-12 months. I guess you will grow into them. At first I let you try the grass with your bare feet but you weren't real thrilled about that. So you were happy to have shoes on your feet although every now and then you would stop and look down at your feet to see what was on them. We had a lot of fun playing outside in the beautiful March weather.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Nine Months

Last Thursday you were 9 months old. Today we went to the doctor for your 9 month well visit and here are your new stats: Weight- 21 lbs 1 oz (50th percentile), Height- 29 inches (75th percentile) You are growing well!

The drops that Dr. Byars gave us last week haven't gotten rid of the infection so we are back on antibiotics and more drops. We have the next three months to wean you from the bottle and we need to start giving you more table food. Overall the visit was good. You didn't get any shots today because you had a fever last night so we will go back in a couple of weeks.

Developmentally you are right on track (except of course for babbling). On Sunday you discovered the stairs for the first time and you had no trouble figuring out how to climb up them. I guess we need to put a gate up now, but it's fun to watch you do new things.

You are in transition from 9 month clothes to 12 month clothes. And with the weather changing we've pulled out some of your new spring clothes. Your clothes no longer look like baby clothes. With T-shirts and shorts and sandals you look like a toddler and not at all like a baby. I can't believe that in 3 short months you will be 1 year old!
Jackson and Mommy in matching clothes!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Mommy Called the Doctor and the Doctor Said...

I am sad to say that you are sick again. Yesterday afternoon you became very irritable and I noticed some draining from your right ear. You had a hard time sleeping and then this morning when you woke up your eyes were red and puffy and gunky. I called the doctor as soon as they opened and they were able to see you at 8:00 this morning. I am very thankful for how easy it is to make appointments with Dr. Byars. By the time we got to the doctor I noticed that your left ear was draining as well. So the verdict is...a nasty infection that has gone to both ears as well as causing you to have pink eye in both eyes. So now we have ear drops and eye drops and you absolutely hate both! Jackson, I am so sorry that you keep getting sick. The doctor assured me that I am not doing anything wrong but you just seem to be more prone to sickness. I was thankful for this assurance because I do start to wonder. It breaks my heart to see you feeling so miserable. I am praying again for a quick recovery and asking God to show me what he wants to teach me through all of this. He reminds me that all things work for good and I know that He will be glorified through this time in your life.

So yesterday, before everything went downhill, you were walking around the room with your walker and you stopped in front of me and started waving and "talking" to me. It wasn't just a wave of the hand but more like a whole arm wave. You did this a few times and then we had so much fun waving back and forth at each other. You would take a few steps and then look back at me, and I would wave at you and then you would wave at me. It was so fun. I am pretty sure that these were meaningful waves and not just "I'm throwing my arms up" waves, which is pretty exciting. So all day long Daddy and I went around saying "hi" and waving our arms at you!

This picture was taken a couple of days ago. This is Daddy's idea of helping me with the laundry...throw the baby in the basket and take some pictures. But aren't you cute!!!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

SNOW!


Yea!!! Snow!!! It snowed today more than it has snowed in a really long time. Each year there is always that one time where the weatherman calls for snow and it either never shows up or doesn't stick. But this time was different. It snowed starting in the very early hours this morning and lasted until about 11:30. You aren't old enough to really enjoy it but Daddy and I had a lot of fun taking pictures and Daddy even made a tiny snowman for you. We did sneak you outside for a couple of quick pictures but went quickly back into the house...snow is cold!