19 Months

Ok, so little did I know that the one molar had brought his friends-- all of them. 3 molars have broken through and the 4th is just hanging out and waiting. If I didn’t know it was a molar I would think his gum had a weird growth – it is so swollen and red. Oh and I didn’t have to do the peanut butter trick- it was the tickle monster attack that allowed me to take a peek.

In other I am a big kid news, he tried to climb a grown-up ladder the other day. He walked right up to it and climbed a step before we could get to him. Had we let him continue I am sure my dare devil would have gone all the way to the top.

I am so excited as today I think we are going to let Jackson help us decorate the tree. This was mostly Jason’s idea as I had thought that Jackson would be much more into playing (aka breaking) the ornaments, but I can’t miss the chance to see if he will actually try to place them on the tree. He doesn’t say the word, but I have a Santa pillow and I ask him where is Santa and he points right to the pillow. My smart boy! My house is completely decorated in Santas. Old, wooden and country looking. Now I don’t love the “Santa who brings me whatever I want for Christmas” image, but as my mom explained to me once: There are people out in the world who are Santas to someone. They help and care when they need it most. That idea along with the true meaning of Christmas helps me to focus on what is important during this holiday season. It also has me thinking of ways I can show this to Jackson. Whether it be through volunteering or another means. I don't want him to ever feel a sense of entitlement. I want him to take his gifts and to share them with the world.

That is my 19 month birthday wish for my boy.

Holy Molar!

Holy Molar!

We have a molar! This is big news in Jackson’s mouth. He seems to be slow in getting teeth. Most of his younger friends have a mouthful but he has been making it with 4 teeth for a long while. He can eat like a champ so we weren’t concerned. But in the past month it seems like he has gotten 2 sides on the top and one on the bottom. Now he has a molar! He may even have or be getting another one but the little stinker isnt so keen on mommy trying to examine or feel around in there. I may have to stick my finger in peanut butter.

His vocabulary is growing- he now can say (and act out) ‘hot’ for food temperature. He can recognize bananas which he lovingly refers to as nanas. I used to worry because he never liked to be read to- at all. I mean you could get through about a line before he wanted to get down and run along his adventure. Now he brings us books to read and will sit in your lap and just listen to you.

He is learning so much from us that we don’t even know. Yesterday, he got a cup and proceeded to try and get water from the refrigerator. He would stand way up on his tippy toes and try and make the cup push the lever. Then he would check his progress by pouring the cup back into his mouth. When he finally got some water in the cup, he started to choke on the water and then decided to spill it all on the floor. It was pretty funny cause I was able to watch him (and capture video) and he had no idea I was there. Then the other day, he opened up my bath cabinet and pulled out my make-up brush and powder and proceeded to try and apply it like mommy. He is like this awesome sponge that soaks up the whole world around him. He is a great helper and tried to help me mop the floor. He took a tissue used it to cover his mouth while he fake coughed then used the same tissue to try and clean the table. We said he was trying to be green. I am so in love with this awesome little dude.

18 months

Today my son you are 18 months old. You have accomplished so many things, but yet I hope and pray you have many more to come. You can walk and you can talk. You can express your likes and dislikes. You can show love which just melts my heart everyday. Our new thing is that I will lean my head to yours and tap just slightly and you will repeat it back to me while laughing. You know by my million kisses a day when I say I want a kiss to show me your cheek. You are brave and tough. Even more than most children you show no fear, which is something that causes mommy a lot of heartache. Just the other day you decide to fall off the couch and got right up without a complaint and went about your way. I pray that when life hits you hard times you maintain your ability to keep moving on with grace. You have mommy and daddy days, which is very generous of you. There are days where only mommy will do then the very next day may be daddy’s day and you guys hang out all day. You love to be outside and we can hardly go out the door without taking you with us. You love to things on your own and in your own way. You are a great eater. You will try anything and there are very few things you do not like. One of those is green beans. You love broccoli and peas and all of your fruits. You have started eating apple slices by yourself and taking the big boy bites. As of today you have 6 teeth- 4 front teeth and your right bottom side and top left side tooth. Though I am thinking you are working on several more. You weight about 25 pounds. You can wear 12-18 month shirts and usually 12 month pants for the length. You have pretty much worked down to one good nap a day and still sleep through the night. Your favorite things to do include running, dancing, playing at the playground and helping us. You aren’t much for cuddling or sitting still, but you will let us hold you and if you are drinking your milk before bed you might sit in our laps.

18 months- you no longer look like the little baby we brought home, but like a toddler. You are still the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. You and your daddy are my world.

Love,
Mommy

Random

So I have all of these random thoughts about what to write in our blog, but they never seem to culminate into a great post. This I feel is the story of my life- a whole bunch and random that really doesn't make any sense, but it is our life!

Jackson has a cheese smile- you know there is his regular smile and now when he is really happy or thinks something is really funny he 'cheeses' meaning his smile gets bigger and he squishes his face until his eyes are almost closed. It is super! You should see it.

He has a new dance. For awhile, I can tell that Jackson has my appreciation for music. He has either done a head bang along with the beat or a little bottom shake or if he is in his car seat he will clap his hands and get happy feet. All of these are so funny, but his latest his Indian dance. You know how Indians will stand in one place and raise their feet up and down really fast. That is what he does now. It is not even a week old but it cracks us up every time.

Yesterday, I actually placed Jackson on his potty seat and he went pee-pee in the potty! Oh I was so excited. Now we aren't running out for training pants or anything but hey anytime I don't have to change a diaper is great for me!!

He still eats and sleeps like a champ- people are always amazed at how much and what he eats. He loves most all veggies- he doesn't care for green beans though but loves peas and broccoli. He loves his fruits except for melons. He LOVES berries-blue, black, red and straw! Poor kid since they are going out of season. Luckily he likes oranges. He sleeps about 11-12 hours at night, then takes either one or two naps for about a total of 3-4 hours. My guess is that he weight right at 25 pounds, but we should find out in about a month at his 18 month appointment.

He had his first plane ride to visit our family in Washington state. He did so awesome! On the way out there we lucked out and was able to get a 3 seat row, so Mimi and I sat with him. On the way home though, he had to sit in my lap as I sat between 2 guys, but he did great. One guy even shared his chips with Jackson.

In the lives of Mommy and Daddy, we are just enjoying our little man and starting to think about remodeling the house. We really want to paint the walls and now I am starting to think of lots of other things I would like to do.

I am also toying with the idea of starting a photography business. Several of our friends have asked and/or commented about us taking their pictures, but usually they mean for free. So it will be a struggle to find someone who actually wants to pay for our time and new camera we bought :)

I am excited for the holidays coming! My dream would be to go and actually have a white Christmas this year, but I don't think we are in driving distance of snow and plane tickets cost too much!

Vacation Time

It is about to be a very exciting time for us. Vacation time! Ah I can’t wait!! We pretty much haven’t had a take a week off vacation in 2 ½ years, which isn’t that long but we like to travel. This will be our first big trip with Jackson. We have done little weekend trips here and there, but nothing like this. Oh the amount I have to pack! Luckily there is laundry service, so I am going to try and not make myself crazy with guessing how many outfits he will need. Normally I would never pay for such things, but I am thinking sanity outweighs the cost. I am getting overwhelmed with the snacks and food and in case items like bandaids, medicines, nail clippers and files and this and that. What is awesome is that Jackson gets to meet his only Uncle, Aunt P and his other cousins! We are celebrating my brother’s birthday with a mini family reunion!

One of my friends had mentioned all the fun things we could do at night and I reminded her of Jackson and how he goes to bed so early. Normally at 7, but Jason and I decided we would try to bump it back an hour or so for the trip. To which she replied how much that would stink, because basically that means we have to go to bed early. And you know I felt like that for awhile and then it hit me that I was being a complete goober. If I had the choice to pick between staying out late at night or going to bed early with my baby. I tell you what I would pick every day of the week. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t give up for him. I realize how he is, he isn’t one to go to sleep at night in his stroller, he isn’t one who just falls asleep anywhere he is whenever he is tired. He is too afraid he will miss something. Luckily the times we have had to postpone bedtime he has always been a trooper not fussing or crying he just takes in the world. But he likes being put to bed with his elephant and little blanket. He likes it quiet and dark. He is a great sleeper, but usually no matter what time we put him to bed he is up at the same time in the morning. So I don’t want to make him a sleepy miserable little boy just so I can get in an extra hour of me time. I am excited to see his reactions to all the little things that this vacation will offer us. I can’t wait to bring back all the pictures!

Contact Sports

Jackson is 16 months today! Wowee!! I swear every age is a new and fun time at our house. He is such an awesome little boy and everyone thinks it too! His laugh is TOP NOTCH! Straight from the bottom of his belly comes this laugh that makes you laugh too. His smile lifts my heart and makes me feel better. Now he is all boy and I do mean 110%! He runs everywhere he goes. He is mischievous. He loves to get into things he knows he shouldn’t, so much so that he now knows to shake his head no when you say the word. Which would be fine except now he tells us no by shaking his head when we ask for something or want him to eat his veggies! He is talking a lot more (well for him). He says Dada, mama (which is my personal favorite), Dixie (our pooch), doggie and kitty and once he actually said Jackson. I know it sounds way advance but my mom was there and when he said it we both looked at each other and said did he just say? He has learned the sign for ‘more’ which he uses only if it is something really good like banana pudding. He can also say and sign baby. All of these are dependent on his mood, but at least we know he can do it. He is a total helper. He loves to help with the dishes which means he closes the dishwasher, sometimes he is a little too fast with his help. He is learning to follow some simple directions and goes and gets his ball or picks something up and hands it to you.

When I was pregnant and not knowing anything about what being a mommy would be like. All I felt was the urge to protect, I had said that I didn’t want Jackson to play football or hockey- high impact sports for fear of him getting hurt. This was told to my Aunt M, who being a veteran mom of 3 (one of which is a Michael if you have one you know) thought this to be quite funny. Well, fast forward to a couple weeks ago.

We have had another ER visit with Jackson-man. Like I said, he runs everywhere. He was running after my mom when I called him back to the kitchen for breakfast. I was walking out of the kitchen when I heard a loud bump and knew he had run into the wall. In our house, the baseboards are decorative and where the wall pokes out in a corner, they meet at a point. This of course is where he hit -- a couple inches either way and he would have been fine. I quickly picked him up and his forehead was already covered with blood. I recently had surgery and have no vocal range, so my scream sounds like I am very mad at a talking level. My mom came back and we worked to get Jackson to calm down and stop the bleeding. After a couple minutes, a light bulb went off and I remembered the cherished pacifier. This allowed us to get the bleeding to stop so I could call the doctor. This time I was told to pass Go and head straight to the ER. Luckily no waiting there and the doctor came in and said she could either use glue or stitch it up. Glue was less likely to scar but a much higher risk of him busting it open. Yes, when my child does something he really does it- he is always right on the edge of not being something big but they are pretty sure it is. Jason and I looked at each other and knew---stitches. He was a trooper, they wrapped him up in a burrito and for the first half he didn't cry or move. Then realizing that he couldn't move, he started to get very upset. I have much the same reaction, so I can't blame him. We were able to get through and he had 4 stitches. We called him Harry Potter since he had a scar on his forehead. And if we had any doubt that we should have gone with stitches, he fell the next day and it started to bleed and the day before he was due to get stitches out he busted open 2 of them. I have no idea how except he is a tornado. My Aunt reminded me of what I said when she heard of the latest saying that I was worried about contact sports. Well, this is what I get- His life is a contact sport.

It only takes a second

You know how people always say it only takes a second. It is true your whole day can change in one second. Thankfully these life-changing seconds don't happen every day and some times they are great like when you meet your true love and the moment when you see your baby. Sometimes they are bad. People always give you the advice when you have kids that you can't let them leave your sight for a second cause something bad could happen. Well something bad, but minor in the grand scheme of things happened and Jackson couldn't have been any closer to us.

Jason has now joked that afterward our scary doctor visits with our son have begun. For me it started as I got a call from Jason while I just sat down to get my nails done. Jackson was screaming in the background and all I said was what is wrong? no answer so I asked it again. Jason says Jackson was playing with one of our pillows on the floor while he put on his shoes. Jackson stood up to walk and then tripped over the pillow and hit his head on our wooden bed rail. Jackson falls all the time he isn't afraid and most of the time he gets up shakes it off and keeps going. Jason said he waited to see if Jackson reacted. When Jackson started to cry, he swooped him up and saw some blood. First instinct was he busted his lip, but luckily Jason tried to investigate and then he saw it... a flap of tongue not connected. He wasn't sure that is what he saw, but on top of that Jackson's mouth kept filling up with blood and then he would swallow it. At this time, he called me. I tell him to go to our pediatrician's office. I get off the phone and get up and tell the ladies I have to go. Even though I was further away I actually beat them to the doctor's office. The whole way there I am on the phone with the call center telling them we are on the way. I love our doctor's office! They call us right back and the doctor comes right in. She even remembers when she saw us last and knew she hadn't met Jason before. She looks at his mouth and I can see the flap and that his gum is all black around where his top tooth has been hanging out in his gum for 3 months. She says it will need to be sutured, but we have to take him the Children's ER. So away we go. We arrive and luckily they check us right in and take us to another waiting area with Disney movies playing. We had seen a sign saying the wait time was an hour so we were prepared. Jackson had luckily stopped crying before getting to his ped's office and she had given him Tylenol before we left. Course he wasn't digging being held the whole time- he is a mover and a shaker. Right at 45 minutes, a nurse comes and takes us to a room. Right away the doctor comes in and asks us how it happened. I had already felt we had told the story 20 times little did I know I would tell it 50 more. He goes on to say how the tongue heals so well that they rarely do anything unless it is in danger of it falling off. Well we had already seen it and I knew it wasn't going to fall off, I would say it was about 1/3 of the width that was separated. Then he takes a look and says "Well I think I am going to get a second opinion"..uh huh right...the second doc comes in and says "Yes I would stitch it and I have a high tolerance for tongue injuries"...Great. Then we have the anesthesiologist come in and says they were going to make him very sleepy but not under. He was saying basically they will just lay there with their eyes open. Once again great… this is what scared me the most just not knowing how he would react. You always hear these horror stories of people not waking back up or who don't do well with the medicine. And he is so little but what other choice did we have. Then the nurses come in and are trying to put in the iv, they poke around in his right hand for 5 minutes while he proceeds to scream and cry, then give up and try the left hand for 5 more minutes then switch off and they finally get it. The Plastics Doctor comes in who will be doing the stitching comes in and talks with us how the procedure will be really quick and he will have 2 stitches. Jason did joke that Jackson was too young to be having plastic surgery. They all come back and say ok are you ready and out loud I said no. I mean at this point it was all happening so fast and I wanted to cry, scream and really I wanted to pray. Luckily they got distracted cause someone I don't remember who hadn't come in and I guess timing was key, so they said "oh we will be right back". We huddled together and said a prayer for him. Then we were as ready as we were going to be. We got to be by his side while they gave him the sleepy medicine. It was horrible- seeing him just be Jackson one second and the next second motionless with his eyes open and staring straight up. The procedure was fairly quick and they kept saying we could leave the room... um no you are going to have to carry me out if you want me to leave. One time they were doing something and the machine beeped and he sounded like he was gagging- I was freaking on the inside. I am like what are you doing to my baby?? But everything was fine he got his 2 stitches and apparently he has a type a personality as he got very mad when he was coming to. The nurse said that babies who like to be in control have a hard time, because they can’t control anything- I have no idea where he gets that from :). He was flopping all over, couldn't control his head and kept failing it about, grunting and screaming. They let us leave once he was fully awake and once we got home we were able to get him down to sleep pretty easily. We had to wake up every hour to check on him something about the sedation medicine and the fact that his tongue could swell up. But Thursday morning he woke up and was playing and laughing. We kept the Motrin and Tylenol in him to make sure he had minimal pain. The antibiotic they gave us is horrible tasting and half the time he spits it out. Then they gave us a mouth rinse that he is supposed to swish and spit. So you can imagine how well that is going! Both require 2 people. I never thought that is how I would spend my night, but I feel fortunate that all in all it was very minor. I hated the feeling how helpless I felt. I seriously hope Jason is wrong and this isn't the beginning of more trips, but that Jackson just wanted to go ahead and get his one trauma drama out of the way. You think??

I think I am in for it next time. Jackson is such a good baby! He always has. Slept through the night at 8 weeks, hardly ever cries. Always smiling and I think the best laugh in the world. Lately, we and my parents have thought him how to itsy-bitsy spider. Once you say those words his face lights up and he puts his hands together to do it. Now if you say “Yay” he gets all excited and claps his hands! And he can even wave bye bye. He isn’t quite talking- we are fairly certain he will say “wa- wa” for water and maybe just maybe he said bye bye one time. I took him to my friends house so I could help with wedding invitations. He was so good. Just found different stuff to play with and enterain himself. So like I said I am in for it next time.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly:

Starting with the Bad and the Ugly: For almost two years, I have been a part of a group of fabulous ladies online. We all came looking for one thing- to have a healthy baby. Many of them also blog like I do and many read others’ blogs. One person posted a link to a blog that I have not been able to get out of my head. This family had a complicated pregnancy which resulted in the little girl being born pre-term, then at 17 months this past April she passed away from complications due to being born pre-term. The mother and father both write blogs about their struggle to cope (which doesn’t seem like the right word but I am going with it) with this tragedy. I can’t stop reading the posts over and over. And has bad as it is even though I have only been a mother for a year I feel like it is a kick in the face (not even butt - it is worse) to remind me to not take my time with Jackson for granted. Not to take my time with anyone for granted but especially this little person I prayed for, dreamed of and love before I knew him. He is my gift that keeps giving. Life will always try to get in the way and tell you these little things are important and the important things are little and can wait. I am guilty of those thoughts from time to time. Well they can’t wait! There will come a day when Jackson won’t let us hold him for his bottle, a day when it will be uncool to be so excited to see us when we get home, and a day when he doesn’t live in our house and we don’t see him everyday. As much as we hate to think of those days, we want our kids to reach those milestones as well. I want Jackson to make it to college and move out on his own- I want him, Jason and I to experience what my parents and I did – Crying at the lunch table the day they dropped me off for college. I feel the job I am called to do is not the job I receive a bi-weekly deposit from, but the one that doesn’t pay me in dollars. My job is to be the wife and mother I dream of!

Now to the Good: Our Jackson Tyler is 1 year old! I can’t believe it. The time has flown by. We had a great birthday party and he got covered and I mean COVERED! Then on his actual birthday we went to the zoo! What a great time! I recently watched video from when he was 3 months and it is so hard to believe that little baby is the same big boy who is walking around the house, so full of personality. I am so excited to see what this year holds for us!

11 months

So I didnt even mention it in the last post which was on 10 month birthday. Now he is 11 months old! 11 months?? Where did the time go?

So his one night sickness turned into a week of the same... not fun.

He is such a neat funny little guy! Last night we were laying in the floor and he was crawling over to me like he was going to get me and then he got so tickled about this that he burst out laughing! He can really crawl now not army crawl. And he is walking if he holds onto something. For a couple seconds at a time he can let go and stand. He is amazing in our book.

Also this past weekend, we took pictures of him with a real live bunny. It was very hard to find one to rent as we did not want to own a bunny.

Calling all doctors, oh there aren't any around? Ok Mommy and Daddy will do

Last night was the first time Jackson ever had any sickness. Something made his belly very not happy. Jason went to check on him and called me in there. We acted very quickly to get him clean and wash him up. We held him, rocked him and loved him as he continued to get sick. The poor guy was so tired he just kept rubbing his eyes. Course this got him a one way ticket to sleep with Daddy and Mommy. Once more in the night, he was sick. This got him a late pass to school (also known as Mimi's house). But Tuesday brought a new morning and a happy baby. He played and laughed.

It is so hard to watch them be sick and not be able to do anything. It reminds me of my friend's son. How heartrenching it must be for his parents. Our couple hour stint is nothing compared to what they have gone through and what lies ahead.

Reminders of the good

This past week has been reminders of how blessed I am with my family. I have found out that one friend's son has childhood cancer, a father has diabetes, another father has inoperable lung cancer. And to add to all that the economy is not doing so hot. It is a scary world out there. I so wish I protect everyone I care about from pain and sickness. But I can't. So I pray for health and happiness. Oh and I check on Jackson all the time at night and stop getting so frustrated all the time. I have an awesome kid and a wonderful husband. Both I love more than words can say and am so lucky that they love me back.

In Jackson-land, we are still working on getting those 2 teeth all the way up. He can hold onto the couch and walk from side to side!! Georgia had its first snow of the season yesterday but our area hardly got any. No fear! We are going to Snow Mountain this weekend!!

A weekend away

Back in January my college roomate called and asked if I wanted to do a girl's trip. I immediately said no. I am a nursing mother and thoroughly hate my pump, but I quickly reconsidered and wondered if this type of opportunity would ever come again. The days leading up to the trip my head was consumed with all sorts of morbid thoughts. I would pray and pray that everything would be fine. Even as the plane was taking off I was talking myself down from a panic attack. I didn't want to leave him! Everything was fine of course. And I feel I did really good no tears from missing him so much it hurt. I only called twice a day. Course he was sleeping both times on Saturday. But my wonderful husband left me a message of nothing but Jackson talking while he was playing.

I also think it is funny that everyone worried about Jason taking care of Jackson. He did great of course. I guess I am really lucky to have a husband who is so hands on with our son. He can do and does anything for him.

The big exciting news is that we can feel his two bottom teeth poking through! He is almost ready for steak!

9 months

Here we are days away from Valentine's day. Jackson is 9 months old and I have had so many people tell that this is their favorite age. Course all of his are my favorite but I can see why they say that. He is doing so many new and exciting things. In one week he learned how to push himself up to sit and pull himself up to stand. I don't think I was quite ready for such changes so fast but no turning back now. What I think is so neat is that once he learns something he has basically mastered it. Just today he was standing behind his push walker and if we move it he moves his feet to catch up. Goodness we are in for it now! Still no teeth but that is ok he is slowly moving to finger foods. It wasn't until this last week that I looked at his 3 month picture and noticed the change. I wonder sometimes if I am the only one who frets about them growing up so much. Each day he needs me less and less and I need him more and more! Enough about that! I am already planning his birthday party which is in less than 3 months!

Jackson is 8 months now. It finally hit me that he is closer to 1 year old rather than that little baby from the hospital. While I am so excited for the things he is learning to do each day, it breaks my heart as he gets more and more independent.

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. While Jackson enjoyed the tissue paper and bags more than anything I am pretty sure he had a good time. Course he missed New Years which was very nice on Mommy and Daddy.

He can get anywhere he wants to go. He doesn't fully crawl but he does army crawl. He tries to pull up on everything!! And loves for you to hold his hands so he can practice standing.

He loves his yogurt, but isn't quite digging his meats yet. I have no worries that he will love his chicken fingers when the time comes.

This year brings so many new and exciting things for us. First steps, first real words, and first birthday. I almost can't wait.