3 Months Old

Jackson turned 3 months old on Wednesday.  I didn't get to spend the whole day with him because I had to work.  He is growing so much.  Here are a couple of pictures I took before heading off to work.  I have some others but they aren't on my camera.  I will post some others later.

Successful Tummy Time

For those of you that don't know, Jackson doesn't particularly care for being on his tummy too much.  So, any little progress we make in that area of development is very exciting.  This past Monday evening, I decided to give it another try.  So, we placed him on his tummy and the results are below.  Now I didn't get my hopes up to quick because shortly after the photo he started screaming.  However, we have made progress in that he has increased his tummy time by about 30 seconds here and there.  I know that doesn't seem like much but I have read that every little bit of time really does help and that we should not become discouraged.

Reading and Books

I just wanted to comment on reading and books.  I have included a couple of photos of Jackson's collection of books.  My mother purchased books for me as I child and taught me the importance of taking care of them.  They have been packed away for many years and I decided to get them out about a month ago.  I know Jackson won't reading for a long time but I can at least be reading to him until then.  As I was going through them, I actually remembered many of them and enjoyed going through them.  Many of them are worn and some have even been mended with tape but the stories are still good.  The collection you see in the photos are just some of the books  I could fit in the two boxes I have them in.  The others are still in the closet.  When I read to him, I sit by his crib and read and show him the pictures.  He will actually focus on them when I put them in front of him.  It is really pretty neat.

Back to Work!!

Well, this week was the first official week back to work and the first time I have been away from Jackson for any length of time.  So, let me recap for you.  Monday was a fiasco of a day.  I was trying to get myself and Jackson ready and out the door in a timely manner.  I am heading down the road and realize that I don't have my driver's license or my lunch so I have to go back home.  After dropping Jackson off, I head to work and get to the I-459 interchange and traffic is stopped so I had to take an alternate route causing me to arrive at work later than I had anticipated.  I get to work only to discover that I was supposed to be at work Thursday and Friday of last week.  And that was the first time I had heard that information so I return only to find myself two days behind.  So, now I have to make them up at the end of the year.  I didn't respond well to that at all.  I managed to make it through that day without any more glitches.  The rest of the week went fairly smooth.  Jackson stayed with his daddy for 2 days this week and they seemed to have a pretty good time.   A couple of pictures from this week:

Ready to head out the door for our first day away from each other!

Sort of sucking his thumb one of the days he stayed with his daddy.

Visiting Emmie Ruth Bennett

Today, Jackson and I along with his nana ventured out to see a dear family member that we haven't seen in quite a long time...TOO long actually.  For those of you who don't know who Emmie Ruth Bennett is, she was married to the late Jack Bennett.  If you have been following my posts since we decided on Jackson's name, you will recall the significance of Jack Bennett.  For those of you who are just now joining us, I will give you the short version.  Jack Bennett was a cousin to my grandmother and he passed away in 1995.  Jack and Emmie Ruth were a significant part of our lives as children and Jack loved children and was a wonderful man.  And as Emmie Ruth told me today, "If anyone ever asks you, please tell them that Jack was a wonderful man and a wonderful husband to me."  So, we decided to name Jackson after Jack.  If you want to know more of the story, go back to one of the very first post about Jackson.

I had wanted Jackson to visit Emmie Ruth so I asked my mother to come up for the weekend so that we could go and visit her.  We bought lunch and took it to her and visited for about 3 hours.  Her mind is failing and she repeated herself many, many times while we were there but she was quite a joy to be around.  Jackson enjoyed visiting as well.  When we arrived and we introduced Jackson to Emmie Ruth, she started talking to him and he grinned the biggest grin.  It was so sweet.  He ate twice and took a short little nap in the middle of her living room floor.  When we got ready to leave, I made a picture of Emmie Ruth and Little Jack.  It was such a sweet visit.  We had to end our visit because frankly, I ran of food and only had one diaper left for Little Jack.  She walked us out and as we were driving away, we noticed that she was crying quite a bit.  I don't know if tomorrow she will remember us visiting but she told us when we left today, "This has been the best day of my life.  You have made my day...no, my week...no, all my months."  It was a sweet day.

Jackson's 2nd Date and Other Stuff

Yesterday, Jackson and I met Laura and Mary Caroline at the Cheesecake Factory for their second date.  We really enjoyed eating with them again.  When we arrived, Mary Caroline was wide awake and checking everything out.  On the other hand, Jackson was sound asleep from the car ride.  Jackson slept through most of lunch and Mary Caroline napped after eating about halfway through our lunch.  Close to time to leave, Jackson wakes up and lets everyone know of his presence in the restaurant.  I think he was tired of sitting in his seat and wanted out and truth be told, he probably wanted to eat.  So, we left very shortly after he woke from his nap.  We had a good visit and hope to catch up with them again.  I have included a couple of pictures.

And of course, I enjoy it when my little precious is napping:

10 Weeks Old and 2 month Dr. visit

Well, we had out 2 month doctor visit with Dr. B. today.  Our little Jackson weighs 16 lbs. and is 25 1/4" long.  So, those of you that have put off holding our little one, you better hurry to visit us because he isn't going to be little for much longer.  He is growing like a little weed.  We have decided that he is going to be quite tall.  I noticed yesterday that 4 or 5 of his onesies that he was wearing last week were too small.  And when I say clothes are too small or he has outgrown something, I am referring to the length of his clothes.  His clothes don't get to tight, they get too short.  He isn't even 3 months old and is wearing 6 month size clothes and they will soon be too short.  WOW!!!!  Everything else at the doctor's office was great.  He got 2 shots and he still has some congestion but nothing to worry about.  We are back home and napping now.

Road Trip and 1st Official Cold

We have just returned from another weekend road trip.  The four (including Queenie) of us went down to Atmore for the weekend.  On Friday evening, we had dinner with Ray's parents, his sister and her 3 girls.  That was the first time Vickie and the girls had seen Jackson.  He did great on the trip down to Atmore.  On Saturday, we spent the morning at my parents' house.  Jackson's first official cold arrived full fledged on Friday night.  He coughed most of the night so needless to say I only slept about 3 hours.  I spent most of the night worrying about his cough.  I called the doctor and they told me what to do and that seemed to help quite a bit.  Saturday evening, Ray and I traveled to Pensacola and did a little shopping and had dinner with Jamie and Tyler.  They, as well as us, were spending some time alone from the kids.  Jackson spent the evening with his nana and papa.  They took him to Bay Minette while we were away.  They said he did great.  We returned home on Sunday quite early.  Jackson spent the afternoon enjoying his bed and time stretching from being in his car seat.  He has a doctor's visit this week.  I am excited to see how much he has grown.

Just Looking for a Little Resemblance

Looking at some of my baby pictures to see if there is any resemblance between myself and Jackson.  I have got one of Ray's baby pictures but haven't had the chance to scan it.  However, his baby pictures and Jackson look nothing alike.  If you look at my mouth in the picture of me that is what Jackson does with his mouth.  His face is round like mine while Ray's face is more long.  And I have to mention that he has my toes as well.

Happy 4th of July and Happy 2 Months Old!!!

Jackson was 2 months old on the Fourth of July.  We left on the second and went to Logan Martin Lake for the weekend with my family.  It was Jackson's 3rd official road trip.  He did great while we were there.  That little man is learning to use his voice.  He is so funny!  I certainly enjoy listening to him.  We spent part of Sunday out by the pool.  Jackson napped in his swing in the shade.  The shade is the preferred place for him and his mom....seeing as how I become a lobster in less than 30 minutes.  Jackson got to spend time with his nana and papa, Uncle Tyler and Aunt Jamie, and cousins Logan and Trey.

Waiting on Everyone to Arrive!

2 Months Old Today

Jackson with his Papa

Hanging out by the pool.

Bath Time!!!