Pulling Up!

Jackson pulled up on his own for the first time yesterday.  He was sitting in the floor and I was sitting in the chair with my legs stuck out in front of me.  He grabbed my leg and pulled up from a sitting to a standing position.  He has been getting so practice standing next to the couch and playing.  He also took a couple of steps us holding his hands.  We are making progress.

9 Months Old

Jackson turned 9 months old this past Friday.  He had quite an adventure last week.  Last week he spent the week over in Trussville with our friend, Donna.  Donna was the designated babysitter for the week (When Donna was a teenager, she kept mom when she was younger too).  After picking Jackson up from Donna's we headed over to see Dr. B for the 9 month check-up.  The doctor said that he was doing great.

A few 9 month facts about Jackson - He is 24 lbs. and 31 inches long.  He is scooting across the floor to get to where he wants to go.  He isn't exactly crawling by what the textbook definition would describe but he is crawling using the Jackson method.  It basically involves scooting using his elbow and wiggling around.  He is saying Mamamamamamama.  He has some understanding of what "No!" means.  He is pulling up from a seated position with a little help.  He enjoys standing in front of the couch and playing with various toys.  His favorite toy is anything he can toss over his shoulder or to the side.  He is wearing a size 18 month and size 3 diapers.  He doesn't like a sippy cup, in fact he wants nothing to do with it.  He doesn't try to put much of anything in his mouth so he isn't interested in feeding himself any type of finger food.  He is very ticklish, especially on his sides.  I love to hear him laugh!

Here are some 9 month old photos:

Where's Jackson? There He Is!

It has been several weeks since I last had the opportunity to blog.  It has been quite busy around our house.  The last time I blogged it was several days following Auburn's big win and the snow that kept us out of school for two days. 

Since that time, Jackson has visited Mary Kay in the hospital (and we are so glad she is home and getting better - he misses his Nanny Toot!), his MeeMee came to stay with him for a week, his Nana came and stayed with him for two days, mommy took vacation time to be at home with him for three days, he traveled to South Alabama for a couple of days and got to hang out with his Papa while mommy and Nana went shopping, he got to visit and show out for Great Mee Maw and Great Paw Paw, he spent an afternoon with Aunt Katie while we went to Aunt Sara's funeral in Fairhope, and lots of other adventures.  This week Jackson is staying with Aunt Katie's daughter, Donna (who also kept Mommy when she was younger).

Jackson's new favorite activity is exploring the house in his walker.  He is hysterical!  He puts one hand on the front of the walker and "drives" throughout the house.  He has so much fun exploring every room...so needless to say the "childproofing" has begun.  His favorite place to hang out in his walker is between the bed and dresser in our room on mommy's side of the bed.  If I miss him, I just check the bedroom and he is sitting there playing with the bedspread or flipping the handles on the dresser drawers.  When he went to visit Mary Kay this past Saturday (which was an absolutely beautiful, sunny day), he played in the walker over and raced all over her deck chasing after the dogs.  He would also get a running start and pick up his feet until the walker stopped and start going again.  Mary Kay loaned him her hat when he was out in the walker - he was quite a sight!!!

I have included a few pictures from the two or three weeks.

War Eagle - 2010 BCS National Champions!!!

Last night, Auburn played Oregon in Glendale, Arizona.  They won the game 22-19.  It was an awesome game.  I was so excited about their win.  The state of Alabama should be proud - 2 consecutive national championship teams and Heisman trophy winners.  Also, the SEC should be proud because we have had 5 consecutive years of national champions among the teams.

Before the championship game started, I got Jackson ready for bed.  He sat in the floor during the first few possessions of the game (as he did for all their games this season).  I had to put him to bed about an hour after the game started so when they won the championship I could not run around the house screaming for fear of waking him.  Here is Jackson at the start of the game:

Little Jack Frost

When we arrived home from staying at Glyn and Rex's, I took some pictures of the snow at our house.  Then I took Jackson out to make his picture.  It was so cold that I didn't stay out very long with him but I managed to get a few pictures.

Snowed In

It was predicted that snow would arrive on Sunday night and last until Monday.  Jackson and mom headed over to Aunt Glyn and Uncle Rex's on Sunday night because we were afraid that the power would go out and we would be cold since we are an all electric house.  We stayed overnight and ended up staying until Tuesday morning because of road conditions.  While there, Jackson had a great time explorer the house in his walker.  He was all over the place and into everything he could get his hands on.  He enjoyed having so many people interested in his every move.  He is quite a character.  Pictures from Glyn and Rex's yard:

Saturday Afternoon at Home

No need to miss a photo opportunity on a Saturday afternoon.  Jackson received a number of toys for Christmas.  He was particularly interested in the one that plays music and sings songs.

Arrival of First Tooth

Jackson has been teething for the past couple of weeks.  His first tooth finally broke through on Thursday, January 6.  I wonder when the next tooth will decide to make an appearance!

Jackson is 8 months old...

Yes, Jackson is 8 months old today!!!  I can hardly believe it.  This time last year we were frantically planning and awaiting his arrival.  Now he has been with us for 8 months.  Time flies when you are having fun!!  What is Jackson up to these days?

• He is wearing 18 month size clothes.  
• He has two teeth just waiting to make their appearance.
• He has tried several different table foods but still enjoys turning his nose up at them.
• He is doing this squinting expression with his face.
• He is rolling all over the place.
• He enjoys walking around the dining room and kitchen in his walker.
• He is beginning to scoot more and more...but no crawling yet.
• He reaches up when he wants to be picked up.
• He does a motion with his hands like he is riding a motorcycle.
• He is picking up and throwing things down.

Here are some pictures taken today:

And 2011 is Here!!

Well, 2011 is here.  It is time to start another chapter in our lives.  Last year was full of so many wonderful blessings and some difficult times (but I must say that the good outweighed the bad!).  I am still going back to a comment that was made to me by a friend of mine about book she was reading.  In short, the book is about how we say we HAVE to go to Plan B sometimes (and we tend to groan as we say it because it is not what we had planned) and all the while we are not recognizing that our Plan B was God's plan all along...now that is a different perspective.  I want to look at Plan B from that perspective in the new year.

On Thursday evening (Dec. 30), my brother, his fiance, and her two boys came up for the weekend.  They stayed until New Year's Day.  On New Year's Eve, we spent the evening grilling hamburgers and hot dogs and having some good laughs.  Trey and Logan enjoyed the playroom and running up and down the stairs.  Jackson has been teething so his evening wasn't quite as enjoyable as Trey and Logan's but he managed to fall asleep and slept through the night.  We stayed up until 1:15 am watching Wild Hogs and The Fast and the Furious (it was on Encore) and just laughing and telling stories.  That is the latest I have stayed up in forever!!!  I have to include that on this evening we had to turn on the air conditioner in order to stay comfortable.  Now, one week before it was snowing and a week later we are running the air conditioner. 

On New Year's Day was spent the day at home because the weather was so rainy and nasty.  Jackson and I watched an episode of The Flintstones and took a nap while Ray watched football.  Ray and I stayed up after Jackson went to bed and watched "New Moon" and "The Expendables".  Or at least one of us watched the last movie - Ray slept through it.  It was a nice weekend and a great way to start the year.

Some pictures from New Year's Day:

Trey, Logan, and Jackson watching a video