The Man's New Do!

It was a BIG event for us yesterday!! Coming from a hair stylist who has patiently waited while my son's hair grew painfully slow over the past 19 months. I had given him two "mini" trims that only cut the perimeter so he didn't have a mullet :) But this time was different!

Look how stylish and grown up he seems! I will admit that cutting his hair shorter must have made him taller ;) More of a big boy and less of a toddler! He sat SO well for me, much better than I ever imagined. I played his Praise Baby video (the only thing he will sit and watch on tv - but wants to do so about 4 times a day!) I only allow twice a day ;) And he sat watching the whole thing while mommy "combed" his hair. I used my big barbering clipper comb and motorized clippers. With the technique I use, the clippers never had to touch to his head - so he did great with that!

He kept trying to cover my lens with the lens cap...

Little Stinker! - this is my favorite!

18 months old

WOW - A year and half old already. My My!

Jackson has certainly taken over this household! His curiosity (especially at new places) is exhausting for Paul and I. He gets into everything. That can make visiting with other people in new settings a challenge when one of us needs to be following Jax around. But what he understands is just amazing! Even though he can't always communicate what he wants to - he gets alot!

Jackson Adam

                       
                           At 15 months:      At 18 months:

Weight:                21.3 lbs.   (8%)                  23.4 lbs     (17%)
Height:                 31 inches  (48%)                32.5 inches (54%)

Biggest achievement is the increase in weight percentile. Remember Project PUJ? Finally!! We are in double digits for his weight percentile! HURRAY! 17% may not seem like alot for most of you, but when Jackson was 9 months old - he was in the 5%. And so ended my breastfeeding era.


Jackson Currently...

-loves to run run run
-loves to immitate faces and sounds
-can speak quite clearly on words he has mastered, other words are only partially spoken (Bus = Bu)
-loves slides and swingsets

-loves to go "bye bye". Enjoys short car rides and points out planes, trains and other vehicles.
-calls ALL other children "baby", no matter how old they are :)
-has gotten extremely attached to daddy and wants to be with him at all times
-is playing very well with other child, will still favor other children's toys to the one in his own hands... but doesn't always try to take it from them.
-has learned how to push himself along on his ride on toys
-loves to climb into and sit in his rocking chair (birthday present) that is kept in the living room
-would eat bread and crackers for breakfast, lunch and dinner if given the opportunity
-hates green beans and broccoli
-doesn't like chocolate, ice cream (too cold maybe?) or cake. Although he will eat a few bites from a cookie

Mommy and Daddy Love You, Munchkin!!

NEW TRICKS

LOOK

WHAT

I CAN

DO

MOM!

The Little Man in My Life

~Jackson will be 16 months old this February.

~weighs 21 lbs, only 8% for 15 month olds. He has his father's insane appetite so his high activity level and metabolism must be the reason that the calories fall right off.

~loves to dance! I play music from my computer and he begs me to pick him up and dance around the room.

~watches his Praise Baby videos with extreme fascination and enthusiasm.

~sleeps with his blankie (a super soft thick green blanket) that upon holding - he will "suck" on it and still make those infant rooting motions.

~hates to have his diaper changed right after naps. He stiffens and whines because he has much better things to do than wait for a clean diaper.

~can say the words "Mama, Dada, On, Up"
Ball = "Bow",
Duck = "Duh",
Banana = "Nana",
Night Night = "Ny Ny"
says "BBRRRR" for any vehicle or train.

~signs the words for Milk, More and All Done, Nice Touches (patting his tummy) and Telephone

~wants Daddy to lift him up to touch our wall clock every evening when Paul gets home from work.

~tolerates his teeth being brushed fairly well.

~gets so proud of his acheivements when stacking cups or his Clippos.

~loves to be spun around in our office desk chair- loves to give curious george "Georgie" a ride in our office desk chair.

~has a difficult time seeing his toys being played with by other children.

~doesn't seem to have any separation anxiety except for when we drop him off at the church daycare, he cries for the first few minutes.

~is going to be a big brother this September.

More Please

Jackson's development in the past two months has just been staggering! I am proud to say that after months of mindless sign language, Jax has finally begun to respond to it. If you remember this post, where I was quite distraught over his constant yelling and grabbing on other children... my remedy was "nice touches". I started to show exactly how we touch our friends, by nicely touching their arms - not grabbing onto their clothing and screaming in their face. We also used this reference when it came to our cats..."you must give the kitties nice touches, Jackson" as opposed to pulling their fur. This was the first "sign" we developed. We would ask him , "Jax, how to you give nice touches?" and he would show us my padding his belly nicely. Then we started to ask, "what do we give our friends?" and he would respond with the same sign... nice touches. We no longer have a yelling, grabbing toddler :)

The signing has now extended to the sign for "milk". He actually signs this one (squeezing the utters of a cow) with both hands. Usually he will let me know when he is thirsty by tugging on my pants while I am standing near the frig. But now, he will make the sign when he wants his milk. And taking that a bit further... whenever I would pull his sippy cup out of the frig, I would ask him to "please sit down" on the kitchen floor to drink his milk. Now, I don't even have to ask him! He just plops himself right down when he sees me pull out this sippy cup. It is SO rewarding to see these developments take place and actually see it all "click" in my 14 month old.



He can now sign "more", which we practice a lot at mealtimes. His favorite book right now is Baby's First Words. Watch this video to see how he can recognize some of the photos we have studied. I am trying to get him to say "Choo Choo" in regards to the train. There are train tracks behind the neighbors across the street and it's so fun to watch his excitement and amazement while that train goes through. Now, when we pull his toy train out that makes noises, he starts motioning and babbling towards the window where we watch the train. How cool!!

Peek A Boo

Does this count as playing "Peek a Boo"??

A little bit of early Halloween fun - without the unhappy faces, from my Little Garden Gnome (sans beard) :)

One horrible habit that Jackson has, is grinding his teeth. It gives me the willies and worst chills when I hear it. Such an irritating sound to me for some reason. It shouldn't make me freak out - but he does it ALL the time and I just don't know how to get over that grinding sound! Poor guy doesn't know what I mean when I say "Please stop grinding your teeth!"

Jackson's First Birthday Party Revealed

I am exhausted, to say the least. I spent every waking minute this past Thursday and Friday getting the house in order for Jackson's First Birthday! As I have made it NO secret to you fellow readers, The Very Hungry Caterpillar decorations are extremely difficult to come by. So those little home maker did what she could to bring that element into the party. I was in the kitchen from 9am-3pm on Friday fumbling my way through giving Betty Crocker a run for her money. I discovered that the greatest invention ever made was the nesco and it's amazing ability to cook two full turkey breasts in less than 2 hours. I also made Jackson's birthday cake myself. If you have see this post - you will be a bit familar with my attempted creation. However, I was not so zealous as to bake and stack 6 layers of colorful birthday cake... 2 were just fine for me. One blue, one yellow. I followed this post to create the segmented body of Mr. Caterpillar.

I created a game for all the guests to participate in. I had these two foam boards up with several of Jackson's achieved milestones. Everyone was to guess according to the photo, how old (in months) was Jax when we accomplished each milestone. The person who guessed the most accurate, won a gift card to Subway Rest.

And the winner is...

Jackson's Aunt Emily!

My brother Brian took full charge of the children's activity. Brian explained to the children how Eric Carle makes his illustrations. He simply paints on pieces of cardstock, cuts out his shapes and aligns them to create his characters.

So each child was able to paint their own piece of cardstock. I will then cut out the appropriate shapes to create our own Very Hungry Caterpillar. This will be framed and given to Jackson as a gift from all the kids at his party. I will show you all that piece of artwork when I complete it.

Brian and his wife Emily did a wonderful organizing and instructing the kids through their art project.

Surrounded by family. To our left - my brother and sister in law. To our right - my parents, Dawn and Mark

Jackson was given many age appropriate toys (much needed and appreciated). He got "My Pal, Scout", a pull along telephone, Rumble N Ride steering wheel, clothes for the winter and spring. His grandparents gave him. My brother and his wife made us a tear jerking video compliation of all the videos I have posted online along with several photos from birth to 1 year. It was 30 mins longs, so cute, so funny and such a thoughtful gift. So much time, effort and love was put into it.





Jackson did a wonderful job of staying pleasant with a house full of chaos. He was striken with his very first cold. I was depressed when I discovered that all my attempts to not give Jax my cold had failed, he got his FIRST COLD on his FIRST BIRTHDAY. :(








Uncle Brian and Aunt Emily brought Jax a vegan cupcake. I wasn't about to make my son's first birthday cake with egg substitute with fear of it's turnout - and make everyone eat it :)




Grandma & Papa gave Jackson his first wagon! I can see many parade and park visits in this wagon! Thanks Grandma and Papa!


And to conclude the fun filled, busy day - a tuckered out little boy was read his favorite story by his favorite uncle ;)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweetheart

No "Egg"xageration!

We had a new encounter yesterday evening for dinner... it appears that Jackson is allergic to EGGS. I was on the phone with the doctor who told me to watch out for breathing problems and croop like coughing. Thankfully, it contained itself to a skin rash only. Poor guy had the nasty rash extending from his ear and forehead, all the way down his neck and clavical. He was scratching it like crazy and it HAD to be miserable for him.

We have an appointment to see an allergist this Friday. Because I gave him children's benadryl last night, we have to wait 3 days before he can be seen.

Not a HUGE deal. At this point, Jackson does eat cottage cheese, yogurt and whole milk. So I know that the allergy isn't a lactose allergy. We just need to stay away from egg products and baked goods for a while.

Anyone have a good recipe for a birthday cake without eggs?