Dinner at Our House

Dinner is becoming quite interesting at our house.


Mmmmmm......spaghetti



We are going through a "I want to do it myself" phase these days. He's getting pretty good at the spoon and fork.



Let's just say that we are doing a lot of laundry around here.






And...playing with the bubbles from clean up!

All in a night's work!

A Few Videos

It took us a while to figure it out but Jackson is definitely dancing. Connor C. - Jackson is about to give you a run for your money!!! Here's a quick clip.

Another recent fascination is with the suds from washing dishes. He loves the bubbles.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we took a trip to the pumpkin patch. We went to the same one as last year. It was VERY difficult to get any good pictures of Jackson. He was on the RUN the entire time!



This might be the only time he sat the entire time and he was up withing about 2 seconds.



Last year in the same spot.

Back to the present - enjoying touching everything.

Running through the maze. He loved it.

Trying to push a BIG pumpkin.

Mommy trying hard to get a picture with Jackson.

Climbing on the hay.

Laine took Jackson to our small group Halloween party last night. Thanks, Jenny, for letting us borrow the monkey costume this year. When we put the costume on him he kept saying Uh-oh because his fingers were hidden in the mittens. He's not too sure what to think about it all.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Beautiful Texas Day

The weather was beautiful today! A little chilly in the morning and beautiful this afternoon! We got lots of yard work done and enjoyed some time outside.

Cooler weather brings footed PJ's. My favorite! Love little kids in footed sleepers.

Grayson enjoyed us being outside today too. She took advatage of some peace and quiet.

Jackson built this yesterday! He was so focused. I think that's the longest he's stood in the same place in a while. :-)

We think Jackson is starting to dance. He brings his foot up and taps the floor. He particularly enjoys dancing on the coffee table.

I'll leave you with a cute thing Jackson is doing these days. Laine or I will ask him to give us a hug and he basically ignores us. Then we pretend we are crying and he runs over and looks all concerned and gives a great big hug. I LOVE it!

18 Months

Jackson is 1 1/2 years old!!! Not much new to report. He's definitely trying to talk more and he is SO active. It's hard to capture pictures of him these days. He's always on the run.
This boy LOVES his milk. He is now saying milk (sounds like milk minus the lk.) He still loves big trucks. He seems to be saying big truck when he points at any picture. He says it for cars, airplanes, trucks, tractors, all sorts of animals, etc. So, I'm not quite sure what he's saying. He says "rrrr" for bear and tiger and "moo" for cow. He recognizes a lot of things in books now too. I can say, "where is the ?" and he points to it. He can do this for the sun, duck, pig, cow, bear, truck, plane, banana, etc. Of course he only does it when he wants to.

Jackson loves to pull out the drawers in the kitchen and bathroom and dig through them. He has moved on from the cabinets. He especially likes the ones that are taller than him so he has to stand on his tippy toes and dig for things he shouldn't be getting into! He loves to pull out everything and explore what he finds. His favorite right now is anything that has a top: lotion, hand sanitizer, Vaseline, etc. He works until he gets the lid off. So, as you'd suspect we have to watch him like a hawk and keep dangerous stuff out of his reach!

He had his 18 month check up yesterday. Here are his stats: 23.1 lbs. (10 - 25%) and 32.5 inches (70%.) I'm just not sure about the 70% for height - he seems to fit better into 12 mos pants than the 18 mos??? Maybe he has shorter legs and a longer torso? He seems to be doing well according to Dr. G.

He's actually sick right now. His fever got up to 103.8 on Sunday. The highest it's ever been. We took him to the after hours pediatric clinic and they tested for flu and strep - both negative. They think it's just a nasty virus. I'll say so! He's been so puny. It is no fun having a kid with fever. I have to admit I got scared Sunday night when his fever got so high. It's such a helpless feeling. We go back to the doctor today since he still has fever.

I know it's a ways away but I'm so excited about the Christmas holiday this year. Alex and his family will be coming to Houston so I get to see my niece Emma again...finally! And...we will have a new addition to the family this year with Courtney having baby T soon. So, all three grandkids will get to be together. Mumsy will come visit and so will Grandpa and his family. And...Jackson's great grandma (my Nana) is coming too. It's going to be so nice to have everyone together. I'm not sure that Courtney realizes what she's getting herself into, having so many people there a month after she gives birth, but I think it will all be worth it! :-)

Here's what Jackson has been up to...

I'm a cool dude.

I love to climb on everything!

This is my pony that sings. I love to stick my hands in his mouth when he is singing.

Watching Aggie football

I love to read!

Like I said - it's not easy getting good pictures of him these days!

Busy Weekend

I'm proud to report that Jackson is eating his veggies again! Yea!



He is also really enjoying rolling our pumpkin down the sidewalk. We are trying to help him understand that it is not a ball.

We made a special visit to Tyler this weekend to see Amanda and her family while she was in town from Virginia. I am kicking myself because I did not take one picture of baby Alex! We did get several pictures of Jackson having a good time though.

Eating rocks.

Giving rocks to Amanda...




and Daddy.



Playing with Amanda's niece Isabel.




Exhausted from a day of fun. But don't let this sweet picture fool you. He screamed the whole way there -we thought he would sleep because it was his nap time, but of course we weren't that lucky! He did fall asleep immediately when we got in the car late that afternoon to go home. Just when we thought we would have peace and quiet, something woke him up and he screamed for about 20 minutes. He finally decided he couldn't take it anymore and went to sleep for good.

We really enjoyed our trip to see Amanda and her family. I have really enjoyed watching her enjoy her new role as a mommy! Though I have to admit that we were really sad that Lauri and Katherine and the kids were unable to make it !

Welcome Home, Uncle Alex!

We are so proud of Uncle Alex for serving our country. Welcome home! You deserve a much needed break with your sweet family. We love you!