Bath Time Ritual

Before Jackson gets a bath, I get him undressed on our bed (I bathe him in our master bathtub).  He cannot wait to get his clothes off to roll around on the bed naked.  It is so cute.  I am finding it very hard to take pictures of him lately because he is constantly on the move.  I need to figure out how to steady the image.

Our House

Here are a few pictures of our house.  Steven has decided to have it decorated with lights and greenery every year, which I must admit looks awesome.

Silly Boy

It was in the 60's and 70's last week, so Jackson and I played outside quite a bit for what I am afraid will be our last few days of decent weather.  It has to get cold here sometime soon, right? 

 Jackson likes to climb the deck stairs, wrestle on the ground with me, hunt for things to put in his mouth, look for the cats, throw rocks in the flower beds, mess with the Christmas lights, etc.  It's quite an adventure ever time we are outside. 

He knows the cats hide under the grill and was thrilled to see one dart out when he lifted up the cover!

Trip to the Zoo

I'm teaching Jackson to be a helper around the house.  His future wife will be greatful to me when he helps with laundry, dishes, etc!! 

 This is the look Jackson gave me when I told him we were going to look at animals at the zoo.  He calls all animals "noo noo".  I told him we would be seeing lots and lots of "noo noos".  He just didn't get it. 

 We have a year long pass to the zoo, so we can come back whenever we want.  Since we only saw the monkeys, jiraffes, zebras, lions/tigers, and birds, we will certainly have some things to come back for.  Jackson really enjoyed the monkeys and flamingos.  He likes the active animals.  Who really wants to see a lion yawn anyway?  These flamingos would eat right out of your hand.  He was totally intrigued.  We want to see the Christmas light show in early december and I want Jackson to see the seals/dolphins jump and the sharks too. 

Look at this sweet picture Mia took of Jackson.  He just looks so calm and innocent here.  I should have gotten a picture of the atrocious fit he pitched this morning for good contrast.  He is a child of many colors. 

Grandma is Fun!

Jackson's new favorite person in the world is Grandma.  He is endlessly entertained by her games.  I don't even know exactly what she does since I am using the rare opportunity to get things done around the house when she is playing with him, but IT WORKS.  He loooooooves it!

New Pics of Jackson

Here are some new pictures of our big boy.  I am trying to find some things for him to do indoors since it is about to get really cold outside.  He likes to ride in the box around the den and be chased.  Mia took the pics of him in the dinosaur shirt.  She is better at getting him to smile for pictures than I am.  I guess he isn't too impressed with my behind the camera antics.

Halloween and kooky things

Jackson was a Candy Corn for Halloween!  We had two handme down costumes that were really neat looking and really HOT looking (a dinosaur and a lion) but I decided to make this one and save the others for next year.  He did a really good job of keeping the costume on, so it must have been comfortable.  We went to the neighborhood festival, which was really nice but had activities that were really too old for him.  There was horseback riding, a clown making balloons, face painting, a jump jump, etc.  He ate a slushie and walked around some and then we left.  Then, we went trick or treating at a few houses in Mt. Laurel, but left at 6:00 in time to prepare for our own trick or treaters---there were only a handful.

Babbling and Hissy Fits

 As of lately, Jackson has decided that he is king of our house.  If everything doesn't go exactly as he sees fit, he will have a complete come apart, hit and throw things.  He is constantly throwing food off of his high chair and fussing during his meal.  Sometimes I can sing and dance around to songs like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "If You're Happy and You Know It", and "Old McDonald Had a Farm" and his mood will turn 360 degrees in a flash.  Other times it is a lost cause.  He decides that he likes certain foods one day and then despises them the next.  He used to love bananas and then would make faces and spit them out just a day or so later.  After a month of no bananas, he is back on the bandwagon. 

 Jackson hates to have his faced wiped, nails clipped, diaper changed, teeth brushed and hair rinsed.  It is like trapping down a caged wild animal to perform these chores on such a small person who is twisting and turning.  Hopefully this is just a phase.  In public, he acts perfect of course and never displays any/many of these antics.  Haircuts are no problem at all.

 I decided that we need to be taking more pictures of mommy and Jackson since I am usually the one behind the camera.  Mia took these pictures.  It has become nearly impossible to take pictures of Jackson since he is constantly a moving target.

 And if I get the camera too close to him, he will try to rip it out of my hand. Ouch!

Oh, and I forgot to mention his new hobbies.  These include unloading cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom, turning on the tub (with all his newly found cabinet goodies pitched in), cleaning out kleenex boxes, throwing toys half way across the room, unravling toilet paper, pitching rocks into flower beds, pulling the cat's tail, etc.  He's a cutie, isn't he!

October Madness

Well, It was a long October.  I am STILL unpacking and organizing things.  This will take me several years at the rate I'm going.  We have spent most weekends outside since Jackson wants to play with rocks, sticks, kitties, and acorns.  I guess this is normal little boy play.  It's finally starting to get colder and I am trying to come up with indoor activities to keep Jackson occupied on days when we can't go outside.  I need to be thinking of things for him to do while I am nursing the new baby since he currently demands all of my attention and will have to learn to share it soon.