When did my itty bitty baby get so big? He's
now 23 pounds and is 32 inches tall! He's tall enough now that he can
reach the doorknob, reach the diaper bag on the kitchen chair, open drawers in
the kitchen, and look out the front window without his chin hitting the window
sill.
Jackson loves to roam around the house naked... Well, naked, but with a diaper! He is so dang cute crawling all over the house in just his diaper. We're to the point where he'll let me change his diaper first thing in the morning, but as soon as he knows that it's on, he's gone. He is FAST when he wants to be!
Jackson's occupational therapist, the amazing Kelly,
got a job within the school system, so she is no longer working with Jackson.
:( I am so happy for her, but so, so sad for us. With her leaving,
she got Jackson setup to start working with Stephanie and she is just as
amazing! He did great on his first day with her and she said that he
worked really hard. When she told me all that they had done, it made my
teacher heart skip a beat. I believe that she's really going to push him.
Jackson is still working hard with his physical
therapist, Courtney. Lately they have been working on kicking a ball and
reaching down to pick up something off of the floor. One night while we
were playing, Jackson randomly started kicking a plastic ball all over the basement. Once he
reached the couch, he bent down and picked it up. It was amazing!
Not only did I cheer really loud, but I also got the last kick and him
picking the ornament up off the floor on video.
Jackson has mastered his stander. Well, other
than getting stuck in a corner, which we're still working on. It's
amazing to watch him wheel through the house. He has even figured out how
to turn himself in circles which he does over and over again. We recently took the
stander to clinic at Vanderbilt for the first time. I put him in it while in the
parking lot and he wheeled himself inside.
We still haven't received
Jackson's wheelchair, but we just found out that the company supplying it is
waiting for notes from Jackson’s ortho.
The waiting process stinks! I was really hoping that it was going to be
a quick and easy process, especially since it was such a fight to get him his
stander, but I guess I should have know better.
Nothing is ever easy or quick – blah!
Jackson has figured out how to hold on to my leg and
gets such a kick out of me dragging him around the house on the wood floor. Talk about a
workout! He will hold on with both arms and start laughing so loudly when
I start to walk. He really loves it when I make turns.
Speaking of laughing, Jackson will laugh so hard and
so much that he will actually give himself the hiccups. He has this one
laugh that makes me laugh just as hard as him. I affectionately call it
his "old man" laugh and it's hilarious. It's a true deep down,
belly laugh and he scrunches up his face when he does it. He will also
snort sometimes when he laughs really hard! I honestly don't think there
is any sound better than your child's laugh. It doesn't matter if I'm
having the worst day ever, when he laughs, I can't help but cheer up and laugh
with him.
Jackson is in a mimic stage and loves to mimic
everyone, including the cats. One night, he got into a box and even
kicked Chevelle out when he tried to get in it after Jackson got out.
Getting into any box possible is his new fun activity. The saying
that kids would be happy with just a box instead of toys is absolutely true!
I made Jackson a bean box and put some construction toys in it for him to
scoop the beans up with, but guess what he found to be more fun? Sitting in the box on top of the beans, of course!
We are also in the “let’s
climb on EVERYTHING” stage. Doesn’t
matter what it is, if it has some height, he is going to climb on top of
it. Every time he climbs on to
something, he always makes this sound to show his excitement and to get my
attention. Once I look at him and cheer
him on, he usually climbs down and is quickly off to find his next adventure.
Jackson has figured out how
to get down off of the couches and anything with a little bit of height.
He will roll over on his belly, and then bounce his legs behind him and then shimmy himself down until he
reaches the floor. It's the sweetest thing to watch and pretty funny at
the same time. He has also figured out how to get up on the couches, the
office chair, and our dining room chairs.
Let's talk Christmas! We celebrated Christmas
three times and all of them were wonderful. I absolutely love getting to
spend time with family and being able to continue traditions with Jackson.
Jackson loaded up on some awesome gifts that included a kitchen, a tool bench,
an alphabet train, a rocking horse, a wagon, cool bath toys, and a Mickey
chair. My child is definitely loved
very, very much…and quite possibly spoiled. He had so much fun opening his
gifts! I would have to say that his
favorite gift was his kitchen. He has
played with his kitchen every single day since Christmas. The kitchen that he got is pretty
awesome and can connect to an app that will
talk to him about making recipes, colors, shapes, and a lot more.
The weather here has been all over the place.
We're freezing one day and warm the next. While it was nice, we
decided to take a trip to the zoo. The day that we went, it was
absolutely beautiful and most of the animals were out and about for us to see.
Jackson was more interested in the animals this time and even pointed to
a few. He absolutely LOVED the indoor area, Unseen New World, that houses
fish, snakes, frogs, and some other cool animals. If we allowed him, I'm
pretty sure that he would have stayed and watched the fish swim for hours.
He was so intrigued and kept pointing to all the different fish.
I clean up, he destroys... I clean up, he destroys... I clean up,
he destroys... See the pattern? It's never ending, but in a weird way, I
love it. Our house looks like a Toys R Us threw up in it and it's never
clean, but I've come to accept that this is life with a toddler. Wanna
know something funny? We JUST took down our Christmas tree during the
Super Bowl!! Yes, we were “those” people
that kept our tree up as long as possible.
If I could have, I think I would have made it an all year-round tree and changed out the decorations on it for each of the holidays. I mean, why not? (I'm sure Matt wanted it down much sooner, but he knows I love it and wasn't going to say anything.)
Jackson has been playing peekaboo for a while, but
it's been just him putting something in front of his face. Recently
though, he has started truly playing peekaboo by putting his hands up over his
eyes and even saying "boo." He will play peekaboo at such
random times, like when I'm driving, changing his diaper, or cooking dinner.
If I try to start playing peekaboo, he isn't interested and has to be the one to initiate the game. Kind of like
everything at the moment, he needs to be the one that starts playing with a toy
or game.
We have reached the time of full blown tantrums and I
must say, I don't really enjoy them... AT ALL! My sweet, loving, adorable
son becomes a crying, screaming, terror when he doesn't get his way. At
home, I ignore it, I talk with him about how his behavior isn't appropriate -
you know, super mom (haha) - When we're out and about, holy moly it's
stressful! I've actually become "that mom" at Walmart once and
left without my groceries because I just couldn't take it anymore. Whew!
Want to hear the most amazing thing that Jackson has
done?!? While at PT one day, he stood by
HIMSELF! Did you read that in its
entirety? He stood by HIMSELF! No one holding on to him, no leaning on anything, just him standing all by himself! He used his own strength and determination to
stand and play with the water beads that were in a bucket that I was
holding. It was absolutely amazing! He even sat himself down and gave the cue to Courtney (PT) that he wanted to stand back up.
Jackson is still not really talking much, but he is
having full blown conversations with us in his babble. There are days when he won't stop "talking" and then there are days that you can't bribe him to "talk." He definitely does things on his own terms. He is still working hard with Danyelle, his speech therapist, on verbalizing and has gotten better at the feeding issues that he was having.
He absolutely loves his new OT, Stephanie. She really pushes him and makes him work the entire time. What he loves the most is getting messy. She likes to let him play in the sink, stick his hands in moon sand, and get all sticky with the water beads. She is currently working on him feeding himself with a spoon and fork. So far, so good. He is interested in using the utensils and tries every time that he is given the chance to use them.
We recently changed Jackson from having one PT session at home and one at clinic to now, all of his therapy sessions are at the clinic. That means 4 out of 5 days, we are out and about going to some sort of therapy. I'm really glad that he is enjoying going to the clinic. He has made a few friends and always seems excited when we get there. However, when they first take him back to the gym, that's a different story as he still cries when it comes time to go "play." He can't fool me though... Within 5 minutes of being in the gym, I can hear him giggling and babbling.
It's so funny when the fur babies are so desperate for attention. They will get into the weirdest positions as long as someone will pet them. Chevelle will actually let Jackson pet him, but Aubie isn't a fan yet. Neither one of them like when Jackson tries to hug them and both have a huge issue when Jackson tries to pull their tails (obviously). We are still working on teaching Jackson to be sweet, nice, and pet softly. He's learning, but not quickly enough according to the cats. Thankfully, both cats have been fairly easy going with Jackson and have only scratched him a couple of times.
Does anyone else have a kiddo that will 'butt-scoot' backwards on the floor, or did they when they were little? He has become so good at scooting backwards that he can turn corners without looking, is super fast, and thinks it's hilarious when we chase him while he's doing it.
Jackson's hair is getting so long and it's such a pretty blonde color. It's interesting how it's growing though because the back is still stubbly while the front is long, to the point of needing to trim it so that it doesn't get in his eyes. Any other boy moms decide to put their boy's hair up in a pony just because? Surely I can't be the only one! The picture is really blurry, but the look on his face says it all. :)
It amazes me how much Jackson has grown up, the personality he has, and how smart he truly is. He knows how to do so many things that I would never expect at his age. He is so, so funny and so loving. He loves to laugh and to make others laugh. He likes to "talk," likes to play with anything and everything, has a temper at times, but truly has the biggest, sweetest heart. He is all boy and loves to get dirty and is on the move all the time.
I promise to try and get next months post out on time! I have even started it and made a few bullet points, so I'm going to really, really try! :)
Crystal
Jackson's hair is getting so long and it's such a pretty blonde color. It's interesting how it's growing though because the back is still stubbly while the front is long, to the point of needing to trim it so that it doesn't get in his eyes. Any other boy moms decide to put their boy's hair up in a pony just because? Surely I can't be the only one! The picture is really blurry, but the look on his face says it all. :)
It amazes me how much Jackson has grown up, the personality he has, and how smart he truly is. He knows how to do so many things that I would never expect at his age. He is so, so funny and so loving. He loves to laugh and to make others laugh. He likes to "talk," likes to play with anything and everything, has a temper at times, but truly has the biggest, sweetest heart. He is all boy and loves to get dirty and is on the move all the time.
I promise to try and get next months post out on time! I have even started it and made a few bullet points, so I'm going to really, really try! :)
Crystal
