My Lovey

With Addison's one year birthday festivities quickly approaching, I feel the need to document all the amazing, wonderful and fantastic things my little man is doing. He is such a shining star. He can light up any room with his beautiful smile. My sweet Jackson has learned so much in the past few months. He now does "bump it" with his fists, which I particularly love:). He no longer walks, he RUNS where he wants to go! He absolutely adores being outside and goes to the slider door and asks to go out at least once every day. If we take him on walks, he quietly takes it all in the entire time. He will also sometimes point at things like birds and trucks. Jackson is getting so much better in the car and takes long road trips now like a champ. No more of that screaming for 45 minutes at a time. Such a big boy!

Jackson saw the dentist for the first time this past month. He was NOT a fan, for the record. But he recovered as soon as we got him the heck out of that torture chair! He is about 6 months ahead of the game with his teeth. He has a full mouth of chompers! He can and does eat ANYthing! Jax still doesn't have tons of words. He says hi, bye, belly (although it is hard to understand), daddy, ball, go and "gone" for all gone. Again, would be hard for anyone other than us to know what he is saying most times, but he has the words. He understands pretty much everything. He communicates his needs well, just not with words. I have talked with some early intervention contacts - it seems he would not yet qualify for services, because he is not delayed enough. They gave me some tips, but so far, Jax gets frustrated with me asking him to use language. I guess I made it too easy for him to point and grunt because that is all he wants to do. We will keep working on it. I know he will catch up eventually!

Jackson has the best sense of humor. He knows when he has done something funny (like pass gas or bonk his head) and he will laugh at himself with us. I could be wrong, but it seems really mature of him to like it when we laugh and to do things just to make us laugh. I see a class clown in our future! The other night he was having a tantrum in the bath tub and went to lay his head down like he does when he bangs his head on the floor, but hit water obviously, and blew bubbles unexpectedly because he was screaming into the water. I immediately started laughing at him and he switched from screaming to hysterically laughing. He and I were rolling in laughter for what seemed like a long time. I want those moments to just stick in my heart and in my mind forever. I feel so connected to him in those moments. I am in awe of his overall happiness and his magical laughter. He couldn't be more perfect.

The picture above is an example of something Jackson does a lot lately - he gathers some pieces of his favorite toys and then puts them in some container, then carries them around and sets the down in various places. If anyone tries to touch them, he starts screaming and acting very displeased. Addison knows to throw down whatever toy she just took from him because he will fight for it! I call them his treasures:). My baby boy is just so sweet. At night, after I put him in the crib, he blows me kisses as I am leaving his room. If you ask him to give you or someone else a kiss, he starts smacking his lips making the kiss sound. It is just so freakin' cute! Our Jackson turns 18 months old this month. I found myself thinking about our first days together as I was trying to fall asleep last night. I can literally remember the way my body felt as he and I laid together in bed when he was just a little newborn. It was such a new feeling to me. I had never felt so incredibly happy and excited....and tired! The emotions were so big, they exhausted me. I felt full. He made me full. He still does.