Newness

Well, it seems my little wonder is starting to get the concept of crawling! He'll go 2-3 "crawling steps" before dropping to his stomach and army crawling. Slowly but surely, he's getting the idea. He also sat up by himself the other day--with the aide of a toy near him, but it still counts! He's been able to sit by himself for a few weeks now, but this was the first he actually put himself in that sitting position.

And the kisses!! Oh the kisses he loves to give. Last week was the first I noticed him doing it in response to my kisses. For about a month or more now, he's been doing this thing where he grabs my face on either side and plants his open mouth on my cheek, then releases. Usually, he's grabbing a handful of hair as well, or my ears, which isn't comfortable but once I realized what he was doing, I couldn't very well stop him. Sometimes, he'll just go right for my lips. Kinda weird being "tongued" by a baby. ☺ It's so sweet though, and I can't resist a good Jackson kiss! He does it to others as well. I really hope to have a wonderfully affectionate child!

Jackson's now eating 3 meals a day. He eats like a champ! There hasn't been anything that's totally turned him off. His sleeping habits sometimes leave a bit to be desired--he sleeps about 10 hours at night, though his napping is getting a little better--sometimes he'll go 1-2 hours at a time. He still has somewhat of a "newborn nap schedule" (every 2 hours), but that's getting better as well.

We got some adorable 6 month photos of him at JCPenney's. They did a fabulous job!!

We're finally having a patio put in the backyard. The guys came last week and dug dirt, put a wood form, and layed gravel in there, but we have yet to have any concrete poured. That was supposed to happen early this week, but we're expecting rain until Thursday, so I don't expect to see them before then. In the meantime, we have a form in the backyard and can't use the back door, which really sucks because we have to send Bailey to the front yard to do her business. Hopefully soon, we'll have this thing finished!

Time to get the little guy from his crib, where he's talking to himself right now (after his early morning nap). TOO CUTE!

Half a year!!

I can't believe my baby is 6 months old!! What a fantastic kid I have. WOW--so much personality! The past month has brought on lots of changes. At his doctor's appointment last Thursday, he weighed 20 lbs. 4.2 oz. and measured 27.5 inches long. He ranks in the 90th percentile for height and weight, so he's gone down a bit (he was off the charts at one visit early on).

Jackson's still not quite crawling or sitting up, but very close to both. He can "army crawl" using one arm to scoot himself forward, and he still rocks back and forth on all fours. He's soooo close to crawling and every time I think it's going to happen soon, it doesn't. I guess it'll happen in its own time!

Jackson is now eating so much! We started with avocado (he was eating 1/2 at a time!), and he's moved on to sweet potato, peas, and bananas. He still eats everything puréed (or very well- smooshed), but I hope soon we'll be able to intruduce a bit of texture. I'm certainly not rushing anything though! He still has only his bottom teeth, so chewing is out of the question. I bought him this mesh thing where you can put in whole food and he can "chew" it through the mesh. It's brilliant! I freeze pieces of banana and put those in there. He LOVES it!

We're making some of his food, but I'm not a fanatic about it. Paul would like me to be, but has relented because most baby foods are pretty much nothing but the food itself and water (i.e. jarred peas are nothing but peas and water). Paul decided to steam peaches for him last night, and that turned into a 2 hour ordeal that I don't think he'll be repeating any time soon.

Jackson YELLS A LOT!! We're a pretty noisy household anyway, so he fits right in. He yells when he's happy and when he's not. He doesn't discriminate when it comes to yelling. I love it when he talks to himself--sometimes, I listen to him when he's in his crib after waking up in the morning or after a nap, and he just mumbles quietly to himself. There's no greater sound than a happy Jackson!

I'm still staying at home and won't be teaching in the fall. I guess the community college found someone better to replace me. I'm sad about it as I'd love to keep up with my French, but at the same time, I do love being home with Jackson! We go on walks, and spend some time outside (when it's not blazing hot), and he's an absolute joy most of the time. I love watching him learn and discover new things. I'd love to find a part-time position, mainly because it's strange for me not to be bringing in any money to the household, but Paul never makes me feel bad about this. For that, I'm grateful!!

There are lots of pictures posted on my photo site! Enjoy!!