Halloween!

Well, Jackson survived his first Halloween! We didn't take him trick-or-treating--he's still way too young for that. My own personal rule is that if you can't walk to the door, you really shouldn't be getting candy. Didn't stop me from giving any out to little ones, but they were usually with bigger ones. I did sit outside for a bit with him. Sadly, our neighborhood didn't have many costumers, so there wasn't much to hold his interest out there (except the pumpkin in the picture, which he insisted on touching the entire time we were out there). We took him in after a while and just answered the door ourselves. Next year, we'll really whoop it up for him! I'm already planning his costume!

Birthday party invitations went out in the mail today. This is the only BIG party we'll have for him (mostly family invited) so we're doing it big and having it at Monastero's. We already proved last year that we can't sustain a houseful of guests in our home without pissing off a lot of people (not enough seats), so we didn't want to fight it and we're having it at the restaurant. Which is fine, since we'll be hosting Thanksgiving the previous week. The last thing I'll want to do is cook! The party should be a lot of fun and I have SO MUCH to do between now and then! Lots of goodie bags to make and things to shop for (cake, outfit, etc). I'm looking so forward to it though!

Jackson's about to turn 11 months this week. I can't believe how that time has flown. He's such a cool kid and absolutely my favorite person to hang out with every day! He makes me laugh and there's nothing I love more than making him laugh. Today at the grocery store, I was tickling his feet and he was screeching! I look like an idiot most of the time in stores but I just don't care. He brings out the idiot in me.

Jackson's walking more and more every day. He can walk across the living room but he's still quite unsteady about it. He's trying more things like kicking a ball, picking stuff up without falling, standing from sitting, and turning around while still standing. It's been a fascinating process, watching him learn all these new skills! He's also learned to shake his head no (but he does it whenever, not really appropriately). He doesn't say much beyond ba-ba-ba-ba-ba and other nonsense words. No actual words yet. And he still won't wave bye-bye. We've been trying to get him to do this for some time but, as with all things Jackson, he'll do it when he's damn good and ready and not a moment before.

I love staying home with him every day. Sometimes, it's a bit monotonous and boring, but overall, it's pretty great. I don't for one minute take any of it for granted! I know how lucky I am to get to do this, and while we don't have the luxury of 2 incomes, I think Jackson will ultimately benefit greatly from this experience. I'd love to go back to teaching, but the jobs aren't there and frankly, I don't have it in me to fight for them or even look for something new. So I'll just stay home and enjoy the time I have!

Please keep Paul's brother, Steve, in your thoughts. He's finally in remission (enough for a stem-cell transplant) and they found 2 unrelated 10-point match donors for him!! How lucky he was to have 2 that matched perfectly! He'll go through testing in the next few weeks (as will his donor) and then he'll get a transplant. What follows will be the hardest few years to deal with (compared to what he's already been through).

Happy November!