Jackson 188 days

Jackson is very observant, we have been repeating his sounds back to him. Kind of communicating. Then last week when he was hungry (guess one out of three) he was making "mmmmmmm" sounds. Like what Mary does when she feeds him cereal or puree. I can't say that he made the connection, but he sure did eat when we fed him after the verbal cue. He is also beginning to turn to his name. Then this evening he copied me as I stuck out my tongue at him. He as learned this trick and for the past hour, when he sees me, sticks out his tongue. You can tell that he is so proud of himself as well. Mary took some pictures of us playing "monkey see, monkey do." And this we have updated the week by week postings as well.

More Hummingbirds

This weekend we had more hummingbirds show up. I was very sure that I saw a second bird, Mary said she believed me, but her tone was less than convincing. We posted those pictures from last week, where the bird is not the flashy, but I thought that I saw some red on its head. Then today I got some pictures of the second bird, while Jackson and I typed this morning. Then later, I though I saw another bird that was different. Once again Mary says she believes me. But then this afternoon, she saw all three at once as well. It seems that the second bird, with the red head is the dominate male and very protective of his feeding area. He was chasing away the two other birds. ( bird one: small and green with gray chest, no red patches. Bird two: dominate male with red head, definately larger. And bird three: similar to one, but with red circles on is cheeks) We now think that we have a male, female and something else of the Anna's species, still the broad tailed is a possibility for the original. Then this evening we saw three birds on the feeder (odd I know) then then dominate male scared them all away. Therefore we have at least four birds. So I went to the store and purchased another feeder, that we put up on the other side of the yard. Hopefully this will allow for some kind of harmony in the clan.

Thanksgiving

This last week we traveled up to Seattle for Thanksgiving. This drive was not as long as the last where we got stuck in Fife for 2+ hours. Jackson is okay traveling when he can see out of the windows and something is going on. The drive home was not as smooth when it got dark, but by then we were only a few hours from home. The point being we had a great time seeing family and friends. Last time we were up there was four months ago, and Jackson has changed drastically since then. He did a great job being passed around and seeing people that he may not have remembered and some new people as well. My brother now lives in Seattle so he came over to spend the day with my in-laws. All in all there were 19 people in their house. Like always is starts off okay, but when you have then many people inside and cooking all that food, it warms up quickly. And it was quite chilly outside, but nice a clear. The dogs also love going to Seattle because of their great dog park.

Jackson 6 months

Today Jackson is six months. We went to the Dr. for the check up and some shots. Jackson was great all day at home with me, but when he saw the nurse he started getting all worked up and then he later went over the edge. He is doing well other than that, he is up to 18# 7oz. This was a busy month for him. He had a big growth spurt and has gained about 0.5#/week. He got three shots today. Not a fan. He knows. But he is slightly above the average on height and weight. We have lots of pictures from this last week. In reverse order Bath time from the 14th, Birth to Three and around the house on the 15th, some hummingbirds from this weekend and then tonight's bath time. Then as always we he have the weekly update set of pictures. I have finished compiling my thesis and it is 262 pages of text. I will get it printed this weekend and then turned in next week.

Thesis Defense

On Tuesday afternoon I defended my thesis in front of my five committee members and others from the department. A good portion of my lab mates came as well as other co-workers from the floor. I had a 35min talk and then there were some questions from the audience, the questions without the audience was quite smooth. Then they got to leave and I was asked more questions by my committee, then I had to leave while they talked about me. After five minutes they emerged to tell me that I had passed. So now I just have a few small changes that I want to make to my thesis then print it out on the fancy paper with the correct page numbers. And then I am done. One co-worker of mine was able to take some pictures from before the talk and then some after at my reception.

Jackson 25 weeks (177 days)

This week Jackson turned 25 weeks. Next week is his 6 month Dr. appointment. He sure is growing a lot in the past few weeks. This last week he was able to sit up without being supported by us or his Bumbo chair. So we have some pictures of him sitting and balancing on his own. He is quite good. It is one thing to do sit on the floor, it is another as he can sit on our bed on the comforter and not fall over. We have also updated his weekly pictures.

Jackson 24 weeks (168 days)

Jackson had a busy last week with my mom and his Nana here (I know that we have already said that, but), and we have some more pictures from her visit. And then we have some pictures from the weekend. Jackson is now able to sit up on his own for about 30 sec. On Thursday at Birth to Three we was sitting for about 45 seconds. He usually rolls forward as he looks at his toes and then tries to chew them. This week his Gram is back. There are also some updates on his weekly pictures.

Jackson 5 months

We have now changed from counting in weeks (still do, and even days) to counting in months. He is now a little older than 5 months. It sure is moving fast, we have two sets of pictures from around the house and hanging out with uncle Brandon. It was good to spend time with Brandon (Jackson's Tio) and my mom (Jackson's Nana) this last week. My brother has moved out to Seattle and we are looking forward to seeing him again around Thanksgiving. On Tues. I turned in my thesis to my committee, it is 250 pages and man is it a great feeling to have that off my plate. I defend in two weeks, then two weeks for revisions then done. Sweet.

Pumpkins

This is two posts in one. First we have an update where went and got our pumpkins on Sat. Jackson slept for the whole field trip. But despite the he enjoyed the one Mary picked out for him. Then just on Tue. were we able to carve our pumpkins. We also have some updated pictures from the past few weeks on his "week by week" set.

Jackson Halloween (Day of)

Here are just a few pictures of Halloween from Wednesday afternoon/evening. We have some of our pumpkins once carved. Ours are never as good as Josh and Cam's. More picture will be up later this evening, after someone goes to sleep and we get dinner.