Jackson 290 day

Jackson is getting so mobile. He crawls fast. Pulls himself up on all sorts of things. It has now gotten to the point where he has the strength, he just needs the slight extra support as he raised and lowered himself without a handle. As seen from him on the window. We have some new pics from the week. Jackson eating, then we had what looked a hummingbird fight outside, and then Mary has gotten Jackson a play piano. ( this one above I call "Hello, Detroit! Are you ready to Rock?") He loves it, as seen from the still pics. We have video which I will get put up later. It looks like he is over the last cold. Which means the next one is right around the corner, or already here. We have also updated his weekly picture page.

Jackson 270 Days

We have been busy, sick and negligent in our web duties. We have been taking pictures and videos, I have just not put them up on the "intertubes" as fast as I should have been. But hopefully without much more ado here they are: First some still pictures. Feb 3rd, Jackson around the house, eating and playing. And Feb. 9th Jackson "talking" on the phone to his Gram. He definitely knows that it is her and he sure lights up. To add to this set we have the weekly update: New update. And we have a whole set of videos. Feb 2nd, Crawling: video 1, and video 2, video 3 and finally video 5. We also have a video of playing in the tub on the 2nd. Feb 6th, of hide and seek with Mary, crawling video 1 and crawling 2. Then Jackson rocking himself in the chair on the 10th. I will try to work on more of the smaller updates than these huge ones. But no promises.

Jackson 240 days

As usual we were too busy and tired to get a posting up. But there is only so long I can use that excuse. Last week Jackson started day care. It was better that I expected, no tantrum or crying or hysterics. Jackson did well too when we left. (didn't see that joke coming did you?) That was a good three days. Then last week we had another Birth to Three class. Everyone is getting so big and they all can sit up. It is getting more fun to see their interactions with each other. On Monday of that week we started swim classes. It is only 30 min, the goal is just to get him in the water and having fun. And he does love to splash. He had fun and we had fun. There are six sessions, Mon. & Weds for three weeks. Then later that week he got a cold ( which he is still getting over) (FYI: babies get 8-10 colds a season, so odds are that kid is sick. Also, that is a lot of snot, trust us.) This last weekend was great. We went up to Portland for the day to visit some family and do some shopping. Jackson got to see two of his cousins, who gave him many more hand me downs. I got a book from my Aunt Barb (I think that she said the book was for Jackson, maybe) titled "Z is for Zamboni, A Hockey Alphabet". Jackson is almost over his cold. Today we went for out fourth swim lesson. I got a water proof case four our small digital camera, and it got it maiden voyage. There are some excellent pictures. Then as with any long delay there is more than one addition to the weekly update pictures. Till next time, I will try not to make it so far between.

Christmas (and 7 Months)

It has been a busy week for us. We have lots of pictures and some updates from our Christmas. Pictures: December 20th (around the house), December 22nd (my family's Christmas gathering), December 24th (around the house) and December 24th (Christmas Eve at home). From a few of the pictures you can see Jackson's two new teeth that are coming in. They are sharp. These pictures have been added to the weekly update as well. Updates: Jackson is starting to crawl, or more correctly rocking hands and knees, he is getting there soon. He has been eating a lot of solid food (toast and now some Cheerios). It is so much fun to see him change and grow and do new things everyday. He has gotten much better about tummy time and he can roll him self over basically at will. Today he rolled over three times to get near Mary as she was on the floor. Videos: Eating round 1 and round 2, unwrapping presents 1 and part 2, playing with his music box and playing with his drum. We did not travel North for the big Christmas gathering this year. We went for Thanksgiving and did not have the energy to do it again so soon. This was a very different Christmas for us, with just us at home. The less amount of driving sure helped with the stress. Tomorrow it is back to work.

Teething and then some...

Jackson had a rough week. He now has two teeth and did not at all enjoy getting that second one. We did some fun things anyway, though, like visit Santa and get a Christmas tree (a separate post soon to come here it is), try a bagel, go to a Birth to Three holiday party, and touch a star. This is the last week with Jackson's Gram here, so she's been taking some pictures as well. In January Jackson starts day care. It's a nice facility just a few blocks from our house and Jackson already has a couple friends there from our Birth to Three group. We have also updated and changed the format of the week by week pictures. By the way he is 207 days old. It sure is fun.

Jackson 198 Days

Jackson is now 198 days old. He is doing well. We have been busy the past few weeks and will mostly likely still be very busy through the end of the year as we tie up loose ends. We have some pictures from the last week. As you can see in picture 8 I got too close to the subject and was attacked. He is much more deliberate with his movements and he is getting faster when he lunges for things. He goes for glasses. Gram has seen this first hand as well. I have tiny smuges and prints on mine as well, I have cleaned up the camera for other pics. This week has the comparison pictures. But this time I would like some feed back on which of the two layouts people like [same pictures on both]: The original layout, or the new layout design. There may be other options in the future.

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.

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.

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 21 weeks

As you can tell from last weeks post we have started trying some semi-solid food. He seems to like it, it is more paste than like soup. Thus far he has tried rice cereal and then some oatmeal. He seems to prefer the oatmeal. At first it was mostly fun to spit it out then lick it off the bib. Now he seems to actually be eating it. Mary has been letting him taste and lick some fruit. Not too much we need to focus on the veggies so he doesn't get a sweet tooth. So we have some pictures of him licking/tasting fruit. And then this evening he was so tired he fell asleeping during the Leafs/Sabers games (Mary brought up an interesting point why is it Leafs not Leaves?), which was surprising because the last ten minutes were great and the OT was darn good. This weeks update picture comes from his fruit tasting.

Jackson 19 weeks old

This week is a two for one (Oct. 1st and 8th). I have last weeks update and this one. The more exciting news is that we have moved Jackson, or at least introducing him to semi solid food. Which is more like a slurry or rice paste. He is trying, and it sure is fun to watch. Here are pictures from the week, as well as the update. So we have tried feeding him a couple times. Most of the food just dribbles out.

Jackson 18 weeks old

This week Jackson turns 18 weeks old. On Monday he had his 4 month Dr. Appt. All is well. His weight is in the 5o% and length is 55%. He got three shots, not too happy with that part, but hey who would be. Yesterday [day after] he was fussy, but today he seems much happier. We have some pictures from the last week, including two from out "Birth to Three" group from Thursday. The best one is, unfortunately, the one with my head in the way. But you can see all 12 kids, and Jackson (ours) and Aiden have not yet begun full meltdown. Which is in the second picture. Then we have a our weekly update series as well. We bundled him up well for a trip to the dog park on Sunday morning. It was cold [for him] around 55°F. We are getting a new roof today. So more home improvement pictures to be posted later.

Jackson 17 weeks old

This weekend we also went to a volunteer dinner at the Arboretum that works in conjunction with the Friends of Buford Park in the area. We have a few pictures from that event [the weekly update picture comes from there as well]. This has been a busy week and especially weekend as you can tell from the last few posts [and even more so because they are late] This week Jackson's milestones are: we are starting to hear consonants in his sounds. [but like everything else I may need an objective opinion to back me up] On a side note I am quite sure I heard him say "aqua" yesterday.[*independent verification needed] I blame Gram and Bebo [Julie and Fernando] for that one. And he is still growing, a lot, we are moving into his 6-9 month clothes, he is quite tall. This are moving along. I am back at school after my summer internship. I have been writing a lot and feel good about what I have gotten done. We have the four month appointment on Monday, all seems to be on schedule.

Jackson 16 weeks

As usual we are behind. Jackson is doing well, we have achieved a few more milestones. This last week he rolled from his tummy to his back. [After a lot of twisting back and forth to the sides] Once again he was surprised with what he did, but this was more pleasant than rolling onto his tummy. Then tonight when we were watching Jeopardy and I was feeding him, he took the bottle from me and "held" it between his wet little fists. As this week's set of pictures will show: Mary has brought out the mirror and he is doing his "torture" in front of it. The mirror does seem to make it more acceptable. Today Mary got him a Bumbo chair that can help him sit up. So far so good. He has the neck strength but not that back and stomach strength yet. I am sure we will see more of it. This should help. We have also updated the week by week pictures. Sorry, we just have stills for this update.

Jackson 15 Weeks old

Jackson is becoming much more lively. Today we have a video of him laughing with Mary. We have been doing lots of walking with him in the jogging stroller. On Saturday Mary went for a 3+ mile walk with her Moms and Kids walking group. Then in the afternoon we walked to the Saturday Market (2+ miles round trip). We got some goat cheese and Interlaken grapes ( small, sweet and seedless), a nice olive loaf of bread and some fancy chevre cheese. That night Mary made stuffed mushrooms and nice spread for the bread with the cheese. Then tonight after it cooled off, we went for a walk around the neighborhood, about 2.6 miles. We are planning on grilling tomorrow and spending more quality time with the kid. We have a few more pictures from the week, mostly of "tummy time", and then our new picture for the update. I can't believe that he is 105 days old. In real time that is not even 4 mouths.

Jackson 14 Weeks old

Today Jackson is 14 weeks old. He is over 13 pounds and doing great. Last night he slept from 9PM to 6AM. He is doing much better than I expected and was warned about. We have been continuing with his dreaded "tummy time" he can stand a few minutes of it at a time. This weekend we walked up to the Saturday market, he like going for field trips which is great. I have some weekly pictures from that trip. And as always we have updated his week by week up date. This week I am going to try something that we haven't done since Jan. A few sound clips, this week he was very very talkative so we have two.

Jackson Sound clip one.

And then

Jackson Sound clip two.

I will test them out tonight before we go to bed so I hope that they work for you all. Mary has survived her first week back at work and I only have three weeks left in my internship. Keep you fingers crossed for us.

Jackson 13 Weeks old

This week has not been that busy, but the past three days have been. On Saturday Gram and Bebo came down. Then we all went to the fair that evening. We have two sets of pictures: one for the week and a second from the fair. We also have our weekly Jackson update. Today Mary went back to work, it flew by for her. And Gram brought Jackson over for an afternoon meeting. All the critters were well behaved. My internship is going well and I have to go back to school soon to finish. I will really, I mean really try, to do a mid week upday.

Jackson 12 Weeks old

Jackson has grown a lot in the past week. [Weekly update] We have been weighing him at home by difference from one of us on the scale. (I feel like Homer in the Simpson's episode where he raises a lobster and he doesn't tare the scale to his own weight. He just "remembers" his own weight, which was years past. From that he thinks that his lobster is over sixty pounds. When I do that I think of the South Park line "Simpsons did it." As if nothing new can ever been done.) Jackson is now up to about 13 pounds, and when he sleeps he really sleeps. At his last doctor's visit he was right on track where he needed to be. Over the past few days we've noticed him becoming more aware of his body. I think mostly his feet. When we have been playing with him we pretend to eat his toes, he laughs, then puts his feet back up by your face. And then today Mary had him on the floor on his little gym and he was kicking the hanging toys and reaching with his hands with real purpose. You can see for yourself in the small gallery of pictures from this week. We will try to update more often but unless you want Chemistry talks as well, this may been where we are in terms of frequency. We have been doing more evening walks now that it has cooled off. We got an inStep jogging/running stroller last week and have been putting it through its paces. On Saturday I bought a cheap bike computer from Joe's and installed it. That afternoon we walked to the downtown and back, 2.85 miles. Mary has been using it during the day as well on trips to the store. From one of the baby showers we got carseat/stroller insert for smaller kids so that they don't slide around as much. Besides we don't jog with him, we just walk. I will have to get pics of this soon.