Jackson is 18 Months Old

A year & a half...my munchkin turned 18 months old Thursday. He has made leaps & bounds in the last month! He is adding new words to his vocabulary everyday. It is truly amazing to watch! Aaron & I just look at each other with giant goofy grins on our faces at least once a day -- we are so in love with this kid!


Recently, he has added the following words to his vocabulary:
(I won't go through all of them, just the newest ones)

boat
car
there - he says this when he is playing, for example when he is playing with his mega blocks, he will connect them together & then say "dare" or when he hammers the nails on one of his toys, he will hammer hammer hammer & then say "dare" - it's too cute!
Pops - he is very selective about when he will actually appease Pops and say it, but he can say it.
Texas - Aaron & my brother's favorite word to hear Jackson say
Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa - Aaron's grandpa, Pa, used to pat his big belly & say this. We have taught Jackson and now he does it randomly all the time. He even pats my & Aaron's bellies and say it too.
poo-poo - occasionally he will tell us he has poo-poo and will walk to his changing table & point up. I'm hoping this is a first step to being ready to potty train.
baby
He said "I Love You" 3 times this morning - just repeating after us, but I've tried to get him to do it again and he won't.

Jackson has never said "no," but he does shake his head vigorously to indicate that he doesn't want something. It is so extreme of a shake that it cracks us up! He also refuses to say "more," but will do it in sign language.

He understands so much. When we say "Do you want to go on a walk?" or "Do you want to take a wagon ride?" he will go climb in his wagon and say "go" or "bye-bye." Sometimes he does it even when we don't ask and will pitch a HUGE fit until we take him outside. He also understands when we say it's time to put the toys up.


He can climb the ladder to the slide, but then gets a little timid about pushing himself down the slide on his bottom. He will go down on his stomach no problem though - go figure. He also LOVES to climb Aaron's ladder. The whole time Aaron has been working in Emerson's room, we have had to fight Jackson to keep him off the ladder. He is truly his Daddy's boy! Aaron's mom has always said whenever she couldn't find one of the boys, she'd just look up. I think that will be me too! Jackson adores climbing -- the other day we were waiting in the car for my parents to arrive at the 3D ultrasound & Jackson climbed up into the back windshield of the car and just laid there. He also recently discovered how to flush the toilet. We have to be very careful now not to leave the bathroom doors open or we hear random flushes and Lord only knows what is in the toilet at the time.


Jackson still loves airplanes and he gets so excited if he hears one outside. He will twirl around looking up until he spots it and then he will squeal & point at it and then makes an airplane sound. He also does it every time we change his diaper and can see his planes hanging from the ceiling.

His current stats:
Height 32 1/4" - 50th percentile
Weight 24 lbs 10.5 oz - 40th percentile. He has made gains in this since the 15 mo WCC

Dr. Pielop was very impressed with his verbal skills and said he was well above where he should be developmentally. I'll post recent pics soon.

Emerson's Baby Shower

Finally! I finally got my camera back from my parents' house and could download some pics & blog about the FABULOUS baby shower Denise & Tiffany threw for me & Emerson on Saturday. Denise was so sweet to host the shower at her house, which is always pristine! How does she do it with little Miss Abigail now mobile? We got some really great necessities and soooo many sassy things for Emme to wear -- I'm still doing laundry (I think I've done 5 loads so far and that is just clothing through 3-6 months). The food was so yummy -- Denise sent me home with a whole ziploc full of jalapeno chicken salad sandwiches and boy were they scrumptious! I had a wonderful time and my sweet friends and family went above and beyond! Here are many pics from the day...
Me & my lovely hostesses

Opening a precious outfit Gabby & Papa gave Emme

Old Mother Hubbard...

Me & D

Yaya, me & Nana -- 4 generations if you count Emme hiding in there

My sweet aunt Christie that flew down from West Tx to be there

The best we could get of Tiff, me & the kiddos

What a wonderful time! Thanks girlies -- you have no idea how much I appreciate everything you did! Can't wait to return the favor when the time comes - Emme needs friends! ;)

Euphemism

Yesterday I had my 34 week check-up. We had a long wait -- apparently Dr. Cone was slightly behind, but once we got in a room, it didn't take too long. Emerson's heartbeat was still good & strong. He did the external fundal height measurement to assess the uterine growth. He said I was measuring at "just about full term." Fabulous -- I am supposed to have 5 & a half weeks to go! At my 36 week visit we will do the Group B Strep test & start assessing the progress. As he was reminding me of this, he said and I quote "We'll know more after the 36 week appointment, but based on external measurements right now, she isn't a petite one." Basically, "that's one big honking baby you have there!" Jackson was 8 lbs 1 oz and Dr. Cone never once even came close to saying he was going to be big. I knew there was a toddler growing in there! Dr. Cone said we'll hope for early labor. Great. I am totally to the point where I want her to come, but I also was looking forward to having 3 uninterrupted weeks, with no school, where I could give Jackson his last few moments of only-child attention. Guess we'll have to start having our fun before school gets out!

The best we could get!

So we went for our THIRD and final attempt to get a peek at Emerson. She is a stubborn one already! We were able to get some better pictures this time, but not much better. The first & second times she was hiding in the oh-so cushy placenta. This time she had backed off the placenta, but had her face turned away from us. Here's what we were able to get...

First attempt May 9, 2009 - Wearing the placenta as a hat.

She & Wacko have the same nose!

Second attempt May 14, 2009 - still hiding in the placenta, but we caught a glimpse of her ear

Third attempt May 16, 2009 - she has her foot up by her face & a hand under her chin.
You can just see little fingertips sticking out at you.

Another shot from today. Would you look at those chubby cheeks?

Today

Video - she doesn't do anything really exciting, but I'm sure she'll be doing tricks in no time!

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! My sweet husband & baby boy met me getting out of the shower with roses & a gift. The flowers are beautiful and so is the necklace I received! We then met my parents, Nana & uncle for brunch at The Tasting Room. It is a wine room by night, but a fabulous place for brunch on the weekends! Yummy yummy vanilla orange french toast! We then went back to my parents for gift exchanging and relaxing. Later in the afternoon we went to LaPorte to see Aaron's parents. We hung out at their house for a bit with Jackson at center stage, of course, and then we went to Monument Inn for dinner. We had never been there (well, I was later told that I had been there once when I was about 3) -- it is on the waterfront of the channel and Jackson could watch the ferries & giant ships come through all evening. I thought the food was great, especially the cinnamon rolls they serve with every meal! When it was all said & done, I had a great Mother's Day with my family and especially the little one that gives me the right to celebrate it! Happy Mother's Day to Yaya, Nana & Gabby and all my mommy friends!

Yaya reading to Jackson

Mommy reading to Jackson -- he refused to pose for any pictures

My two guys!


Papa, Jackson, Daddy & Gabby

Jackson was one unhappy kid & the mosquitos were horrific!

Oh, Emerson did not cooperate at the 3D/4D ultrasound on Saturday so we are trying again tomorrow. Hopefully she will stop hiding in the placenta long enough for us to see her cute face! Wish us luck!

32 Week Appointment

I had my 32 week appointment yesterday afternoon. All in all it was pretty uneventful & fast! My Dr. did say that I was measuring a week ahead (33 weeks). He did not indicate though if he thought Emerson would make her appearance a week earlier. So who knows??? Gabby & Papa graciously met us near my Dr's office to take care of Jackson while Aaron & I went to the appointment -- we have learned that it's a recipe for disaster (or at least some restlessness or the occasional screaming fit) when he goes with us & Dr. Cone is running behind. They took Jackson to the park nearby where Jackson got to see his favorite feathered friends, the ducks. (I can hear Jackson's quacks in my head right now - too cute!)

Once we were finished, Aaron & I met them at the Children's Museum. Thursday night is family night & all families get in free after 5pm. They just opened up the new, improved & bigger Tot Spot area. Jackson had a spectacular time! His little face was aglow the whole time -- he kept bouncing around from activity to activity -- you could tell there was so much he wanted to do but so little time. It really was a great place for him! There were mirrors everywhere, balls, blocks, cars, slides, places to climb, doorbells to ring, buttons to push....everything a toddler could want! I think we are going to have to invest in a membership!

Again, I didn't have my camera, so all pictures are courtesy of Papa & Gabby, who just got her own camera -- thanks guys for watching him & taking pictures!

Peek-a-boo at the park

Giant lite-brite -- pretty cool!

Fun cars to "drive" - notice the gas pump in the background. When you put the nozzle in the car, the counter would start going up.

32 Weeks

I am now 32 weeks and utterly exhausted! I feel the same way I did when I was 9 months pregnant with Jackson. I assume the difference is that I now am not only 32 weeks pregnant, but also chasing a toddler around. I have no energy and I get winded so easily. Emerson kicks -- more like does round-off flip flops -- ALL the time. Most of the time it is fine, but occasionally she uses my ribs as monkey bars and that sort of hurts. I like that she is very active though. With Jackson I used to have to poke around to get him to kick sometimes, so this is more reassuring and usually makes me smile. Aaron has been busy working on her room. It is really coming along and we should be ready to go pick up the crib & dresser this week. My mom is busy working on the bedding also. It is going to be so cute! I can't wait for it to be finished. Saturday we will go for the 3D/4D ultrasound -- we can't wait to see what our little girl is going to look like. Jackson popped out looking just like what we saw at his 3D/4D, so that makes it even more exciting! Hopefully, she will cooperate and we'll get some good shots. So...8 weeks to go & what's better only 4 more weeks of school!

HUGE -- don't judge.

Aaron working on the nursery -- we have put up wood on one accent wall to make it look sort of cottage like. Aaron has done so much labor intensive work for what he calls his "favorite client ever!" He's the BEST daddy and I am so pleased with how it is turning out!

Here you can see the aqua colored walls. The wood on the accent wall was painted that same color then painted white over it & sanded in places so that the aqua would show through. He has now finished the accent wall & is in the process of putting up crown molding. Hopefully, I can post pictures of the finished room soon!