Caffeinated Baby

Jackson is quite the crawling machine. He has learned that he no longer has to be in the same room as me--he has to be in the same room as the kitty. This is problematic as the cat likes to taunt Jackson. She will get just an arms length away and slowly lure the poor unsuspecting baby to her litter box. Jackson knows he's not supposed to go in the kitty room, but it is just too much temptation for the poor little guy when the cat is in there. Lily thinks it's great fun.

She will also leave a little trail of kitty litter right outside the door, and if I am not careful, Jackson will pick up these pieces and eat them like candy. Mmmm, kitty litter.

Well, friends, today was no different. Kitty leads Jackson away from me, under the table, towards her litter box...but there is a twist to this story. Jackson gets sidetracked because the pantry door is cracked open. This was about the time I realized I needed to go get the little guy.

I walk over just in time to see Jackson drop a can of Pepsi (courtesy of my dad) on the ground. It hit just right and the top blew off, and Pepsi went all over. Jackson was sitting in brown liquid.

I got paper towels and laid them out to soak up the Pepsi.

I went to grab another roll of paper towels, and when I turned around I found Jackson sucking on the wet paper towels! I immediately took them away. Then the little stinker tries to does it again!!! When I took it away again, he started wailing and throwing a tantrum as if to say, "But that was good, Mom!!"

Oh boy. My son has experienced his first taste of caffienated soda, and he liked it. A lot.

He is his father's son.

9 Months

Jackson is 9 months old! Big boy! We have officially moved across country, and Jackson has gone on more airplanes than the number of months he has been alive. That is a pretty big accomplishment for a baby! It's a good thing he is a good traveler.

Interesting facts about 9 month old Jackson:

--He is a crawling champ now! He chases after the cat, but Lily is still faster.

--Has 4 teeth and 4 more coming in. Teething baby = no fun sometimes.

--I feel like Jackson is getting smarter these days. The other day, we went out to eat and let Jackson play with a spoon. He watched me eat and decided to copy me by touching his spoon on my food and putting it in his mouth. He kept doing it over and over again. It was pretty cute.

--Needs a haircut.

--Can wave hi to people thanks to his Grandma Nauna. If you say hi, he will wave to you, even if you're not waving.

--Has tried peaches, green beans, and garden fresh vegetables baby food. He also likes Mum mum crackers.

--Pulls himself onto his knees. He has bonked his head several times because of this.

Also, I have to be fast about taking pictures of this kid because this--

Turns into this real fast!

Ryan and I in the Uhaul.

Goodbye Utah

Dear Blog World,

Just a little update--we are still alive, just a little busy packing everything we own. Jackson and I leave Utah tomorrow. Ryan leaves early Saturday morning. Crazy! 

Goodbye Utah. Hello Georgia!

(PS: Happy 1st Birthday to Jackson's cousin, Kyan!)

8 Months

Little boy is 8 months old! Sorry this post is a week late, the same little boy has been sick with a fever/cold/stomach flu type thing. Ryan and I have both experienced the joys of being thrown up on this past week. And Jackson experienced the joy of having a 105 degree fever. Poor boy.

We went to Georgia for 2 weeks. It was fun and HOT HOT HOT. Jackson did really well on the airplane. I don't know why I have so many airplanes stories, but I do. On the way back to Utah, the lady sitting next to us had a Tigger pillow pal. If you know Jackson, he LOVES anything animal. He got so excited and started hyperventilating at it. He was reaching for it, but the lady was not sharing. Tigger and Jackson stared at each other for the whole flight.  Poor Jackson didn't understand why this Tigger was an off limits Tigger. He did manage to swat at it once though.

After the flight, the lady turned to us and said, "Your baby is the best baby I have ever flown with. Wahooooo!!" Well, minus the wahoo part.

Here are some fun facts about 8 month old Jackson:

--Jackson is crawling now! It is very slow and very sloppy, but he is a 'movin!

--His top teeth are starting to poke through the gums.

--He LOVES animals! He loves to chase the cat and pull her tail.

--Jackson is starting to wave. He doesn't understand what it means though, he just does it to copy us.

--Has tried squash, nectarine, carrots, and pear baby food. He has also decided that he doesn't really like blueberries anymore.

--Does what we call his "turtle" stance in the crib. He gets up in crawling position and cranes his neck up to see over his bumpers. He then watches the door to see if we are going to come get him.

--Loves to be thrown in the air.

Meet the many faces of Jackson:

The "Tails" of House Hunting

Well, we braved the world of house hunting with a baby. It was something I was not looking forward to. I kept imagining little Jackson crying and crying because he didn't have a crib to sleep in.

I am glad to report that he was quite a trooper!

He got a little antsy on the drive, but not too bad. The weather was 106 degrees in Athens. It was a hot day in the neighborhood.

The first apartment we went to, we met the property manager of a rental company there. Let's call her Susan. Susan was a nice middle-aged lady, with a slight southern accent and a faint stench of cigarette smoke. She walked us up to the apartment and opened the door. She immediately closed it just as dogs started barking. Multiple dogs. She looked at us nerviously and felt compelled to explain.

"We kept calling the tenants to tell them we were coming at 12:30. They didn't answer though. We can still look around, but they have two doberman pinschers."

"We were told they are really nice. Are you okay with that?"

They didn't sound too nice.

Ryan and I kind of looked at each other and figured we would rather brave dogs than the blistering Georgia heat.

When we walked in, the 2 dogs barked and barked at us. Susan hesitantly told us, "You can go ahead and go on up the stairs and take a look around. I'll get these dogs situated." She hastily added on to the end, "But if I holler, come save me."

The apartment itself was nice, but to put it nicely, let's just say it was a pig sty! There was beer cans everywhere, urine in the toilet, random baby clothes everywhere, but no crib/highchair/anything else that a baby would need, and trash tossed every which way. I felt like I was trespassing.

We went back downstairs and the dogs decided that they liked us and started licking Jackson's feet. Susan wanted to show us the back deck of the apartment, but when she opened the door, the dogs bolted out. We quickly tried to catch them.

Imagine Ryan, the baby, and I trying to round up 2 random giant black dogs that we didn't know in 106 degree heat, while Susan yelled from the inside of the house. "Doggie! Doggie! It's too hot for you to stay out there! You'll melt!" As you can probably tell, Susan helped a lot.

When we left, Susan said, "You call me now if you are interested!"

No thanks, Susan. It was a fun adventure, but maybe a little too fun for us.

And then I found little black bugs crawling on me as we were leaving.

Yuck.

(On a side note: I am happy to report, we did find a great place! Hip hip hooray!)

7 Months

Jackson is 7 months old! I feel like I was just writing his 6 month post. Where did the time go? Jackson is such a sweet little boy.  He had a rough month this month—he had surgery and a pesky cold that won’t go away. He constantly has a runny nose. He’s learned that if he takes his fist a wipes it, it’ll go away! (Well, away as in all over his face!) Or he will bury his head in Ryan or my clothes and rub it on us. See! He is already learning how to share! 

I don’t think I ever posted Jackson’s 6 month statistics:

Height: 29 inches (99th percentile)

Weight: 21 lbs (89th percentile)

Head Circumference: Don't remember the measurement (90th percentile)

 

Jackson has super long legs! 

Interesting facts about 7 month old Jackson:

--Started doing this thing where he opens his mouth and shakes his head back and forth. Then he laughs. It’s pretty funny.

--Has tried peas, blueberries, and sweet potatoes baby food and apple/prune juice. I think this baby will eat anything we give him. One time, Ryan mixed peas and prune juice because of constipation, and Jackson ate it! Yuck! 

--Loves his stuffed animals. He thinks they are real animals and laughs when we move them around for him.

--We read him a touch-and-feel book every night before he goes to bed. He now thinks every book is a touch-and-feel book—including my kindle.

 

--Jackson gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. It looks like he is trying to jump start his crawl.

--Has crazy hair with lots of cowlicks.

--He is one cute kid!!

A Boy and His Ball

Jackson loves balls. Unfortunetly, we didn't own a single ball for the poor kid. Sometimes I would give him oranges to play with. and he would play and play with them until they got rotten or eaten.

Well, today I took Jackson to the store. He was content playing in his stroller. I decided to stroll around a bit, looking around. We got to the toy section and I saw a soft toy football. I picked it up and all the sudden I hear Jackson say, "Ahh ba ba! Da da da na na!" I look down and he is reaching for the ball with big eyes.

I let him hold it, and he was happy as could be. Best $2.50 I ever spent.

Future football player? Maybe! He should probably start wearing a helmet if he's going to play with his Daddy though.