Sick of Being Sick...and Doing Something About It

So Jackson is sick. A lot. Jackson is sick every 4-6 weeks with a cold that stretches into another cold and another and another. Basically Jackson seems sick all the time. Or he was….

In September I got really sick of Jackson being sick. REALLY SICK OF IT. I was complaining about it on Facebook and a friend of mine from high school asked if Jackson was on vitamins. Yes...and probiotics as well. She mentioned Juice Plus, which I snarkily laughed at. Then I had literally dozens of friends from all different parts of my life chime in. High school friends. College friends. Work friends from job now, work friends from jobs past. They all said, oh I take this or my kid takes this or whatever and I’m never sick and he’s never sick and so forth. What? So out of desperation, I ordered some Juice Plus gummies for Jackson just to see if it would help. I seriously doubted that it would.

It did. He hasn’t been sick since. He might have a runny nose for half a day. He might cough three times. But he hasn’t been sick since. He hasn’t missed a day at day care, I haven’t had to miss work to take care of my sick buddy. Neither has Jason.

Next I think Jason and I will take the plunge and start on the products ourselves. I’ll update you with results of that little experiment. I get sick a lot these days... I think I have had tonsillitis like six times in the last four months. So if this works for us, I’ll let you know. And if it doesn’t, I will too. But if you want to give it a try before we see what it does for us, let me know. https://www.juiceplus.com/nsa/content/Home.soa?site=ll36001

Thanks, and keep your fingers crossed for a continually healthy little Jackson. He’s way more fun this way.

Exciting New Words

We have a book called Hello, Ralphie. It is way too wordy for Jackson to last through any of it, but apparently they read it at school. Because he got the book out and started pointing at the CU logo and saying Ralphie. He says Ralphie. I'm so excited.

Slack Attack

So it's been a month. I don't have much of an excuse, other than my job is crazed and so is my boy. Jackson is over 18 months old now! It's been a crazy month. We had our 18 month checkup...Jackson gained only 13 ounces in 3 months! The doctor looked me dead in the eye and said, "Would you say he is an active child" pretty much as he simultaneously climbed on a chair and attempted to then scale his way onto the counter top. Yeah, yeah. I'd say he's active. He is already just about 33 inches tall! So his body is getting taller, just not too much heavier.

This month we did our wait in line Somalia style and got Jackson an H1N1 vaccination. He is due back for round two anytime after next Monday so we'll see if they have any available for him. It's been scary to be honest. You hear stories of otherwise healthy kids basically dying from it, so you do what you can to take care of him and keep him healthy. That includes waiting in a hallway outside a doctor's office from about 730 am to 930 am to get a vaccination. He did well.

In milestones, it's too many to count. Jackson is learning his colors and his big trifecta are blue, white and yellow. Yellow is the predominant color in the Coors Events Center, so when I took him there this past weekend he kept pointing and shouting "Yellow!" He is slowly mastering the art of using utensils and is getting quite adept at forking his foods. He smiles, he says cheese, he says please. He yells, "Big ball!" when he wants to play with his big blue rubber ball. His biggest sentence to date is "dada get the ball" which I believe qualifies. He calls my mom a version of "mama" and kind of calls my dad "Opa" which is what they call the grandpas over in Deutschland and is what they called my dad's dad (well Opie, actually). That may be what it turns into. He can help take off his shirt, sits in our laps to read books and knows what all the animals are in his playroom and in his books. Sometimes he feels shy and will ask "up!" and put his head on our shoulder until he feels comfortable around whatever person made him say up in the first place. He goes down the big slides at the park. He can go up AND down stairs now and usually without incident.

That's all I can think of now...love you buddy!

Bonzai!

In the world of Jackson, bonzai is the translation of Go Buffs! Jackson attended his first CU football game today. Truth, he went to the first home game last year but we never actually sat in a seat to watch so I am not counting it. Today, we sat in chairs and made it through an entire half. Jackson rocked his Colorado tee shirt and hat and jacket, clapped when it was appropriate, cheered when it was appropriate, and danced whenever he felt like it.

I've been trying to teach him to say GO BUFFS forever, and he says Go, and he says Boi, but when he says them together it comes out bonzai.

Maybe by the Nebraska game...

Let it Snow

Today we had our first real snow of this fall. And the first time that Jackson realized that there is snow and noticed that there was white stuff all over the place. At breakfast he kept pointing out the window and saying "No! No!" which is his s-free version of snow. I can't wait till he gets his boots on and his down jacket and can go play in it for the first real time. Sadly, I will be unable to participate.

I'm sick. I've been sick since Thursday. The flu test was negative, the strep test was negative. I'm feeling better but still have a lot of symptoms so I'm staying away from Jackson and Jason so I don't infect them. I was given some antibiotics in the event that my throat culture comes back positive, but I just decided to take them this morning anyways. My throat feels terrible but mostly my soft palate.

Dear Jackson

Dear Jackson,

It's time to write you a letter to get you up to speed on what the 16 month old version of you is like. First, the boring detail. You're tall! You are pretty much growing out of your 18 month old clothes and can pull of the 24 month stuff. You wear size five kids shoes. Okay that was boring.

Personality wise, I would describe you as being pretty funny. And if a one year old is capable of being caring, you are. You are also feisty. Changing your diaper can be a challenge. You don't like to be laying down and not allowed to do whatever you want. Which is a problem when you have chunks of poop clinging to your little butt. So then sometimes you smack mommy and daddy on the arm, which makes us sad...but then you gently rub the arm you smacked and make an I'm sorry face.

You have pretty much laid off opening and closing the kitchen cabinets, but can't get enough of the garage door and the front door. You are becoming an expert at climbing the stairs, and actually can go down them pretty well. You do okay with a spoon, and experiment with a fork. You still use a sippy cup, but we try the cup without the sippy when we can. You love to dance. You love to read books, especially Purdue Pete, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? You like to point at all the things in the books and ask us what they are. You love balloons, and when you see them, whether they are hot air balloons or regular ones, you say malon malon malon malon (which is also your word for melon) and point and stretch. It is adorable. You say hi to the moon. You wave at every car and person and bike and dog that walks by. You run down the driveway, which terrifies me. I'm just waiting for a face plant. Lately you are more interested in cuddle time than previously. When we read books you walk over to us, hand us a book, then immediately about face and sit down in our laps for reading.

You like to climb, go down slides and ride in swings. You are still a good eater. You love blueberries, strawberries and all kinds of melon, especially watermelon. You start off your day with daddy at breakfast with a handful of Kix while he makes you pancakes or waffles or french toast. You still love dogs, and still call all animals doggies. You wave at planes and birds. You say "goooooooooo" whenever the car is stopped at an intersection for a long time. You like to run over to mommy and daddy and also grandpa and put your arms up so we will pick you up. You love to play ball and can both throw and occasionally catch. You do a good job with shape toys and have lots of words and even a sentence "get the ball."

You are a great sleeper and love to cuddle with your blanket and your doggie. You very unceremoniously gave up the pacifier the second weekend in September. You no longer wake up at 3 am looking for it, which makes me very happy. You got three molars at the same time in August, followed by getting three of your "I teeth" at the same time right now. You are handling it like a champ. You do lots of fun art projects at school, and for the most part you refrain from biting other kids. Sometimes you do it when you are provoked. It's not our favorite, but we can't blame you when we hear what leads up to it most of the time.

You are lots of fun to be around...you like to dance in your high chair during dinner, and you give lots of hugs to us and even sometimes kisses. Your are very sweet to animals and even made friends with Chip the Buffalo. We love you very much and can't wait to see what else you're going to do :)

Grossest

It's been an unacceptable period of time since I've done this. So yeah, I have a lot to catch up on.

What prompted this entry is a cold that Jackson got last week. It's been a standard cold...runny nose, cough etc. Lots of boogers. So he goes to school on Wednesday, and then at about 3 pm I get a call that he's got goop in his eye and I have to come get him. Understandable, a lot of times that's pink eye and that's freaking GROSS.

So we go to the doctor and I'm assuming it's either pink eye or an ear infection. I was wrong. His sinuses were so blocked up that the mucous had nowhere to go. So you know where it went? Out his tear ducts. He had boogers coming out of his eyes.

Disgusting.

Drinking From a Cup

Jackson is very interested in moving from sippy cups to regular cups. He sometimes gets lazy at the end of a meal and ends up dumping his beverage, but he is making excellent progress. Yesterday actually provided a very entertaining situation along these lines.

Jason had 6 pm softball, so I picked Jackson up and we visited Jason and then went to Quizno's. Jackson likes those ham and cheese sammies. I didn't have a cup with me as it was a sort of impromptu outing, so I opted for a cup with a straw. He did fine out of the straw, then started pulling the straw out and taking the lid off to drink, which he did relatively well.

When it was time to go, I decided to let him keep his cup in his car seat to see what he would do. He took the straw out, but thankfully left the lid on. Then he would lift the cup up and try to drink out of the hole in the center of the lid. He would do this and then laugh hysterically with water all over his face, then repeat. This lasted until finally he threw the cup down and that was the end. But it provided me with nice entertainment on the way home.

Wagon!

We got a wagon. It is Jackson's new favorite form of transportation. No stroller, no car. Only wagon. He can face either direction. It has a door. It has storage. He loves the wagon.

It's Been Too Long!

Though not that much is going on. Three molars coming in...two on top, one on the bottom. Jackson has some new toys...we got him a wagon today! Since our mailbox is like five blocks away (seriously) we take family trips over to it. Now that Jackson is mobile, we let him walk...but sometimes it's more picking up rocks and putting them in his mouth. So we wanted a way to transport him that wasn't the stroller necessarily...and wagon it is!

He still loves doggies and thinks all animals are doggies which is hilarious to me by th way. He loves books and is always looking at books and bringing books to us to read to him. If we get through any pages it's a minor miracle.

I think tomorrow we will take Jackson out to the CU women's soccer exhibition match and teach him how to sit quietly and watch sporting events. HA!

Jackson Lew and the Toothless Carnies

Now that's a Harry Potter title if I ever saw one. I actually didn't see any toothless carnies. Just one carnie, with teeth, who basically asked us what the hell we wanted at the corn dog stand. Well, a corn dog. But we'll go to another stand where our galleons are appreciated.

It was actually Jackson's second trip to the Boulder County Fair. Last year he went with us in a Baby Bjorn. This year it was the day of his 15 month checkup on a day with pink eye, a cold and three shots. And he was a riot. (Quick aside: Jackson weighs 23 lbs, 1 oz, is 31 inches long and has a big head still. He also has three molars coming in simultaneously, which is just awesome news).

It was his first experience around animals other than dogs. Though he still calls every animal doggie, I will say that he says it more confidently when it is, in fact, a doggie. The first doggie of the day was actually a bunny, and the bunny wagon was there, so he got to pet it! Success! The rabbit did not bite him, nor did he bite the rabbit or the rabbit's poo. Then it was doggies (goats, not interested), doggies (pigs, which seemed puzzling) then a food break (roasted corn!). Then he played on some heavy equipment, saw an actual dog, then got to meet some cows (doggies!). At least there are others that call cows doggies so that worked. Then it was time for more live music, some funnel cake and the walk to the car and home.



Given the circumstances of the day (pink eye, doctor, shots) I'm so proud of him for being a good boy. He was saying hi to everyone, both humans and animals, did a good job listening and now washes his hands very well. I'm glad we took him to the fair.

15 Months Later

Jackson turned 15 months old today. We celebrated with a trip to the baby spa. Totally kidding. We blew up an inflatable kid pool in the backyard and Jason and Jackson played in it this morning and tonight before dinner. As was totally expected, Jackson loved it and would probably sit in there all day if we let him.

He is turning into a full blown toddler. So this means that he disagrees with us now. Before he pretty much went along with everything we said and did. Now...not so much. I knew the day would come when he was no longer interested in doing what we had to say...and that day came. It was yesterday. Now I can't decide if it's the molars, possibly an ear infection, or just...who he is now. I really, really hope it's 1 or 2, which is terrible to say, but seriously, he was out of control the last 48 hours.

When he doesn't get his way, he dramatically goes limp and lays on whatever surface is nearest...comfort is not an object. Sometimes, he screams, sometimes he does a really irritating grunt and screams. Today at the store he wasn't getting his way, so he threw himself on the floor and was borderline going to throw a tantrum. Toddlers. Sweet.

I've Got Your Molar

Poor little buddy is getting his first molar. And it sucks. Lower right, closest molar to the front. It has been interesting watching it come in as we have been able to see the little points for a few days and now the totally flat part is breaking through, so needless to say yesterday was brutal. But he only woke up once last night when the motrin wore off and once he was re-medicated he slept until 7 am today which was nice.

As for other things Jackson, he is learning more and becoming more interesting everyday. He has new words like "doos" which is shoes and also is becoming adept at pointing at what he wants. He usually says please without us having to remind him to do so, and his new favorite song is Say You Will by Fleetwood Mac. He eats corn and watermelon like nothing I've ever seen, and enjoys meatballs a lot too. Jackson is a great eater and we are going to ride that horse for as long as we can.

Jackson also got his first at-home riding toy. Some silly FP fire truck that he can sit on and push himself around on it like he's Fred Flintstone. I got it for him last Friday because he loves to show me how he can ride those things at school. He walked into the house and Jason had assembled it for him and the look on his face was the all time greatest thing I've ever seen. It was like, really? This is mine? And it's here? At my house? And I can ride it almost anytime I want? You guys are great!

A Busy Week for the Boy

Jackson came to softball last Thursday, which is always nice but this time he wasn't as good of a good luck charm as we needed. Then family came into town on Friday, and Jackson has been going strong ever since. Trips to the pool, trips to see grandma and grandpa, and today he got to go on his very first train ride, the Georgetown Loop. It was tons of fun despite it being hot and exhausting.

New Things

Jackson has a lot of new tricks that I don't believe I've mentioned but are kind of exciting. In the last two weeks he has used a spoon, drinks through a straw and used the word doggie whenever he sees or hears a dog. It's fantastic. He's like a sponge. He almost says blueberry.

When I was little, my parents would do the, "How big is Lindsay?" and I would stand up tall and put my arms straight up and say SOOOO BIG! Well, Jackson doesn't say so big, but when I ask him how big he is, he lifts his arms straight up in the air and waits for me to say SOOOO BIG for him and then laughs hysterically.

I'm telling you, this parent thing is so much cooler than I ever imagined.

Enough With the Biting

I have nothing witty to say. There's nothing funny about it anymore. Jackson is getting bitten at school a lot. And he has some pretty terrible bruises to show for it. The same kid has now bitten him on two separate occasions with six SIX bitemarks. Twice on the face. It's unacceptable.

I don't have much more to say... I was prepared to be more verbose on this subject, but it's just pissing me off so I'm going to stop until I can summon a sense of humor.

Bathtub 1, Jackson 0

It's my own fault for even mentioning it two posts ago. Jackson loves the bathtub. He loves all water. He loves the bathtub even when there is not water in it. Hence, tonight's mishap that has left me feeling sorely inadequate. It was bath time after the spaghetti madness covered my child's face. We had traveled upstairs to the bathroom. Jackson was standing next to me. I leaned over to turn on the water. In the 3 seconds between me leaning over and turning on the water and standing back up, my child had catapaulted himself into the non-full bathtub and landed on his head.

Thud. Screams. Lindsay scooping Jackson out of the tub while he looked at me screaming and not sure what had just happened and why there was such unhappiness in the bathtub as it is usually the happiest place on Earth. We were soon joined by Jason who heard the thud and impending screaming. Of course then I set Jackson down to try and get his wet clothes off, and what does he do? Tries to climb into the tub again. Really? Less than two minutes later he tries again? I had kind of hoped he would have learned from ONE faceplant and resulting goose egg for once. Alas, he did not learn this. I will now dread bathtime forever...or at least until he stops trying to climb in when it comes up to his chest.

Spoons and Please

We witnessed use of the word please. In sign language. Multiple times. We are trying to teach Jackson not to throw food on the floor. So I did some reading and we are cutting back on how much we give him at once, which seemed to work. Then once he finished, I would ask him if he wanted more and he would make the sign for please! Every time! It's awesome!

So I decided to take my chances and see if Jackson wanted to try eating with a spoon on his own. After I showed him a few times how to do it, I just rested the spoon on the bowl of yogurt to see what he would do. He picked it up, got some yogurt in the spoon, and put it in his mouth and ate it!! And then did it again!!! Yeah, he tried to use his hand to eat it too, but he used the spoon three times to eat the yogurt.

I was very excited and he could tell. My boy was all smiles.

Water Bug

Jackson loves the water. Loves it. A bathtub, full or empty, is a constant threat as he will attempt to climb in in the hopes that water will eventually be there if it isn't already. We haven't taken him to a pool since he's been mobile...if we take our eyes off him for a second he will jump in. I'm sure of it.

This is him at the splash park across the street from our house. He had it to himself for about 10 minutes out of 45 and was genuinely disappointed when it was time to leave. He has no fear of water. Kids that are 2 years old won't go near the fountains here while he practically sticks his face in the ground before the water jets out.

Bite Me

Or more accurately, bite you. I failed to mention that last week Jackson bit someone on the arm at school. I believe it was last Thursday. Someone antagonized him a bunch, so he bit them.

Horrified is an accurate description of how this behavior makes me feel. But I also can't lie...I am monumentally relieved that for once my child wasn't on the receiving end of the bad behavior.

Uh Oh

Jackson said Uh Oh this morning and it is adorable. He was playing with a toy and he dropped it on the floor and he just said "Uh oh" out of nowhere. So cute. What isn't so cute is that he has his fourth ear infection...his third in about six weeks time. That's not acceptable. We had to go to urgent care this morning because I was so sure that's what it was. I was right. I had floated the idea of tubes to the doctor last time and she didn't feel like he was having the frequency of them to worry about that yet. Well, I think three ear infections in six weeks....I think we should at least start the conversation.

What Would Mandy Pepperidge Say?

That boy is a P-I-G PIG! We need to have a serious discussion about table manners and toddlers, and how those are two things that do NOT belong in the same sentence, paragraph...you name it.

We have been blessed with a great eater (knock on wood). We are not the people who, at this point, have to worry about if our child is eating enough. It's really not a problem. I suppose we could be concerned about fluid intake, but we don't need to be...he's hydrated.

The issue are the sports of food flinging, bowl dumping and cup dropping. Sports for which my child is on track for a berth on the United States Olympic Team. With meals, he usually dives in and eats. And then somewhere along the way, he will casually drop a piece on the floor. Followed by dramatically drinking from his cup, which is then also dropped on the floor. This is IMMEDIATELY followed by a crazy swipe of the hand and more food on the floor, at which point Jason and I are now diving across the table to pop off his tray and end the food olympics.

I visited school to secretly observe his lunch time to see if he was saving this amazing behavior for home or if he was treating his teachers and classmates to these theatrics. He did not disappoint. Today's lunch was chicken and dumplings, green beans and strawberries. He loves and will eat all these items with vigor. At school they have progressed to giving them food on paper plates, in bowls and with a plastic spoon...which is pure entertainment by the way. When I arrived and peered in the window, my child was holding an empty bowl of chicken and dumplings over his head with a sippy cup of milk laying on the floor next to him. Eight children at the table, seven cups on the table, one on the floor. Nice.

Then his teacher offered him additional chicken and dumplings. Which he ceremoniously lifted off the table and would have so dumped on his head had she not wisely snatched it from his mischievous hand. Seriously. My child' s table manners are a nightmare. We are doing everything we are supposed to be doing and it continues. I guess he's not the only one and that when I looked he was the only one that had the cup on the floor but there are five of them that do that. And only one of them actually uses the spoon. But I didn't see anyone else starting the food fight at Faber. All that was missing was a square of Jell-o to inhale.

On the upside, today he said please for the first time. So we've got that going for us, which is nice.

I Love My New House

Because I love my new park!!!

Coldplay? Really?

I have populated the Endeavor, the vehicle in which Jackson is transported, with a few CDs of music I like that also happens to be free of colorful language. It takes us anywhere from 20-30 minutes to get him to day care, so we listen to the CDs rather than morning drive time radio. Blech.

One of the CDs has the song by Coldplay "Viva la Vida" which I kind of like. I am not the only one. My son lights up when this song comes on the radio and smiles, laughs and claps. When he's tired, it's the one thing that will settle him down to fall asleep. It's cute...something I'd like to remember.

Kill or Be Killed

This is my philosophy about the toddler 1 class at Jackson's School. Really any toddler class. They are learning about being independent, they are mobile, they have wants and needs, and they have anywhere from 0-20 words to communicate these things, and usually the other toddlers don't have the same 20 words. Thus, when someone wanders into their space and either tries to take something away or bother them, the responses they are equipped with from least harmful to most harmful are:
1 - Pushing
2 - Pulling hair
3 - Biting

The responses to those three responses are the same. Pushing, pulling hair or biting. My son seems to favor method two, the hair pull. He learned the hard way that this is not a generally accepted method of communication when one of his classmates responded by biting his arm in three places in a span of 5 seconds. Two days later, he still has the teeth marks to prove it. If he is pushed, he generally will push back.

He hasn't bitten anyone except for me and his father. He bit his dad on the leg on Wednesday night, which we now attribute to the brand new tooth that appeared this morning. He now has a fang...I pity any child who incurs the wrath of his bite with that new tooth...it won't be good.

Today we get his ears rechecked after our bout with a double ear infection two weeks ago. We'll see if we've got tubes in his future or some kind of intolerance for a food that's making it happen. Whatever. I'm just hoping for no accident report when I pick him up today.

200th Post

And wow, have you had to wait for it! Two weeks! Sorry about that, but moving and moving and going to Vegas with living life in between has made it impossible for me to make time to post a blog entry.

Over the last two weeks...Jackson busted his face at school...twice. Racked up an outstanding DOUBLE ear infection the 28th, which for those of you keeping score at home was the day before we had to start our move to Erie. Then the 29th was daddy's birthday, followed by moving day 1, cleaning day, moving day 2, then my trip to Vegas!

Jackson has handled the move well. There are tons of paths to walk him on, and he has been to the park a lot with Jason's parents, who came out to help Jason while I went to Vegas with mom and Sally and Co (incidentally, there was a DOMINANT craps performance whilst there...we're talking a guy shooting for over an hour and many dollars made by all).

We'll post some photos of all this soon, but I just wanted to know both of you who read this that I haven't forgotten about you!

Rewards

Membership has its privileges. Jackson's latest thing is maybe among his most wonderful. His walking has gotten to the point where he will occasionally attempt dashing. He will also play with things by himself, and then turn around to make sure we are still there. Then, often times, once he sees one of us, he will run across the room and at the last minute lift up his arms so we can scoop him up and give him some lovin. It is adorable. He did this several times today at the mall play area. He would wander away behind some of the big rubber dinosaurs, play a bit, then turn around to see where I was, and run over and grab my leg.

There was also an incident at the mall. There is a particular feature of the play area on the wall...a disc that has plastic sprinkles inside and when you turn it, the sprinkles fall all inside the disc. Jackson loves it. Today he had waited his turn to play with it, and this little three or four year old kid marched over and essentially shoved Jackson out of the way. My boy did not fall down, he did not cry. I was about 20 feet away and started walking over because I knew what was coming next. Little 28 inch tall, 22 pound Jackson wound up and stiff armed this kid right in the chest. I got there about 2 seconds before four year old socked him a good one, and to be honest, once I was there Jackson was a little upset.

My feelings about this incident are mixed. Obviously the last thing you want your kid to do is hit. But I also don't want him to tolerate being bullied and pushed out of the way by this kid either. I'm not saying socking a kid in the face is good, but I think there are times I would rather he stick up for himself than come running for me or Jason. It's a small issue at school now that he went from being king in the castle in infant 2 to the youngest and smallest kid in toddler 1. He' s not interested in being low man, and he's not going to put up with people taking away his toys or pushing him around in there either. So it's something we'll continue to monitor and help him figure stuff out, but again...I'm not that upset that he sticks up for himself. I think that's cool.

Sidenote: soon after I picked up Jackson we went to another part of the play area. When Jackson wandered back over to the disc that had caused this conflict, this kid's older sister who was like maybe 5 years old says, I'm very sorry but a minute ago my brother was not nice to that boy. It was so adorable. She had been chastising him for about two minutes about being nice to the baby. Then his mom showed up with the 9 month old baby...and I thought to myself, "Now I know why this kid is hitting mine...middle child."

Potpourri

Honestly there's not been that much new to report! We had another bout with an ear infection. Jackson got sent home from school on Thursday morning with a fever of like 101.3...not great but not overly alarming. I wasn't thrilled with his cough, so we went to the doc. Success! Red right ear drum equals antibiotics. So he became much more comfortable on Saturday afternoon and is back to himself. Sunday we went to a picnic for our cousin Matt, whose girlfriend Brandi is expecting a little girl on Father's Day. It's fun to take Jackson outside now. We slather up that sunscreen and he does well.

I think it's a big reason why he has transitioned so well at school. They play outside twice a day and have lots of things to play with and a nice shaded grass area as well. It's been so warm that they play with water as well, and next week they'll do some fun sprinkler time. Taking him to school in the morning simply sucks. When I leave, he screams. But I read that I shouldn't sneak out it will just freak him out more as opposed to just being upset that I'm leaving. So I have to endure that screaming while I walk out the door.

The garage sale was a success. Now our lives are about packing and finding a moving truck and friends and family to help.

Fun Times

Today we went down to Grandma and Grandpa's for the afternoon to get ready for the garage sale this weekend. Jackson has never been a fan of the grass...but now that he is in the big boy class at school where they play outside twice a day, he plays in the grass and dirt everyday! So when I set him down in the grass in my parents expansive backyard he knew just what to do and ran all over the place chasing the dog. It was very, very cute.

We have moved him over to whole milk, a journey which is interesting. They don't do bottles in the toddler class, so we've been trying to get him to shift to a sippy cup, which is no small challenge. He's not a fan of cold milk, so we have to try and get it to room temperature and let him drink it. He's just not a fan. So that's an ongoing struggle. One pleasant surprise thus far has been his adjustment to the new schedule. All his food is the same, but his naps are not...the toddler class takes one long nap after lunch as opposed to 2-3 a day in the infant class. Jackson has been napping like a champion! Like 90 minute naps, which for him at school is amazing. We would celebrate when he would sleep for 45 minutes in the other room. He's also not using a paci at school, and is adapting to lunch at the table with his classmates as well. I try and observe him at school so I can make sure we are all on the same page...they are doing great with him. Mom and dad need to step it up!

Mom's Day

So it's Mother's Day! My second! Hooray! It has been an interesting week leading up to Mother's Day...the last three days in particular. Friday Jackson took a visit to the toddler class. He was supposed to unwind back in his class, but he was having so much fun, he didn't need to. He has officially moved to the toddler class, where he gets to sit at a table with his friends, play in the dirt and make art. Sweet.

That same day, we put our house on the market. As I was picking him up from school, our realtor called to inform me that we would be getting an offer the next day. Indeed. We did. So we spent Saturday looking at houses. Today we accepted the offer and are prepared to put one on a place to move.

Oh and by the way, we close on the 29th. Of this month.

Doctor Doctor

Happy Birthday! You get shots! Gotta love the AAP schedule of exams and immunizations. Jackson had his 12 month checkup today and it went fantastically. He weighs 22 lbs, 3.5 oz which is pretty good, and is 29.5 inches long. I'm convinced that the nurse who measures him isn't doing it right...he seems so much taller than that. His head is large. 75th-percentile, but we knew it was big anyways. Then she informed me that his shot schedule over the next six months would contain four required shots, with one optional Hep A shot. We went with the Chicken Pox and Hep A today. At his 15 month appointment we will do the ghastly MMR that everyone thinks causes all the issues. So I can put off being worried about that for three more months.

Developmentally he is doing great and is just as he should be. I guess the average walking is at 14 months so he's ahead there. The adage I hear is "boys walk, girls talk" so that explains why he only uses mama and dada really and hasn't learned a third word. He says versions of Buffy. That's the closest he's come to saying an additional word we have tried to get him to say. He does his version of pat a cake which is high fiving, he waves goodbye. He points at things he wants, reaches up for us, and pounds on his tray when he wants more of something (which by the way, we are over).

Anyways, that's what's new here. We are putting our place on the market on Friday so we have been in a whirlwind getting it ready. If you're in the market for two beds and three baths in southwest Longmont, you know who to call...

Happy Birthday Buddy

Has it really been a year? How is it even possible? This time last year we were waiting to get rolled from labor & delivery over to mom & baby at BCH. My parents had visited. I was getting my poor body all cleaned up. Oh...and we had a new baby boy that was not even four hours old. Now he's a year old.

We had a nice and small gathering at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Lakewood. Jason's parents flew in for Jackson's birthday, and we were also joined by Uncle Eric and Aunt Jennie, Blaine and Maggie and Sally O'Malley. We had some barbeque dinner, opened gifts and had cake. Then got Jackson in his jammies and rolled home. It was over in an instant...just like this year was! Everyone says, "Watch it, it will go fast" and as much as you know and you understand...you can't possibly imagine the blink of an eye that year one will be.

I look back at this year and think about a few things each month that I remember. Taking Jackson to the park for the 4th of July concert, hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa the night before I went back to work, him wearing the pumpkin hat on Halloween and being so cute, trying turkey on Thanksgiving, opening presents on Christmas in his 19 different Christmas outfits, crawling for the first time on January 2, various bouts with illness in the springtime, cruising around the living room, then walking and now here we are he is a year old! I remember when he smiled, when he laughed...the first time he said mama...the first time he said mama and meant it (this was this past Monday). There are too many memories to count and I'm glad I have this blog to remember a lot of them.

Jackson, you are a sweet sweet little boy. You have breakfast each day with your daddy, who makes you something yummy to eat along with giving you your bottle. You have a very sweet disposition, and as much as sometimes we don't act like we remember, you are a very, very easy little boy and have been since you were born. You usually go to sleep when we put you down for naps or for bedtime, and you eat almost everything we give you to try. When you are done eating something, you look us dead in the eye and start picking up individual pieces of food and dropping them on the floor. It's hard not to laugh. You have a tendency to pull hair and put your fingers in other people's mouths. Lately you are very cuddly and you grab our legs when you want us to pick you up. You have had two bottom teeth for four months, and your front teeth have been coming in for it seems like forever. You are very good at throwing the ball...I think you might be right handed based on that you eat with your right hand and you mostly throw with it as well. You now are a big fan of Buffy the dog, and you laugh all the time when you see her and try to chase her. You climb up stairs but haven't figured out how to climb down. You can climb off the bed. You give hugs and they are adorable. We have a goodbye routine when I drop you off at school in the morning and it's how we keep you from crying when I leave...and me too for that matter. When I pick you up, you crawl or walk up to me and say mama and hold your arms up so I pick you up. When you're sleeping you are the most peaceful and adorable looking little man ever. We are so lucky to have you in our lives sweetie pie...Happy Birthday.

Walk, Don't Run

Jackson is running. He should not be running. He is not yet coordinated enough to do so. This does not seem to concern him. Windowsills, doors, high chairs...you name it, he will crash into it. His reaction lately is not to cry, but to become very angry. Once we determine he hasn't injured himself, it's quite entertaining. The other skill he learned is sticking his tongue out, which is hilarious. My parents are not as thrilled by it as I am, but I love it and think it's funny. I would be more inclined to respect their dismay had my father not taught him how to pull tissues out of the kleenex box. He can empty a box in a minute if we aren't watching.

Two days until my boy is one year old. How is it even possible?

Leavin On A Jet Plane, 2

This time it was Jackson. I didn't have the interest in noting that this last week's events led to Jackson's first ever trip on a plane. We were very nervous as everything was last minute and we didn't have a lot of choices as to when we could fly, nor could we really afford to buy three seats on the plane. So we went with the best times and had Jackson ride on our lap.

Our flight from Denver to Chicago...he couldn't have done better. He really was a dream. He didn't nap, but he didn't fuss at all, ate really well and was just really well behaved. The ride back from Chicago to Denver was a slightly different story. He needed a nap, we needed a nap, and we were all pretty drained. He was crabby most of the way, but honestly he did pretty well. He finally fell asleep in my arms with about 20 minutes left in the flight and then slept up until he got in the stroller. When we got home he went right to sleep after dinner and was great.

All and all, given the circumstances, it could have been much worse and I'm proud of him for a good job on his first plane flight. Next time will be to Indiana for Jason's birthday and he will thankfully have his own seat :)

Say Goodbye

Today we bid adieu to my Grandma Dot. I post this on the Jackson blog because he was there and was a bright ray of sunshine on what was the sunniest gloomy day I've ever had. He was chatty at the burial and was there for mommy to hug. He was there at the service for all of Grandma Dot's friends to see...and hear. And also at the after party we held at Westmoreland where he walked around smiling and cuddling with family and friends alike. He was a tremendous comfort to me and my family during the saddest day we've had in a long time. He smiled all day. Grandma would have loved it.

So Much To Say

It's 11:54 on a Tuesday night and I'm writing a blog entry because I can't sleep. It's been a rough few days in the Lew household. I know this blog is meant to be about Jackson, and this will mention him in a way, but really...this post won't be. We lost Jackson's Great Grandma Dot very early Monday morning. She was my last grandparent. My Grandma was very cool. She came out to Colorado for a wedding shower my friend CJ gave for me in 2005 and she had just suffered a fall and had a black eye and wasn't happy about it. She came to the shower and had an awesome time. And all my friends at one time or another who attended that shower agreed that "your Grandma is so cool" which is not a thing one expects to hear really. With my Grandma living in Chicago, it wasn't as though a plethora of my friends had ever really met her at any point in my life.

I had the total out of town Grandma experiences that will forever loom large when I reflect on my childhood. Each summer, that was what we did. We visited Chicago to see Grandma and our uncles, and we visited Wisconsin to visit all the aunts, uncles, cousins and Omi. When we were in Chicago, we were at the green house on Bennett Avenue and played at the park on the corner of Bennett and Simpson. We got to know Grandma's friends the Bannermans, Mrs. Persons, Mrs. Keem and Lu. The highlight was always, ALWAYS the 4th of July at Lincolnwood School where my mom used to attend school as a kid. I loved the races there...it was like getting another field day, which to me was a very big deal. Then we would walk down to Central Street and watch the parade before going back to Grandma's and getting cleaned up to go to Westmoreland for the picnic. You remember things like getting the variety pack of cereal at Grandma's when all you got at home were Corn Flakes, Cheerios and Rice Krispies. At Grandma's we got to have Corn Pops and Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes! We got to go to the dime store and get a toy to play with during our visit! Uncles would take us to the Cubs game, and we'd borrow the Altschul's beach tokens to visit Lake Michigan at Lighthouse Beach. Then there are more recent memories, some of which suck. Grandma had a great time at Jason and I's wedding which was wonderful. Not so awesome when she tripped over a stair at my parents house and broke her hip. The only upside to this was that Grandma was stuck in Colorado with us, which meant we got to spend a lot of time with her. So that was an upside if there could be one. She would look out the window and tell us how she couldn't believe that we had blue sky everyday...she had no idea it was like that here.

One of the most recent memories I have of her was when I called her to tell her that I was pregnant. Jason and I were actually at the airport flying to San Antonio for my college reunion and I was 12 weeks basically that day. So I called and told her and she was so excited. Once she got the initial congratulations out of her, the first thing she really said was, "What does your mother think about this?" Which isn't funny to anyone but me and Grandma because I knew exactly why she asked me that. Going to her 90th birthday party last January and meeting all her friends again was a wonderful time. When my brother got home from that he got engaged. Which was fantastic for many reasons, not the least of which is that it meant Grandma was going to roll the dice on another trip to Colorado. Which I'm very grateful for, because it meant that she got to meet Jackson. That was a big deal to me, and if it hadn't happened then I hope it would have happened in the time since before Monday. I sent her literally hundreds of photos of Jackson, and thanks to Uncle Paul she got to see videos of Jackson in action on Easter. Which is more timing I am thankful for.

My way of dealing with any situation that I am uncomfortable in is with a self-depricating joke. It's automatic. If I don't like it, I will make light of it. I now know where this comes from and is a quality I appreciate having. It has traveled from Grandma to my mom to me. I find myself doing certain things that I am sure were things that she did.

When the phone rang on Monday morning I was in the shower. I was in the shower much earlier than I usually am in an effort to get the house empty of Lews in a faster manner. So I knew why the phone was ringing and who it was before Jason even answered it. I heard it ring once and turned off the water, threw a towel on my head and put my robe on and dripped down to the kitchen to get the phone from Jason. I already knew it was my mom and I knew why she was calling. It wasn't a phone call I expected to get yet. I thought we had more time.

But I am thankful for the time we did have. Grateful. We've had a heads up on this for a couple of months. I think the worst thing doctors can say is "at any time" because what does that mean even? At any time could be today at lunch or in 3 years. But the upside to the worst thing they can say is that it sure motivates everyone. I talked to my Grandma a lot lately, but I'm furious that my last chat with her was on Easter and that it was as brief as it was. My mom talked to her on Sunday night and gave me a recap and I decided I was going to call her the next day. I didn't get a chance...my mom called me first. The services start on Thursday and we'll take on the task of saying goodbye but really I am thinking of it more like a salute to Grandma. I'm very sad, but I'm very glad that I will have Jason and Jackson with me. It's not the occasion we had in mind for Jackson's first time on a plane. He is Dot's first great-grandchild and I'm glad he will be there to participate.

When Did I Get a Kid?

Because last time I checked, I thought I had a baby! Sometime in the last month, Jackson has morphed from a baby boy to a big boy. I don't know when it was...and there are still things I'm clinging to that are baby like. We still give him a bottle and he still has to lay either in our arms or lean on our knees when he has it. When he wakes up for a moment at 3 am and screams for whatever reason and we get to pick him up out of his crib and he puts his little head on my shoulder and calms down. Those are baby moments. They are the last ones...I have a little boy. He plays on his knees and tries to throw the ball to daddy. Instead of putting the toy truck in his mouth, he actually attempts to roll it on the floor. He feeds himself, and gets mad when we try to feed him sometimes with a spoon. He grabs the aforementioned bottle and plays with it when he's done. He stacks rings and blocks. He talks in the car. He dances! He makes jokes! He puts smaller toys inside bigger toys, and puts toys in the toy bin. He knows that when we come get him in the morning or after a nap that the blue blankie stays in the crib and hands it to daddy. He is a wonderful, wonderful little man. And he's still my baby.

Sweet Boy

Earlier this week Jackson and mommy met Dave Russell, who shot our wedding in 2005. He was hoping to meet Jackson, so we met him at Scott Carpenter Park in Boulder one afternoon to get them acquainted (and for Dave to do his awesome work!). The results were amazing...I can't believe what a handsome little guy we have and what great photos Dave took. I shouldn't be surprised, but it's so wonderful to see Jackson from someone else's point of view.

Easter Madness

It was Jackson's first Easter, and naturally I was going to pimp him out. There are far too many adorable Easter outfits for little boys out there for me not to. The choices ranged from the extravagant Janie and Jack to the basics at Carter's and Macy's. I went with an impulse purchase...a little sportcoat outfit from Target. He had no interest in any egg searching or holding. He just wanted to show off his new walking skills and chase the dog.

Walking, Day Two

Walkin on Sunshine

Wednesday, April 8. 4:49 p.m. Jackson walks. He and I were home playing waiting for daddy to come home and playing his new favorite "I scream when we play with this" ball popper machine.

We were picking the balls up and putting them back into the machine and dad came home from work. Jackson was about 3-4 feet away from me and had let go of the machine and was just standing there. So I put out my arms, with Jason standing about 10 feet behind me, and said, "Come and see me!" and he did! He took three steps all by himself and got to my arms and I scooped him up and we had a celebratory dance celebration in the kitchen. We do not yet have this on video but I bet we do by the weekend.

Now the fun begins....

Haircut Again

I decided that with Easter and birthday coming up it was time for a real live haircut. We went today, and it was great. We walk in to hear the beautiful sounds of Miley Cyrus blaring at the Superior Lollilocks. No appointment though, and they were full, so we had to go back at 1 pm. So we did, and Jackson did great! He sat in the booster seat and "read" a book while Jackie the stylist sprayed his head and cut his little hairs. He even sat still for the buzzing clipper as she did a cleanup job on the back of his neck and around his ears. Photos will be up later when he is up from his nap but I didn't want to forget to post this. He was a great customer and she didn't charge us hardly anything since it took about 2 minutes and he sat still and let her work. Hooray for good behavior = saved money!

Does He Or Doesn't He?

Mean it. When he says mama or dada. He says it literally all the time. They are the only word sounding sounds he makes. Last night I was leaving and he looked right at me and said mama and smiled. He waves like a maniac and says mama. He shrieks and says dada. But it doesn't seem that different from the first time he said either thing.

Not an Ear Infection

So today, on the eve of my son's 11 month birthday, I am here to report it's not an ear infection. It's a sinus infection...with a healthy dose of some BRUTAL teething. Poor little dude is all I can say. And the worst part is, it may not even just be the two front teeth...I think there might be two others joining the party.

He is on antibiotics, which have confirmed the sinus infection wholeheartedly. Now that his little passages aren't infected and swollen, the snot is literally POURING out of them. Keep Jackson in your thoughts...he could use some good vibes to help him sleep and eat without incident.

Ear Infection Number Two

I haven't blogged via BlackBerry since the hospital when I had Jackson. Which is appropriate since today was as hard as the hospital was 11 months ago. Jackson was angry for 90% of the time he was awake. My child is never angry. He wasn't into eating or playing. Just sleeping, crying and a form of whining. I realize teething hurts. But not this bad for him. Something was amiss.

Friday we saw the doc. Clogged tube but no infection. Wait and see if the fever develops. Well it did. As did eye goop. And puking again. So instead of drugs and happiness now, we get to wait until 9 am and see when they can fit us in to tell me what I already know. I'm annoyed. He saw it coming, it was Friday afternoon. Now we've spent a weekend with a pod person and presto now the ear infection is official and officially will mess up tomorrow. Why can't I live next door to a pediatrician?

Intolerable Cruelty

I think Jackson has a corn something. Intolerance or allergy. I don't know. Thursday night he threw up all over himself and his crib, so we held him out of school Friday and I stayed home with him since I had the day off. He drank a little pedialyte, ate a few saltines, a lot of banana, and almost a jar of banana peach oatmeal before crashing for a nap in the morning.

Then at lunch he had formula (not much) and I attempted some of his favorites...melon, shells and cheese, sweet potatoes, hummus (yes he loves hummus) but when we wouldn't eat any of those, I gave him some of the new Jumbo Rice Krispies, which he's been having this week (and loves) and hoped he would do better at snack time.

He didn't. It was a fight to get him to eat his bottle, which he eventually finished 5 of 6 ounces of. He didn't really want melon or any bread. But of course he wanted more of the Rice Krispies and took a bite of corn muffin. I finally got him to eat yogurt before we went to our doctor's appointment to have his ears checked, which came back negative. Then we came home and he drank his bottle, but was too exhausted to have any dinner so he went to bed at 6:30.

At about 10:30 I heard him waking up and being loud, so I went in there to check on him and picked him up to re-settle him in bed and heard his stomach rumble and he started to wretch. So I took him to the sink and he puked up some yellow gunk that looked like...well it looked like corn muffin batter actually...about 1-2 tablespoons worth.

My mom had mentioned to me that I was allergic to citrus, soy and corn when I was little, so I thought about any foods that we had recently introduced. Well, the Jumbo Rice Krispies...which it turns out aren't just rice. They also have corn. And he ate a LOT of them the last couple days. And some corn muffins that I made him because he seemed to like them before and there were no issues and we've been trying to diversify his menu options lately.

This morning, Jason gave him his bottle, which he pounded and promptly threw up all over the place. I guess his tummy was still mad about Jumbo Corn Krispies. But then he was all about saltines and bananas again (he ate like half a banana), and hasn't shown any side effects or threw up since then. The doctor's office opens in about three minutes...I guess I'll call and see what they have to say.

Bye Bye

Jackson waved bye bye. It's one of those things you do all the time to try and get them to do, but they don't do it. Then yesterday, my mom came up to hang out with him. I was supposed to have Friday off as it's CU's spring break, but Jackson threw up all over himself Thursday night so I wasn't about to send him to day care without knowing what the deal was.

So she came up and I spent my day off going and running at the gym, walking through our ghetto mall in Longmont and buying groceries at Target. I did find a darling outfit for him for Easter so that was a plus. I got home, Jackson wasn't feeling much like eating anything (more on that later), so we played and then it was time for grandma to go home.

She went to the door and said bye bye Jackson and waved. And I saw him make a motion like he was going to wave. So we kept saying bye bye and sure enough, he lifted up his sweet little arm and waved bye bye to Grandma. Hooray!

Teething Bites

The photo depicts a happy and fun Jackson. We spent some time with my parents in Lakewood and Jason and I went to the movies last night. Things were great.

This morning, not so great. But overcomeable (that's a new word I just made up). Went to the park, went and ran errands. Then he got up from his afternoon nap and was inconsolable. Front teeth are en route. Jason then tried to make us burgers and the grill was out of gas. So he went and got some. Then the grill still wouldn't work. But Jackson ate a bunch of melon and bread and took a bath and is sound asleep...for now.

Jackson Live

The clapping!

What is the Sound of One Hand Clapping

Jackson has started clapping. In his own special way. We noticed it Thursday night as we were eating dinner. He started smacking one first with one hand and smiling and Jason asked me if it was sign language or he was giving us the bird in his own special way. It took a few minutes...and then we realized that he is clapping! Adorable.

Digger

A milestone we'd all prefer not to experience. Jackson took a digger at school. Was doing his cruising around the cabinets at school and slipped and whacked his head on an edge of the cabinets. Nice little nugget on his head with an abrasion to match. I didn't handle it well. I was super pissed at no one and upset and I was glad that when I arrived there to check on him, he let me hold on to him forever.

Hooray for Health

Hooray hooray! Jackson is healthy. I have now officially jinxed it. He will be sick immediately. He is a whole different guy when he is healthy...its been so long I forgot. He went for his first ride in a swing, his first time in a jumping castle, and today he crawled all over the play area at the mall. He's down to really one solid nap a day and sometimes he'll take a shorty before dinner.

Ear Infection #1

As a child, I was the poster child for ear infections. Apparently, they were a major problem for me from age two months to like age four. My mom now attributes it to a early childhood allergy to citrus and soy, but that doesn't change the fact that I was on antibiotics for the better part of my toddlerhood.

Jackson, as you all know, is sick constantly. Usually it's a cold, which of course we can do nothing about other than Tylenol and time. Which is like the most lame ass thing ever and doesn't make Jason and I feel good about things EVER.

So he got another cold as I wrote in my last entry and day care called to let me know he had a slight fever. Not so much that I had to go get him, but you know, enough to call. I went and got him anyways and we went home. Then I was up all night trying to help him with his fabulous cough, and Wednesday morning was business as usual. Then he took a ridiculous nap and woke up at like 2:45 and his eyes were FOUL. Uh uh. I'm not doing pink eye. So we called the doc, and got in at 3:45. The result: ear infection and antibiotics. You hate for your kid to be sick, but you're glad it has a name and a solution.

Jackson and I took the elevator down to the pharmacy, where I filled the prescription immediately and decided we would go ahead and dose him up right in the BCH lobby. The funniest thing happened. I opened his bottle of pink amoxicillin and it struck me IMMEDIATELY. I know this smell. I remember this. My mom informed me that I hated the pink amoxicillin. I obviously didn't taste his medicine as he needs it all, but I have to say, the instantaneous recollection of the smell of that stuff really was interesting to me. I probably hadn't smelled it in 28 years but man, I remembered that smell. To me, it smells like fake bananas.

10 Months Old

My child is 10 months old. How is this possible? As each monthly milestone passes, I keep thinking back to the days when the boy couldn't do anything. I'm not going to recap it again...but wow.



He can throw! He attempts to play a form of catch with his father. Jackson can't catch because he's not coordinated enough, and Jason can't catch because Jackson's throws are beyond errant. But they try. And it's adorable.

It's been 70 degrees here (!) and we get to take Jackson on walks after work, which is so nice. He is doing well at day care, although I swear we had our first consecutive days without cold symptoms this past weekend and now they are back. And of course even as I type this, his day care calls and he has a slight fever. Ugh.

Slacker Mom

I've been a total slacker lately on the blog due mostly to travel, work and illness in the house. But on this, the eve of my son's 10 month birthday, I feel it's high time for some updates!

He is Mr. Cruise. He has also learned to throw, and plays a baby version of catch where he attempts to throw to his dad, who then rolls it back to him. My perfect eater has become a little finicky from time to time, which is what I deserve given that I am THE pickiest eater on earth. At least I can say, "I don't want that" whereas he can't tell me until I've opened the jar, he's taken a bite, and isn't feeling it. I'm hoping it's a phase.

Jackson is getting good at feeding himself. Today it was carrots and potatoes, and some weird freeze dried yogurt pieces. He did well. He also likes to try to feed me cheerios, and he now tries to fake me out and offer it and then pull it away. I do not know where he learned this game as that's even too evil for me to pull on a 10 month old.

This weekend I had another taste of single parenting as Jason went skiing. I was home basically alone with him from Thursday until this afternoon. Sally O'Malley came up and was a temporary babysitter so I could run to the store quickly instead of deliberately, which was great. But I do wonder how single parents do it. I guess you just do it...you don't have another choice.

He likes to crawl places he shouldn't. Like the kitchen. It's not 100% ready for primetime just yet. It's a work in progress...just like everything else. :)

Ch Ch Ch Changes

So I think a lot changes in four days. Coming home from being gone was pretty weird. I was very excited to come home and see everyone, but I was very excited to see Jackson since it was the first time I had really been away from him.

New noises. New crazy behavior in the high chair. More skilled eating with hands. A different laugh. Not sure if it's just me, or if it's real stuff...but it sure seems real to me!

Leavin On A Jet Plane

So tomorrow, I take my first flight in over a year, my first *real* trip away from Jackson. I'm going to California for work. Jason's parents are here to help him out while I am away.

I'm nervous to leave him, but he will be in good hands obviously. I'm glad he won't be at school, which has felt like a petri dish lately because my child seems to be sick every other week. So maybe when I come home he will be well? A girl can dream. I'll check in to the blog soon with an update on how I'm doing...and how Jackson is doing with out his "mama" and how his Dad is doing :)

Shameless Plug

I love Diapers.com. I love them. They have a great variety of the brand of food Jackson likes, they take manufacturers coupons, I get credits if my friends use our coupon code (jacksonlew, incidentally) and they ship for free at $49 bucks, which let's face it, that's nothing.

We do Earth's Best food. He likes it, they have lots of variety. Unfortunately that variety can't be found anywhere in a single store. A few things at one store, a few at another. The most variety is at like Vitamin Cottage, and it's ridiculously expensive there so that's out. So we order the food and his diapers and now, other accessories there.

When we first started using it in May, it was basically diapers, and then a few brands of other things. Now they have everything. So congrats to them on expanding their business and hooray.

Are You Talking to Me?

So yesterday Jackson said the word mama. It was a pivotal epic moment in my life. Did he mean it? I seriously doubt it. Did he look right at me and very carefully enunciate two syllables? Yes he did.

Jackson had school closed for the holiday, but I did not. So my mom watched him all morning and much of the afternoon. Then I came home to prepare for a meeting and take over, and I was feeding him a nice big snack at about 3:30 pm. I paused from shoveling the food into his mouth to take a sip of water and while I wasn't looking at him, he just said, "Mama." That was it. Not mamamamamamamamamamamamammaa. Not mama followed by bljounoeuwounlkjouiojlajsdas. Just mama.

I was like, Mama? Did you just say Mama? Were you talking to me? Trying desperately to get him to say it again, which to me would at that moment have validated it, etc. But he waited a bit to say it. But he did smile and laugh, because he knew that he just made my...well I don't know. More than my day, more than my year. It was just awesome. Hooray! Mama! That's me!

Please Not Again

I'm seriously starting to dread beyond dread when school calls me at work. Because it means Jackson is sick. Again. This time, a small fever. I didn't have to get him because there were no other symptoms and such, but seriously. This child is going to have to move into a bubble because his father and I are at the end of our ropes with this constant cold. He's much better tonight, but it doesn't roll back the clock on the "what are we in for this time" thoughts we both inevitably get.

Crazy Train

Jackson was in rare, rare, rare form tonight. He had a pretty good day at school. Didn't take amazing naps, but got a bit of sleep. When I arrived to pick him up at 4:30, his teacher said that he had, "An active day" which is a fairly normal thing to say. Jason and I would soon learn what she meant by this statement.

So he got home and made it clear he wasn't going to nap. This started on the changing table, when he was basically flailing uncontrollably and laughing while Jason changed his diaper. Then we gave him some yogurt, as lately he doesn't seem to have a full enough tummy in the afternoon to take a nap. He had a whole thing of yogurt and we put him down at 5:30. He sat in his crib and laughed. So we got him back and decided to go ahead and do a bottle at 6. Then we played until 6:30. During play time, he FOUR TIMES went over to the only really, really banned thing in our house, the fireplace. The bottom piece of the fireplace can fall open with little effort, and that's not okay to play with. So when we told him no, he would turn around and laugh in our faces, and then continue to play. Needless to say, we tried the minute of solo time in the crib without toys and stuff to get him to do something other than play with the fireplace. It worked.

Then he ate an entire jar of chicken mango risotto. And then played in his chair and when I would look through his play tree, he would stick his hand back through the other way and laugh hysterically. By now it's after seven, and it's clearly time for beddy by. He didn't go down easy but he did go down eventually...it was a banner evening.

Comb-over Be Gone!

Jackson has had the worst combover ever going for awhile on the back of his head.
We decided to address it yesterday while visiting grandma and grandpa in Lakewood. Grandpa used to cut hair when he was in the army, and he used to cut my brother Eric's hair, so I asked if he would try cutting Jackson's hair. It wasn't even very much, but it made a huge difference.

Checkup Time

We were back at the doctor again, this time for Jackson's well-child exam for nine months. We knew in advance it would be a shot-free appointment, which I was happy about and I'm sure Jackson was relieved about as well.

He is up to 28.5 inches long, 19 pounds, 15 ounces and his head is...well big. Jackson lost some weight with his bout with a virus last week...he was well over 21 pounds not even two weeks ago, so that's a bit of a bummer. But he did very well. Tonight he fed himself some chunks of baked potato and pigged out on chicken and apple compote baby food. It was a fun night and it's nice to have a relatively healthy lad.

Stair Master

So the great fever epidemic of February 2009 has come to a close. At least this version has. Jackson has recovered thanks to some TLC from his grandpa who came to stay with him yesterday and today.

I forgot to share a fun detail...which is that Jackson climbed stairs on February 1 at my parents house. Yeah, it was only two stairs...but he climbed them. Watch out world!

Nine Months

Today is Jackson's nine month birthday. I wish we were celebrating with much fanfare and excitement, but honestly Jason and I are just wondering how high his fever will get tonight. He's been having night fevers since Friday...so far his PR is 103.8. Last night it was 102.6. Tonight...only time will tell. Usually it starts at about 9 pm so we are enjoying our brief time without it.

He was supposed to get photos taken yesterday but we had to cancel because he wasn't doing so hot. Today grandpa came up and stayed with him until it was time to go to the doctor because Jason and I had big days at work today, and gramps is going to come back tomorrow, which we really appreciate. It's so fun watching Jackson and my parents...it's a side of your parents that you pretty much have no memory of for yourself. My dad was laughing at Jackson on Sunday morning and he just was so enthralled and I said, "Kinda makes you wonder what you ever did before he came along, doesn't it?" which is I think a feeling we all can relate to. My mom had him on Saturday at the game while I was working and she is the only person that can get him to fall asleep sitting on her lap...she's like baby Yoda when it comes to Jackson and strange napping opportunities.

I'm not going to lie, the last two nights of trying to get his fever to a point where he would sleep have been two of the top 10 most brutal. It's just exhausting. But when we were just playing with him tonight...he has a way to make me forget what I went through the night before and what assuredly awaits later this evening and just bask in the glory of his adorableness. Gosh what a cute kid.

It Just Doesn't Matter

Regardless of how he is supposed to sleep, Jackson is going to sleep on his tummy with his butt sticking in the air. It doesn't matter how we put him in the crib, what he's wearing, which blanket, which pacifier or no pacifier. On face, on tummy, butts up. Love it.

The Baby Gourmet

So we're still on jarred foods for most of what Jackson is eating solids-wise. He can now feed himself cheerios and eat various foods...well mostly carbs...but also bananas, etc. We haven't had the fortitude to attempt anything too crazy yet.

I kind of was getting sick of feeding him the same stuff all the time. Turkey and vegetables. Chicken and sweet potatoes. Beef with carrots and corn. Rice and lentils. That was basically our dinner time rotation. So I got online to see what Earth's Best had out there, and I discover their Gourmet line and their Antioxidant line. I figured, what the hell, let's go for it.

Result? Jackson is becoming a food snob. Wednesday night he had "Tender Beef with Spinach" and yesterday at school he had "Chicken and Mango Risotto" and then when we tried good old Turkey and Vegetables? Negative. Breakfast? Banana and Mango antioxidant blend. Yes. Done. I am very glad he likes some different foods...he is already doing way better than mom is on the food experimentation...maybe I'll get ambitious this weekend.

Sunday Afternoon Musings

Greetings from snowy Colorado. It's beautiful here as always. People don't believe me when I tell them, but hello, it was 70 degrees on Thursday and now it's snowing. Last weekend Jason went skiing and had a picnic in the park on the same day. It's the greatest place there is.

It's been a week of inconsistent naps. At school this week he had two days of a TOTAL of one hour of naps. Yeah, that's not really going to work for me. Jackson has averaged about 5 hours of naps a day for a very long time, so when he gets ONE hour in, needless to say he's unpleasant when its time to go home. Not to mention it causes him to wake up a lot at nighttime, so I've been dedicating myself to trying to figure out what is going on there. The teachers are doing their best and it's obviously not their fault...I just need to help Jackson figure out what's going on so he can have good naps and good days.

Yesterday was an epic nap day. He slept until 730 am, then took three naps that were minimum 90 minutes during the day. That's amazing, and his sleep last night for sure reflected his good sleep during the day.

Last night Jason played Mr. Mom while I worked at CU and then went for a girls night out with my indoor team plus ones. It was actually more plus ones than teammates, but that was okay. We hit the Rio and then went to the Outback Saloon for some karaoke, which I can't lie is like one of my favorite activities. I have a knack for convincing people who are adamant that they will NOT sing that they need to sing and they usually do. It's all about finding that perfect song, and when in doubt, call on Abba.

Daredevil

Jackson apparently thinks he doesn't need to hold on to things when he stands up at school. His latest endeavor is pulling up on the exersaucer at school, standing there, and then letting go, thinking he can continue to stand there on his own. He hasn't developed that strong of balance just yet so this is not a good idea. His teachers have to watch him like a hawk and make some diving catches so he doesn't bash his head anywhere. Super.

What Are These?

They are teeth, Jackson. And you have two of them, right in front, on the bottom of your mouth. And now, when you put your fingers in your mouth and bite down hard, it will no longer be a soothing experience. It will hurt. As you learned tonight. I do not know if this is a lesson that you will need to teach yourself repeatedly, or if it is something you will learn quickly. In any case, now you have teeth and biting on your fingers will not be good.

Nothing to Report

It's been a boring week in the Lew casa! Jackson is doing much of the same...crawling, sitting, drooling, teething, eating, sleeping, peeing and pooping.

No real extra pulling up, or super fast crawling, or incidents to report. The most exciting thing is he had graham crackers and yogurt at school, which is nothing that interesting.

I guess the most exciting thing is there isn't anything exciting, which is different for a change from what's gone on lately. Happy weekend everyone.

Self Service

We've been experimenting with Jackson and finger foods for a little while now. He has always been interested enough to push them around his tray, and usually will pick them up. He has been known to use the pincer from time to time. But when he actually decided he wanted to put the foods into his mouth, usually he would grab them with his fist, put his whole fist in his mouth, and attempt to put the food in that way. Then he would take the fist out and the food would drop for either us to clean it up or for Buffy the Dog to eat.

Tonight at dinner at grandma and grandpa's house, he successfully transferred food from tray to hand to mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed it. Hooray!

Chew This

Hooray for chewing! Last night we were all sitting on the floor watching that game, and we let Jackson go to town on a teething biscuit during our dinner. He finally did actually go to town and actually gnawed on it to the point that it required chewing. He never got anything to the point of swallowing, but it did lead me to try some more finger foods today.

We have been putting Cheerios on his tray for like two weeks, and while he can pick things up using his thumb and finger, he doesn't have a lot of interest in putting such things in his mouth. Jason has a banana basically every morning, so today I took a slice and cut it into little Jackson-sized pieces. He played with them, but again wasn't super-motivated to eat them. Which surprises me, because he puts literally EVERYTHING into his mouth. I have an exercise ball in the basement which is two feet tall and all he does is try and take bites out of it, so I find it odd that he won't put something clearly sized for his mouth actually into his mouth.

So after a few minutes of watching him push banana pieces around, I held one out for him to try. He kept it in his mouth and chewed on it for, oh, five minutes or so and then swallowed it without incident. Then did it one more time before he had enough. In any case, the little monkey seemed to like the bananas and hopefully we can start progressing him to chunkier foods and he will enjoy it. Really I just want him to feed himself one so we can cheer that he did that and move on.

He's gone three straight nights without his 10 pm bottle, so it looks like we're doing okay there. He does wake up a little bit at like 3 am, which I think he did before but now I'm just extra-sensitive hearing-wise because I'm jumpy about him maybe wanting food. We'll see. He's for sure eating in the mornings like an absolute champion.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jackson attended his first swim lesson on Wednesday night at the Longmont YMCA. Jason loves swimming and I do not, so we decided that swim lessons would be his thing, but there was no way I was going to miss the first one. There were two other children in the class with them so it was a nice little class with a very nice teacher. Jackson got to float, move around in the water, go through a hoop and lots of other things. He seemed to do very well right up until the end...he got a little cold. Oh and then afterwards he had a meltdown for no reason we could ascertain. But other than that, it was a total success. Thrilling video footage to come later on youtube/leabuff.

Naps Are For Sissies

Is apparently the mantra of my child today. Jackson is approaching the time when three naps ought to become two, but we're having a hard time figuring out which one will be the one to go. Sometimes, it's the morning nap. Sometimes, it's his late afternoon nap. Sometimes, it's his middle of the day nap.

We're working on finding a consistent dinner time and bed time regardless of what has gone on that day as a starting off point. That is becoming 6 pm and 7 pm right now, but that too fluctuates. He typically has breakfast at 7 am, which consists of a bottle and some fruit and cereal. Then if it is a home day, he goes down for a nap at 9 or 9:30 am. Then he usually has lunch at 11, then crashes at 12:30 and sleeps until about 2. Then he has a bottle, usually is good for about two hours and then gets fussy and tired at about 4 and crashes for another two hours. Then it's dinner, play time, bath and story and bedtime. He occasionally and usually still is half to full waking at 10 ish for another snack, which is probably the first thing that we need to push him to give up and will do so more insistently.

So we'll see where the chips fall once that falls by the wayside. The issue is that when he's at school the aforementioned atomic clock accurate schedule that he has adopted goes completely by the wayside. Sometimes for no reason, sometimes for some reason, sometimes for the kid in his room that thinks shrieking as loud as possible is a super fun game to play in the nap area when my child is finally asleep. Hell if I know.

I look forward to his first swim lessons tomorrow night at 6:30 throwing the entire thing into chaos. Hooray!

Must Be All Those Crunches

So yet another first for the Lew family. Jackson has been napping poorly of late during the day, he's probably ready to drop a nap but I'm struggling to figure out where we're gonna drop one because they are very inconsistent. I'll figure it out. Anyways, we got home from school and work at about 5:30, so I decided to see if he would take a quickie before his dinner.

He fell asleep basically immediately. So Jason and I reheated some pizza and had some salads and starting to eat our dinner and of course about 6:25 he started squawking. So I went upstairs to find him sitting up in the middle of his crib chewing on his blanket! So that would be the first time Jackson has been discovered in the upright position in his crib. Not sure what will come next, tooth number 2 (immediately next to what has been dubbed tooth number 1) or standing in the crib. We'll keep you posted.

When It Rains...

It pours! Jackson seems to literally be doing something new everyday. On Friday it was crawling. Then yesterday, he successfully pulled himself up to standing. Jason and I joke that it seems like everyday he is doing something new, but seriously....everyday he is doing something new. It's so cool.

He had never even really tried to pull himself up. He tried Saturday night, he tried Sunday morning, and then finally yesterday afternoon he did it. It's crazy. How fast they learn is really something to see.

Next we hope he will get a job.

We're Mobile

Jackson has officially crawled. It's not Pampers commercial quality crawling, but it was crawling and he is still doing it today. It happened last night, and we happened to catch the occasion on video, which we are pretty thrilled about. He starts and stops and has some Army-style crawling in there, but he still did it and it's very fun. There are other videos of it on You Tube.



We have been continuing our babyproofing as we rented a storage unit and put lots of things in it that were either cluttering our existence or would have been hazardous to our wee man and could be replaced with other things in the house that were less hazardous. For example, we now have the coffee table that was in my parents house when I was a baby. It's a funky old table and it's tiny and light, but it's easier to move for us and smaller so we have more room to play on our main level.

8 Months Later

So our boy is eight months old today. It seems more noteworthy to me today because it's a Friday and he was born on a Friday...even though it's not. I simply cannot fathom that it has been eight months since Jackson joined us. It often feels like he squeezed out last week, though his father would disagree with me.

Anyways, Happy Eight Months Jackson...we love you plum :)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! We celebrated by being asleep at midnight. Hooray us.

Today we really wanted to get out of the house so we took a trip to the mall. It's so pathetic, but what can you do. So we took Jackson to the play area at Flatiron Crossing. I take him all the way to the back no one is ever back there except crazy little kids that almost trample him. It was a harrowing experience for his father, who had not yet dared to enter the kiddie area at our mall.

We were going to sit down, and this man turns to his wife after watching some kids play in front of him, "Thank God we only had girls. What would we do with boys?" because there was some boisterous play going on with the wee lads. I thought about that statement, and what prompted it, and you know what, I say WHATEVER to that.

I was a freaking maniac as a child. I do not know how my parents survived...or I guess more accurately, how I survived because I was a Grade A pain in the ass. Apparently I required constant interaction and didn't do a lot of playing independently. My brother on the other hand...we would have to go into his room to make sure he was still alive because he did so well on his own. He would sit on the floor of his room and play with toys by himself for hours, and then just fall asleep on the floor for his nap. He has always done better taking care of and entertaining himself than I ever did.

Anyways, it seems that is rocking milestones daily! Today he pulled himself up to sitting from laying down for the first time that we know of. Any bets on when he'll crawl?