Jackson's 7 Months!!

See above picture.

Jackson turned 7 months on June 23rd. He is more mobile and active than ever. I feel like I keep saying that each month but it's so true. He's about 26 inches tall and around 18 lbs. He has just recently added "baba" to his many interesting sounds. I often catch him mouthing "baba" with very little sound as if he's trying to go through the movements for practice.

He's still not crawling but of course we are working on that. He is moving his legs and pushing his but in the air but can't seem to get his arms moving so he can actually go somewhere. He's so funny because he does try and crawl but once he realizes he can't go anywher or reach an object he's trying to get he will lay his head down on his hands as if he's saying, "whew, that was a workout." He has also learned to clap his hands and gets really excited when you clap with him. Stay tuned for more interesting developments in the life and times of Jackson Riley!

Our First Father's Day

Today was Father's day and what a beautiful day it was...sunny, 1000 degrees, what more could you ask for in Texas.:-) The day started out a little shaky, Jackson awoke at 3 am trying to hang out, knowing momma is not a night owl I quickly went to bed when I realized he wanted to stay up...that means daddy had to keep him company:-). Then we noticed his eye was pink so we took him to the Dr. in the early afternoon. Turns out he had the makings of pink eye. But after the Dr. visit I treated Jarvis to an awesome lunch at Screen Door, an upscale southern cusine spot in downtown Dallas. And we enjoyed the rest of the day just lounging and hanging out in doors of course.

Gymboree - Level 2

Jackson has now moved up to the level 2 class for Gymboree. This class is definitely more fun than level 1, a little chaotic but definitely more interactive. The age range for this class is 6 mo - 10 mo so most of the babies are crawling or on the verge of crawling. Since Jackson is not in daycare, this has been a great way for him to learn early socialization skills like grabbing another babies shirt when he wants to say hi or grabbing another end of a toy to let them know that he wants to play (these of course were learned by other babies doing this to him first).

New Playmat to Explore

Now that Jackson has gotten more mobile, we decided to get him a more substantial play mat to encourage him to roll around and hopefully crawl. The play mat is a series of interlocking pieces with enough pieces that we can create two play mat areas in separate parts of the house. Although Jackson is not crawling yet, he is enjoying playing on his playmat and we often catch him bending over doing the splits to get a toy. He has also figured out how to take apart the pieces so that has been eventful trying to keep him focused on his toys vs. tearing up the pieces of the mat so he can chew them. I still do not understand why with all the toys he has, he has more interest in "non" toy items... remote controls, phones, the wipe plastic container, of course mine or daddy's computer and the jar of cream for his body... go figure:-)

DaDa or TaTa?

Jackson uttered his first attempt at what Jarvis believes was da da today. Of course Jarvis was there to capture it knowing I would not believe him (listen to the commentary in the video). I honestly believe he was saying ta ta but I'll let you be the judge. Of course Jarvis does not believe me when I tell him that Jackson cannot distinguish yet what da da really means if he is in fact saying it. Now I must practice every day with him ma ma.:-)

Birthday Suit + Diaper

So I just couldn't resist putting my baby's juicy birthday suit on the blog. As he's getting taller he's slimming out a bit but his knees and legs are still chubby. One family member asked "are Jackson's knees swollen," uhh no, that would be baby fat rolls.:-)