Visit to New Jersey

Jarvis started a new job a few weeks ago and had to go to NJ for two weeks for training. This was the first time he was away from Jackson for more than a couple of nights so to break up the time, we decided to fly to NJ for a long weekend to visit him. My entire family is from NJ so we got a chance to drive down and visit with them while Jarvis was in trainig. We also have some very good friends from business school in the area who both had babies the same year Jackson was born so we were anxious to get the babies together, MBA class of 2033. We had so much fun watching Simone, Evan and Jackson play, they were really cute together. Simone was definitely running things and had Jackson and Evan bowing down to her:-) Jackson was on some sort of high, he was doing his butt dance... which is where he bounces up and down on his butt and waves his hands in the air. I'm going to try and post a video of it because it is really funny. Then we went to visit Uncle Michael and Aunt Alecia, who are expecting a boy in September. What a busy 4 day weekend but it was great catching up with friends and family and Jackson enjoyed meeting everyone.

Jackson & Simone doing a little dance...

Jackson's Fun With Cousins

My three nephews were in town for the week before the oldest goes back to school. My mom took on the brave task of keeping them entertained for the entire week! No problems this time but they sure are a handful. They came over to visit one night and I quickly realized, four boys or even three would be too much for me to handle. That night I felt like I needed some aspirin and I NEVER get headaches. Or maybe three kids would just be too much to handle.:-) But they were a lot of fun with Jackson. Jackson was chasing the little ones all over the house and trying to participate in the roughhousing that boys do. I'm sure it will be even more crazy when Jackson gets a little bit older.

Soon to be Lover of Chick Fil A!

Now that Jackson has passed the stage that we have to introduce foods one at a time, I figured I'll start giving him opportunities to eat what we eat. In this video I gave him a chick fil a waffle fry and after a few licks he was too excited and started flappin his hands like crazy. After I stopped the video he actually stuffed the entire thing in his mouth and pitched a fit when i tried to get it out. I guess I'll take that as Chick fil A will soon be one of his favorites just like mom and dad.

Jackson's 9 Months!!

Jackson turned 9 months today!!! He had is well visit check up with the Dr. and he is 18 lbs and 27 in. Since he has been cruising, crawling and pulling up on most everything (my pants legs are his favorite to pull up on) his weight is starting to slowdown.

We started the day by going to Gymboree and then celebrated his birthday with our first trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo. We enjoyed the day seeing all the animals and reptiles. Jackson was a little intrigued by the animals but not as engaged as I hoped. There was a lot of “Jackson look over here, look over here, see the Zebra?,” to which he glanced and then kept chewing on his sunglasses. I guess we’ll wait a few more months before going back.

Although we miss every stage that we leave, the new stages are getting more exciting. Jackson is so mobile now it is truly entertaining. He will follow you around the house crawling like a mad man. He has two different crawling styles… the one-legged crawl- when he needs to get somewhere fast he uses one leg to push off of while he’s crawling on the other leg and the traditional crawl, when he gets close to something or first begins his journey this is his preferred crawling style.

As for teeth, well those are still non-existant. We keep thinking they’re coming and then we look and there is no sign of them in sight. The Dr. assured us this is perfectly normal, and some babies don’t get their first teeth until around 12-15 months. I guess the good thing is we haven’t had any fussy nights

The vocabulary is still a lot of constant sounds with the occasional, ba ba, ma ma, da da and uh oh. We are still signing to him but he has yet to return the sign, hopefully he’ll make some progress by next month.

Baby Let's Cruise...Away From Here...

8 1/2 months and Jackson is well on his way mastering cruising. He has been pulling up and walking around anything that's under 3 ft. We are of course more nervous than him. I don't know why babies are oblivious to dangerous hazards such as walls, furniture etc, meanwhile Jarvis and I are flinching at every stumble or loss of grip. I guess soon we'll get over it and when we see him attempt to fall realize that he will be just fine.

Jackson's 8 Months!!

Jackson has hit another milestone, 8 months! We didn't do a big celebration this month as today was not a good day for Jackson. He celebrated his birthday by visiting the allergist. We had a really severe reaction to milk based formula a couple of months ago so we decided to visit an allergist to find out if he has any other food allergies. After a series of prick tests on his back and Jarvis, the nurse and myself holding jackson down for 15 min while he wailed uncontrollably, we found out that he is allergic to:

Milk
Beef
Rice
Oat
Strawberries
Apples
Egg Whites
Chocolate

This was heartbreaking for me, as everyone who knows me knows I love to bake...Egg whites???... chocolate??? Just what on earth will I be able to bake him? Well the good news is that he might outgrow most of these and in a baked form he might be less allergic to some of these items.

At 8 months, Jackson is full on crawling, unless he needs to get somewhere fast then he resorts to his "army crawl." He's saying many constant sounds and is very good at immitating. He has become very good at pulling himself up on anything and everything. And, while I've been told he is progressing very fast for a boy, I still am determined to have him hit the next milestone as fast as he can. I guess that's the A type personality in overdrive:-) He is now the most crazy sleeper ever! He is all over the bed, on his stomach, his back, his side, butt in the air, tucked in the corner of his crib, on the left side, the right... all I know is I do not look forward to him getting in our bed when we go out of town, the only one who will be sleeping will be him!

Peek a Boo

I just love this video!!!! Jarvis is talking to Jackson as Jackson is crawling under the coffee table. Everytime Jarvis calls his name he peeks around the corner like, "yeeeeesssss, are you calling me daddy?" After he looks at Jarvis, he goes back to what he's doing...exploring his world.

Jackson & Mason at Gymboree

A week after we worked with Jackson on his gross motor skill of crawling (special thanks to Wendy & Jonae for kicking off the creeping aka “crawling”), Jackson was able to show the other babies at Gymboree that he too can get around. As you can see in the video Jackson was moving all over the mat. He saw his friend Mason and quickly moved over to him. We think Jackson is going to be the party type as he loves to socialize and play. He might of overwhelmed Mason a bit by getting in his face and screaming. We are trying to teach Jackson to be nice and not grab other peoples faces or shirts but this seems to be his mode of interacting with others. I think this video is so cute, Jackson was trying to give Mason kisses when he started crying. But as you can see he’s definitely not the shy type!

Fun in the New Tub

Jackson has now outgrown his baby bathtub but is too big for his tub in his bathroom so I found this blow up ducky tub that fits inside his tub. Jackson loves to splash and chase his little toys around in the tub. He also loves to lay back to let me wash his hair. I see now he’s going to like getting pampered… his future wife better be prepared.

Ma Ma, That a Boy!!!

Ma Ma, that a boy!!! Finally, Jackson has realized who the sunshine of his life is and can verbally tell us! Jackson today called out for Ma Ma. Still can’t believe Jarvis caught it but he did. I believe he has been trying to say “Ma Ma” for a while now as I have seen him making this flapping movement with his mouth before but nothing came out. Well now he’s got it, and of course I am excited!!

Crawling? ...We'll Almost

Saturday night Aunt Wendy and Cousin Jonae watched Jackson so Mommy and Daddy could visit with some friends. After seeing several of the little babies in Jackson's Gymboree class crawling all over the place, they were destined to have him crawling by next week's class!!

Beachball Sans Le Beach

So I have been dying to take Jackson to the beach because I know he will get a kick out of it. But since we haven't figured out timing yet I thought I'd bring an aspect of the beach to him. One of our agencies at work gave all the marketing employees these great beachballs. So I brought it home to give to Jackson. As you can see he was trying to suffocate himself. I don't know what his deal is but he loves to put things over his mouth and nose and then inhale...don't worry, we will be keeping an eye on this.:-) He ended up loving this ball so now it is one of his favorite toys.

Playdate with Alistair

Jackson had his very first scheduled play date today. Frito-Lay has had 16+ women in marketing pregnant last year through this year. As a result, Jackson has many new friends! Alistair's mommy Rachel, invited us over for a little fun in-between naps...fortunately for us, Jackson and Alistair's nap schedule is in sync. Jackson is about 2 months older than Alistair so she was in awe looking at how active and crazy Jackson was. He is definitely the social butterfly and attempted to engage Alistair in a game of football, soccer and basketball. Alistair played along and was kicking the balls to Jackson who would then put them in is mouth! The playdate was short but fun, next time we'll have Alistair over.

7 Month Pictures

Today we went to take Jackson's 7 month photos and our photographer didn't dissapoint. Jackson is so active now that he was pretty much excited and bopping his head and moving his arms the whole time. I was thinking we may not end up with any smiling pictures, then Amy sent me this one...instantly I was in awe...it is such a reflection of how happy and content he is with life. He continues to bring us joy beyond what we could have ever imagined. Who would have thought one little person can brighten your day... just from a smile.

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.:-)