26 Months

I feel like so often people will ask how old Jackson is and then always say, "Oh that was my favorite age". I feel like people have done this for awhile. While I have enjoyed every stage I have also found that different ages have different challenges. I really feel like this age has been incredible though. He is old enough to understand most everything I say to him, is building his vocabulary to communicate with me, has the best reactions to things, and is so funny! Sure, there are tantrums and frustrations when things don't go his way, and he doesn't always listen to me when I tell him "no" but overall we are having lots of fun! We are getting out most every day to do something fun before nap and then either hang out around the house/yard in the afternoon or go meet some friends somewhere after he wakes up. We have been going to the splash park, story time and playing at the park with friends.

Jackson is still a good eater and still obsessed with fruit. Sometimes I save it for later in the meal just so he'll eat some of his sandwich or dinner first! Since we are on the go a lot we have been eating lots of pb&j. But he also eats chicken and cheese and sometimes grilled cheese or quesidillas for lunches. Pb&j is just easiest for in the car. I can give it to him on the way home so we can play as long as possible before heading home for nap. He'll eat his lunch in the car and then we are ready for a nap as soon as we get home. Not always ideal eating in the car but it saves time and he's usually pretty hungry after playing!

He is sleeping from 7:30 or 8pm until anywhere from 7:30 or 8:30 am. His nap is usually around 12:30 or 1 and he sleeps for 3 or 3 1/2 hours. Growing boy needs his sleep! He is so tired at the end of the day that most times after reading a few books he gets out of the chair to turn his music on and then walks over to his crib. He is ready to go nite nite!

I'm not sure of his stats but he must be getting taller. His "baby belly" is going away and his clothes are starting to get looser on him. I don't think he's lost any weight, I just think he is spreading out more. He is turning into more of a little boy everyday. Jackson wears mostly 18 month shorts and 2T shirts for the length. He is a size 6.5 or 7 shoe now and wears size 4 diapers.

There are so many moments I wish I could bottle up to remember for later. I can't always get photos or videos of things he does and he is such a character sometimes!! I'm glad I have tried to document lots of things here though, I would forget so many little details if I didn't write them down. I definitely need some more videos of his sweet little voice. I am so used to hearing it that when I talk to him on the phone if I am out he sounds different to me. He loves to talk on the phone to Jimmy if he's at work or Nana and Papa. His conversations are so funny to hear - he points at things he sees and says random words so I'm sure its hard being the other person on the phone trying to figure out what he is saying.

I was all set to take him to a speech therapist for an evaluation about a month ago. Then all of a sudden he started saying more words and repeating some of what I say. He also started putting words together saying things like "Mommy car" or "Daddy go". He'll now string together words most of the time. He still doesn't have the biggest vocabulary but I see a definite improvement. I still think he might have some trouble with processing words. I think what he hears and says are still pretty different sometimes. But for now we will just continue to work on it on our own for a couple months and see how much progress we make.

Bubbles

Jackson's "surprise" face

 My helper at the doctor each week.

 Somebody loves when they get a cookie at Rising Roll.

 King of Pops popsicle after dinner at Moxie Burger one night

 Yummy ribs! We love GC BBQ!

Weekend Away

Jimmy and I got to go away on a mini vacation.. I guess a "babymoon" of sorts. We drove to the lake on Wednesday and spent the night. We left Thursday morning for Amelia Island. About a 5 hour drive. Jackson stayed with his Nana and Papa and I think he had a wonderful time. They played, swam, went down the water slide at the club, played golf and played some more!

Lunch the first afternoon. What a funny "cheese" face!!

Our view from our room. It was a little cloudy the first afternoon

Filling his bucket. An activity that entertains him for long periods of time :)

Morning popsicles? Only when you are at Nana and Papa's! Someone might have gotten a bit spoiled

Love driving down streets like this with awesome old trees covered in spanish moss

Jimmy and I had a great weekend away. We sure missed our boy though. Thanks again to a wonderful Nana and Papa for watching Jackson. They sent lots of pictures and videos to us so we could see all the fun stuff they were up to!

Frozen Yogurt

We went out to dinner with some friends and afterwards decided to walk over to the frozen yogurt place. I got Jackson a cup with a little peach flavored yogurt with fruit on top. Bella just got these toppings that are little balls filled with fruit juice. I don't know if it is the correct name, but she calls them bobas. Bella decided she wanted to share with Jackson and he loved them! Ha! Thankfully no one has been sick! Fun Friday night out with some friends :)

The bowls are huge but his was not filled up!! You just put how much you want in it and they weigh it.

Little Livi was there too :)

Jumping

Jackson has been jumping for a little while but always preferred to do it holding on to someone or something. He now has enough confidence to do it alone and is jumping off everything he can find. Stairs, climbing walls, stages...basically anything that is a few or several inches off the ground.

We went to the playground and he was jumping off the bottom of the climbing wall.

 So fun!!

 goodbye hugs with Bella

 A couple days later we went to the bookstore to meet up with Caroline, Waylon and Mae Charles (Caroline's little girl was born in January - I didn't get any pictures of her but she is so adorable!!). Jackson loved little Mae Charles and was constantly giving her hugs by putting his head on her tummy, tickling her toes, saying "hi" and waving to her. He also wanted to help hold her bottle for her and push the stroller. I hope he acts the same when our baby comes but I know he will have a tough time adjusting to not being the center of attention. It is nice to see him love other babies so much though :)

 Jumping off the stage in the kids area where they have storytime

Jackson and Waylon taking turns jumping off like a frog! Picture courtesy of Caroline :)

Weekend Fun

Daddy went to San Francisco for the weekend for a little guys trip so it was just Jackson and I. We had lots of fun and stayed super busy most every day.

We met our friends for dinner on Friday night at Moxie Burger. This was my first time there. It was amazing. I had "The Heater" burger with fresh jalepenos, jalepeno mayo and crispy fried onions on it. Might be my new obsession right now!

Anyways Jackson and Bella had a blast. He is always so shy around her for the first 10 min and then loves running around playing with her. He talks about her all.the.time! Saying Beh-a. Took me a little while at first to figure out he was talking about her but then I say, "you want to see Bella?" and he says "yes". Too cute!

On Saturday we drove down to the highlands for Summerfest. We went to see Danny and Candice's new house in Morningside first and had a yummy brunch and then headed out to Summerfest. Jackson and Sofia had lots of fun and rode in the wagon for some of it. We stopped and played on the playground for a while and then headed back home.

Helping to push the wagon

That afternoon after his nap Jackson and I played outside and then had a simple dinner and cuddled on the sofa :)

Blowing bubbles

Sunday morning we met Phil, Syd and Bella again to go to the splash park. Jackson LOVES playing in the water. We had a ball splashing around and then we headed home when it was almost nap time.

Fun weekend with my boy but we sure were happy to see daddy when he got home!!