How have 4 years passed since we welcomed Jackson into the world? These have definitely been the best, most rewarding, yet also toughest years of my life. I always knew I wanted to be a mommy and Jackson was my sweet baby who made me a mommy first. I treasure all of the amazing times and experiences we have had over the past 4 years. I remember the hard agonizing moments too but am fine to glaze over those memories!
Jackson has truly turned into a little boy now. He has lost all his baby fat, has these long lean legs and skinny but strong arms. His last haircut didn't help either! That made him look so much older instantly! Jackson's speech has improved so much in the past year. He still has trouble with several sounds and does what the SLP calls fronting and backing but he is improving every week and we are so proud of him! We continue to go to speech each week and Ms Mandy does such a great job working with him.
Each week at school they focused on a letter of the alphabet. While there are many letters Jackson knows and recognizes it was around letter "s" that he was always pointing out when we say an "s" in a book, on a sign, on tv, anywhere! He continued to do that with the rest of the letters of the alphabet. He is always talking about a letter and then tries to figure out whose name starts with that letter. He'll go through everyone we know doing this! He is a super curious very inquisitive child. There are times I would give anything just to have a few moments of silence in the car but I realize how amazing this is for him. He is constantly asking what we are doing, where we are going, who we will see, and asking tons of "why" questions trying to make sense of what he sees all around him. His memory is amazing and he is always surprising me with the things he remembers. We can be driving down a street and he'll say "I remember coming here with so and so" or he says "oh this is a roundabout like we used to go around on the way to your tennis match". (That was about a year ago). He truly remembers places he's been and can recognize them driving by.
His athletic abilities continue to amaze me! He hits baseballs out of the air, making contact with about 90% that are thrown to him! Tennis is a huge favorite of his too. He loves playing tennis and hits the ball really well. His hand eye coordination is amazingly good!
Jackson made some great friends at school this year. Every day that I would pick him up I would ask who he played with. While he truly got along well with everyone, he definitely had a few favorites... Mason, Kiely, Pascal were probably his top 3 but he also mentioned Sam, Jacob, Noah and Nikki often. His teachers, Ms Amanda and Ms Chris were wonderful with all the kids. They said Jackson was a very good listener and was very courteous to the girls in the class. He would sometimes pull their chair out and sometimes was sitting with Kiely, Nikki or Annelise being very sweet and even holding hands!
Jackson is very opinionated and likes to think that he can make the rules here sometimes. I often times need to remind him that mommy and daddy are in charge. We have our fair share of whiny, crying and teary eyed times but he is maturing into a very nice young boy. His new favorite show is Babar. I'm not sure when or how he switched from Curious George but now its all he wants to watch! He watches one or 2 in the morning and usually one episode after his nap. Sometimes he wants to watch Mickey Mouse, Clifford, Wild Kratts and even Jake and the Neverland Pirates. He got lots of great new toys and activities for his birthday especially legos (not the duplos!), some great new puzzles, a rocket launcher, spy goggles, new books, sky pogo, metal baseball bat with tball stand, ez roller and more!
Jackson is a good eater but is sometimes a little more particular about what he will eat. He loves eggs in the morning, cereal with milk, oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins, eats almost every fruit, pancakes, waffles and yogurt. Lunch is usually pb&j or pb&honey, chicken salad if we are at RR, quesidillas. We always eat dinner as a family and they eat what we eat. Sometimes I know it's not the best choice (too spicy, fish or something they just aren't sure of) for them and make sure to make a side that they will like. Jackson loves salad and isn't as great with veggies as he was when he was little. He will eat a few bites and even tries (and likes!) asparagus and brussel sprouts. He loves corn on the cob too. His favorite dinners are hamburgers, pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, Ms Christy's baked ziti, poppyseed chicken, kabobs, steak, mac n cheese.
I can't find his stats from his 4th check up at the doctor. I think I remember him being about 37 pounds (maybe 50th%?) and his was in the 85% for height but I don't remember how tall exactly. I'll have to dig around some more and add here when I find it! Overall a very healthy, long and lean little guy!
It's taken me so long to update this and honestly, whenever we have a bad patch it deters me from writing much as I don't want to be too negative but want to remember our life through this blog and the moments we experience. I know they go through so many phases, good and bad, and I just struggle with how to adequately communicate how he is at the time. We have a very smart, athletic, spirited and strong willed, handsome, opinionated little boy and we love him so very much!!
