Swinging maniac!!

Alright, so I FINALLY figured this slideshow out! Not sure I'll be able to do it again...This is the swingset adventure by Daddy and Opa! They started Saturday morning and finished Sunday around 2:30. It went faster than they were expecting and Jackson LOVES his swingset! After he woke up from his nap, we were all getting our shoes and coats on and he kept running back and forth from the sliding door to the living room saying "come" or "outside" over and over! Jon took him outside and he ran around the house as fast as his little legs could carry him and was SO excited!!! He figured out how to climb up the ladder and the little rock climbing wall so he could go down the slide all by himself!! When Jon put him in the swing, I'm not sure I've ever heard Jack laugh that hard!! I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time outside this spring and summer on that swing set! Best go get supper ready...come back soon for new pictures!

The chair fights back!

Here's my shout out to my great cousins who just turned 1 last Thursday!! Happy Birthday Rebecca and Ethan! I can't wait to see you again!! Aunt Stacy had a birthday too, but we won't say how old she is :) Happy Birthday Texas crew!! Love you guys!

Well...Jack got his first shiner this weekend! For some reason, he was overly clumsy on Saturday! I don't know if it was because he was overly-tired (he decided to wake up around 7ish) or if it was something else, but man oh man, anytime we'd look, he was falling over or hitting his chin on something! Well, Jack and his rocking chair weren't having the best of days! His first injury happened when he fell backwards and landed on the arm of his chair...cut his tongue. His second injury he was playing behind the rocking chair, slipped and somehow hit his eye on the back...thus the lovely shiner! This picture doesn't even give it justice... Here's some pictures from our great weekend with Uncle Adam and Aunt Nikki!
Tackling Uncle Adam with his new puppy!

We walked over to the playground and Jack had a blast!! He had so much fun going down the slide over and over and over!

He seems so little when he's running around!

Jackson didn't want to get in his stroller on the way home so he walked with Uncle Adam and Aunt Nikki for a while! These guys are fun!!


Thanks Uncle Adam for coming to hang out with us on your spring break! Can't wait to see you at your graduation!

Mr. Smarty-Pants!

So I have to write about a proud Mommy-moment...Nikki and I were sitting at supper tonight. We had mashed potatoes tonight, so of course, they were all over Jack's face, in his hair, in his ears, the boy LOVES mashed potatoes! Anyway...I asked Jack if we should do something to get him clean. I was not expecting him to have an answer, let alone the right answer! He sat there for a minute and you could see his wheels spinning. And then he got this 'ah-ha' moment on his look, his eyes got big and he said, BATH!! I was so surprised! I didn't expect him to actually know the answer at all!! Proud Mommy moment! :)

He's still just a pip-squeak!

So my guess was totally off!! Mommy needs to learn how to guess weight better...Jack weighed in today at 22 lbs. 2 oz stark naked...so he's still very low on the growth chart. He measured in around 4% for his weight and about 12% for his height. He was 31" at todays visit. Dr. Wallace was still surprised about his development. She asked if he had 5-10 words and I said, "uh...he knows the names of all our family members...let alone actual words!" She just laughed at me...which she usually does when it comes to Jack's abilities. She asked if he knew 4 body parts...well he's at 16 the last we counted. Crazy kiddo! But like Jon said, if we had to pick between short or smart, we'd definitely pick smart!

Jon went up to Marshall, MN tonight with Chuck, Heidi and Ben to go cheer on the Augustana Men's basketball team. If I know the story right, they're in the district championship and if they win this game, they'll advance to the National championship for our division. It's the farthest they've gotten since we've been there, so Jon was excited! Best go get supper on the table! Until next time...

Things Jack has learned over the past few weeks

Playing "hoop" is one of the best things ever learned! Jackson could play hoop day and night. We pull into the driveway and he asks to play hoop. He has a hoop in the basement so will stand at the top of the stairs and ask for "hoop." His favorite thing to do is to have Daddy lift him high in the air so he can make a "hoop".

Jack has come to figure out that this is probably the only dog that he will ever have at this house...Grandpa got him this big dog for an early Easter present. It's soft and nice to lay on.
Cereal is Jack's new favorite breakfast food! He now eats it with milk!! He even woke up and asked for cereal this morning. He actually does really well with it...I expected more of a mess.

Jackson figured out how to climb up onto the window sill and watch for cars/buses/aunt nikki/puppies. He'll sit up there for 15 minutes just watching! Here he is going "night, night" but quickly sat up when a puppy walked by.

Salsa is Jack's new favorite snack. He eats it faster than anything else you put on his tray. As you can see, he eats it by the handful and asks for more! Most often, he doesn't use a chip with it...and if he does, it's to lick it off! Another favorite food...black beans...he ate almost an entire helping at Chili's this weekend!

Other things we've learned about Jack

• He can walk almost all the way from the elementary school back to our house. Today he refused to get in the stroller, so he walked almost all the way back!
• He now sleeps incredibly well at night...he goes down without even a fuss...when he wakes up, he wakes up happy (finally!) and will call out for Mommy...if she doesn't come right away, then he'll ask for Daddy.
• He hates the vacuum, but his little popper toy he calls his vacuum and hauls it all over the house.
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is Jack's new favorite show. He'll wake up in the morning and ask for "mouse" and runs as fast as he can when he hears the hot dog dance come on!
• If you mention the word bath, Jack will run as fast as physically possible to get to the shower. He even pulls his pants down if he can.
• Playing peek-a-boo is one of his favorite activities. Whether we're at church, at a restaurant, in his high chair...he'll play it with anyone! Like right now, he is behind the screen of our laptop, peeking around the corner!
• Jack tries really hard to walk up and down the stairs like a big boy. He's learned to hold onto someones hand or hold onto the side.
• If someone is out for a walk, he is fully convinced that they have/should have a puppy with them.
• He now shakes his head no and says "uh-uh" to almost any question asked...the only question he doesn't say that to is if you ask him if he wants to take a bath.
• If he gets in trouble for something, he'll do the 'cry so hard you can't breathe' look...and be done in a few seconds. He'll also sign sorry and give you a kiss.
• We have 'First 100 Words' book...he can point out and identify probably 75% of the pictures. He also knows 16 body parts. He knows numerous animal sounds and if you ask him what a car says, he'll say beep beep.
• Jackson still LOVES to read books! He'll haul book after book to read over and over.
• If he gets an owie, he'll say owie over and over and until you kiss it for him.
• He now does "knucks" and not only does he do it, he'll say it too! He even does double "knucks" if you ask him to!

Jack goes in for his 18 month check up on Tuesday...come back soon to see how much he's grown! I'm anxious to see how much he weighs now...my guess is 24 lbs, but wouldn't be surprised if he's not there yet!

Curly Q's

I was giving Jackson a bath tonight and gave him a mohawk like I so often do with Jack's plethora of hair! The next thing I knew, he had these cute little curly-q's rolling over his head! Whoever said he didn't have any of my curls in there somewhere was definitely wrong! When he gets out of the bath and his hair is wet, man oh man does it get curly in the back! I love it!! Jon keeps saying only girls should have curly hair, but I think he may lose the battle in this one...I'm sure in a few years they'll be gone, but for now, I'm loving them!!



Daddy's picture skills aren't always the very best, but this is what he got without practically falling into the tub himself!

This is the hair-do that Jack created for himself last night when he was eating Chinese food. One of his favorite things to do is to run his messy fingers (or fork) through his hair. It happens a lot. Secretly, I think he's figured out that if he gets his hair really sticky, then he gets a bath. The kid is so nuts for baths that he'll do almost anything to get one! He very consistently asks for one every single night after supper...It's so cute because he knows the sign for bath so he'll sign it and ask every night! He's a fish in the making!!

We're so close to calling him healthy again!

I think today might be the turn around day for Jackson!! He slept great last night, and he woke up with NO FEVER!!! It's been a long week and I'm so glad that he's made the turn for the better. He still has a cough, but that's starting to slowly improve. Life is much more fun with a healthy child! Here's some pictures over the past week!

Jack woke up around 5:30 yesterday morning. Jon worked Saturday morning and caught Jack and I sleeping like this before he left for work. Oh yeah...Jon and I FINALLY bought a new bed!! It's awesome...I've waited 3 years to get a new bed and we love it! Yay for finally sleeping comfortably!

Wednesday night, Jack helped us make brownies! He thought it was so much fun to help dump the ingredients and mix it!

Jon said Jack just couldn't decide what he wanted Wednesday after his nap. He just sat in the chair for quite a while by himself...which isn't very common for him!

These are a few pictures of Jackson watching for buses after school. He and Logan watch for Grace to get off the bus and everytime Jack sees a bus go by, he says "Gace" and looks for her! I thought these pictures were so cute of him just watching!

Still feverin'

Jackson continues to run a temp of around 100...he's been on antibiotics so hopefully this starts turning around soon! He's (for the most part) in a good mood...just has a decreased appetite. Although while Jon and I were making salsa tonight and all the kid wanted to eat was corn, tomatoes and black beans!! The crazy kiddo just kept chowing down and asking for more! So supper tonight (which is the most he's eaten all day) consisted of corn, tomatoes, black beans and chicken nuggets. At least he's eating something...it's better than nothing!

On a side note, I just had to upload this video for all of you American Idol fans out there! Nikki and I were watching it on Wednesday night and Jack would "dance" along to all of the songs! This is a new dance move that Jack just created a few weeks ago!

Also we wanted to wish Austin a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY today!! He's turning 7 and we hope he has a great day. Can't wait to see him again...hopefully soon!

Well it's off to bath time...enjoy the latest video. Hopefully the next update is a healthy kiddo!

man, oh man!

Jon took Jackson won into the doctor today and he has an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection. He started a round of antibiotics so hopefully that will help. He still has been running temps which is a bummer. I was hoping to come home today to no fevers! When I got here, he was 100.5...bummer! He seems to still be perky, but Jon said this morning he was pretty snuggly. We'll see how he is tonight. We're planning on keeping him home again tomorrow, a nd luckily, my mom is coming up to watch him Friday. That was already planned, it's just much more convienent now! Anyway...Jack wanted to leave you all a message:

ax 1A132QBaR5TDQVC
qC xWC7ZHZGYtwdss


(that's Jack saying thanks for checking in on me!)

Fevers, fevers, fevers!

So I get up this morning...showered, ate breakfast, packed my lunch, went to wake up Jackson at 7:10 (like always)...pick him up and sure enough, felt hot! Took his temperature and he was 101.2...so I've been home all day with Jack. He's had a slight cough but nothing exciting. I did find the start of a new tooth...that leaves him only 1 left to cut through! Hopefully the fever is more related to the tooth than the cough...cross our fingers! Luckily, Jon can stay home with him tomorrow if need be.

Oma has Friday off of school, so she's coming up Thursday night and is going to watch Jack on Friday. Jon works late on Thursday and Friday, so it will be nice to have some company. Best get going...Jack went down for a nap and I have a bunch of things to get done! Check in soon...