In Which I Cram the Last Few Months Into One Blog Post....

Okay, so I basically feel like a horrible mom. I've been so motivated to get my photography blog up and running that I haven't posted anything about Jackson in... well... let's just say forever. As always, he is just our pride and joy and basically the best thing in our lives. I can't imagine a more cuddly little boy! Whether its mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, or just a random stranger on the street, Jackson will run up to you and hug you and make you feel like the most important person in the world! While I'm standing in front of the sink doing dishes he'll run up to me, push me away from the sink, give my legs a big hug and a big ol' "Ahhhh", then run away and continue playing with toys. While cuddling on the couch watching Shrek his favorite movie EVER, he'll suddenly climb on top of me and give me a big hug, then calmly sit back down next to me with his hands folded in his lap. When dad gets home the second he hears the doors clicking as dad is unlocking the doors Jackson gives a huge gasp and runs to the door and gives dad a big old hug out of pure joy. Jackson also sleeps like a champ and usually sleeps from 7:30 pm to 7:30 am.

He's quite the little chatterbox (as anybody who has spent more than 5 minutes with him will tell you), but mostly its just jibberish. He'll walk around the house sounding like he's speaking Chinese, but the funny thing is that it sounds like he's actually talking to you! For example, he knows the right inflections to use in his voice to make his jibberish sound like a question. So he'll be chatting away then look up at you and make his voice go higher to ask a question, then immediately nod his head and look down as if you had answered his question perfectly :) He also knows when YOU are asking a question and will say "Uh-huh!" and nod his head in agreement. He does know a lot of words (the pediatrician said above the average 17 month old) like:

"Thank you!" (his favorite that he uses at the appropriate time like when you hand him something) "Uh-oh!" "Uh-huh!" "No" "Mom" "Dad" "Papa" (meaning grandpa) "More" "Amen" (this one is rare but he has said it after we say prayers, but usually he thinks that prayer time is a game) "Ow" "Bye-bye" "Hi!" "Hello" "Catch" "Ball" "WOW" (he really elongates each letter on this one) "Hot" and "Yay!". He also says "Quack quack quack" and makes the hand movements of a duck because of the song 3 Little Ducks, and he know the hand movements to Popcorn Popping. When we're eating dinner he always sees us blowing on his food so he'll even do that now :)

He's the biggest climber/adventurer of a boy I've ever met. By about 14 months he was already running around and climbing on top of everything!!! We have found him on top of the:
-Stove
-Kitchen table
-Piano
-End tables
-Coffee table (and he actually broke through the glass in it, luckily he didn't have a scratch on him but it was still the scariest thing)
-Our bed
-Our sewing table

Here are some recent pictures of the cute boy :)

Jackson LOVES watching Shrek, its his favorite movie! It also helps that mom doesn't mind listening to it, because any movie he watches I basically have memorized because I also have to listen to them! As soon as we turn it on he instantly has the cutest little smile on his face! This is a candid picture of him watching Shrek.

Jackson got to see a couple horses up close and personal for the first time the other day at the beach. He was so fascinated by them but didn't want to get close without holding onto mommy.

Mom caught Dad and Jackson watching Chicken Run one Sunday morning, I fell like this face is oddly familiar.....