Walking with a Bite

Jackson charmed the world while we were visiting Mark's family last week. "Oh he's so smiley!" the airline stewardess/stranger in the store/Grandma would say. Yes, yes. He loves to smile at people--which meant he was very happy for most of the week with all the cousins, strangers and new faces around. Everyone loved his two little teeth, and his Frankenstein walk, and he sure loved to show both of them off.

Jackson loved the horses, cattle drive, his cute cousins, and a house with space for him to walk.

He didn't really like sleeping--especially at night. We're not sure if that stemmed from the limited space a pack n' play offers, or real PTS (pre-teething syndrome). Sure enough, similar to our last visit with the Mark's Family (6 months ago), Jackson popped a little toother. It totally came as a surprise despite the obvious signs throughout the week. Beside lack of consistent sleep, Jackson decided to pick up a biting habit. The new habit came in handy for him when he needed to defend his territory or toys, but it sure was a pain when he tried it on us or innocent cousins.

In general however, he got along great with his cousins (1st, 2nd, and removed), aunties, uncles and grandparents.

He loved towing anyone around as his walker, and Daniel was a definite favorite

Cole and Jackson loved playing with each other and Grandma's "new" toys


But best of all was just hanging out, being together

The walking practice did seem to pay off. At the airport on the way home, Jackson managed to walk around without human incentive at the end. At the library today, he actually chose walking over crawling as his mode of transportation. Woo hoo!

Thankfully walking tuckered him out enough to persuade him to take one of these at the beginning of our plane ride. YAY!!

Deliberate Decisions

For Father's day, I gave Mark folder of all the little videos we've taken of Jackson. I gave my dad some of the highlights via youtube. Watching the videos from when Jackson was a teeny infant has been fascinating as it has helped me remember how different he is now. This doesn't make me sad, but rather amazed at how such a tiny human can change so quickly.

When he first came out, his whole body had to focus so hard on bodily functions like eating, sleeping and excretion of matter in various sates. It was pure instinct, limbs flailed around, and no decisions had to be made.

He then moved to small instinctual decisions like smiling, batting at objects, chewing, etc. I even feel like crawling was instinctual because he was reacting to the desire to move. He saw an object, and moved toward it without conscious thought of effect or knowing what he would do once he got it.

Walking has brought on a new side of human nature.

Two days ago, Jackson came up to me on the couch, and turned my hand over. He played with it a little, then opened up my fingers and put his hand inside and began to walk away with my hand still in his possession. Pinnacle of tender parenting moments. Apparently he wanted to walk around with my hand's support.

He now frequently makes non-instinctual decisions like this. He decides he wants something, and he uses his few skills to point, bring objects or show me what he wants. Some are sweet, and others are... not so sweet. It's half relief and half terror. Relief because he can show me what he wants (less guessing), terror because... he can show me what he wants. As such small tantrums come about when he doesn't get what he wants--not out of instinct from sadness, but a desired outcome from the tantrum.

Can you tell what he wants here? No screaming yet, but it's certainly going to happen if dad doesn't concede to Jackson's clear desires.


Thankfully, this is all to be expected, and we're thrilled at the deliberate decisions he is making.

This video is his walking abilities as of Saturday night. It has since turned into less of a walk/fall, and more of a wobbley frankenstein move. It's become more and more deliberate each day, and Mark and I can't believe how joyous of an occasion it is to see him decide to move on his own two feet.

What a cute, not-so-innocent, kid. Love it.

Dogs and Hunger Strikes

Jackson and I took a nice trip to Portland last week to visit my family. We stocked Mark up with lots of frozen dinners, bought some lollipops and new calculators for the plane ride and took off. It was a blast seeing friends and family, watching my youngest sister graduate high school, and watching my parents follow Jackson around like he was a celebrity.

Amidst all the excitement of the week, Jackson moved from being paranoid to obsessed with dogs. Beyond the occasional da and ma, dog was the first thing he verbalized in a recognizable manner. This video was part of his initial exploration. By the end of the week he was chasing the cat around calling her "do--gh" as well.

Every animal we see now has been assimilated into a dog. Here is Jackson chasing a bird all the while saying "dog."

Who knows if it was the excitement of the "dogs," new surroundings, or just a little tummy bug, but after one day in portland, Jackson went on a hunger strike. Nothing quite gets a mother's anxiety level high like a hunger-striking one year old.

Suffice it to say, Jackson came back markedly skinnier. All his clothes were huge and Mark and I could not get over how little his arms, legs and tummy were. It was certainly most notable in the neck (as pictured below):

Being skinnier had some nice consequences: he was easier to hold, easier to dress, but most of all he looked so much older! All his baby fat left to reveal a toddler.

Living up to his new look, Jackson has taken a few steps, thrown a couple of tantrums and tried to help me do everything from baking bread to pulling weeds.

Thankfully, he ended the hunger strike the day we left. Grandpa's whole wheat pancakes got him regular again (like they do anyone) and he's certainly made up for lost food--eating twice as much as he did before the trip. As such, the skinniness has disappeared,but I think the toddler traits are here to stay.

(Better watch his cute buns now, because we might be forced to remove when he gets some teen traits)

PS: If we hadn't watched him eat all the food he did yesterday, we would have been certain his huge belly swelling came from malnutrition. My goodness that thing got big quickly!

Spontaneity

spon·ta·ne·ous:

coming or resulting from a natural impulse or tendency;without effort or premeditation; natural or unconstrained; unplanned; acting upon sudden impulses.

Synonym: BABY

Antonym: PARENT

I have a slightly difficult time being truly spontaneous. Much of that comes from my nature, which was only magnified with parenthood. Over-planning and over-preparation seems to produce less tears and frustration, and as such is worth it.

Mark spontaneously decided we should go to Boston this weekend. Despite always wanting to go there myself, he practically had to drag me along. Something about an 8 hour car ride with Jackson did not sound appealing. But we went. It turned out to be quite the planned, yet spontaneous trip.

Planned

Mark mentioned that when his family went on a trip they had one snack bag for all 9 of them. There were three of us, and we had 2 grocery sacks full of snacks, and a cooler. Not to mention my bag of things to do, Jacksons bag of toys, plus the diaper bag. It was a little squishy. Worth it? Absolutely. We used pretty much everything to entertain that little guy as long as possible. Once out of the car seat, we didn't really need much. He was happy in his stroller or cruising around on the ground. But the car seat required food, music, toys, books, and lots of spontaneity.

Spontaneous

We discovered that plastic cups with toys in them make great rattles; peak-a-boo is a must; rest-stops are critical; and simple mechanics (hinges, lids, buttons) have a longer entertainment life than electronic toys. We also loved the unplanned stops at random places throughout our travels: markets, a dog show, and delicious cafes.

Beyond the car ride we had fabulous time. Walden pond, Faneuil Hall and the new green space over the freeway were highlights of Boston. Cousins, Aunts and Uncles were highlights of the trip up (car ride broken up by stops at relatives houses along the way).

Bunker hill was worth the walk up the hill. Breezy and nice shade made for a perfect resting place after a long day of walking.

Jackson LOVED the USS Constitution (ol' Ironside). I think it was the smooth wood floors, and plenty of ropes to pull himself up on.

Best moments were spontaneous like the crazy dog show we found on the side of the road in New Jersey

Or the out of control produce market near the Northend in boston. We bought blueberries 3 for 2$ from a lady who reminded me of my Aunt Margo on steroids.

Best Bagel sandwich--purchased only after 30 min. of wandering. The whole time trying to decide if the line and money were worth it. No question. Guess I should have been more spontaneous.

Green space exploration video for the grandmas:

The Cool Factor

Now that Mark's semester is over, I've been taking full advantage of his free time. Besides installing the window A/C units (much cooler!), that mostly means giving him plenty of bonding time with Jackson. Saturday was one such day. After being gone the whole morning, I came back to find a very proud daddy photographer. He was especially proud of the cute outfit he found for the little guy to wear.

I think Jackson enjoyed it just as much as he did.

Even though I was impressed with Jackson's incredible biceps, I didn't think we needed to subject our child to such stereotypical macho-ness. In response to the wifebeater/warmup outfit, I found this seemingly cute little ditty, that showed its true colors after I kept mistaking Jackson for a girl.

And yes, he dumped all his little dehydrated apple bites on the floor to enjoy at his leisure.

I guess we won't pull that one out again--or at least when we're seeing any kind of public. Especially when we watch someone as cool as Bodi. He exudes cool. Clothes, hair and confidence. Bodi is 6 months older than Jackson, and they play fabulously together. His only hang up is that he loves the garbage can. Everything goes into the garbage. And since he was so cool, Jackson couldn't help but pick up some new skills. Luckily he's not as good at it as Bodi, and hopefully it's not a skill he decides to practice.

Lewis and Clark

It's exploration week around here. I'm exploring new ways to format photos on the blog because my amazing friend Kirsten decided to give a brilliant blog tutorial on her own blog. How did she know I was coveting her layouts and mad skills? Love when others fulfill subconscious desires for free.

Then there's the one year old, who is constantly finding new places and things to explore. Went to Noodles and Company today with some fellow moms in the neighborhood, and Jackson definitely tried to explore the kitchen. The other patrons were very friendly and thankfully helped keep him safe.

Of course toilet paper is always exciting to explore. Our roll is in a general state of mishap (humans are not capable of re-rolling up toilet paper). And now he's figured out how to tear it up.

Some explorations are parent supported, like tooth brushing. We were given a little plastic infant toothbrush and since experts feel it's a necessary thing, we'll take the time to enjoy brushing our pearly whites together.

It's been one of the easier recommended things to accomplish, since Jackson feels so cool to do it along side dad.

We've also been exploring new sleeping positions. Long gone are the days of back and side sleeping. I woke Jackson up from a rather long nap to find him buried (head and all) in his blankets, with only his two feet poking out. This sweaty hairdo was the result.

The palm up, face down position seems to be the most common way to discover him. In general it melts my heart--unless he happens to be wedged against the crib bars. That inevitably causes cringing--as I think of the future head bump that will likely occur.

Finally, Jackson has been exploring books like crazy. The other night (I'm certain 2 am is still night), he was up for an hour. Each time we would come in to calm him down, he would try and wiggle out of our arms. The one time he managed to, he sat down and read 3 books. Finally I put him back in his crib--tough luck. 2:30 am is not the time.

He has this one book that he loves. It's all about the commonalities between animal and human families. Favorite page: "All families laugh at jokes."

The first time we read it, he started sniggering when we turned to the page. Not sure if he can relate to the concept (he is a Brown), or he just thinks the little girls are cute. Whatever the reason, it certainly made me laugh. He continues to have an obsession with the page, and generally gives a laugh when he sees it. Here's a glimpse of the little snigger.

(As you can tell from the video, conventional exploration is never required)

Passing those Rites

Jackson passed through to the portal of sugar, honey, and nuts this week. He didn't take too well to the sugar party we had for him. He just ended up crawling through the cake with out taking more than a one finger lick to celebrate his big day.

He did manage to get some frosting on his nose and fingers--to help out with the kodak moment.

But only ended up crawling through it in the end.


I don't think this was his favorite part of the day.



He also chose his future career among the following options--

(Athletics, construction, finance, medical, culinary, education, philosophy, public sector)

Apparently he's not satisfied with his government saleried parents and is headed for for finance.

Despite the solemn look, we all had a lovely time at his party. The sun was out, and Jackson got to play with some of his favorite friends. Gracie was very intent on helping Jackson see the benefits of the medical field. Apparently that wasn't for him. The calculator is by far his favorite toy of late, and he will even let me change his diaper if he gets to hold it. I love unexpected benefits of things like that.


Later that day, we had our first call to poison control after Jackson swallowed one of these beauties that had been covering a mishap from the party.

I felt a little silly calling, but the guy was very nice, and assured me that the only thing to worry about was it obstructing any vital pathways (like air)--which the bandaid initially did, but slid down soon enough to forgo any major damage.

Our last rite has been growing steadily for the last month. Conversation is quite an art, especially as a new one year old. Jackson's favorite time to talk is while he's drinking from his bottle. He'll take a couple sips, look at me, mention something, and then go back to drinking. Often--as an afterthought--he'll pull the bottle away, say something with intense meaning in his eyes, and laugh as if he told a little joke.

This captured moment does not show his capabilities with deep thought, but it's a fun glimpse into his jibber jabber. Eat it up!