In a bind

We've just survived a 5 day bout with a stomach virus for Jackson. Today he is finally eating solid foods, and I am relieved. It was a mess and I am so glad it is over.

Unfortunately, he got his bug while we had family in town and managed to pass it on to the grandparents. Right before we realized he was sick, I took these pics...

Jackson loves the new snack catcher that I got him. At first, I thought it was so he could eat the snacks. Then I realized he likes to put his hand in, swish it around and feel the treats through his fingers. Like a mini sensory bin. Well this night his hand got stuck, and he really couldn't figure how to get it out.

So, he went about his business with the snack catcher on his hand. Crawling, playing, all no problem. What, there's something on my hand?? No, I meant for it to be there.


Maybe the chair back will help me get this thing off.

Free at last!

Snow Day!

We had a few inches fall here the other day (nothing compared to what my family is getting tomorrow on the East Coast) so I decided to try our shiny red sled. I bought the sled in preparation for our trip to mountains, thinking two babies + picturesque scenery + red sled would be a great photo op and fun time. Unfortunately, there were more important things to fit in our already overstuffed cars for that trip,and the red sled had to stay home.

It took us about 20 minutes to get ready for the adventure. Coat, check. Hat, check. Snowpants, check. Boots, check. Gloves...oops, mom forgot those and didn't want to run up and down the stairs for the millionth time. It couldn't be THAT cold outside, could it?

Well, big mistake. We had fun for about a minute. Jackson had a bright big smile on his face as we ran him up and down then yard...


Then he started to check out the sled...


Then he started to check out the snow...


And that's where it all went wrong. A few moments of tender little baby hands on freshly fallen snow made for a disaster. Cold hands!



I wont forget his mittens next time.

Mountain Trip and Valentine's Day

We spent last weekend up in the mountains with my very best friends, and it was a blast! Jackson had never been up to the high country, and I was excited to show him the beauty. We rented a house in Avon and filled it with 10 adults and two babies for the holiday weekend. Most of our group was arriving from the east coast, and the pesky blizzard almost ruined our trip. They finally made it on Thursday night, and by Friday morning, we were on our way.

Our first event was a private sleigh ride at 4 Eagle Ranch. It was the perfect start to our trip - a nice relaxing ride in the snow complete with a tour of the ranch, and a feeding session with horses, burros and Reject, the bison.




The next day, everyone attempted to ski the Rocky Mountains (as opposed the East Coast skiing - very different) while the moms and babes hung out and tried to maneuver strollers through Beaver Creek (not advised).

We did learn that day that Jackson and Lila loved each other deeply. She would go nuts trying to reach him.

Then Jackson would make Lila cry.

And it would then end with Jackson trying to be louder than Lila. I could hear the song playing... "Anything you can do, I can do...louder."

On Sunday, Valentine's Day, Jackson was excited to give Josh his Valentine's card, handmade by the little guy himself! We had worked on it earlier in the week. I wish I had pictures, but cameras and fingerpainting babies don't really go together.

We spent the rest of the day tubing on Vail Mountain, which I can't wait to do again. While everyone flew down the mountain, the Dads hung out with the babies in the warming hut. It worked out well!






That evening, we celebrated not only Valentine's Day, but Chinese New Year as well with quite a feast. Jackson was also surprised with an early birthday celebration, which was so sweet!



It was definitely a whirlwind of a weekend, but I already miss everyone. Thanks everyone for coming! I can't wait to do it again!

11 Months Old!

Its been very busy over here, with our mountain trip and all, so I am pretty late posting Jackson's 11 month pictures. He hit that milestone last week, and I can't really believe he's almost 1.

In the past month, Jackson now does the following:

-Points to objects with his fingers
-Holds his own bottle (finally! - I had to stop being a neat freak and let him make a mess for a while until he got the hang of it)
-Drinks a lot better from his sippy cup
-Likes holding his own fork or spoon during mealtime. Sometimes he will try to pierce food with his fork
-Helps turn the pages during storytime
-Gives High-5's!
-Can walk while holding on to us with one hand. I've also seen him stand on his own, without holding onto anything

Art Museum

On Friday Jackson visited the Art Museum for the first time. He has now been to all of the major museums in Denver, which is pretty cool for a guy who isn't even 1 yet.

I think he enjoyed the museum overall, but after a while he was getting bored and was tired of the stroller. Thankfully, we found the kids activity area just in time. He had a ball playing with their set of nesting blocks. So much so that I asked the gift shop if they were for sale. No luck.

We'll be back again when he gets older, since they have fun arts and crafts activities for toddlers.

Crazy Hair

In most pictures, Jackson looks like he is completely bald. He actually does have hair, its just thin, fine and very blond. Recently I've noticed that he is becoming a little bit shaggy with the hair that he does have. Its all different lengths, with random long strands amid shorter ones. And he also gets that little brillo pad style on the back of his head after sleeping for a long time.

I brought up the idea of getting his first haircut, maybe on his birthday. Just to clean him up a bit. Josh is against the idea, but I'm going to convince him. Jackson needs to look good. What do you think?

Adventure should have been his middle name

Jackson is quite an adventurous little boy, and he makes my heart skip a beat at least once a day. Here are a few of the things I've managed to get a record of...



I caught him under this table the other day and when he fell off, breaking open the chess set in the process, he just laughed. I'm glad that was his reaction, because I would have felt really bad for not putting down the camera. Oops.



He also really enjoys his anywhere chair, but right now he uses it more for climbing than for sitting.






His other favorite thing is to climb stairs. We can always tell when we have forgotten to close the baby gate, since we hear a thunder of hands and knees racing towards the stairs. (We are always there by the time he reaches the bottom step to be his "spotter.") He climbs up the stairs quickly and beams with pride the entire way. We are still working on going down - he really prefers the climb over the descent.

Jackson is also getting much better with his cruising. We got him a ride on toy that he's loving so far. We sit him on it and push him around the house, and the other day, he was walking behind the train. How soon do they go from this to walking? Its going so quickly!



(Obviously Sophie was not impressed.)