Four Years Ago...

...this handsome man became my husband.  How did I get so lucky?

He is the best hubby I could ask for - so supportive, loving and thoughtful, and he is truly my best friend.  And to top it off, he gave me the most adorable, sweet baby boy I could have ever asked for...his very own mini me!

The last four years have been amazing, and I can't wait to see what the next 4, 10, 30, 40+ years bring.  

Love you, Sweets!

15 Months

The munchkin is 15 months old - can you believe it?  Time is absolutely flying.

We had his check up today with his new doc in Sammamish, and he is healthy, thriving and "right on track".  Here are the highlights:

• Weight = 28 lbs., 7 oz. (90-95th percentile)
• Height = 35" (95th+ percentile and they said he's the height of an average 2 year-old) - he's officially over half my height...yikes!
• Head = 19" (90th percentile)

Things loved/things he's good at/new stuff:

• Balls - any color, any size
• Keys - he has his own pair that he takes with us to the mailbox every day
• Digging through "his" drawer in the kitchen (i.e. all his bowls, sippy cups, etc) and matching up the lids to the cups (he's actually really good at this!)
• Hauling my handbags around the house
• Putting balls/toys into a bucket and taking them out. Repeat.
• Opening and closing doors
• His lawn mower
• Shoes - picking them out, putting them on, putting them away, carrying them around; his first ever real pair is still his favorite, even though he now has four pairs
• Books - especially 'Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus'
• Being outside
• His water table
• "Helping" around the house (putting things back/away, throwing things in the hamper, picking up toys)
• Throwing tantrums when something isn't going his way - we've had a major meltdown the last three nights.  Super fun, trust me.  (Side note - got some tips from the doc on how to handle and the good news is that we've been doing the right thing by trying to calm him down through distraction or, if really upset, just letting him get it out and then comforting him.)
• Sprinklers
• Words: hi, bye, ball, yah, no, uh oh, boo (= blue), bup (= up), more (always accompanied by the sign)
• Watermelon
• Top two teeth on either side of his front teeth are coming in and what was already an insane amount of drool has increased tenfold
• Trying to words like keys, cheese, please (all sound like 'sish'), colors, etc
• Loves mac & cheese - he can eat an entire single serving pack in less than 5 minutes
• Can follow simple directions like "Go get your shoes" or "go put your socks in the hamper"
• Will run and grab my shoes when I say, "let's go outside!"
• Loves to tickle other people's feet and the reaction that accompanies that (please play along if he tries to tickle yours!)

Next check-up is at 18-months.  Looking forward to seeing what he'll be up to then!

Life Lately

A few photos of the recent happenings in our world.  Enjoy!

Row 1: trying out the kid carts at QFC; trying out J's new lawn mower...I think someone is jealous!
Row 2. first Flower World purchases
Row 3: someone's digging momma's new handbag from daddy...and it isn't momma (yet)
Row 4: enjoying our favorite book, "Don't let the pigeons drive the bus!" again and again
Row 5: feeding the lucky ducks half a loaf of bread
Row 6: another trip to Flower World means our new pots are now full - loved my first outdoor project!

Summer Fun - Part 2

As promised - more videos of Mr. J having fun.

Talking on the phone.

Running & tackling.

Mowing.

Cooling off after a hard day's work.

Summer Fun - Part 1

Summer's finally arrived in the Northwest, and we're having all kinds of fun.  Here are a few videos of Jackson in action over the past few weeks.  More videos to come soon - stay tuned!

We realized last night that Jackson loved helping with the recycle bin, so we took it for a spin again tonight as we put it away.

As much as we wish we could give Jackson some chores, we realize he's a bit young; however, he disagrees.  This was all his idea.  Seriously.  It was either let him, or screaming/tantrums would ensue.  Gotta pick our battles this days, and the trash can won this time.

Our muscle man had fun showing off his guns at our 4th of July party. This was truly packed and heavy (~20-25 lbs) and he was still able to move it a bit.

Feeding the ducks (with Addy) for the first time - he loved it!

Zoo + Firsts

With a warm, sunny in the forecast, we decided to take Jackson to the zoo for the first time on Saturday.  We rounded up my parents and Joan, and arrived at the Woodland Park Zoo just as it opened. 

Although many of the animals were nowhere to be found (I wouldn't blame them if they were sleeping in on a Saturday), we had a great time checking out the ones that were out and about.  Jackson may have been a bit on the young side - he was mostly more interested in running around and eating all the snacks we brought than looking at the animals.  At one point, an orangutan was literally up against the glass, two feet from J, and all J could do was ask for more snacks by signing and saying 'more'. 

J conquered another first - I took him on the carousel, but he didn't seem to be much of a fan.  Aside from his snacks and being able to run around a bit, I honestly think the highlight of J's trip was the PB&J sandwich (another first) that I brought along for his lunch.  Oh well - we all had a good time and enjoyed being out in the sun, and we're looking forward to making another trip when J's a little older.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day.  The rest are here.

TGIF

Even though it was only a four day work week and many people are out of the office, the days have passed slowly and I've been thrown off all week with the holiday landing smack in the middle. With this forecast, all I can say is TGIF! 

I'm looking forward to a warm and sunny weekend spent outdoors - at the zoo, and in our backyard.  Yay!

Welcome to Seattle, summer!