"Buh-bye!"

Jackson's been talking more and more all week and I've loved every second of it.  He's started telling Corey "bye-eee" at daycare drop-off and saying "hi-eee!" to me when I pick him up.  He's even started to to say hi and bye to our neighbors when we see them as we get the mail.   And just yesterday, "bye-eee" turned into "buh-bye".  His little voice is just too cute.

Here's a video of him in one of the built-in cabinets this a.m.

Things I Love

These days, Jackson is learning so much, so quickly!  Here are a few of his recent/new developments, which I just LOVE:

• His very gentle (open mouth) kisses on our cheeks when we ask for them. Though our faces get very wet and slobbery, it's the cutest thing in the world and we don't mind a bit.
• All his words: hi ("hi-eeeee"), bye ("bye-eeee"), uh oh, no, yeah, bath time ("ba tim"), dada, banana ("nana"), ball ('ba-yeee"), more.  He even uses them at the approprite time, most of the time.
• The way he signs (and says) "more" and points to what he wants when he's eating.
• His big hugs/tackles.
• How he enjoys taking his dirty clothes upstairs and putting them in his hamper with little to no direction.  He'll also help put away his toys, or other things that we need "help" putting away.
• How he understands a lot of what we ask him and can point to many things when asked, even though he may not be able to actually say the right word yet.
• The way he'll find any bag available (laptop bag, backpack, diaper bag) and will drag it towards the garage door while saying "bye-eee".  So freakin' cute!
• The only time he's still and actually wants to cuddle is when he's tired, right before bed.  After he's all ready for bed, we turn his lights off and rock and sing to him for a few minutes while he snuggles right up and nearly falls asleep in our arms within seconds.  It's my favorite time of the day.

I seriously cannot get enough of this kid.

J in his first Hard Rock (Las Vegas) t-shirt, courtesy of my parents.

Viva Las Vegas

I returned home yesterday from my Vegas trip with my family, celebrating my grandma's 90th birthday.  We had a great time, even if I did miss my boys and wish they were there with us.

The weather couldn't have been better - sunny and 100+ degrees - so this pale Seattlite thoroughly enjoyed some daily sun bathing. We also enjoyed tons of yummy food, including lunch at Holsteins (highly recommended!), dinners at MGM's Studio Cafe and Grand Wok, lots of froyo, and margarita popsicles poolside.

We got in some gambling and this high roller won $30 on a Sex and the City machine, which pretty much made my day.  Not quite the $250 my uncle won on another machine, but I'll take it.

We also saw Terry Fator at the Mirage and had an absolute blast.  I didn't know what to expect but he was very funy and entertaining, and had a great voice to boot.  Another highly recommended option if you find yourself in Vegas anytime soon (Gossetts & Reeders - I'm talking to you). 

But I'd say the biggest highlight of the trip was an unplanned party bus trip back to the MGM after the Terry Fator show.  We were in the taxi line, which was moving slowly and some limo drivers kept offering to take us back without a wait.  We finally agreed only to find out that the limo was actually a 25-seater party bus for my family of eight. I'm not sure what was more hysterical - the fact that I was on a party bus with my family, including my grandma or the fact that my dad, uncle and brother actually danced on the stripper pole.  Lots of laughs were had, that's for sure.

Here are some photos taken throughout the weekend.

Fun with glasses at the gift store; gotta love the jumbo slots; also gotta love a jumbo shoe (@ the Cosmopolitan)

 Loved the inside of the Cosmopolitan - very swanky (and not smokey)!

 My mom, grandma and uncle on the party bus.

Party bus fun.

Corey and Jackson had a great time together, and it sounds like J was on his best behavior.  J was
quite the eater for his daddy - he tried and decided he loved mac & cheese (something I've tried to get him to eat numerous times), he enjoyed some McD's fries, and of course, his daily banana (which even called 'nana' for the first time when asking for more!).

Corey sent me tons of text updates and included lots of pictures and videos of our man in action.  Here's a sampling of what I received.  I sure love this kid!

Missing My Boys

I am in Vegas with my family and my grandma celebrating her 90th birthday and am missing my boys like crazy. (Corey and J were originally going to come, but with a boy who turns into a blob in the heat and who goes to bed so early, we didn't  think it would be much fun for any of us if we all went.) 

While I am having fun with my family and am enjoying the sun, it is hard to be away from home...I have never been away from J for more than a night, so three nights is a long time!  But Corey has been sending me updates via text, photos and a video, which helps a lot.  Can't wait to get home and give them both hugs and kisses tomorrow!

Happy (Belated) Father's Day!

Happy (belated) Father's Day to Corey - the best daddy I could have ever hoped for, for Mr. Jackson.  Your love for, patience with, and joy over our son can be seen in your eyes and through your actions each and every day.  He is so lucky to have you as his dad, and I am so lucky to have you as my hubby.  I can't wait until he's older and can better understand what a great role model you are to him.  Thank you for all that you do for both Jackson and me.  You are the absolute best!

And to our dads - thank you for everything that you've both done through the years.  You are both such great role models and we love you both very much.  I hope you both enjoyed your day!

(Sorry for the late post...between our social engagements and a power outage, my plan to blog yesterday was ruined!)

More Jackson in Action

It's been awhile since my last post but with everything going on - work, work offsites, cleaning, yard work, pink eye false alarms, tantrums, social engagements, laundry, working out, and Jackson on the move - it's been a bit tough finding time to blog.

So, I'll leave you with a few videos of what we've been up to lately.  Enjoy!

Jackson Lately

Jackson has been quite a busy little man lately! Here are some of the highlights:

• Started walking a little over a week ago
• Can squat down to pick something up, stand back up, and continue walking
• Can stand without having to use something to pull himself up (just noticed this for the first time tonight)
• Says 'yah' (his only real word at this point) very clearly and at the right time 99% of the time (trying to get this on video)
• Can point to the fan, to Roxy and to me when asked
• Sounded like he was trying to say 'right there' when pointing to things for me the other day
• Clapped and said 'yay!' after one of his sing-a-long songs finished playing in the car today
• Can use a sippy cup with a straw (something up until today, he couldn't figure out)
• Continues to shake his head to let us know when he doesn't want something
• Uses his version of the 'more' sign when he wants more of something at dinner and over the last 3-4 days, this sign has become much more clear and looks like less his clapping
• Points at everything he wants
• Will walk to the fridge with his bottle/sippy cup and tries to put it up near the water dispenser (though he can't quite reach it yet)
• Can open doors throughout the house
• Is drooling like CRAZY again...more teeth must be coming soon
• Has suddenly taken a liking to the blanket we take to daycare for his naps, which is so cute because he's never been too interested in his blankets/stuffed animals. He pulled it out of his backpack on Friday and spent the rest of the evening walking around with it and then cuddled with it during his naps and at bedtime over the weekend. 
• Has figured out how to ride the 4-wheeler we got him for his birthday and now enjoys it (used to cry)
• Loves playing with his water table that my parents got him for the backyard
• Likes grilled cheese sandwiches and liked quesadillas for a fe days as well, but quesadillas are on the outs again.
• Likes playing fetch by himself. In fact, he spent 15 minutes entertaining himself doing so while I cooked dinner tonight! Check it out:

In other news, Jackson started daycare at The Rainbow School last week and seems to be doing well. He's been taking great naps and has been getting good reports since starting last Tuesday. They provide lunch (unlike his last school), which I was hoping would help make him less picky; however, the only day he's eaten what they provided was hamburger (something he'd never tried for us before) and tots day. All the other days, they had to dig into the stash of Jackson-approved things that we've stockpiled there. 

His teachers are impressed with his art and painting skills, saying that he seemed to know exactly what to do during those activities, which we can thank his previous school for. Interestinginly enough, he even pointed out his own art (completely unsolicited) twice last week when I picked him up.  I have no idea how he knew which were his...it has to be a coincidence, right?

J's had some really fun and extra happy days lately and I love watching him learn all these new things.  I'm loving 13 months!

Toddling

Not sure if toddling is a word, but I think we can safely say it's exactly what Jackson's doing these days.  Over the last 3-4 days, he's gone from walking back and forth between Corey and I to toddling from room and down the hallway.  It all started on Thursday morning after I put his coat on him - I stood him in front of me so I could grab my purse and his bag before picking him back up, but when I looked up again, he'd walked about 10 feet to our front door (which was open) and had poked his head out, looking for Corey, who'd just taken something to the car.  Every day he gets stronger and more stable, and ever day he becomes a bit more brave, even allowing me to 'chase' him down the hall.  It's so stinkin' cute.

He can't quite stand and start walking without pulling himself up on something first, but he's finding ways to get himself up and about with no problem.  Good thing the baby gates came and Corey installed them a few days ago...

And even though the following video is unrelated to walking, I just had to post it.  Jackson's discovered that one of his shape sorter shapes makes a fun kazoo-like sound and he spent about a half hour with it in his mouth tonight, while opening and shutting (and opening and shutting, again and again) the door on daddy.  So funny.  Love this kid!

Sneak Peek

Things are coming along nicely with the house, mostly thanks to my handy hubby who has been working his cute bootie off all around the house, inside and out. 

Here's a sneak peek of a few of the things that are completed:

Corey picked out and put together the table for the nook.

New patio furniture that Corey put together, which we put to good use on Saturday afternoon, relaxing in the sun while J napped upstairs.  It was fabulous.

The new furniture we picked out for the family fits perfectly.

We are pretty much done unpacking, though we still have a few piles/boxes of items we're not sure what to do with yet, but I'm okay with that.  All that matters is that things are starting to feel more like home and I haven't had to stop and try to remember where I put an item every time I need something.

In other news, Roxy either caught some sort of bug or ate something in the backyard and has been having tummy issues, which result in accidents in the middle of the night as she frantically tries to run down the stairs to get outside.  This has resulted in two middle of the night carpet cleanings and a trip to the vet this evening.  The vet has her on a bland diet (i.e. white rice + low fat cottage cheese)for a few days, along with some meds, and we get to take in a stool sample tomorrow - lucky us.

On that note - I'm off to watch the rest of the Bachelorette after a long, crazy day.

Buried in Boxes

It's official - we have moved to Sammamish!  We got the keys to the house on Tuesday and spent a few days making trips on our own, before the movers (Can't Stop Moving - highly recommended!) came yesterday.  We got off to a bit of a rough start - the elevator we had a key for wasn't working, so we had to use the further one, and had to keep waiting our turn.  This didn't phase the movers and they had everything out in under two hours.  After making the trek to our new place, they unloaded everything in an hour, with the total time taking them four hours, which is exactly what they quoted.

Since then, Corey's been doing amazing work setting up, hanging, unpacking, putting together, collapsing boxes, etc.  He recently bought some new tools, given that we owned next to nothing after living in a condo for so long, and let's just say that they've been put to very good use - items completed include a mounted TV, patio table + 6 chairs, kitchen table, towel hooks, curtain rod, and the list goes on.

Roxy's been loving life running in and out, hanging out in the garage, flying up and down the stairs, and playing.  She's been more playful than ever and she's already successfully managed to knock the screen off the back door because she didn't see it when she went running towards the backyard this evening.  (Don't worry - we were able to get in back in working order).

Jackson seems to like his room, which we fully set-up before his first trip here, and the rest of the house, but I'm not sure if he really understands that we've moved.  His new room is much lighter than his old so he had a hard time falling asleep last night and woke up once in the middle of the night, but made up for it with a three hour nap today.  Corey rigged up a solution so hopefully he'll have a better night tonight.

Overall, we've made a huge dent in unpacking the mound of boxes in the garage, and were even able to park both cars in the garage tonight.  We still have a few more boxes to go through, but, we'll save that for tomorrow - we're both absolutely exhausted, sore and ready to catch up on some TV that we've missed out on the last few days.

More to come soon, but here are some pics in the meantime.

Row 1: Our life for an entire week leading up to the move.
Row 2: Our new closet, which is one of the first things we focused on, prior to Thursday's move; our moving supervisor.
Row 3: An empty condo!; dolly caravan
Row 4: Even though we have a TON of junk, we surprisingly only managed to fill about 1/2 of the moving van.
Row 5: Rather than exploring his first time in the house, Jackson headed straight to his toys; my boys at our first dinner in our house.  (If you look hard, you can see Roxy hanging out with us.)