makes you think... hmmmmm...

Jackson pulled this little gem out of our bookshelf the other day... an old book of mine when I was a kid and I'm pretty sure of my mom's as well judging by the copyright date (1962) and the wear and tear of the book. Looks innocent enough, right?

Take a closer look...

(love how he's lighting up his pipe in this picture)

my personal favorite... here's your pipe dad!

Anyway, you get the idea! The guy is smoking his pipe in almost every picture... like he couldn't do a manly chore without his manly pipe! Definitely shows the time it was written in... I'm pretty sure you wouldn't find this in any kid book today! Why was it that the pipe symbolized "good ol' dad" back then?

a few of jackson's favorite books...

Just for memories... here are some of Jackson's favorite books he pretty much glances at every day. There are some important ones missing, but they're in his room... while he's taking a nap... definitely not worth the risk of waking him up for a picture of some books:).

last weekend...

We went to the farm/petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point (I hadn't even heard about until a couple weeks ago from a friend of mine). It was a HUGE hit with Jackson. Mark and I are finding out all kinds of activities to do now that we have a kid! Even better... it's pretty cheap, only 3.50 per person (Jackson got in for free). Jackson's finger was permanently pointing at EVERYTHING he saw. The best part was the beautiful weather! I'm such a sun lover (although you can't tell that from my pasty white skin:))

Jackson was surprising a little scared of these baby ducks. I finally got him to put his finger on one, but he promptly pulled his finger off and walked away. Big dogs, no problem. Baby ducks, no way!

Button, button... who's got the button. JACKSON! He loves them!

Jackson loved the fake cow...

and the real ones.

The pony rides were fun for Jackson, but Mark and I couldn't help but feel bad for these small ponies... having to go 'round and 'round all day with annoying kids on their backs. Poor little guys.

I made this picture larger so you could see the tantrum Jackson was throwing right before the horse started walking. It scared me because he was arching his back as the horse was starting to go. Luckily as soon as he realized the "ride" was starting, he stopped crying.

Obviously these were not taken at the petting zoo. I was trying desperately to get a cute picture of Jackson in his white shirt and tie, however after a million pictures I didn't get a good full body shot, but I did get these 2 winners (although they are a little blurry). I especially love the one on the right... although the one on the left makes me laugh:).

accident prone

Being accident prone definitely runs in my family. If my mom, grandma, and I were walking side by side, our chances of tripping, running into something (yesterday while taking a walk with Jackson in the stroller in the Target parking lot*, I actually ran into a pole... ), or bumping into each other are great... and if we were all talking with each other... it would pretty much be a guarantee. So, it's no surprise that this clumsiness transfers into the kitchen as well. Today I was baking banana bread and I burned myself on the oven door. I'm sure it's happened to many people, but above the fresh, bright red mark is another scar from when I burned my arm on the oven while making meatballs. You'd think I'd learn! By the time I'm 80 I'm sure my arm will be full of cooking scars.

* Just to clarify, I wasn't actually taking a walk with Jackson IN the Target parking lot, but had walked to Target from my house... so we were in the process of taking a walk and happened to be in the Target parking lot. Anyway. I'm sure you needed this extra clarification... but... just so you know that I don't just drive to Target parking lots and take walks... as lovely of a walk as that would be.:)

Bed Hog

This is what it looks like when Jackson sleeps in our bed... very much like last night. Jackson is a COMPLETE bed hog... he sleeps horizontally on our bed causing Mark and I to be on the VERY ends (note to self: warn future wife...). I ended up putting him back in his bed during the wee hours this morning, he threw a complete tantrum, but I was too tired to care and he was asleep in 15-20 minutes. Time for a retraining session of sleeping through the night in his OWN BED.

**picture disclaimer: Mark and I do not sleep with our shirts off, Jackson does not sleep naked, although this bedspread replica is beautiful we don't have a squiggly line design (yet anyway... Jackson is starting to take up "drawing"), we have 2 night stands, and we don't have a blue room, and probably a million other little things that I failed to capture with my incredible artistic abilities:)...

easter, spring break, & more

Easter was fun this year... Jackson still didn't "get" what was going on, but he did like his basket that the Easter bunny dropped off. In particular he loved the "sport" eggs filled with Jelly beans that he could shake. He did enjoy Jelly beans, but then of course, would spit them out when he was done. Mark had the week off after Easter... we didn't do anything super exciting, but we had fun relaxing, hanging out, and we did go to Hogle Zoo! Jackson really enjoyed looking at all the animals:).

                                           Mark and I dyed eggs together... after Jackson was in bed:)

                                          Mark and Jackson getting ready to roll eggs (or in Jackson's case... eat one...)

2010 at Hogle Zoo (don't mind the grumpy, "Mom, not another picture" look)

The previous year at Hogle zoo (obviously in summer... it was so hot, but I definitely prefer the heat to the cold). Look how happy Jackson looks in this picture compared to the grumpy look he's giving above! So cute!

For some reason we missed the Gorillas last year. Oh well. It was funny because we overheard this boy who was standing in front of the gorillas before us... and he's like "I'm the size of an adult female... pause... AWW MAN!"

Jacks and I looking at... I want to say Gophers, but I know that's not right. Some small animal.

Our attempt at a family picture. You can see that all Jackson wanted to do was get down and explore... not be bothered by boring pictures. I'm sure it will get better as he gets older ;P

In other (unfortunate) news Jackson has learned how to climb onto the furniture:(. Yesterday I walked into the family room and to my surprise and shock, found Jackson just sitting on the couch, like no big deal... I'm just chillin' out up here.

and of course as soon as he learned to climb up on the couch, he was thrilled to learn he could climb up on chairs and tables... much to the dismay of his mother! :\

                                                       The table chairs are now ALWAYS pushed in...

Jackson at 15 months

a little late... but as they say, better late than never! easter/spring break pics coming soon!

Jackson's stats at 15 months:

Weight: 20.3 lbs - 3-5%

Height: 31.5 - 75%

Head Circumference: 18.7 - 75%

Jackson...

• 
  
  Favorite snacks: honey wheat pretzels, goldfish, nutrigrain bars, yogurt melts, yogurt (yoplait and yobaby), crackers (graham, saltines, etc), bananas, and apples.
• 
  
  Breakfast: blueberry smoothies, waffles, toast with butter and honey, french toast, bananas, yogurt, baby food.
• 
  
  Lunch/Dinner: baby food (squash, sweet potato, sweet potato and corn, banana, bananas mixed with anything, peaches. Teeny bits of what we're having... as long as it passes your VERY critical inspection (before you put ANYTHING into you mouth you look at it intently to decide if you're willing to try it and promptly spit it out if you decide it's not the right taste or texture).
• 
  
  Favorite drinks: apple juice, chocolate milk and water only if it's out of mom's water bottle.
• 
  
  A lot of times when you are eating chicken or apples you spit it out after you are done chewing it... you have a difficult time getting past swallowing solid items that aren't soft and dissolve.
• 
  
  Words you say: mama, dada/daddy, dog, ball, uh oh, yucky, hi, bye, big bird ("bi bur") + lots of grunting and pointing to what you want. Your favorite word is ball... you get so excited whenever you see any type of ball and will point to it and repeat it over and over.
• 
  
  You point to and understand the words for head, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, toes, socks, shoes, pants, hat, elmo, grover, book, apple, banana, yogurt, toothbrush, sun, cat, bear, fire, different types of balls (basketball, football, soccer ball, baseball)... I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of them at the moment.
• 
  
  Your favorite thing to do is to be outside exploring
• 
  
  You love to take items in and out of containers
• 
  
  You LOVE ANYTHING sweet!
• 
  
  You LOVE to "read" and are constantly looking at books (especially Sesame Street books, pictures of real items, people, and animals).
• 
  
  You love Sesame Street... especially Elmo.
• 
  
  You love pulling off the books in our bookshelf and looking at each book one by one.
• 
  
  You love to pull out the pots and spoons/spatulas... especially while I'm cooking.
• 
  
  At naptime you always have a book with you to look at before falling asleep.
• 
  
  You snuggle and hold Elmo during naptime and at night (your 2 favorite stuffed animals are Elmo and Mr. Bear/Cosmo:)).
• 
  
  You love to put mom and dad's hats on (see picture above)
• 
  
  You are pretty shy... especially around adults and will shrink into us or put your head to the side whenever an adult speaks to you.
• 
  
  You are a sensitive, sweet soul and love giving us hugs, kisses, and patting our backs and we love receiving all of your lovin' and of course giving you lots of lovin' back!:).