1st Birthday Party

Finally I've found the time for this post. We took way too many photos and I had to sift through them first, but we did have a great birthday party for Jackson's 1st. It was at Maddux Park in Redwood City, a tiny little neighborhood park. I was hoping all week that the weather would hold out and it was foggy but not raining on party day. Also Jack got a fever the night before, but it went down in the morning and he seemed better, but not 100% for his party. Nevertheless, we had a great time and made a good memory of our baby's first.

It's hard to believe he's one. We were reminiscing all week about how we were waiting for him to come day after day and taking countless walks around Redwood City, the last minute dinner with my out-of-town Grandma the day before we went to the hospital, the morning we went in for the induction, the long labor, and eventual delivery. In some ways it feels like a million years ago, but it's all so vivid and recent at the same time.

It has been the most joyful and exciting year of our lives. Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Jackson's big presents where his Cozy Coupe from Mommy and Daddy and a Radio Flyer Wagon from Grammie and Papa G. He loved them both and likes to have outside toys now.

 It was a King of the Jungle theme so we had lion cub cupcakes!

 We grilled some tasty tri-tips and ate very well.

 Jack was feeling just so-so, but he wore his elephant shirt and tried to make the most of it.

 We did see a few smiles

 

 We found this balloon from another kid's party and he really wanted it. Luckily they gave it to him and he carried it around the whole time. My sister asked me why I didn't get balloons and honestly it never even crossed my mind for a 1 year old. Note to self for next year's party.

 The little lions pillows were favors for the babies. 

 While opening gifts Jackson would not emerge from his coupe.

 Opening gifts, but the balloon is better.

 Singing and lighting the candle.

 

 Digging in.

 He poked and prodded and did very little eating of the cupcake. We have since discovered the he prefers vanilla ice cream to cake.

 

 He also liked the wax candle and chewed on that quite a bit.

Jack and Renee rode in the wagon and she was going for the hair pull.

Steps Steps Steps!

This is a rather long clip of Jackson making progress towards walking. He is getting 3-4 steps in consistently and seems more motivated to try to walk. He can be rather timid and doesn't try to walk unless there's something close by that he knows that he can grab for. My theory is that he could walk if he wanted to, but hasn't wanted to practice much until now. He is spending most of his day now on his feet and is starting to prefer it over crawling, so we expect him to take off on his own any time now.

Visit to the Aquarium

Our friends Melody and Charlotte let us tag along on their membership to the California Academy of Sciences. This is one place that is not too advanced for a one-year-old. The aquarium is so interesting to little ones that it just grabs their attention. However, Jack and Charlotte did have very different observation styles: Jack wanted to sit and look at one tank the whole time, Charlotte wanted to visit every tank in less than 5 minutes by running from one to the next.

They had some great tanks that the babies could get right next to.

 Man he loved those penguins. He was so frustrated during the penguin feeding show because he wanted to charge the glass and get a better view.

 Watching the penguins swim.

Jack loves making this face like an "O" and he does it all of the time. He's showing me his favorite fishes.

 In the tunnel of fish were there were sharks. What a fun day. There was so much we didn't even get to look at so we'll have to go back soon.

Whole Strawberries

He loves to gnaw on these things and he stores the leaves in his checks until I fish them out. He's a little raccoon. Also, he's such a picky eater that strawberries are one of the only foods he wants these days.

Squeeze!

Baby loves to put his hands together and squeeze intensely. This is not something we showed him how to do. He's so silly sometimes. Also, he was trying on his new shoes, so that's why he's sporting footwear with his diaper (which is really thick because he's about to go to bed).

Sweet Sleepers

Who wouldn't want to wake up to this?

Easter!

Easter in Santa Rosa was beautiful and we split the day between the Barrett's and the Gieseke's. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves on this one.

Beautiful Easter morning table with baskets full of goodies. We had the best waffles ever! Jackson's first Easter basket had toys like his own remote control.

 An Easter outfit from Uncle and Auntie. Kisses please!

  The Barrett crew

 

 Auntie had to go to work, but gave Jackson a checkup before she went. Papa and Jackson enjoyed using their "pointers" all weekend to point at stuff, mainly fans, which are Jackson's favorite thing to look at. He'll also throw up his pointer if you sing "This Little Light of Mine"

 

At the Gieseke house for lunch, the competition was fierce for the 2 best play things: the door and the dog bowl

 They try to look innocent, but some tears were shed as the hair-pulling started.

 Finally a mediator stepped in, Uncle Jimmy the cop.