Baby Book

I'm having a hard time keeping up with all of Jackson's changing quirks and interests in his baby book, so I'm hoping that this blog will at least be some kind of a record of the special things that come and go so quickly with babies. I already look back at a few months ago and those behaviors are ancient history compared to what he's going now. So, at 13 months this is what life looks like:

Sleeping:
Jackson is a night owl and the absolute earliest we can get him to bed is 8pm. However, like his mom, he loves to sleep in. He slept in until 10am today! Usually he wakes around 7am and has a bottle and then goes back to sleep in his crib until 8am or so. He is taking 2 naps a day at about 2 hours each and is showing no signs of dropping a nap yet. He constantly falls asleep in the car seat and I can actually take him out and carry him to his bed sound asleep. It is so sweet when he's all sweaty and heavy and it's a highlight of my day escorting the little sleeper to his crib, which he actually loves. Sometimes he loves his bed so much that he wants to play in the morning but doesn't want to be taken out of his crib. He wants you to stand over the crib and play with his teddies with him.

Eating:
First off, we think he's in a growth spurt. He gained 2 pounds since his 1st birthday, whereas it took him 6 months to put on 1 pound before that. He weighs more now that mommy did at 2 years old. He is eating all meat and carbs these days. I can barely get him to touch the fruit (blueberries, grapes, strawberries) and yogurt that made up 100% of his diet for the last few months. Now it's all chicken, turkey, beef, cheese, crackers, and pieces of my bagel or toast. He will hardly look at a vegetable. It is getting kind of embarrassing in restaurants when he won't eat anything I brought him but feasts on Dan's onion rings. I want to tell the people around us that he never eats food like that at home!

Playing:
He's so silly and wild sometimes. See the long video below that includes a lot of his newest behaviors: biting Curly the Sheep, playing peek-a-boo with one hand over his face, running hugs and tackles, working on little problems that he often can't solve, diving on furniture, babbling constantly, roaring, pointing at things he wants, and asking for songs. His favorite song hands down is the Itsy-Bitsy Spider. We sing it at least 50 times a day at his request and he does some of the hand motions. He also loves pools, sprinklers in his face, drinking pool and bath water, being outside all the time, his Cozy Coupe and red wagon, ballons (he bites them), puzzle (though he can't quite put them back together), and picture flashcards are his favorite thing right now. He also loves to flip through books and be read to. He brings us so many books each day to read to him.

 

 Other Interests:
The electric toothbrush is at the top of the list right now. He does not like his own baby toothbrush, but begs for a brushing when I'm using my toothbrush. He communicates his wishes very clearly though some sign language I taught him, some sounds, and a lot of specific pointing. He likes setting up a repetitive cycle, like bring Daddy a toy, then drop it and run to the kitchen to get tickled by Mommy, then laugh and run back to Daddy and repeating the sequence for a 1/2 hour straight. He's very curious about things like the laundry room, the fridge, and cabnets that are locked. He loves to observe older kids and is not shy about approaching them to try to join their games. He will be their friend forever if they include him.

We are loving our Man more everyday. We can see how discipline is going to become more of an issue in the coming months (we had our first defiant meltdown in Target yesterday!) and I'm sure that will be confusing and challenging, but we're praying for the wisdom to know what to do and how to guide him. Thanks for reading.