Months 4 and 5

Yes, its true.  Jackson is 5 months old.  It has gone by sooo fast, and I have loved every minute of it!  Although, I do kind of wish I could make it go a little slower.  He is just so sweet and has the best personality.  Well, I probably think that because he is just like his daddy and I like him, just a little ;), so it's no wonder I enjoy Jackson so much.  Ok, so here is what has been going on:

Month 4:
He changed and grew so much this month!  He started giggling and just smiles all the time.  He figured out how to roll from his back to his tummy in the middle of the month, took a break from it, and then picked it back up again.  He also talks a lot.  Probably because I talk to him all the time.  Kyle was gone for about half of this month, but when he got back home, they picked up right where they left off.  He still adores his daddy.  After Kyle was done with his travels, it was time for a little vacation and Jackson got to make his first trip to Texas!  We went to the great state a week and a half before Christmas so he could meet a lot of his family.  He was a little overwhelmed at first, but he quickly decided he liked all the attention and people wanting to hold him all the time.  We got to have 2 Christmases this year, one in Houston and then a small family one here in SC.  I will just say, even though the concept of presents was lost on the little man, he cleaned up!  It was so nice to be able to see our family and also to have a Christmas just the 3 of us. I am so thankful Kyle was here and got to spend Jackson's first Christmas with him.  He is such a big eater and is growing so fast!  In fact, he had taken up practically newborn hours again.  He woke up at least once a night hungry.  So, just before he turned 4 months we started rice cereal.  It went over well.  It took a couple of days to get used to, but it didn't take too long for him to figure out that it was good stuff! We also went to the doctor at the end of the month, and he weighed 15 pounds (50th percentile) and was 26 inches long (90th percentile).  He got shots, which he again didn't enjoy, but as soon as we picked him up he was fine and was just snuggly the rest of the day.

Month 5:
My sweet boy was just a ball if smiles and laughter this month!  Since we figured out how to roll over, it is hard to keep him on his tummy.  I think he could roll from his back to his tummy if he wanted, but he doesn't really like tummy time (still), so I think he is not interested.  He is so wiggly though and really wants to be able to sit up, so we are working on that.  He sleeps on his side most of the time (he puts himself there) and very often does a 180 during the night (as in his feet end up where I put his head).  He still wakes up to eat once, despite being on solids.  Boy is just hungry.  We have also graduated from just rice cereal to pears and squash.  The pears were easy to get used to.  The squash, well he eats it, but I don't know how much he likes it.  He is still growing and some of his 3-6 month clothes are starting to get small.  Not around but length wise.  He's tall and skinny, just like his dad.  Speaking of dad, Kyle was around all this month and it was sooooo nice!  I know it won't last, so I am just so thankful that he has been home for (what seems like) so long!  Anyway, Jackson's baby hair started falling out a couple of months ago and I guess now he is getting his "big boy" hair.  It's blond.  I love it.  He is a blond haired, blue eyed boy - which runs in our families, but are traits that neither Kyle nor I possess.  I think his eyes will stay blue, but I guess we will see with time.  He is taking more interest in his toys now that he can make them do stuff.  He reaches for and picks up whatever he wants as long as it is in reach.  And he loves his feet.  Loves them.  He "found" them last month, but now grabs them whenever he is sitting up or when I change his diaper.  He still talks all the time and it is so sweet to listen to.

That is about all (that I can remember).  Here is what you really want (a few pictures):

Month 2 AND 3 Update

Ok, I wrote this a long time ago and forgot to publish it (I think because I was waiting to upload pictures, but all the pictures are now on the picasa site, so go there).  Obviously, Jackson is NOT 3 months old; he is, in fact, a week away from being 5 months old.  5!!  Anyway, stay tuned for a 4 and 5 month update.  Until then, here's what he did 2 months ago ;)


My baby is 3 months old.  I don't know if 3 months have ever gone by so fast!  So, even though a lot of these updates are "old hat" now, it's mostly for me to remember when he did things so that [someday] when I sit down to do his baby book, I remember when all these things happened.

Month 2:
He smiled!  His first smile was for his dad when Kyle went to go get him up from a nap.  Possibly one of the cutest things I have ever seen and he has been doing it a lot since.  He also has an airplane mobile over his changing table that he loves.  He even started "talking" to it.  He is a big eater and nurses or takes a bottle just fine.  He got over his "colic"; I think it was mostly gas pains.  Whatever it was, he is over it.  He got his 2 month shots at the end of the month and was not happy about it.  He did NOT enjoy the shots at all, but as soon as we let the doctor's office he calmed down and was pretty much a snuggly, sleepy baby the rest of the day.  The next day he was back up and at it!  Such a trooper!  Right after he turned 2 months, it was his first Halloween.  I didn't dress him up this year because we didn't really have anywhere to go, but he did have a couple of Halloween outfits that were sent to him, so he wore those.  Kyle was gone for Halloween, but my parents were in town and we handed out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Month 3:
He is such a smiley baby!  He loves his mommy and absolutely adores his daddy!  He "talks" all the time, probably because his mommy talks to him so much (because daddy has been gone so much)!  He has also started giggling an laughing and I love it!  Of course when I get out the video camera to try and capture these moments, he stops and just stares at me with a very serious look on his face.  He still doesn't like tummy time and wants to roll over from his tummy to his back so badly.  He can't quite do it without my help, but he is getting so close.  Even though he doesn't really like tummy time, he loves to play "airplane" with mommy where I basically just lay on the ground and hold him up in the air over me.  He loves to ride in the car and look out the window; no sleeping in the car for this baby unless he is just super tired.  He found his hands this month and they are pretty much always in his mouth.  He can suck his thumb, but mostly prefers his pacifier or to chew on his fist.  And he drools everywhere!  He has taken more of an interest in his toys, can hold and shake his rattle and even grabs it from my hand sometimes.  Actually, he tried to put it in his mouth and often hits himself in the face with it.  Its kind of funny. He is still a big eater and takes down a 5oz bottle like it is nothing.  He also went on a very strange, very stressful (for mommy at least) nursing strike or a few days.  I have no idea why he did that, but it lasted about 3 days.  On the 4th day he woke up and went back to nursing like he had never had any objection to it.  Baffling.  I still can barely keep up with is appetite though, so I am thinking he will probably start rice cereal next month.  Speaking of big appetites, he also got to celebrate his first thanksgiving!  Kyle was gone (again), so we headed over to a friends house where he slept most of the time.  We came home, played for a little bit and then Jackson went to bed and I watched the Aggies beat tu!  The only thing that would have made it better were if Kyle had been here.

Picture Updates

So we have figured out an easier way to share our pictures with everyone. We will continue to use this website and sort our albums by upload date. So this update will be under todays date, January 10, 2011. I probably wont be notifications via the blog whenever we update pictures, so be sure to check the other website for the latest Jackson photos. Also, we will be trying to upload videos in the future. Enjoy!

My Thanksgiving Post

In the land of limited internet access, I have finally found a way to make this post. For those who don’t know I have spent this thanksgiving, much like I have spent the rest of my year, in the depths of the Middle East. I wanted to take some time from battling the forces of evil to share two recent stories with everyone.

The Turkey

While sand and sun abound, turkeys do not. In fact, this thanksgiving was to be without our tasty feathered friend if it were not for a stroke of luck and my extended line of credit. Yes it seems the remoteness of my location precludes the growth of turkeys, and pretty much any other living creature for that matter. That and my Muslim friends aren’t too keen on celebrating the rebirth of the Christian faith in the New World or the white man’s conquest of the Native American (at least that’s what they taught me in school).

Well as luck would have it I found myself in Germany just two days prior to our great celebration. Upon learning that my fellow airmen would be without their turkey this year my crew embarked upon a journey to hunt and acquire said bird. So like the fathers before us we went to the grocery store and bought turkey. 500 lbs of turkey that is! And we loaded those birds up and left the freedoms of western society to return to our tents in the land of despair. But we had turkey and everyone was happy if but just for a moment.

Anyway, you can imagine the resources available for cooking these birds, just picture nothing. However, thanks to some good ol’ American ingenuity, our remarkably resourceful civil engineers created some makeshift smokers and spent the entire day smoking 26 turkeys. And behold, the most beautiful thanksgiving meal was upon us, an exceptionally juicy and smoky flavored bird enjoyed by all. Now let’s just get to what everyone is waiting for the pictures…

The Aggies

Ladies and gentlemen, it is by no mistake the fightin’ Texas Aggies beat the hell out of Texas this year. Not easily given to superstitions, I am convinced that a little act of kindness on my behalf is mostly if not wholly responsible for our victory. It all happened thanksgiving morning as our crew arose in the early morning hours to go fight the war on terrorism.

Driving past our local hangout, my eye, like many times before, caught the sight of this stuffed animal Texas longhorn. For weeks this tea sippin’ son-of-a-gun has been staring me down with that stupid little grin and abhorrent burnt orange vest. Well friends today would be the end of him.

Commanding the driver to stop the bus, I took the sharpest knife I could find, charged that longhorn, and like any self-respecting Aggie would do, I sawed that suckers horns off! And to this day that pathetic excuse for a mascot sits there, horns dangling, as a reminder that just because I live 7000 miles away in the heart of our enemy’s territory, doesn’t mean that we can be friends. That and my football team is gonna beat you this year. Thanks for letting me rant, now here’s the pictures you all want...

Too cute!

I realize my goal was to update this and so far I have failed.  I actually have a post written about Jackson's last couple of months, I just have to organize and upload the pictures.  Until then, here is a really cute video of my baby boy::

Sorry about the weird orientation.  I had to hold the camera off to the side.  If he sees the camera, all stops and he just stares at it.  It's still really cute though.

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day!  My veteran is currently on his way to help the war effort again.  I am thankful for him and all he does.  

Ok.

Really.  I am well aware of how badly I am lacking in the blogging department.  But, I feel like I have somewhat of an excuse.  Kyle has been gone A LOT and is leaving again this evening for 3 weeks.  And my parents came to visit.

So during these next 3 weeks, it is my goal to catch up on blogging.  Jackson is so sweet and I need to share updates with all of you.  Stay tuned....