The Birthday Party!

On Friday we had Jackson and Ian's 1st Birthday party.Both boys looked like such little men in their button up shirts.There were a few young friends.Lots of grown up friends. (Apparently Jackson likes blondes because Lynne was his favorite girl at the party. He walked her all around the house holding hands.)Marcus and Alicia set up a great play area.And there were many fun presents to open.There was time to play....Time to just chill out...And there were yummy cupcakes!Jackson was into the cream cheese frosting, but only had a bite or two of the cake...that's my boy...I'm a big fan of frosting :)I went ahead and helped Jackson finish the cupcake...I certainly wouldn't want it to go to waste :)Here's a short video of the boys and the singing of Happy Birthday - their faces are priceless.

Happy 1st Birthday, boys!What a fun party! But now I'm wiped out!

Jackson's Birthday

Yesterday was Jackson's 1st Birthday. Since we aren't having the party for another week and a half, we decided to do something special as a family. We were going to go to the zoo, but the weather turned COLD again. So, we decided we would go to Aqua Palace - an indoor water park.Jackson stared in amazement for a few minutes, but then got right into it!There were slides.Which he thought were pretty great.And he enjoyed hanging out and playing with these bars.But his favorite thing was the cool water fall.He thought it was amazing!We had such a fun time! This video has some of our favorite moments.

Happy Birthday, Jackson! You are SO loved!

Swim Classes

Jackson and Mommy (along with friends Ian and Alicia) just finished an 8 week swim class.Each class starts with about 15-20 minutes of group exercises. During this time, Jackson generally disregards the instruction of our teacher and tries to run off on his own, either playing with something else in the room or trying to go straight to the pool.Ready to swim!We do some group activities. If you're thinking one of those babies looks a little "off" it's because our instructor swims with a plastic doll named Suzanka.Jackson really enjoys the water.We practice "jumping" in off the side of the pool.Jackson and Ian have a great time at swim class. Moms enjoy it, too!The babies have even learned how to go underwater! At the end of class, we have some free swim time. Jackson LOVES free time. Jumping in from the side of the pool is his favorite thing...He feels like such a big boy!

11 Months Old

Time is flying by, and we're quickly approaching Jackson's first birthday...we can hardly believe it. Jackson's growing and learning all the time. He started regularly using some signs this month. Here he is practicing with Dad. This book has a few of our favorites. Here's Jackson trying the sign for water.Reading books continues to be Jackson's favorite thing. All day long he goes to his bookshelf to pick the book he wants, then brings it to Mommy or Daddy to sit down and read. It's not surprising that the first sign he did on his own was "book".We've had some fun play dates with Ian this month...and the boys are really starting to enjoy each other.They like all of the same activities - and fashions. (Check out the LL Cool J pants they've got going on.)The best day Ian and Jackson had together was when they stayed late at our house and got to have bath time together.They really enjoyed the post bath play time. I definitely had some better pics than this one, but they exposed the family jewels & I thought maybe I should show a little respect :)Woody is putting up with a lot from Jackson these days.And Jackson is getting more gentle...in general :)Mostly this month, we've just really enjoyed Jackson's growing personality. He is so funny and clever. We laugh a lot...at his antics... And funny faces. Silly boy!