Jackson is ONE!

Wow we really have been amazed at how quickly babies grow and develop! It seems each week brings a new milestone for Jackson. His pediatrician always says how advanced he is with his fine and gross motor skills. Now if we could only get him to advance in his weight and height...just kidding.

Little J is currently 20.8 lbs. and 28 inches long. He eats EVERYTHING and his favorite drink is still Mama's milk, as I am still pumping and nursing. He loves being a "big boy" and drinking from his sippy cup--unless it's milk. We are trying to get him to take his milk from a cup but he prefers the comfort of the bottle or mom when it comes to the white stuff. He is so funny because as soon as he sees it in the cup, he pushes it away.

Jackson is talking constantly and can say: "dada, daddy, kitty, cat, mama, baba, what, uh-uh, no, yes, this, book, hot, cool, peek, ball, eat, up, Parka (Parker), JC (daycare buddies), bed, go, bye bye, swing, hi, banana, weeeeee"...it seems like every couple of days he learns a new word, practices it, and then saves it for later. Jackson loves reading books on his own and of course being read to by us. If we tell him to get a book, he will. Usually he will bring his favorite book to us: Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

Jack is starting to mimic daily routines. He has always been very agreeable to staying on schedule and keeping a routine (I don't know where he gets this from), but recently he has done some pretending as he plays. He pretends to be on his phone or takes our cell phones to say "hi! hi dada! bye bye!" I keep trying to get him on video doing this because it is so cute. He also takes a blanket and covers up his toys to "go bed." His first chore was established at about 10 months--putting his high chair away after he is finished eating (and we have finished cleaning it). He rolls it back to its spot.

Jackson started walking at 11 months and the process went like this: day 1--8 steps...day 3--walking 12 feet...day 5--walking from room to room....day 7--walking around the house. This process was a lot faster than crawling and we were not ready!!! Abby and Biscuit weren't ready for his fast movements, either. Now he is practically running and insists on walking instead of being held, unless it's by Grandpa Terry.

Jackson doesn't have a "lovey" but does enjoy playing with nesting cups, Legos, Little People, and anything that plays music or talks. He even tries to push the Velcro on his favorite stuffed monkey, thinking it will talk. For his birthday Sierra and I surprised him with a Little Tykes swing and slide set for the backyard. Sierra spent a few hours setting it up the night before his birthday so we could enjoy seeing him walk out to it in our living room on his birthday morning.

Jackson's birthday week was memorable for sure. It started with a family bday photo shoot by Ashley Perry and ended with a football theme party with about 25 guests (adults and kids). In between we had a birthday dinner with family, a daycare cupcake bday celebration, and lots of presents, hugs, and kisses. We are certainly blessed to have so many loving family and friends...and a healthy and happy boy. My favorite memory is when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him at his party. He truly looked thrilled to have all of the happy faces looking just at him on his special day. You only turn one once! ;)