moving toward progress

Ok Grandmas, now you can check out Jackson's walking progress. He's moving faster, further, and more fervently (toward food usually).

Perfect Ten

Today Jackson turned 10 months old and we celebrated in the usual fashion...by making my favorite chocolate cake and then eating it in front of him. ha haWe did give him a lick of the frosting and this time he liked it a lot (he was definitely NOT a fan when we gave him a taste on his 8th month birthday).
Here he is demanding (fruitlessly) more "num num"...

Taking the Watch Me Grow photo is becoming more tricky with each month that passes as Jackson is walking faster and faster.Of course, getting into the kitchen cabinets is not the only type of mischief our baby boy is getting into these days. The bathroom door has to be kept shut - or at least closely monitored. Otherwise we find things like this...How can he be 10 months old already? It truly seems like the blink of an eye since the day he was born.

an apple a day

Jackson turned 10 months old today and decided he was too big for pureed apples anymore. Onto the big boy apples, Mom & Dad! Num num!

a thousand words

We are a family so incredibly blessed by God and there are days when I don't always dwell on that fact. It was pure delight to spend some time today enjoying a perfectly beautiful Spring day amid a striking backdrop hand-painted by a God who loves us and extends His grace to us daily.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. These photos from our evening at the beach say it all.
Time for a snack break on the go.
My heart feels like it might explode sometimes when I watch Dan and Jackson together. They are God's gifts to me each day.Jackson got his groove on thanks to the guitar-bearing couple in the distance who were beautifully executing some indie tunes.
Thank you, God, for days like these.

praise dancing

Jackson likes to get a little worship & dance time in before bed.

the inspector

Jackson is my floor inspector. He finds all kinds of crumbs and things right after I mop or vacuum. This morning he found a shriveled up pea from last night's Shepherd's Pie dinner that was eaten in the living room...by a person who will remain anonymous. :)

num nums

We got some video of our little chatter box during dinner tonight. He calls his food "num-nums" but it sounds more and more like "mama" sometimes. We still get the idea.

a beautiful day in the neighborhood

There are bad days and good days, and then there are picture perfect days that you wish never had to end. Today was one of those. After Dan got home from work, we took a family walk down to the waterfront and here are a few photos that came from our walk on a beautiful day that I wish could have gone on for many, many more hours...

Mr. Independent

I think it's pretty clear at this point that Jackson is a strong-willed child who is intent on doing things on his own and at his own pace - the FAST pace! He is daily pressing towards independence and is very obviously determined to learn new things firsthand, viewing his surroundings through an explorer's eye. His daily exploration route includes the bookshelf where he ritually knocks down the Mark Driscoll framed photo (a white elephant gift, in case you're wondering) and pulls the Disney photo album off the shelf, flipping through all of its pages. He literally does this at least once each day and doesn't seem to get bored of it.
Sometimes he has some fun with the shoes parked under the bookshelf as well.
He's also a prime example of the fact that we are sinful from birth. We're having to tell him "No!"...a lot! Jackson's favorite "go to" items in our house are the very things that he is not supposed to touch...like the diaper pail, the guitar, the oven, the computer, the basket that holds Daddy's golf magazines......and Mommy's photo boxes.Oh, and I can't forget to include the bathroom. This little guy loves to get his hands on the toilet, the tub, the toilet paper...anything within reach.
He is never happy when we tell him no and pull him away from his prize.
He walks more than crawls now and I especially love his method of walking down the hallway, using the walls for moral support.
Jackson is also gaining his independence at meal times. He loves squishing banana chunks through his fingers or slices of avocado but we're still working hard to encourage him to use his "chompers" to chew before swallowing sometimes. Here's a look at him eating some banana puffs. It's trickier than you might think since the puffs stick to his fingers better than his tongue.

It's only a matter of time before he's golfing on his own too.