16-month-old Jackson

Well our little man is becoming just that...a little man! He's growing faster than we'd like to admit and learning at a rate that's seriously mind-blowing. Every day at least one new word is added to his vocabulary and sometimes it's a word that we haven't even tried to teach him. He is one seriously cool dude.I thought it was hard to take his Watch Me Grow photo back when he first learned to walk but now that he's at a full run, it's become a game of Catch-Me-If-You-Can and here's photographic evidence.Eventually after about 50 tries, we ended up with this picture that's only slightly blurry but is an accurate representation of our Always-On-The-Go Guy.16-month-old Jackson has two speeds: full-power fast and out-like-a-light asleep. He still loves story time and especially likes any books that have pictures of the moon in them. Maybe he's destined to be an astronaut? Since NASA has put the kabosh on the space shuttle program, I sure hope not!

His favorite foods at the moment are bananas and "capes" (known by most English-speaking humans as grapes). Although, now that he's tasted the chocolate chip cookies I just made, he's been asking for "coo coo's" on a regular basis so fruit might take 2nd place here soon.

He's very much the little engineer, following in his daddy's footsteps. Boeing, beware. He's constantly trying to figure out how things work and you can see the wheels turning in his head as he problem solves when a toy won't fit somewhere or when something is out of reach. Speaking of being out of reach, he's definitely started climbing up things and on to things so my life is about to get a whole lot more interesting now that our house is considered a climbing gym. And he still loves phones -- real or fake.Today we experienced another "first" with Jackson. I took him to the grocery store before nap and decided to take a few photos of him with the pumpkins that are for sale outside the store since he had been such a big fan of them the other day when we were there. Well he's not just a fan, it turns out he's a FANATIC! He instantly started sobbing when I picked him up and told him we were going inside the store. This began my first-ever Mommy-son scramble in the grocery aisles. He whaled and wiggled and I held on to him as well as I could (he's surprisingly strong for a 16-month-old) and tried to calm him down and pull out my Magical Mommy Distraction Techniques -- to no avail. Thankfully we were only there to pick up a few needed ingredients because the melt down continued all the way to the check-out stand and I kept thinking "Oh my gosh, I look like one of those moms who can't control their kids." Yes, Humility, here I am! He was nearly calm when we left the store and there they were again...the "puckiss" (pumpkins)! You can imagine how much joy Jackson expressed and then the crying that ensued as we walked past the pumpkins and toward the car. Don't worry, a nap was the instant cure all and I had my sweet-spirited son back.I love that he still sleeps with his bum up in the air (as uncomfortable as it looks).
We are so grateful to God for this little boy and the tremendous amount of joy that he brings to our family and everyone that he meets.