Summer fun and big news!

Just a quick post to dump so photos of our recent adventures this summer so forgive any grammar issues as I don't have time to edit.

A couple of weeks ago my sister and I took the boys to Clark's Elioak Farm.  The weather was threatening rain and was humid as a tropical rain forest, but we risked it anyway for a good summer activity.

Jackson, in his usual city-boy fashion, was less interested in being outside and spent most of him time in the stroller playing with my iPhone.  I did take a few minutes to carry him around to some of the animals and where I told him their names and made their sounds.  He was particularly interested in the horse since he likes that sign so he kept grabbing my hand to make the sign for "horse" over and over again.  Once my arms got too tired to carry him anymore, he was relinquished to the stroller and spent the rest of the time playing with my phone. 

John, "Mr. Laid-back", spent most of the time in the stroller as well and did not make a fuss.  He's such a good baby...quite content to watch what's going on...

I was able to sneak a picture of Evan "driving" the boat...took some bribing to get him off of it.

Grayson is pretty adventurous and loved seeing the animals and getting up close and personal.  I'm really looking forward to future adventures with this kid at the zoo and aquarium (the aquarium is a major goal for me with the boys...but since strollers aren't allowed at the Baltimore aquarium we have to wait till Jackson is a proficient walker before going...I really look forward to this in the future).

After the farm we treated the boys to some frozen custard at The Meadows. So yummy and the boys definitely loved it.

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On the 3rd of July we headed over to my in-laws beach for some fire works.  The area across the Severn River always does the big fireworks on the 3rd and from the beach we can see them very clearly (they appear a bit smaller from further away, but the volume is much less as well).

We set up our spot on the beach, complete with beach chairs, blanket, a cooler, and bug spray.

Then we just waited till the sun set and for the show to begin.

Pretending to do laundry to pass the time...

And right when the show began, this guy fell asleep in Daddy's arms...

The next day we braved the parade...again...and Jackson did much better this year.  He still had some major issue with some of the cars revving their engines loudly and definitely had issue with the sirens, but due to good positioning of our chairs (and perhaps slightly better temperatures this year) he was mostly happy to observe the parade and check out the bubbles that Grammy supplied.

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Grayson and I had some camera time while Jackson was napping.  He has turned into quite the ham when the camera is turned on. 

This picture makes me laugh so much!

"Look Ma, no hands!"  (My little pre-walker took his first steps earlier this week)

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We have a lot of things we are working on with Jackson these days.  

One of which is obviously his walking.  Since he really enjoys playing with this piano, Adam and I mounted it to the wall with 3M mounting hooks and while he's not thrilled that his toy is on the wall, it is getting him up and cruising a bit.

Needless to say, the more standing he does, the better for him.  But if he doesn't want to, he goes "jelly-legged" on you and there is no getting him to do it. 

We also are trying out kinesio tape on his belly to help activate his ab muscles.  His low-tone plus the fact that he's on the taller end for a kid with DS makes it a bit harder for him to control/balance himself when he's upright.  So strengthening his core is really important (and I'll admit that I need to get him on the exercise ball more often in this regard). 

We're also working on self-feeding with a fork and spoon which makes mealtimes a bit of an arduous task.  But we're making small progress and he's tolerant for the most part with hand-over-hand feeding.

Some additional things we're working on:

-  stacking smaller objects
- pulling apart objects (like duplo blocks or with snap-lock beads like these) and putting them together
- going downstairs
- communication

That leads me to end with the biggest exciting update.  We are officially announcing that Jackson has said his first words.  We have held off for a couple of days because Adam and I were so stunned and really thought it must have been a fluke.  After dinner earlier this week, Adam and I were signing and saying "all done" when Jackson signed back and said clearly, "All done".

We really thought that it must have been a coincidence since he hasn't said a single word let alone two words together.  But the next day at dinner, I was able to get him to do it a couple of times, although not as clear it was evident that he was make the "ah" sound and "duhn" sound of "all done".  And Adam was able to get him to do it again today.

While I don't think he understands what "all done" actually means, this is a big imitation that will hopefully lead to some imitation of other words.

With Grayson in the early stages of walking and Jackson reaching a significant milestone, we are extremely excited and proud of the progress our boys are making!