If you are new to our blog, you may want to start with Beginnings - Part 1 and Part 2 to catch you up to speed on Jackson's arrival on December 11th, 2010 (yup, 12/11/10).
Ok, so I know summer is not over yet, but I figured if I was completely honest with myself then this would probably be the last post of the summer (at least the last post before Baby Bennett #2 arrives).
4th of July (yeah, I know this was weeks ago, but I forgot to put these up):
So the 4th was brutally hot both for me and Jackson. Jackson does not do very well in the heat unless there's water nearby to cool off in...so I wasn't very surprised when the heat of summer, lack of nap, and loud noises from the parade bothered him.
33 weeks pregnant
For those of you who think he's always happy...
Round 2 of the tears...Grammy tried to console him...
Trying to keep cool
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Vacation 2012:
Week 1
Jackson and I headed south to go down to my parent's house in Palmyra, Va. for a sudo-staycation. Adam unfortunately had to work and was going to meet us down there Thursday night so I was on my own for most of the week.
Jackson loves the water and splashing around...so it was quite an event when he pooped in his swim diaper. We had an evacuation, bleaching, and wrestling match to get the pool cleaned out and Jackson cleaned up.
Grandpapa and Evan building a tower together
Jackson eyeballing the action
Uncle Joel, Aunt Kim, cousin Evan, Jackson and I made the short trek to Charlottesville to go to their children's museum. Most of the activities were not appropriate for Jackson at this point, but we made the best of the visit.
Such a ham for the camera!
One of the best activities they had was this play garden where you could "plant" and "harvest" the vegetables. Unfortunately there was a camp that was not very well monitored, that hogged the toys and literally would go between Jackson's legs to take away his veggies. I had to speak to a couple of the kids and explain that he was playing with them. Since this was the only activity for him that he could really participate in it was really disheartening to have others ruin it.
Hi Aunt Kim and Evan!
We gave Uncle Joel and Aunt Kim a night out to themselves and headed out to the local Italian restaurant for some pizza and pasta. Jackson fell asleep during the 10 minute drive and slept for another 15 minutes or so until we were finally able to wake him. Both boys were well-behaved...in fact, Evan was quite the flirt, saying hello to everyone and batting eyes at the pretty hostess.
Evan taking Jackson for a ride in his Baby Buggy
(this video was suppose to be cropped down to 45 seconds, so feel free to not watch the whole thing)
Wiped out from all the beach fun!
Playing "So Big" with Grandma
35 weeks large :)
Week 2
On Saturday we packed our things again and headed down to Duck, N.C. We were staying in the same house as the previous two years that included a pool, tiki bar, and a short walk to the beach. Thank goodness for the pool as the heat occasionally was uncomfortable for me...so we would bring Jackson back to the house for naps and plop ourselves in the pool while we waited for him to get up.
Checking out his new pool complete with glow in the dark balls!
Our night to cook...prepping the appetizers!
Shrimp and Grits!
and wipeout....
The 5 boys...
Hey Pop!
Whatcha doin' Pop?
Our night to go out...family pic tradition
Finally the water was calm enough for Jackson to get in the water!
Could not make it to dinner
This vacation is completely exhausting!
So all-in-all, the summer has lent itself to a lot of fun in the sun and now we're winding down while we wait in anticipation for baby Bennett to arrive. I'm doing the best I can to rest when possible in between keeping the house clean and Jackson entertained.
Next time I post, baby Bennett will be here! Happy remaining summer to you!
I've been meaning to get out to Ohio to visit one of my favorite people in the whole world, and of course her wonderful husband and beautiful baby boy. We've been friends since we were 14 years old when we both tried out for the cross country team. We've gone through a lot together and I've been like a proud parent watching her relationship with Matt grow...seriously, I went to their college graduation and snapped pictures of the two of them. I love the two of them together and now I love their newest addition.
I hadn't made it out to visit since they were both in law school, so after Matt made some guilt-seeking comments to me when they came out to Maryland to show off their little one....we tentatively planned for sometime in June and then it was up to us to follow through.
So Adam and I discussed it and booked our flights to Ohio...Jackson, included. I should mention that I'm not the best flyer. I have a fear of the plane exploding or crashing down to our deaths that seems to get worse as I get older (I haven't flown since our honeymoon almost 4 years ago in which I was prescribed Valium for the flight...for the record, the Valium did nothing for me).
Playing with the seat-belt to his umbrella stroller while we waiting in the airport.
I packed our things carefully trying to minimize bags, etc. so we didn't have to worry about too many things traveling through the airport. We smoothly made it through security, got a healthy lunch of fast food, and boarded the plane. Jackson had a lot of stimulation looking around at the plane and his surroundings and was finding it very difficult to get settled. We had heard to give a bottle on the plane and as his fussiness increased, we gave in and let him have one as we were taking off. It took half the flight to get him settled and he slept for the last half of the flight (luckily the flight is a quick one). I'm sure my blood pressure was elevated, but honestly, the flight out was pretty smooth...so I couldn't complain too badly.
We arrived in Ohio shortly and made the short trek to Bonnie and Matt's house. We did the usual catching up on things over chips and guacamole. I was giving Jackson some chips when Bonnie made a comment about the chips being too sharp for him. I reassured her that he has lots of teeth and is good with chewing, when Adam chimed in that he's always worried about giving him too large of pieces of food and probably wouldn't give him as big of pieces that I give him... and then Jackson started to choke. His eyes got wide, he wasn't making any noises and then he started to fall over. I whipped him over to Adam he gave him the Heimlich maneuver and he let out a big cry. It was over in about 5 seconds.
Drama over, baby Taylor arrived and Matt shortly afterwards. They treated us to a big ol' steak dinner and drinks on the front porch. It was a great start to the weekend.
Blurry iphone photo of the daddys and their little men!
The next day we headed over to the Community Festival or Comfest which was described to Adam and I as a hippie festival and the only time where women could be topless (they get their chests painted)...(for the record, we did not see any bare-chested women...). We walked around doing a lot of people watching and munching on your classic festival foods.
Eating lavender berry ice cream...Yummy!
Bonnie, Matt and baby Taylor enjoying a moment in the park!
A rare picture of the 3 of us together, plus Baby Bennett #2 (at 31 weeks pregnant)
Jackson did really well interacting with Taylor. I didn't know how he would handle being around a younger baby since he's usually around kids around his age or older. With only one attempt at poking Taylor's eye, he did a good job. In fact, Taylor seemed more interested in Jackson at times...
Adam: "There's a peacock in your yard."
Why did the peacock cross the road? :)
Our last day in Ohio we made a trip to a local community pool where the men played on the slide like they were little kids again...evidenced by their tsunami sized splashes into the pool. We cooled off in the baby pool, splashing around and tossing Jackson in the air. We met an older woman who approached us to meet Jackson. Her son Eugene has DS and was in the big pool during adult swim (he was 20 years old). She shared some stories with me and asked about Jackson and how he was doing. Bonnie asked if that kind of thing happened a lot and I told her that it happened to me quite often (although I'm not sure if Adam has had the experience yet)...most of the time older people with a family member that has DS approach to comment on how adorable Jackson is (I know) and usually end their greeting with a comment about how well ____ is doing and how much their loved one has been a blessing to them. It sometimes feels like they are passing on their wisdom to the younger generation of families with DS and letting us know that its going to be okay...luckily we already know this about our little blessing...
After getting cleaned up and having an early dinner we headed back to the airport for a late evening flight home to Baltimore. Because it was late, Jackson slept the entire way home and even slept through the landing (I mean, come on...who does that??). By the time we got home it was about 11pm and I managed to get Jackson into a pair of pajamas while still asleep.
And while I know any Mom gets excited for their child to reach certain milestones...and I know that every child does things on their own time (even typically developing ones), I find it even more exciting when Jackson does achieve something new (not that I have anything to compare to). Adam and I have talked about how odd it'll be to have a typically developing child that will probably do things earlier than Jackson has done.
Jackson would probably still reach these milestones...eventually...but with the help of PT he is constantly shown how to dothe correct positions and movements so that he will one day say "Ok - I got this!" and do it on his own. Just like he's done with transitioning from laying to sitting and vice versa:
Chris is working really hard with Jackson on pulling himself up and cruising. And he's getting there... He needs some guidance, but in actuality is pretty good at it. Sometimes he attempts to do it his own way, which doesn't get him the results he wants and then he gets frustrated. But he certainly likes playing with his toys from the couch perspective.
Jackson started clapping the other day too...I've been trying to get this on camera. He was doing it every day for a while and of course, when I finally try to get a video of it, he has no interest in clapping, but just smiles at me like, "I can do it, I just don't feel like showing you". This includes waving...he was doing it every day, but we haven't seen it in about a week now. Perhaps I should blame the nasty bug he caught last week...
We are still working on signing, but really there is only one sign that is most important to him...Eat/Food! Jackson knows this sign well and while he doesn't sign it himself, he moves my hand (or Adam's) to our mouths when he wants to eat.
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Bedtime rituals
Bath-time continues to be an interesting adventure for Adam and I (mostly Adam as I'm not as comfortable kneeling on the ground and hunching over our bath tub). It starts with a little bed-rough-housing while the tub fills up. Jackson really likes to be flipped while on our bed, in fact, he becomes demanding by holding his legs up to me and annoyed when we don't comply with his wishes. The smiles and giggles are well worth it though...
Jackson got over his fear of the tub, but still hates to have his head washed/wet. We're talking flail yourself around dangerously kind of hate that would surely result in drowning or a cracked skull if we weren't around to catch him or keep hold of him.
He is more adventuresome in the tub. He moves around a bit more and has actually gone from sitting to laying to reach toys (once again...always supervised)!
After bath, I get him lotioned up and pajamas on. Jackson generally does not like lotion being put on, except he loves for me to lotion his legs/feet. He'll hold his leg up for me to give him a brief massage and then holds up the next one...but try to lotion his belly, face, arms/hands and the fussing begins. He's a man that knows what he likes.
Next comes teeth brushing time...another event that is SLOWLY getting better. Adam has to restrain him so that I can get the toothbrush in his mouth and get a quick brushing in. It works better when I sing a song or make a funny noise, but most times its a form of torture for him (I'm just glad he hasn't figured out that I can't do anything if he doesn't open his mouth).
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Chesapeake Group
Sunday we went to our second event with the Chesapeake Down Syndrome Parent Group. It was a hot and sweaty afternoon, but overall a really nice time. While Adam and I aren't the "introduce ourselves" type, we appreciated the people who introduced themselves and their little ones to us. We enjoyed catching up with a few families that we met at the new parent Welcome Social we attended in March and seeing all the changes that have occurred over the last few months.
Making friends with Addy and Peyton at the picnic!
Happy Peyton!
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Today we will be checking in for his 18-month appointment and then Jackson and I will be heading south to visit with my family. We'll be testing out the new portable DVD player for the drive down, a parent-must-have.
We're pretty excited that summer is here and are looking forward to a couple of busy months prior to baby brother's arrival...we're talking "bubbles excited"!
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