Jackson's Many New Talents

Jackson will be 8 mos old at the end of April and he has many new talents I am eager to share!

First, he very clearly babbles dadadada over and over. I don't think he really knows who dada is yet, but he does seem to say it more when Ben is around. A few weeks ago we had just finished a bath and were talking to each other in the bathroom mirror, as is our tradition after bathtime, and Jackson was babbling dadada as usual, and I repeated it in a whisper. Jack looked at me, then smiled and said it back to me in a whisper. It was hilarious! I thought it was just a fluke, but he did it several times and even showed daddy when I excitedly interrupted his studying to share the funny moment. Of course, he hasn't done it since, but it was a great mommy moment!

Next, my little guy is almost crawling. Already he has mastered the art of moving around by creeping. He can turn like a pro, get himself from sitting to tummy, and can scoot himself backwards and off the blanket in seconds. But just in the last week, he has figured out how to get up on all fours and rock back and forth! This is really funny to watch because inevitably, he tries to move forward, but when he moves one arm forward, his other arm isn't strong enough to support his body weight, and he falls forward and gets very frustrated with himself. I think a major motivating factor for him is that he gets super-excited when the dog is nearby. He is VERY eager to chase her! I'm sure Lady can't wait! She loves him, too, and frequently comes to him of her own accord and lays down belly-up so his flailing arms might rub across her belly. They are the best of friends, but sometimes his wiggling and screaming gets to be too much for her and she goes to find peace and quiet in another room. Jackson is always so disappointed when she leaves and writhes his body around to be in a position to watch her go, scream-demanding for her to come back this instant!

This month Jackson has also discovered that he can do many things by himself! Several times he has tried to take the spoon away from me when I am feeding him, and absolutely refuses to eat unless I let him hold the spoon with me. He is a cracker-eating pro, even though he only has two teeth. He really loves to pick up his own food and stick it in his own mouth and yells at me sometimes when I try to do it for him. Strangely, he still won't hold his own bottle, hardly even tries, and we haven't had many successful drinks from the sippy cup, but we are still trying. He can also walk very well with minimal support from us, and sometimes stiffens his body and tries to slide off my lap so he can walk (usually because he sees Lady and wants to go chase her). He is not yet pulling himself up with furniture support though. He also gets very angry with me when I change his diaper now. What used to be tickle time and lots of laughter, has now turned into wrestle-mania! He just wants to get down where the action is and play, play, play!

He has also discovered the joy of banging on things. One time his toy tub turned over and instead of playing with the many toys at his feet, he found that thumping his hands on the tub was much more interesting. We got him a little drum that plays music when he hits it and he loves it!

His strong personality is really coming out these days and now that we have his schedule a little more stable, he is just lovin' life!