Austin Weekend

We went to Austin this weekend for Sara's baby shower. Sara was one of a group of girls that I was very close to when we lived in Austin, so I was excited to be able to make it for the celebration of the baby they're expecting in just a couple of months! The entire weekend was a blast, which you can see for yourself by checking out the album. We got to catch up with a lot of our friends and finally introduce all of the new kiddos that have arrived in the last year. With so many of them it was almost overwhelming at times, but we had so much fun hanging out and being down right silly as you can see here. The pictures really say it all!

8 Months Old

We're a few days behind on Jackson's 8 month old post. It's amazing how quickly they change! In the last month Jackson has started pulling up if you provide him something easy to hold. He's always loved standing, so this new ability brings him so much joy. He's finally realized that rolling doesn't just get him off of his stomach. He'll now roll to get to an object. He also reaches for us a lot now and lets us know when he wants to be held by doing this.

Jackson has now moved up to eating 3 meals with solid foods every day, as well as eating the stage 2 foods. He has also decided that he can "help" us feed him. He will grab the spoon and shove it into his mouth, so meal times have gotten much messier! Click here for a video of it.

He is still very easily entertained and loves to laugh at even the simplest of things. By the end of the day or when it's time for a nap, he typically just gets louder, but this is one of his tell-tale signs that it's time for sleep.

Jackson also got two new teeth this week! He got both of his lateral incisors on his 8 month b-day. His day care teachers think the front top teeth will be next, but they haven't broken through yet.

Our first Valentine's Day as parents made us feel like teenagers again...our friends, Todd and Heather, kept Jackson that evening, and Ross and I went to the mall. We took advantage of having babysitters to cross a few things off of our to do list. The mall was filled with teenagers walking hand-in-hand and texting as they talked, so we followed their lead and laughed at ourselves. It was fun, and we really appreciated the opportunity!

The Hat

It was a rough week for Jackson, but I won't complain because I got to spend more time than usual with him. Although, I'd prefer him to be well all the time! Jackson started acting really grumpy and not sleeping well last weekend. Then on Monday, we got a call from the day care saying he was running a fever. When I picked him up it was apparent that every kid in the class was sick, and Jackson was just getting started. Aside from the fever, which ranged from 101 to 103, he seemed pretty normal until Wednesday.

Wednesday was Safety and Total Health day at work, which starts off with breakfast for everyone. I'd signed up to bring a not-so-healthy breakfast casserole, so I decided to drop the food off and take Jackson to the doctor since he was still running a fever but really showed no other symptoms of being sick. Well...when we dropped off the food, Jackson got sick all over the backseat of my car and then passed out. I'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes with us, so we went back home and let Jackson sleep. He literally slept ALL day. We did end up getting a doctors appointment that afternoon, but they didn't know what specifically was causing the fever.

After a lot of rest Jackson's fever finally broke, and he's been slowly returning to his happy, easy-going personality.

We spent most of the day yesterday working in the yard, and Jackson spent some of the time hanging out on a blanket enjoying the beautiful day.

We discovered we don't have any brimmed hats that fit Jackson, so he had to make do with sunscreen and my Cowboys hat cinched as tight as it would go. He didn't seem to mind it despite the bill being as big as his head!

Football

So I honestly didn't care who won the super bowl and never really do unless the Cowboys are playing because I'm a Cowboys fan by marriage. :-) Jackson, however, decided to root for the Cardinals because one of his favorite toys just happens to be a cardinal. We watched the game with a bunch of my friends from work and had a great time! Jackson actually slept through the entire game despite all of the cheering, which was wonderful! We didn't get any pictures of him playing in his Cowboys jersey before the game, but he decided to play with a UT football of Ross' today...

There are a few more pics in the album of him having fun with the football.