so much snow

we have a 3 foot fence in our front yard...at this point you can barely see the top and it's still snowing!

cheap entertainment

who needs toys when you have your feet? it's been fun to watch jackson find so much joy in his feet.

reflection

my friend, lauren, recently blogged about how her son noticed his reflection in the mirror for the first time. since jackson is about 2 weeks younger, he often does things shortly after lauren's son. (it's kinda fun to read about what he's doing because it gives me an idea about what jackson might start doing.) today, while jackson was playing in his exersaucer and i was watching him/watching dr. phil, i heard him laughing. when i looked over, i realized he was looking at himself in the little mirror and getting a kick out of seeing himself. it was really cute!

what's a meme?

i was tagged my amy to do a meme.

*6 Non-Important things/habits/quirks about myself:

1. i didn't know what a "meme" was. and i wasn't completely sure what it meant to be "tagged". (thanks for the clarification, amy!)

2. i got a summons for jury duty for the month of january. i didn't have to appear all month...until now. i have to go tomorrow! i've never done this before...i'm hoping the judge will excuse me (i'm supposed to go to newberg, oregon on friday for midyear board meetings)

3. i have a REALLY hard time when my husband eats crunchy foods (not just my husband, but i'm around him most). it's more than a pet peeve...it often will make me angry. i know, sad...but it's true.

4. i really don't like doing laundry, but i don't like it when someone else folds my clothes. (it's gotta be done the "right" way.)

5. i live in a house that's only 720 square feet.

6. i have a scar on my left hand from when plastic that was on fire dripped on my hand.

i tag lauren and dren

johnny jump-up machine

i know...it's not a machine, but that's what i call it. eric and i decided it was worth the investment. one of jackson's new favorite things to do is bounce...our arms were getting tired. thankfully, it was only $19.83...totally worth it. it took jackson a couple days to figure it out (the first picture is eric trying to show him how to do it), but now he's a pro! he jumps and giggles :). we think it's cute that he keeps his arms inside.

yummy...rice cereal!

tummy time with daddy

jackson doesn't usually like tummy time, but last night he had fun with his daddy. eric even got some giggles out of him!

sleeping better

good news!...our precious little boy seems to be learning to sleep better! this past week has been his best for both sleeping at night and taking naps. we put him to bed between 7:30-8pm, feed him between 10-11 (dream feed...he sleeps through it) and he sleeps until anywhere between 4:30-5:45am. then we feed him again and he goes back to sleeps until about 7:30. we used to have to get up 2-4 times a night to give him his pacifier and help him get back to sleep. this week, i've only had to get up 1 time! way to go j-hub!! and his napping is better than ever. i mentioned in a previous post that he'd only sleep for about 40 minutes then be awake, but still tired and would only continue sleeping if i held him. well, since wednesday afternoon, he's been taking 2 hours naps. i have still had to go in a number of times to give him his pacifier and pat his back, but he's stayed in his crib! i feel like i can get more done around the house and also just have a break. another benefit is that jackson's happier because he's sleeping better. needless to say, mommy's happier too!

grammy & papa's

jackson got to see his grammy and papa in the seattle area last weekend. it was the first time he got to meet his papa. although he didn't nap well, i think he had a good time (his daddy and i did, at least!). after i got home i realized that i'm already slacking in the picture taking department. i didn't get any pictures of jackson with his papa....next time, i guess. i did however get pictures of the goose we ate!

learning and growing

LEARNING:

it seems like jackson has learned a lot these last few days. we got to see our friends lauren and troy and their son, caleb (who's 12 days older than jackson) last friday. i wonder if jackson learned his new tricks from caleb. jackson has never sucked on his knuckles/fists until he saw caleb doing it...now he's been doing it a lot. also, jackson started rolling over the day after he saw caleb rolling. and jackson's now grabbing his knees. caleb has progressed to grabbing his feet, but not long ago was grabbing his knees. thanks, caleb for teaching jackson so much in such a short amount of time!

GROWING:

jackson had his 4 month check-up today and we found out he's growing like a weed. he weighs 17 lbs 11.5 oz and is 26.5 in. (90 percentile for both)...i thought he was feeling heavier :)

another favorite thing...

i forgot to mention on my list of favorite things one of the christmas gifts i got from eric and jackson. it's eric's hand print with jackson's footprints. eric had one of the gals at the pottery painting place write "jackson and daddy love mommy". isn't it the cutest?!

~janell

all by himself...sort of

i haven't ever put jackson down for his naps awake...i always rock him to sleep. i know it's "better" to let him fall asleep on his own and my rocking him to sleep may account for his waking up after 40 minutes and not being able to go back to sleep on his own. so this morning, for the first time, i put him down awake. he did require help from me in the way of patting his back and shushing for a few minutes a couple of times, but he fell asleep and i didn't have to rock him! now, he's only been asleep for 40 minutes now...so we'll see how he does for the rest of his nap...but progress nonetheless.

~janell

rolling over?

jackson was playing on his play mat this morning and it seemed as though he really wanted to roll over. he was on his back and i think he caught sight of the pictures on the mat. he rolled to his side and kept reaching for the picture of the sun in the middle. his one arm kept getting in the way of him making it all the way over, but maybe he's getting close.
it's my understanding that it's easier for babies to roll from their tummies to their backs, but jackson really doesn't like tummy time. i try to give jackson at least a little bit of tummy time each day, but it's nice to see that he'll still learn to roll over...even if it takes a little longer.

~janell

these are a few of my favorite things

janell's list:

*cuddling quietly with jackson right after he wakes up from naps

*4pm...when eric gets home from work (especially fridays!)

*24 different colors of sharpies

*jackson's giggles

*how eric gags when he has to change a poopy diaper

*micro-fleece sheets...so soft and cozy

*an empty, clean kitchen sink

*good nursery workers at church

*weekends

*new pj's

*how jackson talks to the toys hanging from his carseat

*my friend, lauren

*the smell of a newly bathed baby

eric's list:

- costco
- American made tools
- fresh snow
- long, uninterrupted naps
- finishing a project
- "new" smell
- gift cards
- "showing up" a journeyman at work
- my boot dryer
- Little House on the Prairie books
- Harry Potter books
- Janell getting up at night with Jackson during the week
- 4th of July camping with the Dave Hampton clan
- the smell of sawdust

jackson's 1st christmas

jackson got to see lots of family this year for christmas. the weekend before christmas we headed to newberg, oregon to visit my side of the family. it was a busy weekend with no good naps for the wee one (at least he slept well at night), but we had fun and of course the family was excited to see jackson and couldn't believe how he's grown since they saw him last.

before heading home on christmas eve, we had dad's traditional christmas omelets...the best you'll find anywhere! we then flew home (jackson did great on both flights!), with just enough time to make it to christmas eve service followed by our traditional german dinner of knackwurst and potato salad and opening presents at oma and opa's. then, we came home for yet another tradition...opening our christmas eve pj's.

christmas morning, we opened our stockings and headed to eric's parents for cinnamon twists and bacon...yummy! and more presents.

jackson will get to see his grammy and papa in seattle in a couple weeks. he's really excited to meet him papa for the 1st time! he'll also get to meet his friend, caleb, who was born just 12 days before him!

then it's time to get back to some sort of routine (and hopefully better napping!)

~janell