February Catch Up!

Wow! The month is already half over and I am only on my second posting of the month. Where does the time go? So this posting will be a mishmash of happenings over the last few weeks in no particular order...
Hold on, here we go...

Jackson's first dentist appointment...
Very good first time patient. Loves his new toothbrush, can't wait until he's bigger and can get into the dentist's treasure chest for the cool toys & treats.



Momma & Daddy's newest project...or should I say, never ending project.
Cleaning out Jackson's closet. Sorting the outgrown, wearing-right-now and soon-to-be-wearing. Note the new plastic tubs for organizing and storing.



Valentine's day treats.
Yummy mini cupcakes from Momma's work. Fresh 'blooming cinnamon buns' Valentine's morning for breakfast. Yum Yum!




I can feed myself with a little help.
Jackson has mastered the spoon to the mouth with a little help of loading. He's got really good aim but sometimes gets a little over excited that the food on the spoon gets flung onto the helper. But 'A' for effort for our little man!



I just love the funny faces that come out of our little guy.
And I am so thrilled that I was able to catch this great one. So funny!



And this one!!
He reminds me of Popeye here...hee hee!!



Daddy's UFC treats.
Momma made Rocky Road Cupcakes for Daddy to take to his UFC party.
I got some of my own little mini ones. Cute & Sweet, just like Jackson.



Never to far from my ball.
Jackson seems to always know where the closest one is even when we haven't spotted it yet.
He loves any ball, any shape or size. His favourites lately have been Daddy's 10 lb medicine ball and his Nerf ball that he loves to throw right at you, thank goodness it's made of sponge!



So we are pretty much caught up so far but stay tuned for more of of wacky adventures...

Here's Blowing at you!!!

Scott & I have been a little under the weather, which means lots of sniffling and snuffling and general nose blowing around the house. And our little 'sponge' doesn't want to be left behind in the action...this being said he has taken up with his own blowing.


(Sorry about the lighting, we have to figure out what's going on with that???)

He hasn't caught our colds, as yet...knock on wood, but he has witnessed lots of snotty tissues in use and has taught himself 'how to blow' all on his own. At first we thought it was just a little inward snuffle that he had accomplished but upon further investigation he has in fact mastered the outward blow. It's actually quite cute... for the first day or so. Now every time Momma has a tissue he wants to blow too. And he can't go past a box with out pulling out one or two to practice on. Or he will get all sneaky and be hiding in the corner with a rogue tissue scavenged from the garbage blowing away...ewww!



And then the shredding starts. He starts with one corner and starts pulling his soggy tissue into long strips. He reminds me of a gerbil when he starts the shredding only way cuter of course! I guess it's another 'first' of sorts and I'm sure it's some type of developmental milestone(??), but I think I'm good now with the cleaning up in tiny piles of nesting material. Eventhough I am sure it is only the start of much bigger and not so much better things, we'll see!!!

Our Linus is Walking...

We did not think that Jackson would become attached to any of his stuffies or toys as you may think a child does at his age, but we did not think that he would have such an obsession with balls either. Seriously, the first thing out of his mouth in the morning is 'ba, ba, ba' which roughly translated means where's my ball? And this does not stop all day long when a ball is in his general vacinity. But that's a whole other posting...
But as of late, Jackson has been dragging his little green blanket around with him. And at bedtime it is the first thing he is reaching for when he starts nodding off. It's funny because it reminds me of his Aunty Joy's blanket that she used to carry with her all the time when she was little. And while Jackson's blankie is still in one piece, it resembles her blanket in the fact that they both bear the same satin silky edge. And that is what has drawn our little guy to his blanket. He finds comfort in stroking the soft ribbon of fabric as he settles down for a snooze. And that is exactly how his Aunty was as well. Of course, it got to the point where she had 'loved' her blanket so much that all that remained was an empty square of silky ribbon. And so he has started to resemble Linus van Pelt from the Peanuts cartoon strip. But that's okay because Linus was always my favourite. And boy could he be inventive with his blanket. A regular Macgyver that Linus was! So I don't mind the comparison so much. But I do not understand this chewing of his blankie he has started to do. That is until I watching an episode of Jon & Kate plus 8, where they have 'chewies'. So my kid isn't totally weird, he chews on everything else, why not his blanket!


More news on the Jack-man front...
Jackson has officially moved from crawler to walker. He has been taking tiny steps over the past month or so, but over the last few days a couple of mini steps have turned into six or more consecutive strides. We are so proud, but just a little anxious... We no longer have a little man on his knees but a toddler in the true sense of the word. And although he was pretty tentative in his first couple of steps, he has no fear of surging forward full force whether his body is following the momentum or not! Needless to say, he has had a few tumbles but nothing major enough to stop our rambling wanderer. As mentioned before, he is our little toughie who just picks himself up and keeps on trekking.



I was afraid that my returning to work would mean that I would miss a lot of his new 'firsts' but that is not the case at all. I have found that I am so much more appreciative of these milestones because of being away all day. I know that sounds weird but I have discovered that if I was with Jackson all day every day, I may not notice or treasure his newest feat. But now I actually come home and celebrate his accomplishments and achievements with Scott everyday. I look forward to discovering what his day has held and what new skill Jackson has mastered. I know I can't possibly be with Jackson for every moment of his day, aka. smother mother, so I am just grateful for the time I do have with my little man. Whether it be our early morning breakfast routine of chatter and clatter (Jackson chatters non-stop to Momma as I run around, that's the clatter part, getting us both ready for our day) or our bedtime cuddles and prayers. I cherish every moment that I spend with my family. And I may not tell them often enough, but I do love you and am very blessed for every second we have together.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub...Look Who's in the Tub!

I snapped some great photos of Jackson just splashing around in the tub the other night. So I decided to share them with you all.



He loves his bath time. And I usually let him play around by himself while I get a little quiet time for myself. And before you jump to conclusions and call the childcare authorities...No, I do not leave my child unattended while in the bath. I simply find a quiet activity for myself while sitting in the bathroom with the little bubble king. It's a great chance for me to catch up on a new magazine, or finish that Sudoku puzzle I have been trying to get to all week, or just a few minutes to tuck into that great new book that needs to go back to the library in a couple days. We both enjoy our little luxury before bedtime and it helps to calm us both down before hitting the sack.



Just look at my little soapy sweetie! Isn't he just the cutest little bubble in the bunch. And I even tried to avoid any 'money shots' so that Jackson wouldn't be totally embarrassed when he finds these postings in the future. But I just had to do it before he gets too big and won't even let me hug him in public anymore. Not looking forward to that day, so I have to document those moments while I still can...
And still in disbelief that he is thirteen months already!!!

New 'Do All 'Round

Last week it was time to make the cut...
We had noticed that our little munchkin had been starting to sport a shaggy flip that was not flattering our little metro-man. And to drive the point home a little further, 'Hippie Baby' was one of Grandpa P's newest nickname to surface recently. So Scott & I decided to pull out the scissors and take a little trimming. Both of us are not hair savvy to say the least when it comes to coifs and 'dos, but I did not know how Jackson would react to a barber/hairstylist with all his squirmy-ness and I was not about to pay for a full priced haircut when all we needed were a few little snips.



So with scissors in hand, Mama took the plunge and dove in. And I think I did a pretty good job for my son's first cut. He was relatively still for the process, of course a cookie helps tremendously with the fussies.



Of course, we have kept Jackson's first trimmings. I feel a little sad to know that his hair is already long enough to cut, but also a little strange that we have kept some pieces to see when we get a little nostalgic. He is going to think we are so weird for keepsaking his hair when he gets older.



I don't now if you can tell from the photos, but I am sporting my own new 'do. Short and cropped. And so much easier to handle. It seems I just can't get rid of it fast enough. I love it short, and the shorter the better. One of the girls in my dance class asked me if the next time she sees me if I was going to be bald. My reply was, 'You never know!'
And Scott, not wanting to be left out of our family event, went to the barber the next day for his monthly trimming of his fuzz. Stay tuned for the next cut!

Dance, Dance, Dance...

I don't remember if I had mentioned this last year, but I am taking dance lessons again. And not just your average ballet or hip hop for this twinkletoes.

Nope! I have donned my hip scarf and coin belt and started shimmying in my belly dance fever. I am so glad to have found this great troupe of women through the pilates studio I was attending. And we have been working hard, or I should say that our instructor is working us hard, in order to prepare us all for our upcoming hafla. We are very excited to be preforming but just a little bit anxious as would be expected.

So much preparation has been made to organize this event and it wouldn't be happening if not for our fearless leader, Nerissa. It will be a showcase of beautiful dancers and musicians performing material from different regions of the world.

This weekend we have our costume 'work-bee' where our busy little fingers will be crafting and sewing up our beautiful exotic tribal fusion costumes. Can't wait to see how they all turn out!

If you are interested in attending our dance extravaganza here is our promo poster...

New Year New Adventures...

Thank you to all of you out there taking so much interest in our little adventures here in Smalliver. We thought it would be a great opportunity to recap the year to remember what went down in 2008.

-Jackson's First Plane ride

-First Easter Egg Hunt



-First Canada Day Fireworks Show (Daddy was setting them off!)



-Summer Swimming Lessons



-Pemberton MusicFest

-First Visit to PNE for Scott & Jackson



-Scott's new job with Source Security

-Jackson's First Halloween



-Mommy goes back to work

-Jackson's First Birthday Luau



-First Christmas Carol Truck Ride

As you can tell, it was a great year of many firsts for our little adventurer. And we hope to keep you updated and entertained with all our new 'firsts' this coming year. We wish you and your family a very happy and prosperous new year full of blessings.

Happy 2009!