One year older and wiser too!

Jackson really is one year old! I'm not even sure if he's technically called a baby anymore - I think now that he's one I'm supposed to call him a toddler and I think he's growing up way too fast. Tyler and I are so in love with our little boy, never could we have guessed that he would bring SO much happiness to our lives. This year on his first birthday I was really thinking about his "birth day" one year ago. I loved him instantly when he was placed in my arms, and I am continuing to love him more each day.


Here are some things we love about our 1-year-old little toddler...

He wakes up happy! When I go into his room after naps or in the morning, he is happy and excited to see me. He normally is standing and smiling up at me and will start reaching out for me as soon as I start walking toward him.

He is such an explorer! Every day he looks around the house for new things to get into. If there is a new box or toy in the area, he will find it and investigate. He also enjoys opening all our kitchen and bathroom cupboards that aren't properly locked.


His favorite play things are water bottles, phones, remote controls, and shoes -- so why do we buy him toys? tyler asks this a lot. But seriously, he's starting to get better at playing with actual toys. Especially if he can stack them, read them, or put them in or out of other containers.

He loves music! And he also loves playing with toys that make music. Whenever a song with a good beat comes on, he starts bouncing his body up and down and if he's really feeling it he waves his arms around... it's pretty adorable. He also loves drumming on any surface possible.


He claps when something good happens. Whether it be his eating of one of his favorite foods, or daddy coming home, he claps when he's excited. He also claps when other people are clapping around him or on the tv.

He knows how to climb down the stairs. It started with his figuring out how to crawl off the bed or couch - he knows to go backwards. And now he knows how to go down all the stairs with no problem. He really is a cautious little guy.


He's starting to sleep through the night. He's been really close for a while now, sleeping 9 or 10 hours, but now he is sleeping from 8 pm to 7 am... heaven for his parents.

He is getting better at drinking out of sippy cups. He never liked bottles much, so we've moved right to cups and he's finally getting the hang of it. He loves water/juice and we still need to get him to drink milk.

He still loves nursing, but is only down to one or two times a day now. (this is a Rachel love, not necessarily from Tyler...) But now that he's one, we'll see how long he lasts.

He is so stinkin cute. We still get comments wherever we go about having such a cute little boy. He smiles and says hi to everyone he meets, so it doesn't hurt that he's super friendly too. He's getting cuter every day, but he really has lost most of his baby fat. He's definitely not in the 95th percentile any more and is making his way back down to slightly above average height and weight.


He loves playing games. With mommy it's chase & peek-a-boo, with daddy it's tickle wars, and with his uncle Steven it's throw-the-binky, with baby girls it's all about flirting. I really feel that he has different interactions with the familiar people in his life and he's got such a cute personality.


He is an eater -- he loves food but only the food he likes. Which is basically anything fresh. He loves fruits, veggies, grilled chicken, yogurt, and bread. When I pack my diaper bag with snacks for Jackson, blueberries and grapes are our standards. He likes raisins and honey nut cheerios all right, but I'm telling you - this kid is healthy! He was more interested in dissecting the cake, rather than eating it.



He is starting to make lots of babble noises, but the only words he says for now are hi / hey /hello and of course ... daddy which sounds like dadddeee.

He only has 3 teeth, which helps me think that he's not growing up quite as fast! He got his bottom two at 8 months, and finally got one on the top last week. I think he's working on his other top tooth.

Jackson loves reading books, but what I think is hilarious is that when he sees a picture of food in one of his books, he tries to take a bite of that page. I didn't teach this to him so I'm not sure where it came from. Also there's one book with a picture of a little girl that he kisses every time we turn to that page!

When I'm holding Jackson on my shoulder and I'm patting him either before or after a nap, he sometimes pats me back... It's pretty dang cute and he's been doing it for the past week.

He loves going on walks, to the park, on the swings, to the store, or anywhere that he can see what's going on in the world. He loves observing and being out and about.


He behaves pretty dang good at church, especially since we go at 1 pm, for 3 hours. There are people in our ward that ask me if he ever cries - they don't believe he ever does.

He has brought so much joy into our lives and I can't imagine life without my little buddy :-) My life revolves around making this little guy happy and with him being my first and oldest, I know we'll always have a special bond. Love being this little guy's mommy!