Jackson's New Pool

Jackson got a pool from MawMaw and PawPaw for an early birthday present!  After riding bikes to the park and playing on the swings and slide, Jackson was ready for some relief from the heat.  I'm pretty sure he thinks it's just an outdoor bathtub, but as he loves taking baths and he loves being outside, this was a winning combination!!

Boosie was pretty fond of the new giant water bowl, too!!

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Oops!  Too much!

Getting squirt with a bath toy

This is what your face looks like when you are exhausted and you've had too much fun...Or when you try to do too much and you tumble head first out of the pool!!  Both apply in this instance!

Morning Playtime

Jackson has gotten pretty good at communicating what he wants and doesn't want through noises and pointing.  He will often point at something he wants or a place he wants to go to and then will affirm whether we guessed correctly with a "cha-cha" sound for yes or a fuss for no.  A few of his more frequent wants are his new ball and Lightening McQueen car (early birthday presents from Gammie and Papa), to stand at his toy chest, Boosie or to read books.  

He really studies the pictures in his books now and will point at certain pictures that catch his attention.  The things he looks for most are pictures of dogs or things that look like dogs.  He will then point at the "Dog" and proceed to bark to let us know that he sees a dog.  Although barking was his first recognizable sound, his first word that he actually associates correctly is "Dada".  He will say Mama, Papa, and sometimes something that may pass for book or Boosie, but it's mostly just random babblings that we hear these words come out.  Today, when I was scrolling through pictures, Jackson got real excited when he saw a picture of Bryan and he pointed and quickly exclaimed, "Dadadada".

Swimming for the First Time

We traveled to Aiken, South Carolina for Bryan's State Tennis Tournament.  Jackson is like the team mascot and loves hangin' with all of his Tennis Uncles!!  I think they would do anything for our little man!  He doesn't really follow the game or even watch the tennis balls fly from side to side, he is so enthralled by everything that is within a few feet of himself to even notice what's happening on the court.  He  would play airplane, get thrown up into the air, bounce a tennis ball, walk around everywhere, play in the dirt, pick up leaves, squash ants and play with his toys.  However, if he noticed all the adults cheering or clapping their hands, he would pause whatever he was doing and clap or let out a squeal!!  

At the airbnb that we were staying at, there was a pool.  Jackson has never been in a pool, so the last evening, we let him get in a for a little bit.  He absolutely loved it!!  He would splash and kick his feet and would dip his mouth into the water.  Sometimes, he would stick his face in too far or he would splash the water into his face and that would take him by surprise.  But besides those instances, you couldn't wipe the smile off his face!!

Congrats to the State Champs!!

Louisiana...Mothers's Day (Part 2)

On Mother's Day we were able to see loved ones from both sides of Bryan's family.  Jackson was in attention heaven and he was completely tuckered out by the end of the day!!  That night was the first night that he's ever slept longer than a two hour stretch when he's been away from home.  The sad thing was that although lots of picture were taken with all the family, THIS mama didn't get a single picture with her chunkamonk on my very first Mother's Day!

Louisiana (Part 1)

We were able to spend a long weekend in Louisiana over Mother's Day!!  It was great to see family and friends and Jackson loved to see his Gammie and Papa!!  And although Jackson got sick the day we left home, he was such a little trooper.  

13 hours is a long drive to Louisiana and Jackson was grateful for any stop or excuse to get out of his carseat to move around and stretch!  We had hoped he would have slept more than he did, but he was a good sport.  He spent the majority of his time slowly throwing every toy we had brought over the side of his carseat between the seat and door.  Then we would retrieve everything at the next stop and he would start all over again!

I wish I had taken more pictures of him enjoying all the treasures of Daddy's childhood, like riding Buckey the Horse or the rocking chair, but we did get a few shots of him having all sorts of fun!

This is how the walk in Daddy's old wagon started...

...And this is how it ended.  I think Jackson like having the company!

At MawMaw and PawPaws house, there are all sorts of animals to feed and pet.  Jackson had absolutely no reservation about petting the goat or sticking his hand up in the cows mouth!!  He fed them grass and weeds...so much fun!!  We would go inside and he would point out the windows  to go back out to the animals.