Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Daddy was off on Monday, so we decided to use our family pass at the zoo and take advantage of cooler weather and school being back in session.  Last time we were at the zoo, the crowds were too thick to see the penguins at feeding time, so this was a fun new thing for Jackson to experience.  

Since the weather was cooler, many more of the large animals were out and some were very active, like these bears who were wrestling in their pool.

Around mid-day, we took a break from the zoo to explore the playground and splash pad at the Botanical Gardens next door. Jackson has never seen or experienced anything like this before.  He was equally intrigued and unsure about the situation, but I think in a few more months, he's going to be running around and loving it!

It was all good and fun until he stepped directly in line with the water and got a face full!  Then he needed some Mommy lovin'!!

Back at zoo, we were so disappointed to find out they had closed the giraffe feeding early for the day, which is Jackson's favorite animal and thing to do at the zoo.  He still enjoyed seeing them despite the letdown. 

One of Jackson's new favorite animals is the elephant.  I think it's mostly due to the fact that Daddy makes an awesome elephant sound and Jackson thinks it's so funny and tries his hardest to replicate the sound.  You can't hear him in this photo, but that is what he is doing with his mouth when this candid was shot.

Having to Share Mommy

A few weeks ago, I started keeping a 7 month little girl three days a week in the morning.  This has been good for us on many front; including helping me learn how to juggle the needs of more than one child and for Jackson to get used to having to share my attention.  

Jackson has done very well, but does show a few signs that he is not a 100% fan!  He is very curious about the little girl and the two of them will sit and stare at each other, trading toys back and forth and on occasion will play next to each other.  But most of the time, the little girl plays, sitting on the floor, while Jackson walks and crawls laps all around as he pleases.  He is very good at sharing his toys for the most part, but there are a few times that he has not been happy about this, mostly when it concerns his train cars and his walker.  He also has suddenly "needed" his pacifier every time she has hers, even though he pretty much only used it for nap time before.  The last real change we have seen in him is an increase in tantrums, but it's hard to tell as to whether it is just his age or whether he is acting out because he's not getting the attention he wants.  These tantrums are still fairly short lived and far and few between, thankfully.  

Luckily for Momma, they nap for a short time at the same time, but I also get time with each child by themselves, as well.  I pretty much only have to keep tabs on both for maybe 2.5-3 hours of the morning.     

Here are a few pictures of him playing with Momma while our little guest snoozes in his nursery.  Most of the time we try to keep playing and toys in the nursery, but one of the few toys that always seems to be out in the main part of the house is his balls.  I think he likes to see the way they bounce on the wood floor.  Most of the time he throws the ball and then follows it around the house as it bounces and rolls.  A new game he has recently discovered is throwing the balls off the back of the couch to a rather large portion of hardwood  floor below.  

Another new thing for Jackson is getting to watch TV for 15 minutes a day.  When he wakes up from his afternoon nap, he is allowed to watch a children's show while he eats his snack.  PawPatrol has quickly become a favorite because it's doggies, on every day around the time Jackson wakes up, and has perfect 15 minute episodes.  Here is a picture of him finishing up an episode after he had already climbed down from his snack at the couch.  

He crawled over to say hi after he realized I was watching him.

Growing Up so Fast

Jackson has transformed before our very eyes into a little boy and it is equally exciting and terrifying all at the same time.  He is now almost 14 months and is basically walking on his own.  He will take 8 to 10 steps by himself to get from Bryan to me or vice versa, but resorts to habits of furniture shuffling and crawling when left to himself.  He also says several more words including: hey, bye-bye, good, Boo (Boosie), giraffe,  and book.  He also says, "Utt" when he drops something; "boom" when crashes his walker toy into things; and "mmm" when he eats something he likes.  For some of his favorite animals he just uses the animal sound instead of the animal name...our favorite that he does is the elephant.  He is slightly underweight for his age, but that just means he gets to eat more at snack time and get more calories like Momma right now!  

Here are a few random pictures that we've snapped over the past week or two:

Selfie with Mommy!

After breakfast daydreams

Selfie with Daddy!

Toast with jelly is a new favorite!

Noodles and Chicken!  Yum! Yum!

Pawley's Island Beach

Over Bryan's birthday weekend, we decided to have a family adventure day to the coast city of Georgetown and to check out a new beach on Pawley's Island.  

Although, Jackson had already missed an afternoon nap and was worn out from strolling through shops and getting ice cream, he enjoyed the beach yet again!  His favorite thing to do is to sit in the very shallow surf where the waves just barely come up and kiss his little legs as he plays in the sand.  

Big Brother Jackson

Although Jackson has absolutely NO concept of what this means, he is going to be a big brother come late winter (Around February 9).  He has grown up so much in the past few months, but it is still crazy to picture him with a younger one tagging along behind!!  I'm sure he will quickly figure things out once the baby arrives...for better or for worse!  We should get a small taste of what this is like as Mommy nannies a 7 month old for the next several months.

Big boys get snack time after they take their naps!

Some shots from our Big Brother photo shoot:

He laughs and smiles so much these days!  So much fun!