Eight Months Old

Yesterday, Jackson achieved another milestone. He turned 8 months old. I can hardly believe that 8 months have already flown by. These are a few pictures that I took yesterday (while at home with him again making sure he was fully recovered from the latest ailment - UGH). Hopefully, we can get control of his allergies one day so he won't get sick so frequently. Also, he has two more teeth on top this time. I will post more about what's been going on later.

A Pool Party in the Yard

These are pictures of Jackson's first pool experience! He wasn't really sure about it at first, but he warmed up to the idea. I love the size of this pool - it's perfect!

Continued...

The weekend has been great! We met up with some good work friends and showed off my little man on Friday. We were even able to go out to lunch with Daddy on Friday afternoon. Jackson was pooped after those events, so we dropped off Daddy to pick up his truck (I have failed to mention we bought a truck). We went home so that he could fight the naps for the rest of the afternoon.

Saturday, we took a trip to the park nearby and ran some errands at Walmart. We had a fun day. I have been learning that Jackson is starting to become very aware of strangers and that he doesn't want to be away from me. That has now translated into absolute tantrums when trying to get him down for a nap. I am praying that he doesn't start that during the night! Poor thing - he just acts like his whole world is over when I lay him down and walk out of the room. He screams more than he has ever really screamed. We will work through it - he is such a good baby, I just know we will be fine. It will just take a little time. Included in our fun on Saturday was playing on my bed. One reason he loves it is because he can see himself in my bathroom mirror from the bed. He gets so excited. I tried to catch him saying mamama... but, he won't do it on camera. I do think he is starting to figure out what all these sounds mean. He is also saying "Nananana". I wonder if that is in response to us trying to teach him what "no" means, or if he is learning how to say Nora Jean - the lady that takes care of him at daycare. Perhaps it is neither of these - and he is just learning a new sound. Maybe I should stop trying to find the meaning in everything!

The video attached is him playing on the bed.


Playing on Momma's Bed from Heather Gray on Vimeo.

Here are some more sweet pictures of him playing.

Snugglin...

To be continued...

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the mom's in the world, Happy Mother's Day! To my mom - thank you and Happy Mother's Day to the best mother in the world!

Jackson says, YEAH!!! It's Mother's Day! This is his latest trick - clapping!

Yeah! from Heather Gray on Vimeo.

This weekend, we spent yesterday driving to Columbia - not necessarily what I was looking to do this weekend (travel, that is), but it worked out well. We visited Grandma and Grandpa (Justin's parents) briefly, made our first trip to the zoo (Riverbanks Zoo), and we paid a surprise visit to Papa (my Dad). The zoo was definitely not the highlight of the trip - Jackson is a little too young yet to care. It was too hot and there were too many people - he was a little overwhelmed by it all. Of course, he didn't fuss. He just didn't really act one way or the other. I think he did like the aquarium the best - seeing the fish swimming around.

I captured a couple of pictures of Jackson playing with Grandpa and with Papa - such sweet pictures.

Today, we spent the day lounging. My dear sweet friend Nichole sent me flowers. My mom-in-law gave me some cash for a pedicure! :) My mom gave me a beautiful mother/child statue. Justin and Jackson gave me some orange lilies to plant - something lasting that can come back every year and remind me of the best gift of all - JACKSON! Jackson made me a butterfly (with the help of Ms. Nora Jean from daycare). His hands are the wings and his foot is the body - all laminated and made into a magnet. It's perfect! Justin also made an awesome quiche for breakfast and cooked some good dinner too. I can't forget that he washed my car -- BONUS!! It was a great weekend!

I have a couple more pictures to share. Jackson's latest thing that is too cute for words is when he drops something (usually on purpose), he looks for it curiously. This picture doesn't do it justice. It is so funny to see him looking for something. He also loves pulling all his toys out of the basket on his own. He digs around and looks curiously in the basket with that same expression. He is absolutely the cutest thing that I have ever seen!

Day Two of Whelps

Here are the latest pictures. I can't believe how bad it is getting. Even since I have taken these pictures earlier today it has gotten worse. If it's even worse in the morning, I am going to have to call the doctor. She said it would get worse before it got better, but this is insane. It's starting to spread to his scalp even. I doubt I will get much sleep tonight - I just worry that it will get too bad in the night and I won't know it. I have read up about the allergy. Although it says the severe reactions (not breathing, etc) happen immediately and the doctor said if he hadn't had the reaction yet, that he won't, I just can't help but worry. How much more can he swell up?! I shouldn't say that because I guess it could get worse. He is still one tough baby, but doesn't want to be without me or Justin - won't play by himself or anything like that. I can't say that I blame him. Please say a prayer for him that the worst is behind him and that he will get better soon!

A New Allergy

Today, I was very excited - we had planned on spending the day at Dreher Island with my family. My sister and her family were camping there and we were going to drive my Aunt and meet them there where my parents were also going to join in the fun. As an added bonus, I was even going to get to see a really good friend of mine. Well, so much for our fun. Jackson can't catch a break. For reasons I don't care to go into, he has had his fair share of doctor visits over the past couple of weeks. He came down with some whelps yesterday afternoon. I thought maybe some chiggers had gotten a hold of him when he was outside at daycare. I gave him some benadryl before bedtime and loaded him down with some Desitin expecting things would be better in the morning. Boy, was I ever wrong. The whelps were worse and had spread all over the place by this morning. I gave him a bath and that just seemed to bring them out even more. Thank goodness for our Pediatrician having weekend hours. We took him this morning and it turns out he is allergic to penicillin. He has been on amoxacillin for 9 days now. And... this is the second time he has been on it. The first time was back in February when he had bronchitis. I didn't think that a reaction to the medicine was even a possibility, but as I learned today, that allergy can come at any time regardless of whether or not you have had it before and had no problems. We were instructed to keep him on benadryl every four hours to help with the discomfort and just ride it out. The Doctor said it could take up to 10 days to clear up. UGH! For now, Jackson looks like he has come down with the chicken pox or something. I swear I think he must be allergic to us trying to make plans to go anywhere. It seems whenever we think we are going some where, he comes down with something. He must be allergic to Columbia because its Gamecock country. Who can blame him for that? Seriously though, there are too many family members and friends in Columbia for us to continue having this problem. Thankfully, he has been relatively good as he always is. Here are a few pictures that I took this evening... funny, he doesn't look too affected by it all. I just hope he sleeps well tonight! Benadryl does not have the sleepy effect on him (just like Mommy). Notice one of these pictures actually shows his teeth!