Snap

Jackson's pretty animated at home, but it's hard to capture on camera through film or movies, because he always stops what he's doing when he sees the camera and tries to take it away from me. Today was one of those rare times when he just kept on doing his thing after I took the camera out. In this performance, he gives us a little twisting, a little scream, "Oh no, Booser!" hand on the head and then some finger snapping all while holding his trusty blackberry. Perhaps that is why he wasn't so worried about the camera!

Throwback Thursday

Jackson's first time in the pool in Mora, MN when he was 3 months old.

Boozer the Builder

Until this week, Jackson has loved to tear down the block tower that mommy or daddy built and then put his hands on his head while we say "Oh no, Boozer!" Well, our little man of destruction has turned the corner and is now Boozer the Builder. Notice his little "happy dance" when he successfully adds another block.

Happy Hardt heart

Last Wednesday Jackson had his one year cardiologist appointment to see if the holes in his heart had closed. Good news - all three of them are fully closed and he received a clean bill of health and no need to go back to see the pediatric cardiologist again! He was a pretty good boy for his EKG, echo and ultrasound (yes, they used a little baby wand on his chest just like they used to use on me to hear his heart beat in my belly). He was also tested for a possible egg allergy. Turns out he is "slightly" allergic to egg whites but not egg yolk. So, we have a 2 hour appt set up with a pediatric allergist in May for some further testing. Being at A I Dupont Children's Hospital is such a beautifully heartbreaking, humbling experience. There we were with our healthy little boy while all these other families had little ones that were obviously not there for just a check-up. We are certainly aware of all we have to be grateful for.

Trip to the Children's Museum

A few weeks ago, Amanda came with Jackson and me to the Delaware Children's Museum down on the riverfront. I wasn't sure how much there would be for a 1 year old to do, but Jackson loved it! He played on the water table (and got soaking wet), read some books in the train, played in the boat, went down the slide and had lots of fun!

One is the new two

This weekend was lovely because both Adam and I were home all weekend with Jackson (minus date night on Saturday night) and got to spend lots of time with him together. However, over the course of Saturday and Sunday, Jackson managed to have two meltdowns where neither Adam or I could console him and had to change his environment (e.g., take him for a walk) to get him to calm his craziness down. I also learned my lesson - leave the kid alone before he's had his breakfast. The Snooger Patrol (i.e., mommy) can wait until he has a full belly before she goes after that nasty nose.

This leads me to ask.....is one the new two? Or is two just going to be doubly as fun?

He did manage to have fun in a box though! And if you're wondering when we're going to cut his hair....the answer is soon! I think Daddy is starting to get embarrassed!

Throwback Thursday

In honor of Auntie Andra coming to visit us next weekend, we will throwback to them giggling in MN in June.

Getting in touch with his feminine side

While daddy is in Miami this weekend golfing, Booser decided to disassemble the bathroom downstairs, discovered the toilet plunger, and also got in touch with his feminine side. He LOVES him some tampons and had one in each hand when I loaded him in the car this morning. I had to put the car in park at a stop light and take them away, as he was starting to eat the plastic wrapper (which I think is what he was so fascinated with as he loves the sound of wrappers). He was so mad!

If I were Dutch.....

.....this is how I would roll

this is where I would live.....

......these are the flowers I would buy for mommy

.....and this is how my mommy would look strolling the streets of Amsterdam when she should be working.

Just a man, a banana and his thoughts

Photo courtesy of Aune Hardt. Caption courtesy of Adam Hardt.

Mama

I spent most of our week in Aruba trying to get Jackson to say "mama." It was a success, but hilarious to watch as whenever I asked him to say it, he would stick his bottom lip over his top lip like he was pouting.

Jackson Bieber

Daddy won't let me get Jackson's hair cut. Do you see a resemblance?

Glorious Geese

On February 28, Jackson officially became a Glorious Goose as he transitioned to the big kids room. He had spent the previous week transitioning by spending a bit of time in both rooms. So far, so good, but there are some changes.

Glorious Geese rules

1. There are NO morning naps. Don't even think about it, or you will flunk back to the baby room and spend your days eating mushed peas.


2. There is an afternoon nap on a mat, and sleeping less than 2 hours is unacceptable. Ok, maybe not, but all the kids do nap together at the same time and if they wake up before the other kids, they must play quietly. I think their definition of quiet must be different than adults'.


3. Parents must bring in lunch, which the child needs to feed themselves. There is no warming device for said lunch, so hopefully your child likes cold chicken and veggies.


4. You will go to the gym twice a day. You will run around so much that you are so tired that you can barely walk back to the room unassisted.


5. You will kick SNK's (Snot Nose Kyle's) ass if he even so much as looks at you wrong. Mommy and daddy fully support you.


6. You will get along with Otto because his mommy is from WI and is a Badger and a Packer fan.


7. You will dress up as requested, and in this case, for Dr. Suess's birthday!

The bottle factory is closed

While I was in Europe for work, the bottle factory closed. Hooray! Now the lunch factor is open. Boo!

I really hated working in the bottle factory - every night there seemed to be an endless supply of bottles, nipples and hundreds of bottle parts to wash, and then fill up in preparation for the next day. However, it was a straightforward, mindless process that probably took 5-7 minutes each night. Adam was a trooper and successfully transitioned Jackson from formula to organic whole milk.

Sidebar: I say organic because I think it's a bit taboo in these parts to give your child anything but organic dairy anymore for fear of all the crap that goes into the other milk. I even had a nutritionist at work the other day insinuate that it's unnatural for babies to drink straight milk, other than from their mother. Oy!

The lunch factory is worse than the bottle factory. Every night we are steaming veggies (yes, we are actually giving him real vegetables every single day now), cutting, chopping, defrosting, cooking, portioning.....the list goes on and on. It's a lot of work and requires far more thought than working in the bottle factory.

Every day Jackson goes to school with a protein (usually chicken pieces or turkey meatballs), veggies (carrots, squash, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes) and fruit (blueberries, grapes, kiwi). Thankfully he is a great eater and we continue to work to expand what he eats. At night he pretty much eats whatever we are eating. Needless to say, I will never beat this mama in a lunch making contest.

I returned from my trip to find that Jackson had done some work of his own in the kitchen. Don't worry, sweetie, they were only wedding presents.

One year checkup

The day after we got back from Aruba (Feb 18), we took Jackson for his one year checkup. They should call it "mommy and daddy interrogation" because half of the time with the doctor is spent answering her questions. For example, when asked what Jackson eats, I was quick to say "Oh, cheese bread, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, bananas, blueberries" and her immediate response was "ANY VEGETABLES?" Oh right, those things. Yeah, not so great in that dept because that requires more work than just peeling or cutting. Right out of the gate, we were down 10 points.

She was also not pleased to see that Jackson had fallen below "off the charts" for weight. Apparently the fact that he is now walking and very busy wasn't enough of an explanation. She said that this would be monitored in case it falls any lower (as though the kid were at risk for starvation).

We were to also immediately begin his transition to whole milk (which we were planning, but just wanted to wait until after vacation was over) and because we're not entirely sure if he's allergic to eggs, he couldn't get his 1 year vaccinations yet. So now we have to get some blood work done to determine the egg allergy and then back for the shots.

And just as I was getting ready to turn Jackson's car seats to the forward facing position, she was quick to tell us that best practice is to keep him backward facing for as long as possible (typically around 2 years).

As for nuts? Well, it depends on the day and who you ask. She basically told us to go ahead and give them a shot given we don't have a history of nut allergies in our families.

We also go to the heart doctor in March for his one year check up to see if the little holes have closed up on their own.

Rough visit for mommy and daddy, but he's doing great!

12 month update

Weight: 25.6 lbs

Length: 29.5 inches

Visitors: G-daddy Phil came to visit at the beginning of February.

My Likes: I love electronics - iPhones, iPads, Blackberrys, laptops, pcs, remotes, microwaves, basically anything that has keys I can press, lights up and/or beeps. I love going into the bathroom or kitchen and pulling everything out of the cabinets.

My Dislikes: I don't like when mommy or daddy take their phones back from me. I really don't like stuff that sticks to my hands (like sand and frosting!).

Other milestones: I got my first stamp in my passport on my birthday when we went to Aruba. Mommy says that is the last time I sit on her and daddy's lap for a flight over 2 hours - I'm just a busy, busy man and it's hard to keep me occupied for that long!

Trips: We went to Aruba for my first birthday! Happy birthday to me.

Looking forward to in the next few months: The weather getting warmer so I can get outside and play with the sand and water table that Grandma and Grandpa Porter bought me for my birthday.

G-daddy Phil came to visit

I'm running about a good month behind on my posts, so without further adieu, I give you Jackson and G-daddy Phil, who came to see us Feb 4 - 6 right before the craziness of February began. We did a whole lot of nothing, but did manage to make it to pajama breakfast on Sunday at Buckley's. Phil tried scrapple for the first (and I'm pretty sure the last) time.

Little Nest slideshow

Little Nest just sent me the slideshow from Jackson's one year photo shoot. I think it's only up for a few days, so catch it while you can here.

If there are any photos that you want prints of, just let me know.