Paris & London

At the end of May I went to Paris to visit Auntie Andra for a few days before I went to London for business meetings.  And this is probably the first post that has absolutely nothing to do with Jackson, but as I learned in reading Bringing Up Bebe, a parenting book by an American living in France, (fabulous book that every parent should read), parents can have lives too.  And so for 4 days I was on vacation as a Parisian, sleeping in, drinking lots of cafe au lait, walking but not doing much of anything, eating dinner late, shopping and drinking wine with a great friend (who happens to be my sister-in-law).  It was divine and I cannot wait to go back.  More pictures here.

Nice view on our stroll

Andra and Jean Marc in Belleville Park

La Tour Eiffel

Notre Dame

Art work near the Pompidou

Olympic rings greeting me at the London train station

I was there the week before the Jubilee began

London Eye

Bahamas in April

In true "better late than never style" here are some of the highlights from our trip to the Bahamas in April for Jenna and Bruce's wedding.  Grandma and Grandpa Porter went with us and we all had a great time!  We did have a minor scare that landed Jackson in the emergency room after he had an allergic reaction to something - nothing like hitting the ER for the first time in a foreign country!  We did lots of things though - beach, zoo, Atlantis, submarine ride. 

Feeding the lorakeets at the zoo

Naked baby alert!  Good thing our beach was pretty quiet

Chilling in the hammock

Jackson praying. No wait, just another tantrum

Nap time on the beach

Swimming with Grandpa Porter

Going for a ride with Grandma

Hanging with the flamingos at the zoo

Drinking some of Grandpa's shake

Jenna walking down the sandy aisle

Beautiful bride and her handsome groom

At the reception

Pictures from the wedding here.

Pictures from the rest of the vacation here.

Pictures that Grandma Porter took are here.

Big Boy Bed

This weekend Jack's bed was transformed into a proper big boy bed. He was good at climbing out of his crib, but i was nervous he would hurt himself climbing out. So far, so good! As long as he has his trains, I think he can sleep anywhere.


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Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day (weekend)!  Friday night, Amanda and I went out to dinner.  Saturday the boys and I strolled up to Rockford Park for the annual Flower Market.  Jackson went on some rides with us, we ate some food, I bought some herbs and vegetables and then we went home and I worked out in the yard.  Saturday night we got a babysitter so Adam and I could have dinner and see the Hunger Games.

Sunday started early (5:55 am) when Jackson got himself out of his crib and woke us up.  I came downstairs to a little Jackson art work, complete with hand prints and poem and a bonsai tree.  We got ready and went to a cafe for some coffee and pastries before we headed out to Longwood Gardens for a couple hours.  We had a great time there, roaming to parts we normally don't go, discovering a little children's garden.

Then we headed to Jasmine for a sushi lunch (Jackson had his first piece of spicy tuna, which he actually ate!), but not before we got suckered into the toy store for a new Thomas bridge.

Then it was back home for the boys to take a nap while I went and bought some more flowers and got a pedicure.  Then we spent lots of time outside, playing with the pedal car that Grandpa Hanson remade and gave to Jackson for Christmas (he likes to run behind and push it because his legs aren't long enough to reach the pedals yet) and playing with the neighbors in the backyard.  Then we called our moms (and Grandmas) for a little webcam action.  How lucky I am to be a mommy!  Now it's time for bed!!! More pictures here.

The beginning of the end

This morning I was getting ready for work and walked by Jackson's room just in time to hear a little thud. I peeked in through the crack to see Jackson out of his crib and walking to the door. I was hoping we had a few more months of confined bedtime bliss!

PS - Happy Birthday Honey!


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Keane

Today the new Keane album "Strangeland" is out.  Even though Jackson is really into music, I can't say that he actually has gotten into that of his namesake.  Maybe this will be the album that turns him into a fan.  Mommy and daddy have tickets to go see them in June, but probably too early for Boozer Bear (Boozer needed a last name, no?) to attend a concert.

On a related note, I said to Adam the other day that if (I repeat, if) Jackson were to ever have a sibling, that we will have to dig deep to find a name that we like as much as Jackson Keane.  Something tells me that Adam won't go for Zander Justin Bieber Hardt.

Tinkle tinkle toot

For the past few days Jackson has been saying "poops" frequently, but when we look in his diaper, nothing.  So, we've been putting him on the potty - nothing.  Back on the diaper goes and then he poops.  So I told him that we would go to another movie if he pooped on the potty.  Apparently he really liked the movie experience because today he pooped on the potty for the first time! I was at Target, but according to daddy he was squatting and Adam asked if he was pooping. "Yep" he said, so daddy whipped off the diaper and put on the frog.  30 seconds later, a miracle! And daddy learned his lesson on handling such affairs, because as he was taking care of the prize, Jackson proceeded to poop and pee on the floor.  Since daddy is leaving for New Orleans today, we may have to wait until next weekend for a movie, but I did pick up a t-ball set for him.  And I will spare you the photo documentation, but suffice it to say, it was something for him to be proud of!

iMac fun

After much talk, I finally had a chance to get to the mall today to buy an iMac.  Love, love, love it already even though I have no idea how to do anything other than take goofy pictures with Jackson in the photo booth!  We even went to Paris to see Auntie Andra (though apparently we were only there in spirit).

First Movie at the Theater

On Sunday, we took Jackson to his first movie at the theater.  Too late to say his first movie - he's a bit addicted to Cars, Toy Story and now Ratatouille on the iPad and Thomas on dvd (and thereby in our bed).  We did it right - got a big tub of popcorn and some "bubbles" and settled in for the Lorax.  He started out in his own seat, but about a quarter way through he started to get fidgety so he sat on momma's lap and stayed there the whole time and didn't make a peep - he (and momma, who never gets any snuggles) LOVED it!

First Visit to the Dentist

On Wednesday, Jackson went to the dentist for the first time.  Daddy and mommy both went (more for reinforcement than anything) and he was surprisingly good!

Easter

Lots going on, lots to catch up on, but will leave you with a few Easter pics before we leave for the Bahamas in a bit. 

Highlights include:

GDaddy Feel (e.g., Phil) arrived on Friday night.  And even though it appears like it, Jackson did not get into a fight.  He just has really bad allergies (which doesn't explain the bad haircut, unfortunately).

Saturday we dyed eggs and went to Longwood Gardens and then went to dinner in Philly (sans Jackson)

Easter started with brunch with the neighbors, an Easter Egg hunt, then Easter dinner with Phil, Katie and Andy

More pictures here.