Jackson's FIRST Birthday!

One year ago today, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! Seriously. It has been ONE WHOLE YEAR! Jackson has been the light of our lives for the past year, and I seriously cannot remember life without him! He is the sweetest, funniest, most loving child I could have ever imagined! I would not change a thing about him (except maybe that little attitude he is developing!) :)

Here are some fun facts about Jackson:

• He weighs approximately 26 pounds
• He loves to eat! He pretty much eats all table foods now (with the occasional baby food). Some of his favorites include fruits, veggies, turkey sandwiches, animal crackers, cheese puffs, and ice cream! He always wants what you have on your plate too...he's like a little puppy begging for food! :)
• He is drinking whole milk now....no more formula for this guy. We are still drinking from a bottle about half of the time, but we are learning the sippy cup too!
• He's very smart...I swear you can watch him learn! He just looks at stuff so intently...like he is figuring it out! He also likes to take in his surroundings...and he likes to people watch! Don't think you can pull one over on this boy either....there is no "hiding the remote behind a pillow and he won't know where it is" with my boy. He just looks at you like "you're going to have to do better than that"!
• Jackson loves Baby Einstein...I mean LOVES it!
• Jackson loves the water! He takes of crawling as fast as he can when he hears the bathtub running! Too bad he is pale with red hair! I need to invest in some sunscreen!
• Jackson is just getting the hang of walking. He is getting braver each day. He has started walking to things on his own in the past few days...before there had to be a whole lot of coaxing (walk to Mama kind of talk) to get him on the move. He will be running any day now!
• Jackson loves to be outside. He got a red wagon for his birthday and he loves to ride!
• Jackson has a mouth full of teeth! We just cut number 8 this week and I do believe there are several more in the works right now. (Those darn teeth are tough on a baby too!)
• Jackson is wearing 12 month clothes, but I feel we will be moving up by the fall.
• Jackson has HUGE feet! He does not own shoes that fit at this moment and I am worried we may have to special order some shoes soon when he starts to walk (his daddy and his Uncle Patrick both had huge feet when they were babies too).
• He has the best laugh ever! And...he thinks his daddy is the funniest guy ever! He loves to be tickled too....he acts like he is running away when you tickle him, but then he heads right back over to get some more if you act like you are done!
• He is such a loving baby! He had been known to give big (slobbery) kisses, will crawl over just to give you a hug, and loves to snuggle! Sweetest kid ever!

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Good morning Jackson! It's your birthday! (He's a little sleepy-eyed this morning because poor guy has not slept good in several nights now....those teeth give him fits!)

Here are the Jackson-sized birthday muffins for breakfast!

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After he got a much needed bath (following the very messy muffins for breakfast)...wearing his #1 shirt! We've been waiting an entire year to get to wear that shirt! :)

(Jackson is in what I like to call the "Baby Einstein trance"...there just has to be subliminal messages in that stuff! He loves it no matter how many millions of times we have watched it!)

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Later that day, Jackson had an appointment with (the extremely sweet, and very patient) Rebecca to get his first hair cut! She is very talented to make his hair look so good with all of the fussing and wiggling that boy was doing! She didn't cut off much, but it sure does make him look like a big boy! :) Thank Rebecca!

He was not too excited with the cape....he is very anti-bib these days! :)

Once we got both arms out, he did a little better! We did have to bribe him with one of Rebecca's combs and Jason's cell phone to get him to finally sit still! :)

Look what a big boy!

Looking good! No more duck tail (or rat tail as some would have called it!)

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We went for lunch after the hair cut and Jackson got some ICE CREAM! Yum.

Lip-smacking good! He made this face and smacked his lips after each bite...then begged for more! I couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough! :)

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Later that afternoon, Jackson sacked out in his new favorite chair to sip on his bottle and watch some Baby Einstein! He got himself in this chair (in this position) all by himself! He just loves his chair! I mean loves it! :)

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Then he took a snooze on is daddy....not sure which one is the luckiest! All I know is I am so very blessed to have both of them in my life! I am one lucky girl for sure!

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Riding in the wagon!

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And after supper....Jackson got into a little mischief! The boy stood on his tiptoes and pulled the pack of wipes off the kitchen table, then opened it and started pulling! He better be glad today is his birthday!! :)

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Who could have known you could love a kid so much!?

We love you so much Jackson! The first year of your life has been one of the best years of ours!