The Mulkey Family

Last night after Jackson's bath, he ran naked into his room and hid behind a tall fan that I put in the corner. I kept asking him to come over and let me put on his diaper. He would peek his head out from around the fan to see if I was watching him and then hide again. After we repeated this a few times and told him I was going to tell Santa that he was being a little stinker, I decided to go get the video camera because he was being so cute and wanting to play peekaboo. I started to film him and he kept peeking out from behind the fan. I zoomed in on his face to film him and after a while of filming when I zoomed out I noticed he was POOPING!! That is why he was hiding from me!! It was all over his legs and the carpet. Then he stepped in it and ran over to me, tracking it all over his room and getting it all over me. So gross...but so funny. Lately he has been hiding when he poops, usually behind the couch, so I guess this was his hiding spot....not cool!!!!

I know that this post is a bit overdue...but it is the holidays so i get a pass, right??? My sweet Jackson is definitely out of baby stage and into little boy stage. Some words to describe him are rambunctious, curious, quirky, loving, giddy, silly, moody, spoiled...those are just a few. I keep thinking every month that it cannot get any better...and it does!!! I have to brag a bit on my little boy...he is a smart cookie! He can identify so, so many animals, objects, etc. in all of his books and can identify all of his shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, star). His new words include star, car, ball, go, apple, and bear. When I ask him what does Santa say, he says "ha ha ha" and when Bella starts running around the couch in circles he yells at her to "go go go". There is much more running around these days than walking...he never slows down! When I tell him "no" he looks at me, grins and shakes his head. A bit irritating, but I usually have to turn my head and laugh because it is so cute. I am definitely looking forward to the holidays and getting to see this wonderful time of year through the eyes of my little guy....love you Jackson!!

Our Santa visit this year pretty much went the way I expected it too....see Exhibit A below.

Jackson is sick....and so is mommy....we caught it from daddy. I will write more when we feel better....this is NO FUN!!!

Last night was Jackson's last bottle before bedtime and I have to say that I was completely dreading tonight's new bedtime routine....boy, did I get a nice surprise! Usually, Jackson would take a bottle after I read him his bedtime stories and just fall asleep taking the bottle. But I knew it was time to wean him since it is bad for his teeth and also just because my doctor basically told me I was ridiculous for still giving him a bottle at 15 months old. So tonight after his bath, I warmed up a cup of milk and we sat and read books together. My fear was that he would not drink enough and wake up hungry during the night, but he gulped down that cup of milk faster than I have ever seen! I brushed his teeth (with his new automatic toothbrush...thanks Jeni!) read him one more book, rocked him and put him down. No problem at all!!! Much easier than I had anticipated since he seemed to be attached to his nighttime bottle...hopefully this will continue and we can be done with bottles for good!!!

Ok...so basically Jackson absolutely HATES getting his teeth brushed and I don't know what to do about it. I am so anal about him having beautiful pearly whites so I try to brush his teeth 2 time a day but he will NOT let me. He screams, cries throws his head back, sticks his tongue out, and if I try to use a washcloth to at least wipe his teeth he will bite my finger. I don't know what to do about this...any suggestions????

What a fun age this is! At 15 months old, I feel like Jackson is starting to become his own little person more and more every day. He has definitely discovered his likes, dislikes and does not mind letting me know! His big cheesy grin is what gets me through the day...and tiring days they are! He is an absolute, complete mess of a little boy, such a little ham, running around wildly through the house all day long. He is now climbing on things (I hate it), still talks all day long (he says uh-oh and wow a 100 times a day), and loves bringing me books to read to him (again, 100 times a day). Today, we had his 15 month well-check and everything looks perfect. He weighs 25 lbs 15 oz, he is 31 1/4 inches tall and is right on track. I was told to eliminate the night-time bottle so it looks like we will be working on that pretty soon. The holidays this year will be so much fun with Jackson's little personality and I can't wait! He is an honory little monster at times, but I love my little monster more and more each day :)

Garrett & I finished decorating the house for Christmas this weekend and I have a feeling that Jackson is going to be just like his daddy and LOVE this holiday. He is so excited to have all of the lights and glittery ornaments around the house and every time a guest comes over the first thing he does is bring them to the den to show them the Christmas tree! When we go down the Christmas aisles in Target he squeals, starts shaking and tries to climb out of the cart...if he is this excited now I can't wait for next year!!!

I mean, this was bound to happen, right? Today Jackson was in his room standing by his chair watching Baby Einstein with a big smile on his face, so I scooted out of the room for a minute to change a load of laundry. When I returned, he was standing there naked....he had pooped in his diaper and then proceeded to take his diaper off!!! So Gross!!! I firmly told him "NO" and that we do not take off our diaper, to which I received a blank stare which is the norm when I try any sort of discipline. I put on another diaper and he started to take this one off as well. I guess gone are the days of letting him roam around in just a diaper and a shirt. I told my dad about it and he said "Well maybe it is time to start potty training"....what a dad thing to say :)

Today was the second time during the past week that Jackson has fallen asleep in his highchair. The first time he was done eating, but today it was mid-meal. I guess this is what happens when you wake up at 6:00 in the morning little guy!

This is my new favorite shirt that I got Jackson at Christmas in Cowtown a few weeks ago. The booth was www.dixiebellegifts.com and they had adorable shirts, onesies and blankets that you can customize with a name and so many adorable images to choose from. I chose the bulldog for obvious reasons and it turned out so cute! I just got it in the mail today and I love it...I can't wait for little man to wear it! It was only $20.00 and that includes shipping...I thought that was a great price for a customized shirt :)

Garrett & I took Jackson to the pumpkin patch this evening since it was such a nice day outside. We went to the one near our house off of Green Oaks and it was the perfect size for small children and was not crowded at all. They had tons of pumpkins and many cute wooden signs, scarecrows and haystacks which always makes for very cute pictures. However, J was completely uninterested and carried around this one tiny pumpkin the entire time. The ground was uneven making it difficult for this beginner walker to be very mobile. He just sort of poked and prodded at random pumpkins and squash. Yesterday at Northpark he was in complete amazement of all the pumpkin displays so I really thought we would get more of a reaction from him at the patch. Oh well....maybe next year it will be more exciting for him.

My precious pumpkin turned 14 months old last week, so I am a tad bit late on this post. I took some photos outside today because the weather was so gorgeous and I wanted Jackson and myself to enjoy it! I took this picture with our fake, light-up pumpkin on the front porch. Normally we play in the back yard, but due to the excessive amount of dog poo and hornet nests, I decided that probably was not the best idea today. Let's see....these days, Jackson is just a ball of energy running around and is constantly trying new things and making us crack up laughing. He has formed his own language in which he speaks....ta-ka is his favorite thing to say and he sounds like a bird. He loves to run in circles around the couch while screaming...we think he is trying to get Bella to chase him. He is obsessed with balls and stickers. He is down to one bottle at night, but I am sure it will be a while before we give that one up. He is loving his music class on Tuesdays at TCU, especially when they break out the instruments for the babies to play. Not too many words to report yet, but I am hoping within the next month or two he will start to expand his vocabulary. He still loves books, and many days I will catch him quietly flipping through the pages of his books, staring at them intently as though he is actually reading. He recognizes many toys and loves to hand things to mommy and feed me cheerios. My favorite thing he does now is when he grabs my neck with both hands and presses his face up to mine to give me nose kisses...doesn't get any better than that!

Jackson got ahold of the butterscotch pie a couple of weeks ago....enough said.

Amy and Cru kindly invited Jackson and I to join them at Tumble Time today at the Mansfield Activities Center. It was so nice and I am hoping to make it a weekly outing...it definitely gave us something new and exciting to do with our friends! Jackson was a tad overwhelmed by all of the screaming toddlers running around...I think he was one of the youngest babies there. But, he warmed up and kind of ran around in circles after all of the balls while screaming with a smile on his face. They had lots of brightly colored mats, blocks, balls, and shapes for the little ones to play with and climb on. I also became the target of many flying objects...one little boy kept pelting me in the head with balls and another sent a flying disc at me. Where were their mothers???? We had a great time and took the boys to eat lunch afterwards. Thanks so much Amy for the invite! Jackson and I are looking forward to next week! Also, starting tomorrow, I am going to begin taking Jackson to story time at the library. He absolutely loves books, being read to, etc. so I think he will really enjoy it!

I am leaving on Thursday for a mother/daughter trip to NYC with my mom. I am so excited for four days of shopping, shows and amazing food and I am so thankful to my mother for taking me on such a fabulous vacation. However, the anxiety/nervousness/sadness about leaving my sweet baby is starting to kick in. Jackson is staying with Garrett's mom who has so graciously agreed to take off of work and watch him for me. Also, when Garrett is not at work and over the weekend he will be with them as well. I know he is in good hands, but I am just so freaking anal about everything....yes, I have prepared another instruction page. This one is not as detailed as the last time for our Austin trip back in June, but still I had to do it just for peace of mind. I am nervous just because now that Jackson is walking he seems to be more accident prone: tripping over things because he can't get there fast enough or bumping his head on furniture....you know the drill. And I am sad because I have obviously not been away from him for this long and I know I will miss him terribly. However, I am going to try to relax, enjoy my time with my mother in my favorite city in the world and try to call only two times a day....not five!

Yesterday afternoon, Jackson and I cuddled up in bed to take an afternoon nap. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes and my sweet little boy had fallen asleep holding my hand so tight. He looked so peaceful and it was a moment that melted my heart. All of the long nights, screaming fits and crabby days are so worth it for a moment like this :)

We had really nice relaxing weekend with some down time, lake time and socializing with friends. But the big news in the Mulkey household is......Jackson is walking!!!! For the past 2 weeks he has been taking 5 steps here, 8 steps there, but now he is a full on walker! It is so cute and I will post some video on here tomorrow. I tried to capture a picture below of little J on the move...he is so proud of his accomplishment! What a big boy we have now! Garrett was off on Friday so it was nice to have him home for 3 days. We spent the weekend cleaning, running errands, playing with the little man and we set up his new cardboard house that Gam bought him...it is very cute to watch him play in it. On Saturday night we celebrate the 30th birthday of our good friend Justin and it was really great to visit with our group of friends. Happy Birthday Justin! You are a great friend and we hope you had a wonderful weekend with family and friends! We spent today at the lake and the weather was beautiful. Jackson played in his pool and of course showed off his new walking skills to everyone. It was nice to arrive home this evening to a clean house and a couple of things to look forward to this next week. Time to go to sleep now....goodnight :)

Jackson turned 13 months old this past weekend and he is getting to be so much more fun but a complete handful! He is VERY active and so, so close to walking that I would suspect it will be any day now! He has 4 teeth on top now and four on bottom. He has gone down to 2 bottles a day (one when he wakes up and one before bed) and I am trying to get him to drink milk out of his cup during the daytime. He drinks water fine but is not a big fan of milk in the cup...and I still have to warm it for him...so stinkin spoiled!!! His new trick is spinning in circles on the tile floor and Garrett and I are constantly cracking up at his facial expressions and his funny little personality. Here is a picture of him playing with his Fridge Farm that I just bought him. He loves it and it keeps him occupied while I am doing things in the kitchen.

Last weekend we went to Garrett's parents lake house in Granbury. Lately, the lake has been so low that you can stand in the water near the dock which is on only about 2-3 feet deep and there is sand so it makes a little beach area. Jackson loved playing in the water so much! Our lake neighbors are Debbie & Greg and they are awesome! Greg has been determined this entire summer to get Jackson on the tube or the jet ski....NOT GOING TO HAPPEN GREG!! So I appeased him and let him push Jackson around on the boogie board in the shallow water and of course Jackson had a blast! I love the second picture where he has his little feet crossed. He looks just like a true surfer baby!