It's a new year

Happy New Year!

We just started watching the Rose Bowl parade and the youngster is mesmerized. There is some dancing going on this top hat float. So Jackson did a little twirl to mimic some of the dancers then sat down and grabbed his hammer. I guess he felt like he needed to balance his tough and tender activities. We're hoping to see a handful of our friends today and watch a bit of football. We'll probably catch some of the Rose Bowl and then our local U of Cincinnati is in the Orange Bowl.

Some year end highlights

I want to let you know that if we visit anytime soon and you are wondering what the boy would eat for breakfast, let me clue you in. He loves pancakes. Let me repeat, he LOVES pancakes. Sitting down for breakfast this morning he polished off three pancakes before either of us got one bite in. He stopped at four because we wouldn't give him anymore and syrup is wholly unnecessary.

If you remember the recent vocab primer we provided, the wee one likes to call Katie "Bob." So Katie is upstairs and he was trying to call her from the flop (family) room. Leaning on the ottoman that blocks his exit and straining to get it outl, he said "mmmmmmmmmmom-mom." So cute. So I quick snatched him up and we bounded to the top of the stairs. Presenting Mom to him I asked him who this was. He said right to her face, "Mom-Mom." Her face lit up like the Rockefeller Christmas tree. No offense to anyone that gave Katie a Christmas present but this far and away made her Christmas. Nice one Jackson, you've set the bar really high for yourself. He'll still toss in the occasional "Bob," but "Mom-Mom" is becoming the norm.

Squeamish warning: skip to the next paragraph if you are a sympathetic puker.

The little sweetness puked for the first time. Twice actually. But not from any flu bug. He's not the greatest chewer, granted he only has a handful of teeth and most are in the front, though new molars are working their way in. We were eating at the table and he was trying to cough up some food and must have gagged himself. It came right out, down the bib on to the tray. It was the cleanest most organized puke I've ever seen. And he was a serious champ. No crying. No flailing. I think he was as surprised as we were. That is NOT what we were expecting.

Speaking of cleanup, when we change him downstairs on the floor he'll get the changing pad out of the diaper bag and crawl on it. He just started doing it on his own. And he likes to read while we're changing the diaper. I guess he's been watching Dad take care of his own paperwork in the oval office.



We make somewhat frequent stops at Lowe's or Hope Depot because we need stuff and because I like dreaming about all the tools and fixer projects. We'll typically carry Jackson from the car to the cart. But these days he's starting to wear real shoes. So on our most recent trip we put him down, all held hands, and let him walk. We were in no hurry, which is good when you have a 14 month old meandering to the front of Lowe's. It was pretty darn cool.

The last thing I'll mention is his identification skills. He's really learning what things are, even basic colors. He is very interested in what the name of things are and he'll repeatedly ask his way around the room by pointing. Or we'll name something and he'll point it out. He's starting to help us throw things in the trash. We're just going to have to make sure he only throws trash away.

A few quick hits. Jackson is really starting to enjoy chasing. And he's perfectly happy being the chaser or chasee. And we only lost one ornament this year, smashed to smithereens due to the munchkins shenanigans. He did a great job respecting the Christmas tree.

I'm sure I could keep going but it's lunchtime. Here we go 2009.