Happy New Year!

Jackson had a great first Christmas and it was definitely more fun for Lee and I with a baby around with whom we could share all of our Christmas spirit!  He received so many clothes, bibs, books, toys, and teething rings (which I need to stop referring to as "chew toys").  We are very thankful for all of the toys under the tree and although Jackson may not fully realise how much he is loved and how generous people were to him, he will have so much fun with his new things and he will learn new skills which will inevitably help him in the future.  The different sizes of clothes are also helpful because even though Jackson is nearly three months old, he is wearing clothes labelled to fit babies up to nine months!  He is a very tall little baby.

This week, Jackson unofficially weighs 16 pounds and is unofficially 2 feet 1 inch tall.  I say this because although the health centre was supposed to be open on Tuesday from 1:30 to 3 P.M. for baby weighing, the facility's parking lot was padlocked shut and no cars were in sight--except for ours and two others, which belonged to parents who were also there for a baby weigh-in.  This was the only time during this New Year week that the health centre was supposed to be open, but I wasn't going to let that get me down.  When we got home, we used an unorthodox method of weighing Jackson (a handheld luggage scale combined with a baby carrier).  It seemed to work just fine for this particular situation.

Yesterday, Lee and I ventured out at different times to get our hair cut and when we came home, Jackson whimpered a little bit and refused to look us in the eye for a few hours.  As far as he's concerned, he has new parents, but he's learning to like us again.

I am very excited to see what the new year brings for our little family.  2016 will bring lots of firsts:  Jackson will be eating solid foods, crawling, sitting, teething, talking, meeting the Carpenter family, going to the beach, and starting nursery school.  I am going to get my UK driving licence by the time I go back to work.  Lee doesn't have any official plans for 2016, but he always manages to find a project to work towards that is new and exciting.  He did mention that he wants to go on road trips and explore more of England that he hasn't discovered yet, so that will be fun for all of us!

We hope you all have a very Happy New Year!

Singing Jingle Bells and playing with musical instruments

Holding his favourite stuffed animal

Mastering "Tummy Time"

Falling asleep by the fire on Christmas Eve

"Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!"

Pulling up into a sitting position...

...and loving it!

Where's Jackson?

Someone is very pleased with his presents!

Retiring after a long day of opening presents and visiting with family

Developmental updates:  moves eyes smoothly when following an object, can move into a standing position while holding onto my fingers from a laying-down or sitting position, uses both feet at the same time to jump in his jumperoo but mostly alternates his feet (the jumperoo had to be stretched up to level 2 to accommodate for his height this week), puts everything in his mouth, shakes a rattle once or twice, and rubs his soft toys along his head and cheeks.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.