Party at the McRae's

On Thursday, St. Patrick's Day, Jackson and I hosted our first play date.  This brought on more pressure than I expected, but thankfully it went off without a hitch!

Everyone was due to arrive around 12:15 so I spent the morning making sure everything was in its place, tending to Jackson, and preparing the food.  As I rearranged the living room to optimise playing space, I thought our house wouldn't be big enough for four babies and their moms.  Since it was too late to build-on an ever popular English conservatory, I had to let any guilt I felt for the size of our house fade away.  Luckily, everyone fit and there was even space left over for a diaper changing area and parking space for three strollers!

We had Ralph, Penelope a.k.a. Penny, and Thomas over to our house with their moms for an afternoon of food, fun, and the fantastic Mary Poppins.  Jackson was over the moon, squealing with delight as he was telling me about all of the fun he had when all of his friends returned home.  He was somewhat quiet while they were here, but he is often quiet around other people and then really lets loose when he's home alone with his parents.

All of the babies were very well-behaved.  This may sound like something that is left to chance, but babies learn a lot more from their parents than some people may believe.  I'm glad that Jackson has such nice pals and that I have found such caring, supportive friends--and great parents--here in Southport.

Getting ready for his pals to come over and overly excited at the living room's transformation into a huge playroom

Food and desserts for our guests

Ralph playing in the Little Tikes house and loving it!

Thomas taking a break from the ball pit and listening to some Chim Chim Cher-ee

Multi-tasking:  practising tummy time and reading

Developmental updates:  Jackson can now roll his arms one over the other.  Jackson's whole fist fits into his mouth now and he likes to rub his fist against his teething gums.  (No sign of teeth, yet.)  He started wearing some of his 9-12 months clothes this week and he can't fit into anything labelled smaller than 6-9 months even though he is only five-and-a-half months old.  As far as grabbing and touching skills go, Jackson now pulls his own socks off and he is beginning to grab things off of shelves and resting places that are at floor level and will chew on them if he can fit them into his mouth.  He selects which toys to play with and will bend with all of his might to reach for something that is out of his grasp.  Jackson likes to listen to all the different sounds associated with cooking and kitchen activities, oftentimes sitting in his highchair in the middle of the kitchen and viewing everything around him like a t.v. show.  He's started touching base with me when he's playing or doing something new.  He will reach for me to hold him, rest his head against my shoulder for a few seconds, and then either want to return to playing or want to continue to be held.

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