Ohio Family

Jackson had quite the surprise in store on Friday morning:  he got to meet his Grandma and Aunt (from Ohio) for the first time!  Although we didn't know if he understood what was happening, he must have felt the excitement in the air because the entire journey to Manchester Airport, he didn't doze off for a second!  And while we were waiting at the arrivals gate, he was looking anxiously at the people pouring through the door.

When we finally got to see my family, they were so excited to hold Jackson and see him in person.  We were all crying and hugging and it felt like Jackson's actual birthday again because he was being seen for the first time, through new eyes, and his mere presence was making us all weepy.

Sometimes, when Jackson meets new people or is held by someone new, he gets a little wobbly and wants to go back to Lee or I to be held and comforted.  But there must be a connection with my mom and sister because he didn't (and hasn't) done that once since meeting them in the airport.  He is loving soaking up their hugs and kisses--and attention!

It is also really nice to have extra hands around to help with Jackson's daily routine.  (Now I know how Kate must feel!)  My family is really eager to help feed, change, and dress him so the days feel much easier already.  Luckily, they get to stay for two weeks and it has only been two days.  At the end of their visit, I might need a refresher in motherhood.

Last time my family visited, we travelled all over England--Liverpool, Bath, London, York, and Windermere--in one week!  It was a very fast-paced trip and we did see nearly all of the hotspots in England, but the focus this time around has definitely shifted and every day, we are going to try to do a new activity with Jackson and stay around Southport.

So far during this visit, we have had a meal at The Hungry Monk, looked at antique shops, visited a local bookstore, and played in the park by the lake in town.  Jackson is loving every minute of being doted on by his 'new' family and we are really enjoying the extra company at home.  Hopefully the next two weeks go really slowly because we're trying to fit a year of Jackson and Carpenter Family time into 16 days.

Happy 9 months, Jackson!

Wearing his Ashland, Ohio t-shirt to Rhyme Time

Swinging in the park and showing Grandma and Aunt Paige around Southport

Eating waffles with Grandma

We were ready to go out on the town, but Jackson found a comfy spot to rest

Developmental updates:  Jackson turned nine-months-old on Monday and he started wearing a few of his 18-24 month outfits.  His arms seem to be growing longer by the second because he is grabbing items from the check-out counters when I think his stroller is far away from any dangling goods.  He almost managed to steal a pack of Halls throat lozenges and a gift bag.  As Lee and I were getting the house ready for my family's arrival, we noticed how especially patient and independent Jackson can be.  Most of the time, we watched Jackson in shifts, but there were some jobs that needed two people and Jackson was very helpful through his quiet playtime and happy demeanour.  He tried Cheerios, flavoured breadsticks, and vanilla baby biscuits (cookies) this week and enjoyed all of them.  When Jackson met my family at the airport, he made a new noise we've never heard.  It was a sound of pure excitement and he was pushing his fists down and smiling really wide, looking from person-to-person.  It makes me really happy to see him so elated to be with his Ohio family.

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

Curious Jackson

Jackson is still working toward crawling, but he is finding many other ways to move around and be mischievous.

His latest hobby is banging objects together and listening to sounds.  The other day, he took an empty water bottle and whacked it against as many different things he could reach and he seemed to be listening to the different tones being produced.

Jackson is also pushing doors open and closed.  He likes to peek around doors, but sometimes he just adjusts them for fun.  Other household items that have caught his attention lately are the vacuum hose, the metal fan, and cables.  As you can guess, Jackson keeps us on our toes more than ever.  Also, it is harder than ever to get jobs done around the house because our little detective doesn't stay in one spot anymore when he's playing on the floor.

Today at the Ainsdale Show, Jackson sweetly leaned towards a lady as if to say 'hello,' but we quickly realised he was leaning in to snatch her chocolate brownie!  Luckily, his plan was derailed in time, but it was a close call.  During the dog show, Jackson also tried to grab a girl's ruffly sleeves.  He was successful at his attempt to rest his hand on a boy's shoulder, but the boy didn't seem to notice.  It's amazing how fast babies can move and also the strength of their grip is much stronger than I predicted.

I hope that Jackson always keeps his curious personality.  Admittedly, it is hard to keep up with him when he's in investigative mode, but I am really proud that he's willing to take risks in his environment and his love of life and everything it has to offer is inspiring to me.  I love to see his fearlessness when he's playing, yet I also love when he looks at me for reassurance when he does encounter something that makes him a little leery.

Cool Dude

Exploring movements and ending up in the splits!

Playing in the ball pit and finding hidden treasures that Mommy put at the bottom

Figuring out his new toys and listening to all of the sounds they make

Watching a puppet show at the Ainsdale Show (annual fair) with Daddy while Mommy ran a friendship bracelet stall during lunchtime.  He loved watching the puppets and only cried when the kids cheered really loudly at the beginning to say, "Yeah!" showing they were ready for the show to start.

Getting ready to watch the dog show

Our favourite dog, a Sheltie named Wilma, was featured again this year

Developmental updates:  Jackson says, "Mama Mama Mama," throughout the day, but I'm not sure that he associates this sound with me.  He went through a phase of saying, "Dada Dada Dada," but now he's switched to a new default.  When we read books, he likes to pick out a certain one to read from the pile on his own.  His current favourites are Dinosaur Roar! and Peter Rabbit Easter Surprise.  When he was in his garden centre this week, he tried to pull himself up but couldn't quite figure out how to position his legs.  He did, however, manage to squirm half-way out of the tunnel in his garden centre and I helped him exit completely for the last step.  The teething process is taking its toll on Jackson and it's heartbreaking to see him in pain.  Aside from Dentinox teething gel and Calpol, we've started giving him Ashton and Parsons teething powder which seems to calm him down quite quickly.  On Thursday, I also ordered an amber bracelet for Jackson so we will see if that will help quell some of the pain.  He can drink from a bottle on his own now.  It took him a while to figure out the right technique, but this week, he got it!

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

EU Referendum

When I turned on the news Friday morning, I was genuinely shocked and found myself staring at the words "leave wins" with my mouth gaping open.  I knew there was a rumbling under the surface for people who wanted England to try it on their own--again--but, I thought the majority would be to keep things the same and stay in the European Union.

Having had a couple of days to process the future (after initially being really nervous), I think the best thing to do is to keep calm and carry on.

Some people are referring to yesterday as the U.K.'s Independence Day--to which Lee hopes that we will get a new holiday and yet another day off from work every year.  If that is how half the country feels (the vote was 52% to 48%), then I suppose they can be happy that becoming independent from the EU is as simple and peaceful as a vote.  The United States' Independence Day was hard-fought for and feels like it holds much more meaning because of all the people who died to have their own sovereign nation.  From what I observed, the voting process to break away from the EU merely required a five-minute walk to a polling station and an "X" in a box written in pencil on a half-sheet of paper.  So, although England became independent from the EU, I'm not sure it warrants a holiday because of the ease of the process in which it was 'won.'

The statistics of who voted to leave based on age groups was quite surprising to me:

Age
18-24     27%
25-34     38%
35-44     48%
45-54     56%
55-64     57%
65+        60%

The U.K. joined the EU 43 years ago.  So, it is interesting to me that the people who have never lived in England while it was independent voted to remain--it's all they've ever known.  Maybe the older generations can see the bigger picture.  They've seen England before joining the EU and have given it a chance for about four decades.  It's very small-minded to assume that all of these voters are 'racists' as many people have been labelling them.  The older 'leave voters' said in interviews that they want England to be able to make its own laws again and their phrase 'we got our country back' was uttered numerous times on t.v. yesterday.  Maybe they are seeing changes to this country that are upsetting to them and this vote was their only way to reverse the chipping away at their traditions they have observed over the past 43 years.

Only time will tell if England is better off out of the EU, but I am really impressed with the way the public and politicians have behaved since the votes were counted.  David Cameron's resignation speech didn't have an undertone of judgment for the people who voted to leave--although he was undeniably for the other side.  He showed a lot of respect for the voters and his rhetoric was what one should expect of a leader these days.  (Obama, take note.)  Instead of slyly calling his opposition less-than-smart--which is all I hear from the Democratic Party in the U.S.--the Prime Minister spoke with class and accepted the results.  There were no added looks of disappointment or sighs of hopelessness or attempts at jokes to make fun of the winning side.  His speech was exactly what should be expected of a world leader.

I'm not sure if Cameron invited Obama to speak a few months before these votes were cast, or if he came on his own volition, but the ultimatums he issued if England were to vote to leave were incredibly arrogant and it looked like he didn't think the British public was smart enough to weigh the pros and cons of the election for their own country.  I realise that the U.K. not being an EU member will affect countries outside of Europe, but that press conference Cameron and Obama held was way out of line, in my opinion.  If the roles were reversed, then I'm sure Cameron's opinion would not be welcomed during this year's U.S. elections--and I know whomever becomes the President affects countries all over the world.

Voting to remain would have given the U.K. the opportunity to carry on just as we were--and 48% of voters would have been happy to do that.  It would have made us feel more secure for our families and financially.  But, that's not the case and we all have to deal with it.

Over the next two years, we will find out what it is like to leave the EU--seeing as England is the first to ever vote to leave.  There is a huge group of people here who feel like taking the risk to try things on our own is the best idea at this point in time.  And being an immigrant myself, in order to remain here after my first two years, I had to take an English history test that covered everything from the Stone Age to modern-day politics and the general running of the country.  It was hard.  But, it taught me that Britain is Great.  This country has made it through some really awful times and found ways to continuously remain a force in the world.  The people here come from really tough stuff--and so do its immigrants!  I am sure that no matter how dire the news reports make this situation out to be, that England will stay strong and make it through whatever comes its way.

Developmental updates:  Jackson can stand while holding onto a table.  He doesn't pull himself up to do this, but if he's put in that position, he can stand for a few seconds.  When we're looking at books together, he seems to understand when I'm done reading a page because he will laugh or make a 'hmm' sound.  This week, the lift-the-flap books and those with different textures on the pages seemed to 'click' with Jackson because he knows what to do.  We've noticed that Jackson isn't as keen to meet new people as he used to be.  He used to smile almost immediately, but now he has a look that combines concerned eyebrows and an unblinking stare.  This week he tried peanut butter and waffles for the first time and loved them!  I didn't serve them together, but now that I mention it, maybe that will be on next week's menu.  He did, however, eat peanut butter with bananas--maybe we'll have the next Elvis on our hands!  Not only because his love of the banana and peanut butter combo, but also because he has started 'singing' around the house and out on walks.  Jackson has become very busy and activities that once held his attention for long lengths of time are either of no interest to him or he decides that he wants to move on to something else quicker than he used to.  Now when we leave the room, he will lean and peek around corners or up the stairs to find us.  Sometimes we find him peeking through gaps in his stroller.  He's a pretty stealthy baby spy.

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