Riding in Mema and Grandpa's New Van

With love,
Anna

Trip to the Pediatrician

Today, we went to the pediatrician for Jackson's 15 month checkup! He weighs 21 pounds 1 ounce and is 28.5 inches long! He's around the 5th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight! Parker also went today and he weights 9 pounds 10 ounces! Woah! The doctor said they look great and developmentally are right where they need to be!



Jackson is a great big brother! He always wants to be around Parker. He doesn't quite understand that he needs to be gentle (in the picture he's trying to climb into the swing with Parker) but Parker doesn't seem to mind. In fact, I think he enjoys watching Jackson most of all!


With love,
Anna

Smiles and Rock Climbing!

The first time I captured Parker smiling!



Jackson rock climbing at the Akron zoo!



With love,
Anna

Greek Night!

Mema joined us for yummy Greek food night!



Jackson test driving Mema and Grandpa's new van!



Time for the taste test!



With love,
Anna

Happy 15th Month Birthday, Jackson!

Happy 15th Month Birthday, Jackson!



Parker hanging out with his Aunt Jaclyn!



With love,
Anna

Parker's Cute Faces and Jackson's Boo Boo

Parker is beginning to be awake much more of the day. He always has the cutest faces!






Jackson learned today that it isn't smart to continue to harass Amie Sue after she has let him know that she doesn't want to play. (Note the band aid)



With love,
Anna

Hello Standing Bye Bye Bottle

Jackson standing by himself!



Jackson's Last Bottle. We've already weaned him off his daytime bottles, but he has been getting one 8oz bottle of milk at night. Tomorrow, we are not going to give him that nighttime bottle. Yikes! I honestly think Ryan is a little more upset about the weaning process than Jackson which is understandable. He's worried Jackson won't drink enough fluids...but I'm convinced it's the right time! Jackson is growing up so quickly!



Parker laughed for the first time today. He's been smiling off and on for a little bit now, but I haven't caught it on camera yet. He usually smiles and laughs only when he's cuddled up in my arms. Hopefully in the next few days I'll be able to capture it! :)

With love,
Anna

My Little Artist

Jackson scribbling on the fridge:



Jackson's First Piece of Art:



With love,
Anna

Play Date!

Today, Jackson, Parker,and I met our friends Becky and Theo at the park for a play date! It was a blast!

Jackson and Theo on the slide.



Jackson and Theo on the swings.



Parker sleeping while his brother plays.



With love,
Anna

A Fun Monday at the Pool

This morning, Jackson, Parker, Ryan, and I went to the pool at the YMCA. Parker and I watched while Ryan and Jackson swam. It was amazing to see Jackson trying to swim! It's incredible the progress he made in 8 weeks of swim lessons!



In other news, Parker is feeling better. Operation sippy cup is very successful; Jackson only had 1 bottle today! He even drank a couple of ounces from his sippy cup while we were at the grocery store!

With love,
Anna

Sippy Cup Success!

Parker is ready to eat so this will have to be quick:

Today we spent most of the day either at church or cleaning the house. We rearranged part of our living room and it looks awesome!

We finally found a sippy cup that works for Jackson... one with a straw! My mom suggested giving Jackson a little water at dinner last night from my glass with a straw and he did it so we went straw sippy cup shopping today. We bought Jackson one and he successfully used it throughout the afternoon and at dinner! There is hope for us yet! Operation sippy cup is back in business! Jackson also went to sleep tonight with NO CRYING!! :)

Parker is running a bit of a temp so we're watching it. He isn't acting sick though so I'm hopeful it's a fluke.

Here is a super cute picture of Jackson and his teeth; he has two already through the gum and a third one coming any day:



With love,
Anna

Grammy and Poppy Visit Ohio!

Today, Grammy and Poppy visited all of us in Ohio. It was an amazing day! We spent the morning hanging out at our house. Grammy and Poppy brought the boys a new toy box, chest of drawers, and finger puppets! Ryan put the toy box together today and it looks amazing! Then, we went to the Riverfront for lunch (Yum Yum!), Don Drumm to look around (a cool art studio), and then we went to the Tallmadge Circle Fair around dinnertime with our friends Kyle, Becky, and Theo. After that, we went out to eat Mexican for Poppy's birthday, and spent the rest of the night chilling out at our house. After that Poppy and Grammy left. It was really hard for me to watch them leave. I really miss my family, especially my parents and sisters. I know we made the right decision moving here so I could go to grad school, but not a day goes by that I don't wish I could see my family more often and let them see the boys more often. Someday, I know we'll be closer together again, and I'm really looking forward to that day.



Happy Birthday Poppy!

With love,
Anna

A Day to Celebrate

A year ago today, Jackson was discharged from the NICU. He weighed 6 pounds exactly and was almost three months old.



Today, he crawls, pulls to standing, cruises, walks holding onto toys, has two teeth, eats almost anything, and is one of the most amazing things in my life. He, his brother, his furry brothers and sisters, and his daddy are my world.



With love,
Anna

Parker and His Big Brother

Jackson loves to look at Parker when Parker is in his sleeper. In fact, today Jackson kept pulling himself up to standing on Parker's sleeper, looking in at him, and turning Parker's mobile. Parker loved watching Jackson do it, and he loved watching the owls go around and around. Already, Parker is showing that he loves watching his big brother, and Jackson is showing what a good big brother he is (except when he crawls over to Parker and screams in his face...Jackson's newest trick). :)

With love,
Anna

Silver Linings

Today was a bit rough: Jackson didn't want to take his naps, may be getting sick (or just bad allergies), and wanted to whine and cry all day. Parker whined and cried all day because of his tummy (the doctor says he has colic). In the midst of the chaos, however, two amazing things happened: Jackson gave me a kiss goodnight before bed (his first time ever showing overt affection) and Jackson attempted to eat with a spoon by himself for the first time!



With love,
Anna

Our Family in Pictures

So, for the last few days I've been waiting for Ryan to teach me how to upload pictures to the computer from my camera to start my new "Picture a Day" project where I take a pictures every day to show what our family is doing and how it is changing. Here are the last few days... enjoy!



Our Family at the Cleveland Zoo. We went to the zoo on Saturday with some friends and their little ones.



We tried to begin Operation Sippy Cup this past Sunday (weaning Jackson from the bottle to a sippy cup). We discovered that Ryan and I weren't ready (we didn't modify all of the sippy cups correctly to accommodate Jackson's thickened milk) so we are holding off until Friday.



Monday night, Ryan held Parker while getting some work done. It was great because I got to get ready for bed before Parker was ready to eat again.



Today, we took Parker to the pediatrician for his 1-month checkup. He is looking great, and he weighs 7 pounds 14 ounces!! He's between the 5th and 10th percentile for his actual age!! That's a huge accomplishment!! :)

With love,
Anna