Eleven Months

Look at those beautiful blue eyes and that toothy smile (hidden behind his beloved binky, of course)! How can you not love it? It's so hard for me to believe that my little boy is approaching his FIRST birthday!! Wow! Today marks Jaxson's 11 month "birthday". It's crazy to me to think it's been almost a year to the day that he was brought into this world. My, how fast it's flown... He has been such a joy in our family. Even though I complain about the lack of sleep or that he wants me to hold him all the time, I feel so lucky to be his "mama". I love the time that we snuggle with each other, and I truly do cherish it knowing that someday he's going to be "too big" or it will be "uncool" to be a Mommy's Boy (and I'm secretly hoping that he'll be one of those boys who isn't afraid to give his mom some sugar in front of his teenage guy friends...). I also love seeing him with his big brother...those two are already connected on a level that I cannot even begin to understand. It's like they can read each other's minds just by looking at each other.

The brotherly love I see emanating from those two astounds me and fills my heart with such a bright and beaming happiness. They are brothers. They are best friends. And they make each other laugh like no one's business...by doing absolutely nothing. Oh, and how much I love their laughter. Especially Jaxson's. I don't even know how to describe it, but it's such a deep laughter from his gut, but he's got that high pitched baby voice still. He's the cutest little "baby giggler". Jayden's laugh was much different: he always had a deeper and raspier voice even as a baby. Jaxson's is just loud, boisterous, and contagious.

In addition to his big brother, my wonderful second-born has made my world a happier and brighter place. Even though we hadn't planned on having him so soon, I'm so glad that God knew better than I did and brought him to my life. God's plan is WAY better than my own. I cannot imagine my life without my little "Tinky Linky". He's just precious beyond words.

And how much he's grown!! He is so smart just like his big brother! Here are some of the things going on in the world of Jaxson lately:

• He's cutting his first two "one year molars". That will make for a grand total of 10 teeth once they come in!! Oh, and the more to bite you with (and bite he will!)...


• Besides his first word of "mama", he surprised us just yesterday with his second "official" word, which we even got on camera!! What is that word?? Hot. Kind of an odd second word, but I was pulling pizza out of the oven last night and I said, "Watch out! It's hot!". Then Jaxson looks at me and goes, "awt!". :) So sweet!


• He's so close to walking, but he's still too hesitant. He stands perfectly well on his own and has good balance, but he's just a scaredy cat to actually take those steps. We're watching for those steps like hawks... :)


• He can climb (yes, CLIMB) up onto his big brother's bed all by himself! Getting down is another thing entirely, but he loves to get up on the bed and wrestle with his brother or play with his cars and trains.


• He's now on cow's milk. We switched him over to whole milk this week in hopes it will help him to gain weight as he's still on the small side. I'm not even sure he's reached 20 pounds yet. Since he has no dairy allergies so far, it doesn't seem to be a problem. With Jayden we waited up until his first birthday, but Jaxson's doing excellent. And I can only imagine that whole milk tastes better than formula...


• He loves baths and playing basketball with his brother. They may have different personalities, but those two love all the same things. Definitely brothers...
  
• Jaxson had his first night of sleeping through the night on February 28th!!! Too bad it only lasted 3 nights in a row, but it's progress... I'll take anything I can get!

And last, but not least: Jaxson's 11 month stats!

Weight: 19 lbs. 8 oz. (10-25%)

Height: 29.75 in. (50-75%)

Head circumference: 17.5 in. (25-50%)

Jax is going to be built just like his dad I think: tall and skinny, but with a small head apparently (Daddy has a bigger head and so does Jayden). His head hasn't grown in like 5 months! I'm sure that's all normal but don't tell Daddy... he'll just worry that it's not growing because of the CT scan he had back on Halloween!

Happy 11 months, Jaxson! One more to ONE! :)

Mommy loves you!

Oh, and on a side note completely unrelated... we got our $5800 tax return today!! Nothing like coming to work on a beautiful sunny day with a huge check in your bank account and paying off over $3500 worth of bills! Our TV is paid off, as are ALL of our medical bills, and one of my student loans! By next year we will be able to pay off both of our credit cards and my remaining student loan...wahoo! Today is a GREAT day!! Happy Friday!