Traveling with a 10.5 Month Old

Flying to Carefree, Arizona

We flew with Jackson to Arizona for the second time. The first time he was 4 months old. This time he was 10.5 months old.

Our family of three in Arizona

 

I can’t tell you how nice it is having a brother who travels all the time, who is willing to share his frequent flying perks with us (i.e. Diamond status). We again were able to use the Delta club so Jackson kept busy as we waited to board and we enjoyed free snacks and drinks and comfortable chairs. We were also able to take up an entire row on the airplane and bring Jackson's car seat with us. *cartwheel*

A world of difference. Jackson nursed and he was out the entire flight. Yep, it was really that easy.

I started to feel funny, but I waved it off as nothing…

We started to descend and I nursed him again. And then Jackson was up, which was good because he was able to greet Grandpa Gary and Uncle Smike at the gate.

Loved being outside all day and checking out everything

 

I still felt icky when we arrived at my parent’s place but thought maybe it was the nerves wearing off. Again, I got myself so worked up before we left – I was so scared we’d have a screaming baby.

When I woke that morning, I had the full on flu. Chills, fever, aching skin, you name it. GROSS. The sun was out, but I knew the next days were going to be cold and raining…maybe even snow!!! I tried so hard to get out of bed, but my body kept forcing me back to sleep. The next two days were like this. Then my mom went down. Then my grandma. Then my uncle. Then my dad. Then my brother. Somehow Jackson and Karl missed the evil bug. The next two days were COLD and rainy. It was the same temperature in Arizona as it was in Minnesota. Go figure.

It finally got nice enough to go for walks!!! SO NICE!

 

Jackson was actually napping OK this time around. I would have to force longer naps on him every now and again by staying in the room because I knew he was tired. He’d get up once or twice during the night and changing his diaper was a bear. My parents couldn’t believe it took three people to change him. He’s OK at home, but anywhere else… Dear God. What a challenge.

Dad dressed me:)

 

This was also our first time giving Jackson baby food from packets and glass jars. And let me tell you…his poop was so much different. WHOA. We haven’t experienced a blowout yet, and we got close with the different textures coming out of him… He also didn’t eat a whole lot in Arizona because so much was going on at all times.

Jackson LOVES LOVES puppies. He even says..."Pup, Pup"

 

Karl and I were able to go on walks!!! Even in the frozen tundra of a desert. That was my ONE expectation for us. I wanted to be able to go on a few walks. That’s about as simple as I need to make my expectations when traveling. AND…Karl and I were also able to go out for a lunch. Sure my brother came, but it was the fact that we were getting out of the house. My stomach still wasn’t right, but I was glad we made it out.

Jackson loves his Uncle Smike.

Had a blast with Grandma!!

 

The flight back was a bit challenging. We were told they were full and we couldn’t move the guy sitting between us. However, @DeltaAssit (thank GOD for Twitter) got things moving and at the VERY last minute, we were able to move the guy in the middle and steal the whole row again and take on our car seat!!!! Jackson wasn’t as eager to go down this time around. We were now facing Daylight Savings Time (a two hour difference) and flying during supper time. So…a few screams and he was finally down.

Love playing with this lil guy

 

We arrived in Minnesota exhausted and stressed to the max and decided we won’t be traveling for a little while. BUT the more we do it, the better it becomes. I will say that.

Spent most of our time on the deck!

 

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Jackson at 10.5 Months Old

Action Jackson is on the Loose

Jackson is into EVERYTHING right now. And he is incredibly fun to be around. He crawls so fast he can’t keep up with his head. Not kidding. It’s the cutest thing to watch. His head bobs down as he flies down the hall and he tries so hard to lift it back up but he is going SO FAST. We can’t help but giggle.

Want me in your ad, New Balance?

It’s hard for me to do anything when Jackson is awake, so I really don’t (hence why there are fewer blog posts). I don’t mind playing with him either because I love when he discovers something new. All the things we are used to and take for granted are SO new and exciting for him. Like a box full of oranges. These are the coolest things on the planet right now. Who knew?

World's strongest baby

And then there are those bathroom breaks. I can’t pass Jackson off to someone else when I have to go to the bathroom. Down goes the vase and fake flowers. So I try to busy him with other things as you can see in the picture. After all, I do need to use the bathroom…

He loves knocking over our speakers, which we have now tied up. He’ll still digs up our plants. The night we left for Arizona he stuck an entire fist into the dirt and before I could get to him…into his mouth it went. All I heard was “MMMMMMMMMMM”. Black lips. Black teeth. So, he likes dirt. Great. Good fiber, maybe??

He opens doors like nobody’s business. And he’ll pull everything out that’s in a cabinet. DVDs, paper, the smallest piece of plastic, a crumb, CDs, you name it. He gets so excited that he sometimes loses his balance and falls face first into the wood. He shaved some skin off his nose when he face met sharper wood. And I was standing RIGHT THERE. He is so fast.

Up and down the stairs Jackson goes. He is SO incredibly smart that he turns around when he comes to the stairs and goes down backwards, thanks to Grandma Judy’s training sessions.

What’s up with MOM?

The past month has been pretty hard on me. And here I thought I was getting over all the hard stuff. I’ve now accepted that the hard stuff is really only beginning. Labor? Cha… Yeah, it hurt for 37 hours, but that is nothing compared to the day to day stuff now.

But I am working on my reaction to things. Meaning, a better attitude, more positivity and celebrating the small successes. I’ve been faced with a lot of changes in a short amount of time:

• Right now I’m adjusting to a bigger workload at my job. Our department is spending a lot of time organizing other departments within our company and that has created a ton of work. I wear a lot of hats in my position. I kind of feel like that one children’s book, Caps for Sale. One second I have one cap on and quickly I’m putting another one over that one, until I have a ton stacked on top of one another and a wobbly head. Ha. I do like being busy – the days go so fast - but I do like coming up for air every once in a while.

• Karl’s work is ridiculous and I feel like it’s really taking its toll on both of us. I don’t know what else to say about that. He is working ALL THE TIME. I feel like he’s MISSING OUT on Jackson’s first year. I miss him and I really would LOVE more of him.

• We went on a trip to Arizona to see my family and I caught the stomach bug on our flight in – not to mention it was rainy and cold. It was the first time in the 33 years I’ve traveled there that I never put on a swim suit. Oh, and then everyone got my bug. Everyone but Jackson and Karl. Sorry!

• Upon returning from our stresscation, we put Jackson in a center two days a week. Rough.

• Lastly, Jackson had five teeth that cut through at once. AND I experienced what it feels like to get bit with those sharpies..not just once but time and time again. He goes on strikes. He might nurse from one side but refuses the other so he bites. Or he just starts biting right away. IT HURTS and I'm soooo close to giving in because I'm SO close to the year mark. Let me tell you…Karl thought I was getting murdered when he bit me for the first time. Yes, it hurt that bad.

Throw this all together and you have ONE CRAZY house and one exhausted mom.

Change is HARD, but I’ve realized as a parent, you MUST embrace change or else you will burn a hole in your stomach from the constant worry. I have been leaning on God A LOT. Because I don’t know what else to do.

But I will tell you that Jackson is my world. Laying with him in the hospital bed seconds after labor, I'm not sure if I could ever put into words what I felt. I loved him so much, but there I was and there he was and I had NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON. Everything was SO new and SO scary. AND FOREVER. I didn’t go through a surgery or a procedure and everything was going to be done and back to where it was. Our life from that point forward was different. And I wanted to be PERFECT for Jackson.

Guess what? I am not perfect. There isn’t a manual to follow so I can become perfect either. I never knew how much I have always wanted to be THE BEST at everything. School. Volleyball. My job. Being a wife. My health. My fitness. A friend. A daughter. A sister.

It’s taken me a bit, but now I see I’m doing great without following some checklist because JACKSON LOVES ME. It’s written all over his face. In the way he hugs me. The way he reaches for me. The way he smiles and giggles when he sees me. In the way he crawls to me just so I can pick him up and kiss him all over.

Motherhood has been a process for me. I feel like life is flying by so fast and slapping me in the face constantly and I have no time to slow it down. I haven’t had a moment to sit back and just ENJOY what is going on before us. I keep thinking I will. I thought I would in Arizona, but things continue to pop up and we keep going and going. If that makes sense? I’m always worried about the next thing or I’m busying myself with house work or catching up on laundry or writing grocery lists. Or I’m at work, working. When I do sit down, it’s time for bed or Jackson is down for a nap and I have to fly through a list of projects that normally could wait for the weekend. In short, things are nuts.

Right now though I feel like Jackson and I have this special something going on. I would do ANYTHING for him that’s how much I love him. And that’s not an exaggeration.

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Jackson is 10 Months Old

What's New with Jackson?

9 Month Check-Up

Results of 9 Month Check Up (little behind here):
Weight: 19 1.25 lbs - 21%
Height: 29.5 inches -  82%
Head: 17.75 - 39%

NO SHOTS!!! YAY!


Oh, boy...I'm starting to see my personality shine through our lil guy...

Jackson's pediatrician called him a lean, mean fighting machine. He is one healthy (skinny) little boy. She suggested we start feeding him more fats (i.e. butter) and meats, but I have been giving him chopped up avocado every day, which is loaded with lots of healthy fats. I did try the butter deal but he pretty much threw that up. We did give him breakfast sausage too like she suggested and he is LOVING that. Not the most healthiest in my mind.


Learning how to set the ball. Future volleyball stud.

Healthy Nutrition
Today, as I was eating a banana, Jackson leaned in to get a bite too. Then he gagged. I realize now that maybe it's not the grains he has issues with...maybe it's the banana?? For some reason, he decided he didn't want anything to do with any type of grain. BUT, he will eat our oatmeal cinnamon pancakes. I'm trying to sneak in oatmeal whenever I can.

So far this past month Jackson has tried cauliflower, kale (LOVES!), watermelon, pineapple (LOVES LOVES), sausage, pork loin, quinoa, he's back to eating blueberries, steel cut oats with pumpkin and pumpkin spice, apricots, nectarines, salmon, cod, he had my lasagna dinner and ate the whole thing and ate my Fage Greek Yogurt too... I think that's it? I might be missing a few things but so far he will try everything. He just throws a fit or gags when the banana is involved or grains. BUT if I get some yogurt in there, we seem to be good.

I'm letting Jackson eat more and more of our foods. This was WAY good. WAY!

I make sure to pack a couple pancakes for him every week at daycare, some sausage and lots of veggies for finger food - peas, carrots, broccoli, kiwi, etc.

And yes, people try to feed him cake and sweets... I think they feel bad for him that he's eating so healthy. I don't know.  Try not to let that bother me so much.

Activity
Jackson now walks behind his bike. He will push it and hop on it as well. He will walk beside our coffee table with one hand on it or will go between laundry baskets or cupboard doors without holding on at all for short periods of time. Walking is SO coming.

He crawls up the stairs in record time. He is crazy fast. Action Jackson is ALL over the place.

We took his mobile down in his crib since he was trying to hang from it like a monkey. I realized once that went down, Jackson also went down a lot quicker.

Still wearing size 3 diapers and is fitting in 12-18 month clothes.

Swear this guy would win a crawling contest. He is FAST.

Road Trip and Outings
We took a road trip to see my grandparents in Wild Rose last weekend. We left late on Friday so Jackson could sleep most of the way. He did. The way home was a different story. And dad had a different idea of what he would be doing the entire weekend (ice fishing and fishing for drinks at the bar). Mom wasn't too happy and a break was desperately needed after two hard weeks.

Jackson and Great Grandpa had a special bond

And there was the doll my grandma made. Jackson had to kiss her when he crawled by. SO SWEET.

My grandparents couldn't believe how much Jackson moves and how curious he is. My 86 year old grandpa chased after him while I took a shower. It blows my mind what my grandpa can do at his age. I swear I have the coolest grandparents ever. Mind you, my grandpa has a few clots in his heart, a pig valve and has a little brain leak...

My 86-year-old Grandpa chasing Jackson around

He LOVED looking out the window and sitting on the warm vent at my grandparent's.

Karl's grandparents celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary in Gaylord, so we went out there to celebrate. I'm getting better at not feeling like I can't ever leave Jackson's side. I let everyone hold him and grabbed a glass of wine in the other room. I needed a little break and I didn't let the guilt get to me one bit. Jackson and I also polkaed a little bit. He liked the music a lot. It's in his blood.

One good-looking bunch

Celebrating 60 years of marriage!

Playing Mozart with Gpa and Gma Koester

Jackson celebrated his first Valentine's Day! He loved the gifts from Uncle Mark and Aunt Amy and the card with the spinny heart from Gpa and Gma Koester. He couldn't get enough of both.

This plane is awesome!

All in a day's work

Trying to figure out how to stop this crazy heart

This thing never stops spinning!

Got it!

First words
Since 9 Months Jackson has been saying "da-da" and "ba-ba" and "ub-ub' and "ma" and "pa-pa". But a lot of the times he just rambles...UNTIL this week. Karl came home from work and Jackson and I crawled over to the stairs and Jackson kept saying "da-da!". Sweetest ever. Still, it didn't totally register because I thought maybe he was rambling once again. But when I had him in my arms to put him to bed, we walked half-way up the stairs and looked back. Karl peeked his head up the stairway and Jackson shrieked and said "da-da". MELT. MELT. MELT. I seriously felt my heart explode. Karl and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes.

Loves looking over the stairs when "da-da" comes home.

The next day...SAME thing. My heart grew even more. He is just the sweetest little boy ever.

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