Penguin Party

What other kind of party could it have been besides a Penguin Party?  Thanks to Pinterest there are a million penguin ideas so we borrowed a few.   

Igloo cheese ball

Stuffed olive penguins

 My little helper did such a good job gluing penguins!  She got to use a glue stick for the first time and LOVED it.

There were lots of penguin balloons but we didn't get a good picture. 

 

 We were very lucky that both my family and Matt's were able to come.  Even Cousin Sheri was there all the way from California! 

Nana and James

Greatest Grandad and Meredith

Sheri and James

Aunt Erin and Jackson

 Grammy Pammy made Jackson a jon jon with a penguin on it.  He loved all of his presents, but his favorites are the little tryke from Great Grandma and Grandpa Unger and the blocks.   

 

Happy birthday, Jacka! 

 The next day we all played in the leaves in the backyard. They don't exactly have leaves in Florida so Meredith thought it was fabulous.  The two of them were impossible to get to sit still. 

We are blessed to have two families that would come so far just for a one year old's birthday party.  When he looks back at these pictures years from now he will have no question how much each and every one of them loves him! 

Happy Penguinween

 Every year on Halloween our neighborhood gets together and has a parade.  The fire truck comes to lead everyone down the street and all the little kids follow behind in their costumes.  We had been advised to expect about 200 trick or treaters and judging just from the kids at the parade that seemed pretty likely.  It turned out that since our house isn't on the main loop we only got about 100, but that's still a pretty high turnout!

Our neighborhood buddies making up the parade stroller brigade.

Jackson went as a penguin, of course.  This was the perfect costume since the temperature was in the upper 40s.  He loved watching the older kids during the parade.  We only took him to 5 houses, mostly to say hello to our new neighbors, but he had a very good time.  Once he finished Matt and I pulled out some chairs and passed out candy from the front porch.  We laughed to think how much Halloween has changed for us.  We may not have been dressed up and dancing in the French Quarter this year, but I'm not disappointed :) 

The little girl next door. 

One of our babysitters, Miss Allison.  She lives on our street. 

Gracedog keeping watch in the background. 

First Trip to the Zoo!

A couple of weeks ago we were on a walk and met our neighbors Carrie, Paul and their daughter Allison.  Allie is just a little over two.  Carrie invited me and Jackson to join her at the zoo one Friday, and although we had been putting it off so we could go with Dad, I said yes.  Greenville has a tiny little zoo that is handily located directly across from a very nice children's park and a main access point for the Swamp Rabbit trail which runs from there straight up to Main Street.  It only takes about an hour to walk through the whole zoo so most people hit both the zoo and park in one trip. 

 The giraffe at our zoo is supposed to have a baby any day now.  There's even a Giraffe Cam.  The zoo is pretty packed every day with people hoping to be the first to catch a glimpse.  While we were there the male giraffe came all the way over to the little fence and kneeled down, swaying his neck over the line and stretching out towards the little kids.  It was pretty cool. 

 He was NOT a fan of the cheetah.  As you can see, it was pacing right by the window.  At one point the cheetah whipped around and his face was right in Jackson's face.  It scared him to death and he shrieked so loud we had to leave the cheetah behind. 

 We practice animal sounds at home but all Jackson has ever really seen in person are cats and dogs.  He got a video of the San Diego zoo and actually sat through 30 minutes spellbound, but I didn't know if he would really know to look into cages for animals.  The first paddock we came to had the elephants.  I don't know how many pictures Carrie tried to take, but getting Jackson to look at the camera when there were huge zoo animals right there was impossible.  At least we got one of him making his "trunk". 

The next weekend we had enough time to take Dad on his first trip to the zoo.  That visit the zoo was all decorated for Boo at the Zoo, and the decorations were a bigger hit than most of the animals.  Matt had a ball telling Jackson about each animal and making the animal sounds for him.  Thanks to Gran we have an annual pass now so we can go all the time!      

Fun Times as an 11 month old

 It's amazing that over the course of just one month Jackson went from taking 3-4 steps to being able to make laps around the entire house without falling down.  He loves pushing the tiniest of trucks in front of him as he's walking, which usually ends up with him tripping over it into a somersault into the closest object.  Grammy Pammy made us a "boo boo penguin" and we are really putting that thing to use!  

Meals are more and more fun.  Jackson is getting pretty good with his fork- switching left and right hands though so we aren't sure which hand he will actually use later.  Maybe he will be ambidextrous like his mama.   

At 11 months all he says are "mama", "dada" and "dog".  He is obsessed with the penguins in his room and points to them and his "letters" (his initials over the door) as soon as you get him out of his crib.  His favorite game is throwing things into our tub.  One day I searched for my keys for 20 minutes before thinking to look in it.  He is fascinated with lights- pointing to them, turning them on and off, looking at new ones.  His favorite chores to help with are vacuuming (he holds the cord), laundry (he pulls things out of drawers as quickly as I can open and shut them) and unloading the dishwasher (he flings the utensils on the ground).  I jokingly call him my "unhelper".   

He's all boy at the playground.  He can sit on a big swing and knows to hold on tight.  He inches himself to the edge of the slide and zips down it over and over again.  Half of the mulch comes home stuck to his body or in his socks.  Anything he sees a "big boy" doing he has to copy.    

Our friend Zacharie.  He spent the night recently and they had their first ever sleepover not that either one of them had a clue until the next morning.  They thought posing in the crib together was big time fun! 

His favorite toy ever- the remote control.  He points it towards the TV and if a game is on tells the football players "hi".    

Fun Times as a 10 Month Old

We're getting settled in the new house and finally getting into a routine.  Jackson goes to a preschool right up the street two days a week now and loves it.  The first few times he didn't even look up when we dropped him off.  When we pick him up he's eating lunch and he just looks up and waves at me with a huge smile.  I'm back training for a half marathon in October so he runs with me a few times a week.  We normally meet up with my mom's group one day a week and he loves Mother Goose on the Loose at the library so we stay busy that's for sure!

He is a mad man with his push toy still although now he also pushes around the popper and small trucks.  He can walk a few steps alone if he isn't thinking about it but sits down the second he realizes he's walking all by himself.  I guess we can say he's walking at 10 months for all intensive purposes!    

 Jackson and his buddy Grant at Grant's first birthday party.

Best game ever. 

He insists on crawling into the middle of the six chairs in the kitchen then gets stuck and screeches until I pull him out. 

First day of school!  What a cutie

Still working on "Touchdown Hokies!".  He loves watching the football men on the TV and tells them "hi!". 

Poor Grace never gets a moment of peace.  Her bowls are on the other side of "baby jail" where Jackson can't normally get them.

Such a good eater.  He uses his fork and spoon very well and will only drink from the cup if it has no lid. 

Holden Beach with the Wolf Pack

Last year for their 30th anniversary (I think) the Wolfords rented a huge beach house at Holden Beach, NC where they used to go when Matt and Erin were little.  They loved every minute of their beach week and told us all that this year the only improvement would be if we joined them for a few days.  You don't have to ask me to the beach twice.  The house was right on the Intercoastal and had a huge picture window over the kitchen sink.  The coolest feature was a crow's nest where you could look at both the river and the ocean (and into the neighbor's house but that was an accident). 

 He wasn't spoiled at all.  Grandma brought him a beach tent and the Go Pod so he wouldn't get too much sun.  We all looked like pack mules going to and from the beach.  It's funny how the older you get the more it becomes going to the beach to sit in the shade instead of the sun. 

 Grandma made him a little outfit out of an old shirt.  It is the cutest thing ever.  We did a beach photo shoot so it promptly got wet.  I'm glad it's big enough he will probably be able to wear it next year too!   

 We got Dad this hammock for his birthday.  If only there was a picture of the rope untying and him plummeting to the floor.  Good thing it was an 8" drop.