Christmas 2009

It was nice. My mom, her husband, and my brother came into town to spend the holiday with us. Jackson was really sleepy Christmas morning so we only opened some of his presents before he fell asleep and then saved the rest for later on when he was feeling more awake. His big present was a twin sized futon (that he is lying on in these pics) so he can be off the floor but still lie flat. He also got a new ipod (his was very old and wouldn't hold a charge) that has video capabilities. He got a computer game and some clothes, a little toy dinosaur (that I can switch-adapt when I find my soldering kit), and a lot of books. You can see he could barely keep his eyes open in this last picture. That's when we decided to save the rest of his presents for later.

Zoe was so funny. She got the first thing out of her stocking ( a big flower) and she was happy as could be with it, then wandered off to play not realizing there was a lot more. She got a rocking Rody horse, a Tinkerbell chair, a play tent, some clothes, an aquadoodle, and a big bead maze toy. She was completely overstimulated and also happened to be getting her molars in so she did have a few melt-downs, but overall she enjoyed all the attention.

The bead maze: It was to be Jackson's present 5 years ago. It was ordered before he got sick and it came while he was in the hospital. He was pretty much unconcious during Christmas that year and it quickly became apparent that he was not going to be playing with it. We just put it away in the basement still in its original packaging where it remained until this year. I'm glad that we finally have a use for it but it is a bit bittersweet as I am sure you can imagine.

Anyway, I thought I'd show off this cute picture of Jackson (for Christmas cards) since he was sleeping for the pics on Christmas day.

Also, I apologize for the way the pics are arranged on the page...blogger changed something a while back and I am finding it really hard to get things right with the layout anymore. :(

Boo, Blogger, boo!!! :(

Jackson's School Picture

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know it is nearly impossible to get a good school picture of Jackson.  The first one this year came out pretty bad so we did retakes.  The retakes came out pretty decent.  His teacher wrote to me that you could see her in the background of the picture because she was behind his chair trying to hold his head steady and get him to laugh.  The photographer had told her that he couldn't see her but he was mistaken.  She called the company and they told her that they could airbrush her out of it if we called them. 

I didn't even notice her back there until I read her note.   Lee and I both think it was really sweet of her to go the extra mile to try to get a good picture so I think we are going to keep the ones where you can sort of see her.

I don't even know if I posted his pics from last year.  Both the initial pics and the retakes were not good at all.

It's been a while...

I know...I just didn't feel like blogging. I still don't actually, but I think it is time for an update.

Zoe is doing very well.  She is signing like crazy and starting to talk a lot too.  I'll try to list all the words she says/signs:

• milk- she both says and signs this (although it sounds kind of like "no" when she says it).  We have a sign for milk (meaning mama's milk) and cup (meaning milk in a cup).
• mum and da- she says but not signs these
• banana- signs
• water- she signs this very cutely.  It is supposed to be a "W" tapped on the chin but she does it by sticking her index finger in her mouth.
• no- she says this but also does a very funny hand negative hand waving, so not a sign exactly but you definitely get her meaning. She will tell on herself when she is doing something she knows she shouldn't be doing...she will say "no, no, no" while she goes ahead and does it.  She also says no to the dog when she thinks he is bad.  And when I want to change her diaper she will tell me no and sometimes even run away and/or hide!
• good night- she says this.  It actually comes out more like "nigh" and she uses it for both good night and good-bye (which she refuses to say).
• hi- she says this relentlessly and waves too.  She will say it to anyone at anytime and also to no one in particular.  And you better say hi back!

• cat- she says this and can also tell you what a cat says (mostly "meow" but sometimes "hi").
• dog-she says this and can tell you what a dog says (mostly panting).
• more- signs
• cookie- signs it, but kind of funny...I still understand her though.
• animals sounds- she can tell you what a monkey says, what a chicken says, what a cow says.
• eat- she says and signs it
• eggs- she says it
• car- says and signs
• ball- says it mostly but is starting to sign it
• book- signs it
• knock knock-she will say this, mostly when she is knocking on something

That's all I can think of for now, but I might come back to add some later if I think of more.

Here are a couple cute shots of when she was hanging with Jackson playing peek-a-boo.

Jackson is doing relatively well.  Since it is getting colder, he is having a rougher time in general.  He is enjoying his school and gets very tired on school days.  He is happy about finally getting his room painted and then decorated in his space theme.  We got it primed last weekend and will hopefully finish painting this coming weekend.  He has been growing quite a bit in the last few months and needs a lot of new clothes.  He is a size 7-8 now!

Unfortunately our school district has a new inclusion plan and there is a very real possibility that Jackson's school will be closed in the next few years.  Yep, the school that we moved to this house for.  The parents at the school are obviously angry and upset and it seems like they are fairly organized and definitely ready to fight in any way they can.  I am not sure if there is anything that can be done about it but if there is, hopefully together we will all find a way.