Happy 11 Month Birthday, Jackson!

Weight: 21 pounds 6 oz

Height: No clue!

Diapers: Size 4

Clothes: 6-12 in pants and some shirts, 9-12, 12, 12-18 and some 18 months

Jackson Edmond, you are changing so much each and every day! 11 months have flown by and now we are officially counting down to your first birthday this month! We are going to have a lot of family and friends over to our house for your birthday party, and Mommy is planning on going all out with decorations. I hope you will look back on your party when you're older and think about how much fun it looked. We actually had an early birthday party for you a few days after you turned 11 months with all of Mommy's family and friends from the chapel down in Jackson, Missouri at Pop and GiGi's house.  You tried a cupcake and received so many nice presents. When we all sang "Happy Birthday" to you, you hid your face in your shoulder because you were shy from everyone looking at you! It was so cute! You liked the cupcake okay, but I think you were still pretty nervous from everyone looking at you, so you kept reaching for your daddy to get you out of your high chair.

When you play and interact with us, you are curious, energetic, funny, silly, and also have a bit of an attitude. You have started talking all the time and say so much, but most of it makes no since at all! The only words you say for sure are still "Mama" and "Dada," but you definitely have your own vocabulary of sounds and noises. You love to yell into our dining room and listen to your voice echo, so you will stand there and talk to yourself for a long, long time! 

You learned how to play "catch" this month and will roll/throw a ball back and forth with us. You get so excited and throw the ball down hard, but you almost always get it back to us and you definitely understand the concept of the game. When you do throw the ball, we say "Yay, Jackson!" and you start clapping your hands, which is probably your favorite new trick. The funny thing is, it looks more like you are washing or dusting your hands off because you slide and slap them back and forth. We call it the "Jackson clap," and it is absolutely the best clap in the whole world.

There have been a few times that you spontaneously stood up on your own for a few seconds without holding onto anything, and then sat down again. I really think you could be standing on your own or even trying to take a few steps, but you still aren't very interested. I could totally see next month being the month that you start walking though! We'll see!

This month we also started using your inflatable pool and playing outside and you love it! At first you cried and wanted out, but as soon as the water warmed up, you splashed and played for a long time. I love watching you learn and trying to figure out how things work, and while we were in the pool, you kept putting a toy in a pitcher of water and then taking it out over and over again. If I tried to give you something else to play with, you got mad and only wanted the toy and the pitcher. We can really see you learning and putting things together in your mind, and I love seeing that part of you, Jackson. 

How most of the photos actually look when photographing an 11 month old...

Daddy is still definitely your favorite person, and you want him to hold you all the time when he is around. If he walks into the room, you make a beeline for him and beg him to pick you up. I love seeing the relationship that your dad has with you, Jackson, and I know that you have changed him in so many ways. He thinks that you are the most amazing little boy in the whole world (I do too!), and it really shows when he talks with you and plays with you. I feel so blessed by the Lord to get to call you both my husband and my son.

We love you so much, Jax!

**This post is from back in the beginning of July, and I never got a chance to post this or the photos. I am glad that I already had it written, but I can't believe it took me this long to actually post it!**