Jack turns one!

On Saturday, Jackson had his 1st birthday! We hung ballons on his door frame and let him discover them in the morning when he woke up. He wasn't too sure about them at first, but once he realized how much fun they were, he loved it!

I'm not so sure about this dad.

"Smile birthday boy!"

Woo Hoo! He ran back and forth through the ballons dozens of times.

Opening his first present of the day: Shoes from Grandma!

Don't worry, I still got my spoon!

We had a fabulous party with family. It was so fun to see him enjoy his family, open presents and play :) Pinterest inspired me to do some fun decorations for his party. It was really fun to put together, although more work than I had initially bargained for. Lucky for me I have an awesome husband and family who helped me to pull it all off. Mom Krebs made the awesome table cloth and runner! And Mom Woods helped get all that food get on the table! Good thing she brought ham to our Thanksgiving, because our pulled pork took twice as long as expected to cook. Whoops. Thanks to Sarah, we have all of these fabulous pictures!

Leah's friend made Jackson's little cake :)

Three generations :)

Lucky boy got to have BOTH Grandmas with him on his birthday!

Love these kids.

With Auntie.

Jackson's the first grandchild on my side. Enough said.

This guy loves to point.

Loving his "tools" that the Krebs family gave him .

Thanks for the cars and trains, family!

A toy remote. Which he loves. Thanks, Dad and Kathy.

He was not too sure about this. He didn't end up eating any of it. I think he was a little overwhelmed.

The whole crew!

His new tricycle!

Aunt P and Justin

The Woods girls with Meacy :)

I seriously cannot believe that he is already a year old. It's hurts a little to know that he's growing up so fast. Sometimes I wish I could freeze time and just let him play and be carefree forever. 

Some awesome things he is doing now:

1. He is a pointer. He will point at things he wants, at things he doesn't want, at new things. Anything.

2. He loves to splash and play in the bath tub.

3. He does the sign for milk for almost everything, but mostly food or drink. At least he learned one sign.

4. He can clap now! And is awfully proud of himself.

5. When he knows he isn't supposed to be doing something or going somewhere he will stop and wait for me to see what I will say. It's pretty cute.

6. He can point out my nose every time. He's pretty good with mouth and eyes and sometimes ears, but not nearly as consistent as he is with the nose :)

7. He LOVES to read. We probably read for a couple hours every day. He will go get a book, hand it to me and then climb into my lap. Melts my little heart.

8. The little man is in the middle of his 7th ear infection in his 12 short months. We have seen two doctors who have recommended getting tubes in his ears. We see his pediatrician this week and will make the decision then.

9. He's still an awesome sleeper! He sleeps around 11 hours at night and takes two naps during the day (usually a total of about 3ish hours). 

10. He had SO much fun playing with everyone and everything at his party. I can't believe he was such a good little man. We took him to the doctor two days later and he had a double ear infection about which the doctor said, "He is in his own category of awful." Guess he was having so much fun he didn't even think about it :) He did sleep 13 hours straight that night :) Everyone must have worn him out!

11. He is great and putting things into containers. He loves to put his balls in the wagon that Grandma Woods got him and just push them around. Sometimes he likes to put himself in the wagon too :)

12. He gets SUPER excited anytime anyone comes to the door. 

13. He's pretty good at waving. In fact, he waved at everyone he saw at the grocery store last week.

14. Which makes another point. He is so friendly! He will just grin at strangers until they smile back and then he will start laughing. He LOVES it. Guess where he got that from?

15. He loves to play with my paint brushes and pencils and markers. I thought it was amazing that he knew exactly what to do with them when I first put them in his hands. Kids are amazing learners!

16. He loves to give kisses. Open-mouthed ones. So watch out. 

17. He is such a happy little man.

I love this guy so much. I'm so grateful that he came into our lives a year ago!