Did somebody say “grandmother”? Yep, I believe one of you opened a door a few days back that none of you may be able to shut. I’d like to point out that we’ve now had the official LPM blob this long and I haven’t yet indulged. But I’m about to. Today our darling Jackson turned eleven months old. We are on the countdown to his first birthday party. Nothing could have prepared me for the ecstatic joy and familial commotion this little guy has brought into our lives…AND the toys he’s brought into our closets. Every time I put something away, a button accidentally gets pushed on a toy and a silly song plays. We have a full size crib up in a bedroom and the same heirloom high chair for Jackson that his mommy occupied at her grandparents’ house.
I knew I was going to be crazy about him. I just didn’t know he would move into my brain with the same force of Amanda and Melissa. I didn’t know I’d think about him as much as I think about them. I didn’t know I’d love him – yes, every single bit – as much as I have them. It is HUGE. And, no (not that you would ask but someone would), I don’t have to work him into my schedule and try to make time for him. He, like his mom and his Aunt Melissa, gets to play havoc with my schedule. (Case in point: the reason why I didn’t finish the Psalms of Ascent homework when I’d planned to is that I got to have Curt, Amanda, Jackson and Melissa for two weeks over the holidays and I wasn’t about to spend a moment of their time here writing. And God was glad.)
The morning they were leaving after we’d all been together for two weeks, I was trying to hide the tenderness in my heart at the thought of saying goodbye after getting a tad accustomed to seeing him every day. I so badly do not want to be obnoxious and emotionally manipulative with Amanda and Curt about their little guy. I want us all to have healthy relationships and appropriate boundaries and that means if I feel like crying over him, it needs to be after they leave and not before! A little while before we all went our separate directions, Amanda, Melissa, Jackson and I were in my bathroom where I was throwing on some mascara. Jackson crawled over to me, pulled up on my leg, and reached for me to pick him up. When (of course) I did, the little guy leaned forward, puckered his lips, and gave me a kiss right on the mouth! Totally without warning or solicitation! We didn’t even know he knew how to kiss like that. We all laughed and laughed. He and I had spent a lot of time together over those two weeks. I think he wanted to tell his granny that he loved her. Man, oh, man, does she love him, too.
Thanks to his sweet and generous parents, I get to see him every couple of weeks (and usually for a few days) and I talk to his mom about him at least twice a day. Curt and Amanda have invited both sets of Jackson’s grandparents to be intimate parts of his life. After all, it’s his heritage. Grandparents have been active parts of their grandchildren’s lives for generations on both sides of his family line. We are blessed beyond measure. Amanda keeps us up on every milestone and right now I get a report on something new almost every day. Jackson is learning so quickly that we can hardly keep up with him. While he was at my house over the holidays, he began squatting without holding onto anything and he’d look around at me to make sure I saw him. By the time Amanda got him home, he began free standing. Amanda told me that the first time he stood by himself for a whole minute, she was having a play-date with her buddies and their babies. He balanced himself on his plump little feet, looked around to make sure everyone was looking then clapped for himself. Before we know it, he’ll take a step. And his mommy will take a hundred. I’ve never had such a blast…and she’s never been so busy.
I love it when Grandma reads to me. She makes Goodnight Moon so exciting!
I’ve been very busy learning how to stand and play maracas.
I bury my face in my blanket when I’m exhausted from playing.
Me and Mommy
My bed head is new every morning.
