This little sweetieheart is five months old (as of November 30, 2015). He is full of smiles and love…and drool. He drools buckets! He soaks a bandana bib in minutes. I think I can see the white forms of his bottom teeth through the gums now, but I’m sure the drooling won’t be going away any time soon regardless. Our little sweetie has been a little crabby lately with these teeth coming in, but he’s happy when he is being held, which is he is most of the time. I’m not getting much done around the house of course, but that can wait. 🙂 Seeing him interact with his brother is quite a sight. He stares intently at him (thus the intent stares in these photos) and takes in every little detail. He seems like he wants to play with Jacob and Josh, and they will sometimes include him in some gentle roughhousing. That is not mommy’s department. Life these days is all about focused concentration for Jackson. He can grab things, switch them from hand to hand, and put them on his head. He loves to practice with his hand-eye coordination, reaching out and discovering how far from him certain items are, and then taking them into his hand and pulling them into his mouth. His mouth is the black hole that sucks in anything within reaching distance of this busy boy. I find myself giving Jacob mini-lectures on items “of a certain size” because I am starting to become very aware of this eat everything phase. It’s something I haven’t had to think about in quite a while! He loves to touch everything: my collar, the stitched details on this quilt, kitchen utensils. He is my cooking companion, sitting in his Bumbo chair on the kitchen counter. I will hand him utensils and measuring cups for him to grab, turn over, and drool on. He loves to spin my utensil crock (it’s on a little lazy susan) and grab spoons and whisks from it. He usually ends up knocking it over and spilling everything out. I have to be careful holding around any paper; he will snatch it in a millisecond and mash it in his little fists while trying to get it to his mouth. I have a rather important letter on the counter now with a crinkled spot in the middle from this very activity.I love watching him explore the world he is in. His response to sights and sounds is my favorite thing. I watch him put the pieces of information together and I wonder how he is processing all of what he takes in. Does it make sense? Does he put it together like a story? Does he have questions he can’t express? I am responsible for creating his world. he will use what he sees and hears in these early days to create what life is for him. What a responsibility! Of course I want life to be warm, safe, comfortable, and lovely for him.His new expression is to bite his bottom lip, and then he hums. It is just about the cutest thing ever! Kinda like this picture below:This crooked picture was a better catch of the cute humming face:I had thought that Jax would be my quiet baby, but he likes to talk and be heard! I may have two chatterboxes on my hands. He is soft and snuggly, and feels wonderful in your arms. He smells so good! He weighs 17 pounds, 9 ounces.  He does not like to sleep, so we get a lot of snuggle time. He is still a little catnapper, sleeping for short stretches during the day. He likes to be asleep early in the evening, though, and stays asleep until big brother wakes him in the morning sometime around 6 am.

Those grabby hands don’t end with items around the house. He loves to grab by skin and wow does it hurt sometimes! He pinches the skin on my chest when I nurse him, scratching me up like a kitten. He reaches one soft hand up and touches my face gently also. I remember Jacob doing that, and it being some of my fondest memories of nursing. He makes eye contact with me, and here comes this plodding little hand, soft as a feather, to inexpertly explore the contours of my face. He may grab my nose or cheek while he is there, and it hurts! But otherwise it’s just his soft palm gliding across my skin. He likes to grab his sweet little feet and get those into his mouth as well. He is my sweet, happy boy!We just enjoy this little boy so much. I can’t stand for him to cry, because it happens so seldom. When he does, it’s very traumatic (for me!) He “talks” with a quavery little voice that I love to imitate back to him. it is the sweetest, softest sound. He loves faces, and has smiles for everyone.Oh Mr. Jackson, we love you so!