The Beadle Family: Jackson is 1!

It's hard to believe, but my precious Jackson turned 1 year old this past Saturday. We just had his wellness check-up and he is doing great (other than being on the small side). Here's his stats:

Weight: 19 lbs. 15 oz.
Heights: 28 inches
Clothing size: 9-12 months
Diapers: size 4 (although he can still wear size 3)
# of Teeth: 8 (4 bottom, 4 top)
Feedings: 6 oz. bottle & 6 ounces of baby food every 4 hours and evening feeding of 8 oz. bottle with rice cereal

I've starting working on feeding him finger foods to get him to feed himself, but he is just not quite getting it. I'm not sure if it's a texture thing that is bothering him or if he is just being lazy and wants me to feed him. I'm just trying different things to see if I can get him to start feeding himself. He does pretty well with the snacks, like the Gerber cookies and puffs, but isn't as interested in real food. I just need to be patient and work with him little by little, which is easier said than done. We have also tried to introduce him to milk in hopes we could get him off of formula...nope, he wasn't going for that either. So we have started to make him 4 oz. formula with 1-2 oz. of milk to slowly get him used to it. So far that has been working well and we are hoping we can wean him off of the formula soon. Anything to save a buck or two, especially since we'll be buying Newborn formula soon!

He is so close to walking, but not quite there. We've gotten him to stand alone on his own without holding onto anything, but he just won't take that first step. He's just cruising around furniture like crazy and loves his push toys. James was already walking at this point (actually at 11 mos.), so I was hoping that Jackson would do the same. Oh well, I guess it's better...I don't want him growing up too fast!

He's not really talking yet either. I'm working on getting him to say "mama", but I feel like he just babbles, "mamamama" and isn't truly saying the word. We're getting there though. He definitely recognizes me as Mama and Mike as Dada though because when either of us say, "Where's Mama?" or vice versa, he looks to us. He's learned the word "No!" really well also as we are using it often to keep him out of things. Gotta love this age where they are into absolutely everything. Definitely keeps us on our toes. Oh how fun that will be in a couple of months when we have a newborn here.

Jackson hit another milestone...he has started preschool for a couple of days a week to give me time to run errands and to start fostering his socialization skills. He's only been twice so far, but he is absolutely loving it. I'm very proud of how well he is doing at adapting to a new schedule and everything. I definitely miss him when he's gone, but it is time I think we both need separate from each other.

Here are some of his favorite things: