A whole bunch of firsts

Here is my best attempt at getting a picture of him for his ten month pictures of him, his bear, and his sign. It didn't work out too well. He think paper is the coolest thing and must be crinkled, ripped, torn, and eaten. This worked okay though. Notice the bear on the floor. Close enough.

He's still a skinny guy though. While I was trying to take his pictures, I looked away and when I looked back, he had wriggled out of his pants. What a funny boy.

It feels like Jackson has been growing so much lately! He is doing so many new things and getting so big! Over the weekend, he got his first tooth. While he was at it, he decided two is better than one. He got his top two teeth first. I had never heard of a baby getting the top teeth first. He seems to be doing really well though. It is borderline impossible to get a good look at them though. Everytime you try to get him to open his mouth, he sticks his tongue out or squirms away. They are definitely there though.

On a sadder note, Jackson also had his first cold. It was a doosy. He had a runny nose, a cough, and then some stuffy nose moments. Luckily, he still slept great at night. He was just grumpy and clingy during the day. I'm glad he's over that now. He was not a happy camper. I missed my easy going, happy little guy.

I also now have my first "real" job in my field. I got a social work job. I currently work part time at Highland Care Center. It has really worked out well for me. I do social histories, psychosocial exams, paperwork (of course), and some mental health therapy when I have extra time. It's been great to get to know new people and try new things. I like having a job in the field I went to school for so long for. Now I get to start adding up my hours until I get the 4000 hours required to get my LCSW license. Until then, I'm starting to get used to signing my name, Amber Koecher, CSW. It's fun to actually have letters after your name ;-) I'm so grateful to have friends, family and an amazing husband who are so willing to help out with Jackson as I make this step.

This other first happened a while ago, but I can't forget to write about it. Jackson is now a first-class sleeper. He sleeps through the night and takes pretty good naps (usually) throughout the day. I can't even tell you how nice it is to be well rested. Sleep should be everyone's best friend. It's a lot easier to be happy and productive when you got some rest the night before. Jackson wasn't like all of my other friends babies who, at least it seemed like it to me, slept through the night at two months old. We had to have a few more months of interrupted nights. Everytime I heard someone else talking about how their newborn slept through the night, I wanted to hit something. To everyone who may be thinking of beating me up around now, the time will come when you get to be the one bragging. Until then, go play soccer or something else to take it out on.

Jackson also has his first (okay maybe it's his fifth or sixth) girlfriend. He is definitely a ladies man. This is a neighbors little girl who I watch on Monday's. She is only five days younger than Jackson. How fun. You can tell from his smile that he really enjoys flirting. Oh boy. What will his teenage years be like?

He is also crawling like crazy now. I thought at first that he would skip crawling and go straight to walking. Nope, I was wrong again. He still prefers walking and will crawl over to our couch or anything upright and pull himself up to standing so he can cruise around. We also discovered that he likes playing hide and go seek. I'll go crawl somewhere in our house to hide and he'll come crawling after me until I jump out at him. Then he'll just laugh. It's so much fun.

He's also turned out to be quite the little destroyer. He likes to get into anything and everything. Then he'll look at me all mischeviously and it's hard to get mad. He's such a busy little guy.

Jackson also loves books. It makes me so happy. Sometimes he'll sit on my lap and let me just read to him. He loves the texture books and likes to turn the pages himself. More often, he just likes to look at books on his own. He'll sit and turn the pages and look at the pictures. Sometimes he'll even lay down and look at books while he's holding the book with his feet. And some people doubt we came from monkeys :-)

These last few pictures are too cute not to include. The aviator picture is especially for his Uncle Cody. He can't wait to go flying with you. Notice Dallin and I both trying to hold his hands for half a second to stop him from ripping the glasses off so we could take a picture.

I also love this one. I have a 5x7 of this on my desk at work. It makes me so happy to look at it. What a happy baby. We sure love you Jackson!