A New Jackson

Beckett's First Haircut

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:30:00 +0000

Baby B got his first official hair cut over the weekend. He did so well!! Although I did have a hard time holding him still because he got so excited about the little fire engine that he was sitting in. The lady that cut his hair was a pro though, and able to anticipate all the jumps, twists, and head turns.

Going Retro

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:00:00 +0000

For my birthday, Jonathan gave me a Yashica Mat-124 G twin-lens reflex camera. Oh what fun it has been to revisit film! I have shot entirely digital since 2005 and using the Yashica has brought back the slow, calculated method of composing and creating a photograph that I originally learned photography with several years ago. Digital photography has really spoiled us (as a society). Practically anyone can buy a dslr and call themselves a "photographer" without ever knowing what aperture means. But I digress.

Here is my new "baby." She takes some fabulous photographs (some samples from my first black and white roll at the bottom of this post). The light meter no longer works on the camera, so we found an antique Vivitar No. 30 selenium cell light meter (no battery needed). This is entirely manual photography and I am having a ball.

Scanned prints from the first black and white roll...

Wrestle Mania

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Just a regular evening in the Jackson house! I predict the wrestling will only get more rough...

Little Enstein

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:45:00 +0000

Under the Table

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:30:00 +0000

Beckett discovered that he can stand up and fit perfectly beneath our kitchen table. Jonas wasn't going to let Beckett have all the fun!

Playtime at the Playground

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Now that Jonas is getting very proficient on the playsets intended for the bigger kids, Beckett has realized a new love for the slide. And of course he wants to follow his brother on these fun slide excursions. For now, B gets to enjoy the smaller toddler playset. Before long they'll be chasing each other all over the playground!

All By Myself

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Jonas has been "reading" for the past several months. I put "reading" in quotes, because he is a wiz at sight words (check out the video below), been constructing sentences, and sounding out words pretty well, but I was never really sure if he was comprehending what he was reading or just regurgitating what he'd memorized. The child can do/read/see something one time and it's committed to his memory (that is if he's paying attention and "on" - not escaped into his own little world).

Last night, I decided to do an experiment. Jonas really enjoys the interactive stories you can download on the iPad. We have some of his favorites that we read at bed time. Last night I downloaded a new book to see if he in fact was reading. He was a little reluctant because I think he was tired, but my little over-achiever read this book entirely on his own last night (and what an appropriate title it has). He was even telling me about it the next morning and asking to do things that the Little Critter in the book had done.

All By Myself, By Mercer Mayer

Finger Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:07:00 +0000

I honestly didn't expect Jonas to tell me what he wanted for Christmas when I asked, but in going with the latest trend of improvements, Jonas specifically asked for finger paints (his exact words were "blue finger paints"). So Santa brought Jonas finger paints this past Christmas and boy does he live them!!

Baby B the Climber

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

On new years eve, Jonas and Beckett were playing nicely in our living when Jonas decided to go upstairs. Of course, Beckett decided to follow him. He'd been trying to climb the stairs, but hadn't yet made it to the top. I stood and watched, preparing to catch if he stumbled, as Jonas cheered Beckett on. Finally he reached the top! Later they reenacted the great climb so I could capture this video. Note Jonas' over-excitement. In his pursuit of proper social interactions, he can get quite loud.

Now You See Me, Now You Don't

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

This was too hysterical not to document. I don't think these photos need an explanation.

Watch this Mommy!

Winter Fun and the Letter G

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

I just keep getting more and more impressed with Jonas' precision and control when it comes to writing and drawing.

This month, the kids are learning about winter.

And the letter for last week was 'G'.

Beckett at 14 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:30:00 +0000

Beckett, who we've been calling 'B' lately, is now 14 months old. He has grown and developed so much in the past couple months.

B now has all 8 front teeth (4 on top, 4 on bottom).
B has begun to say words: ball, jack, cheese, bye, bah (for bottle), mama and dada (of course).
B is crawling up the stairs unassisted and can almost come down backwards, fully on his own.
B can climb on and off the sofa.
B is walking behind a push toy.
B delights in wrestling with his brother.
B blows kisses and gives open mouth kisses.
B signs for milk.
B wears 18-24 months up top and 18 months in pants.
B will eat pretty much anything and a lot of it too. So far, he's not picky.
B has discovered how to flip light switches on and off.

Beckett is also in the stage of making his desires (loudly) known - either by screaming to get attention or throwing things when he's mad. We are beginning to encourage the use of sign language to help him communicate more easily. That was a big help when Jonas was younger.

In case you're interested, here is Jonas at 14 months. (By the way, we still have the same ball drop toy from the first video that Beckett now enjoys playing with - Thanks Steph!!)

Here is our sweet Baby B at 14 months.

Don't miss these videos of Beckett climbing the stairs and walking with a push toy: part 1 and part 2. They will appear in future posts with more elaboration.

Lastly, the good ole 14 month tooth diagram:

Beckett and a Fork

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:10:00 +0000

Beckett has decided that he likes using a fork!

Cooking with Grandma

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 02:32:00 +0000

Grandma teaches Jonas the fine art of cooking corn bread... an essential skill if you ask me!

Kissy Face and Blowing Kisses

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:18:00 +0000

Beckett has really begun to show his little personality. He is sweet and flirty, but sometimes shy with an occasional attitude.

I captured him recently making kissy faces, blowing kisses, and being just all around cute.

Ear Infections and a Good Beat

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 02:11:00 +0000

Poor Beckett has had his second ear infection in two months. When he returned to the doctor for an ear check after his first ear infection, the doctor couldn't see to the ear drum because of a buildup of ear wax. Because he'd been asymptomatic for several weeks, we assumed that the infection was gone.

Whether or not that was true, he became symptomatic around Christmas with a cough, runny nose, and trouble sleeping. No fever, but he was pulling on his ears - classic sign. So we made an appointment with my ENT to get the ear wax removed and check for infection. The amount of wax they removed completely shocked me - the main blockage was at least the size of a large pea!

I could tell that he immediately felt better after that ball of wax was removed. It was probably pushing on the 'tiny' infection that was behind it. Now with medicine, he's feeling much better.

That leads me to the "good beat" part of this post...

Since he hasn't felt well (and because he's going through the beginnings of the typical separation anxiety stage), he's been very attached to Mommy. He wants no one but me and insists that I hold him while standing, not sitting. Forget a soothing car ride; if I wasn't holding him, he wasn't happy.

Beckett is not the same good car rider that Jonas is (and always has been). Some ventures in the car recently have been less than pleasant. Trying to find whatever possible to apease him, Jonathan and I discovered that he is soothed by... wait for it... club music. Something with a good bass beat. On several occasions we have tested our theory, and the instant that we hit the "#1 Hit Music Station," Beckett calms down and is quiet. Our boys and their music!

So watch for our "rockin'" minivan the next time you're driving around Charlotte!!

The Jackson Boys Tweet

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:41:00 +0000

When Jonas began talking, I created a segment on this blog called "Jonas-isms". Then he lost much of his language with the onset of autism and that section faded away. Now that he's speaking much more (and being quite funny at times), I've decided to venture back into Jonas-isms. Except this time they will be in the form of "tweets". Yes, Jonas, and Beckett for that matter, both have twitter accounts. If you aren't familiar with Twitter, it's an easy way to share short, succinct amounts of information.

Check out both Jonas and Beckett's twitter pages. (Beckett will have less to say until he begins speaking more on his own - until then I will narrate for him!) Updates are also listed in the sidebar. Among some of Jonas' latest tweets are:

My tummy is sleepy.
I need a ladder to reach the moon.

Jonas Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jonaswjackson

Beckett Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/beckettdjackson

Comfort in Chaos

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:28:00 +0000

Since being in holiday mode lately, we've been letting Jonas stim a bit more than usual (or escape into his autistic world). I read somewhere that trying this approach would make the holidays more bearable and it's worked really well; the holidays have been much easier than I expected. With such a drastic change from our normal schedule, past holidays have been a nightmare and quite frankly, I had dreaded this Christmas. Now that the holidays are over, I think it's safe to say it was a success. Melt downs have been minimal and believe it or not, Jonas has been communicating and listening unbelievably well! There have been a few times that I actually forgot about the autism he has. It's been nice and I hope the trend continues.

As an example of the stimming I mentioned above, below is the "commerce corridor" that Jonas built in his room, as well as what I believe was his inspiration. We allowed this chaos to remain on the floor in his room for a few days. We made a deal that it could stay until Monday night: the day before school started again. Jonas held up his end of the bargain and cleaned up his creation all on his own.

More and more I'm starting to believe that Jonas finds comfort in chaos. For whatever reason that this holiday (and the huge disruption to his schedule) was so easy, he still pitched a fit if we tried to brush his teeth BEFORE using the potty during bedtime.

Note the "road map" on the left...

Gingerbread House Builder

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 00:58:00 +0000

Jonas' first gingerbread house construction. He even managed not to eat any of it until we finished. Thank you Papa and Gigi!

Jonas - Mommy Silly Time

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:25:00 +0000

Pretending

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:16:00 +0000

... to be Mommy. Notice what he's wearing: my necklace, my bracelet, my glasses. He was pretending to be Mommy for an evening.

Twinkle Lights

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:10:00 +0000

Our modest little display of Christmas cheer. Jonas had a blast helping hang lights this year. He is super into Christmas.

He v. She

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:56:00 +0000

Jonas struggles to grasp the difference between he and she, him and her, and his and hers. It's a common difficulty for children with autism, or so I've heard. It's something though that both us and his teachers are working on. I couldn't help but laugh today when, after getting the infamous BK crown, he declared himself the queen. He squatted to the floor and chanted, "I'm just a little queen!" My correction of "girls are queens, boys are kings" had zero effect. Even calling him my little king was met with the correction, "no I'm a queen!"

Mommy's Specs

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 04:04:00 +0000

"Oh my, Mommy! Your vision is terrible!"

Oh the Choices

noreply@blogger.com (Lori Jackson) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:57:00 +0000

He wanted the "blue ice cream" so bad and worked really hard to finish his dinner (always a challenge) so he could get this blue icee. I guess he forgot that "ice cream" is cold and he doesn't really like cold foods, so he drank a little but mostly looked at it.