Jackson’s Journal

Jackson didn’t have a very fun day today. He woke up about 5:30am, and Mommy went in to get him back to sleep. No luck; he seemed perfectly happy staying up for the rest of the day. Of course, Daddy had gone right back to sleep after Mommy had gotten up, and was still unconscious when she came back to announce that we’d be attending early services today!

Getting Jackson ready was the usual challenge, but finally we got out the door and headed for Antioch. Of course, Jackson was back asleep before we’d gone two blocks. He woke up when we got to church and made it to class okay, but then he fell asleep again on the way home and Mommy put him right to bed for a nap.

A little while later he woke up crying so hard that he was shaking. Turned out he had a fever of 100.3° and was very unhappy about it. We gave him some infant Tylenol and rocked him until he seemed better. After a while we took his temperature again and it had dropped to almost normal. He napped again for a little while in the den, with Mommy and Daddy close by.

About time for evening services he started getting a fever again. This time it went to 100.4° and he was not happy at all. We gave him Motrin this time and kept him as comfortable as we could, giving him whatever fluids he’d drink. Eventually his fever broke and he seemed ready for bed. So were we.

Please keep little Jackson in your prayers as he fights off whatever bug this is, and pray that we do the right things to help him do just that.

Up to now, Jackson’s expressed two emotions verbally: desire and discomfort, pronounced “want” and “ow.” Now he’s added another feeling to his vocabulary. While he was playing with Mommy today, he gave her a big hug around the neck and then looked in her eyes and said, “I love you!” It actually would have sounded more like “I vuv ooh” to the untrained ear, but she knew what he meant!

Jackson’s vocabulary seems to be coming pretty fast now, and grammar is following close behind. He’s stringing words together meaningfully, and understanding more complex sentences as well.

This parenthood thing is pretty neat!

Mommy had a big day today. It started with driving Daddy to the brake shop to pick up his car—but that wasn’t the high point.

Jackson and Daddy took her to Demos’ in Murfreesboro for a steak. It was a great meal and the food was fantastic, but Jackson’s meal was pretty much the same as always. He’s experimenting with table food (mostly dipping stuff) but he’s still mostly living on Gerber #2. We’re happy that he’s eating well at least, but we haven’t given up on convincing him that chewing is cool.

This afternoon we went to Walden Farm, a semi-famous pumpkin patch out on Rocky Fork Road. They have a petting zoo, a corn maze, a kiddy playground, a hayride, and lots of other fun stuff. Jackson loved everything, especially petting and feeding the animals. He had such a big time that he fell asleep on the way home. He was pooped!

The weather was cool that evening, so Mommy opted for some chili made by Daddy’s friend Patrick, along with a wonderful chocolate cake from Hickory Falls Grill. We also watched Robots, which Jackson got earlier this week and we hadn’t ever seen. It was wonderful, and will definitely be one of Jackson’s favorite movies for a while.

Mommy also got lots and lots of birthday cards and calls from friends and family, and we appreciated every one.

Jackson’s buddy Maggie had some extreme bladder control problems this weekend, so he and Mommy took her to the vet today. Turns out she has a urinary tract infection as well as a yeast infection. The vet said this was common in dogs of Maggie’s breed (Maltese-poodle mix) and age (eight years), and prescribed antibiotics and medicine to deal with it. Maggie’s already on a special diet for kidney problems, so we’re just going to do everything we can for her and take it one step at a time.

Jackson really doesn’t like to see Maggie unhappy. When the vet checked her out today, Jackson screamed his little head off. One it was over, though, they were both fine again—though they’d still have preferred to have spent the afternoon at home.

Please keep Maggie and her family in your prayers as we try to help her recover.

Jackson’s friends Conner and Cooper got a new baby sister today! Madelyn Morgan Newsom was born at 4:28pm, 20 inches long and weighing eight pounds, 5½ ounces. Mother and baby are both doing great, but they’ll still appreciate your prayers.

Conner was in kindergarten today, but Cooper came over and played with Jackson until this evening, when his daddy and grandmother came over to pick him up. They had a great time (Cooper is a fan of Buzz and Woody too), and wore each other out all day long.

On Friday night, Jackson spent his last night in his crib. Daddy got out the tools on Saturday and that night Jackson slept in his toddler bed. It was his first time sleeping in a bed he could get in and out of himself, and he was very proud.

You might suppose that Mommy and Daddy spent a lot of time this weekend putting Jackson back in bed. You might be right. He’s loved his new bed (really just a new configuration of his old one) from the first moment he saw it, but he’s still getting accustomed to it and so are we. As soon as we put him into bed each night, he starts waving and saying “Bye!” thinking that once we leave, he can get out and play. We’re having quite a time explaining to him that this isn’t the case. Your prayers for a smooth transition (and more sleep for everybody) are much appreciated.

Jackson had quite a big weekend! It started late Friday afternoon when mommy left with a couple dozen church friends for a women’s retreat at Camp Hy-Lake. That left him alone with Daddy for some fun bachelor time!

We started off with a get-together at Antioch, where he found and adopted a broken plastic dinosaur from the bottom of the toy chest. He walked around for the rest of the evening holding up the dinosaur and going “ROOOWWWR!” We’re constantly amazed at what this kid’s picking up.

The next day we headed for Jackson and a visit with Grandma and Grandpa Campbell. Jackson had a great time with them, and with Grandpa’s hat!

The visit was great and much enjoyed by all. Jackson kept us entertained the whole time, and never slept. He fell asleep on the way back before we even got to the interstate.

Mommy returned on Sunday and Jackson was really happy to see her. She told us all about her weekend adventure and we told her all about ours, then everybody napped.

Everybody, that is, except for Daddy, who had lots of computer work to do, including catching up on Jackson’s Picturebook. We still have some photos to add for May through July 4, but there are lots of new ones there for your enjoyment. Hope you like them!

On Saturday, Mommy and Daddy took Jackson to the local park (”local” meaning about 150 feet from our back door) where he had a blast playing on the swings, sliding down and climbing up the slide, and generally being a boy. One of his favorites is the tube bridge between the fireman’s pole and the top of the slide, which puts him at eye level with the grownups.

While Mommy was trying to keep up with Jackson, she missed a step and turned her right ankle. She stayed off of it for the rest of the day, but on Sunday she called her doctor, who told her to come in on Tuesday morning to get it checked. Jackson and Daddy took her, and the doctor checked it out and said it was just a bad sprain. It looks like Mommy will be fine in a few days, if Jackson doesn’t learn to run faster than a limping Texas girl.

Mommy went out tonight with her friend Lois to visit a consignment sale. She found a few bargains, but Jackson’s favorite by far was the Buzz Lightyear that she found for $3. It appears to be in good working order, but we’re pretty sure that Jackson would love it either way.

Soon after he started playing with it, Jackson began to do the most peculiar thing: Every time he opened Buzz’s helmet, he’d put his finger against Buzz’s throat and utter two or three stage coughs, then go on playing.

After he did it two or three times, his mommy realized that he was re-enacting the scene in Toy Story where Buzz’s helmet first opens and Buzz gasps and wheezes thinking the air is “toxic.” After that, we couldn’t help laughing our heads off every time Jackson did it.

After a long delay, Jackson finally got to see Grandma and Grandpa Campbell again today. He was thrilled to death to see them, and climbed all over them both. Of course, one of the major highlights of these visits is getting to play with Grandpa’s musical dancing turkey, but he still had plenty of affection left over for the human inhabitants of the house!

We had a great visit with the folks, and are already looking forward to our next visit.