Thank you Carolina!!

The Carolinas are miracle working states.

In the 2+ weeks we were there, Jackson has started to talk!  Yeah, he was saying things here and there before but he is seriously talking now!  And, it's as I suspected, he talks in phrases and sentences - forget one word at a time!  I don't know if it was the change in environment, being around different/more people, or if it just clicked one day...but I don't care the reason.  I'm just one proud Momma!

Here's a list of all the new things he's saying/doing since my last post about it:

-  "See it?" and pointing when he wants something.

-  "I did it!"

-  "Do it again!"

-  "Good catch!"

-  "Touchdown!" - He throws his arms up and everything! PS - he started saying this when watching basketball??

-  "Quack, quack, quack" like a duck

-  "Ruff, ruff, ruff" like a dog

-  He will point to his nose and other parts when really pushed.  He HATES this game and usually does it with a huff and a puff to get us off his case.  :-)

-  "Vroom, vroom" when playing with a car or truck.

-  "Nana" and "Grandma" - he knows what he's doing to wrap those grandparents around that pinky!!

-  "Glasses"

-  "Cookie"

-  "Weeeeee!" when going down the slide.

- "Me" - when he wants us to give him something, especially a bite of something we are eating.

- "Shake, shake, shake!" when we are singing the "Shake your booty" song.

I'm sure there's others that I'm leaving out (I should've written them down) but that shows you exactly how much he's said in just TWO WEEKS!  It's pretty unbelievable.

Now for some cutesy stories from the trip:

1.  I was driving my mom's car around and went to visit my brother and sister-in-law.  I was backing out of their extremely slender driveway and ran over the curb.  The bottom of the back bumper hit the pavement hard.  Just then I heard a very audible, "UH OH!" from the backseat.  That's right buddy, if Momma messed up Nana's car...that's a big uh oh!

2.  One night after dinner my mom gave Jackson a paper towel and told him to wipe his face.  He paused, looked at it, put it behind him and started wiping his rear end.  We were all in tears from laughing so hard!

3.  When staying with my dad in the hospital, I turned my back for a second to see the room door wide open and Jackson gone.  I ran out in a panic only to see him running as fast as he could down the hall with open arms to a group of young nurses.  One of them squatted down, spread her arms open, and scooped him up.  (It was like one of those slow-mo meadow scenes in the movies.)  They all died laughing.  Clearly, a group of ladies would only be standing in a group to wait for him?!  Such a ladies man!

4.  Jackson was introduced into the never-ending fun of throwing rocks in a creek and hitting a stick against a tree.  We, literally, had to pry him away from both activities.  At one point, my step-dad tried putting him on his shoulders to appease the tantrum, which just resulted in Jackson beating on the top of his head and pulling his hair the entire way back to the house.

5.  We got to put Jackson in the pool for the first time this year at Bryan's mom's new house.  He was a little hesitant at first, but loved splashing us in the kiddie pool and loved when Bryan would bounce him around and help him kick his feet in the big pool.  He wasn't so crazy about me holding onto him, but I don't blame him.  Being in Daddy's arms feels much safer!

I'm super glad we got to take this trip for so many reasons.  The Carolinas are good for the soul and for the speech!

XOXO