More Firsts!!

I started this post more than 4 weeks ago but unfortunately time just went too quickly while we were in Iowa.  Busy, busy, busy is what we were!  Jakson had loads of fun no his first trip to Iowa where he seemed to develop at rapid speeds!  It's almost as we left an infant in London and have returned with a big boy! 

His first big achievement is getting around - he's well and truly on the move although i'm not sure i'd call it crawling - he sort of belly shuffles around the house - backwards!  That's right, he goes backwards, which i think is normal for many babies???  He's all over the place tho - if i turn my back for a second he's backed his way across the room and ended up under a table, or under the couch or into a corner.  It's hilarious watching him go.  He does get up on all fours (or on two arms, a knee and a foot) only to belly flop back down and start his little army shuffle.  Oh and he also scoots on his butt around the place, quite amusing if you ask me.  Here he is under the chair/table in the kitchen:

Where's Jakson???

He is also talking up a storm!  Dadadadadada or baabababababa or blahblahblah, whatever sound he wants to churn out on repeat is what he's saying.  It seems as tho he has a lot to say these days.  And he's also holding his own bottle - which is just way too cute.  He will literally snatch it out of my hands when he's hungry, pop it in his mouth and start chugging!  My little baby isn't so little anymore!!

Now thinking back over the last six weeks it's hard to remember when he started doing these things, it just seems like when we arrived in Iowa he changed.  But we had so much fun in Iowa it's no wonder.  He got to spend lots of time getting to know Nanny Kat and Grandpa Don, which was certainly the highlight of our trip!

Snuggling with Nanny Kat & Grandpa Don

Hanging out with Grandpa Don

And would you believe the weather was pretty amazing in Iowa?!  I could hardly believe how much we were able to get out and about and enjoy the days - it was a nearly 40 degrees for a number of days - IN DEC!! Now that's simply unheard of!  But it was great for us as Jakson was able to take his first ride on a real swing, which he found....interesting.  He didn't get super excited on his first go but he didn't reject it completely either.  He just sorta went with it.  But by the second and certainly the 3rd time we had him smiling. 

Nanny Kat pushing Jakson on the swing

And of course we celebrated Jakson's first Christmas while in Iowa.  I think he was still too young to understand it all but it sure was fun getting him dressed up in his Christmas duds and watching his reaction to it all.  Here is Jaksons first Christmas in photos:

Christmas Morning

Jakson's 1st stocking

Enjoying a walk before lunch

We stopped at the park for some fun

Christmas ride down the slide!

More fun on the swings!

Happy Christmas with Nanny Kat & Grandpa Don

Santa Butt is on the move...

Jakson enjoying christmas cuddles with daddy!

Jakson got to meet one of mummy's oldest friends
on Christmas eve!

I'm so bummed I didn't get any pictures of Jakson with some my other friends Jaime, Tina & Sarah + their gorgeous children.  Jakson got to spend lots of time getting to know his Iowa friends and he even went swimming, to a soft play area, to the mall (a lot) and out to eat (also a lot).  It was lots of fun hanging out with everyone and getting to spend some quality time with some of my oldest and dearest friends.  I miss you all!! xxx

Once we returned to London we had a few days to chill out and recover from jetlag before New Years was upon us.  We had a pretty chilled out New Years, went over to our friends Adam & Lou's for the afternoon and spent the night.  I think the babies had a pretty good time, as you can see from the pictures below:

New Years bath fun w/Livvy & Joshua

Story time before bed!!

So all in all we had a great time in Iowa and Jakson had some great first experiences.  Now it's time to kick-start an amazing 2012 with the little man and wait for the next couple of firsts!!