Birthdays and Applesauce!

What a day... Jackson and Daddy kept a secret from Mommy this morning - Grandma and Papa were on their way to surprise me for my birthday! We all had a fun day hanging out and playing around. And tomorrow we'll get to see some of the aunties and uncles when we get together before our softball game.

Jackson has been doing a wonderful job eating his rice cereal so we decided Mommy's birthday was a great time to graduate on to trying out some more big boy food - applesauce! As you can see he's not quite sure about the new taste... we'll keep working on it!

Family Pic at the end of the day... too much excitement for Jackson! =)

The Cool Hat

There are just so many fun things to do on a Sunday when you have on a super-cool hat...

... you can check out that other cool guy in the mirror...

... strike yet another adorable pose for Mommy...
... and even practice your superman impersonation -

look Mom, no hands!

Zoo-mania!

Mommy and Daddy decided to take advantage of a week off of work and the beautiful weather today and take Jackson for his first trip to the zoo! Miller Park Zoo is a smaller local zoo, but a good addition to Jackson's list of firsts... he really enjoyed walking around in the stroller and checking everything out. Maybe didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to the animals yet, but he enjoyed being out and about all the same - although as you'll see in the pictures, he didn't quite make it to all the way through the zoo before he was all tuckered out! =)

All ready for the big trip!

Making faces at Mommy on the way to the zoo

Checking out some animals with Daddy

Petting the tiger with Mommy

All worn out

Five Months!

Believe it or not, Jackson is FIVE MONTHS old today. Happy birthday to our adorable baby boy!

Yet Another First for Jackson...

Mommy and Daddy were finally able to get a good picture of one of Jackson's latest "firsts" - his first two teeth! His front two bottom teeth came through just over a week ago on May 8 - in time for Mother's Day! We've enjoyed his toothless little smile, but we're looking forward to when he can smile and "show us your teeth" like cousin Maddy! =)

Fun with Mirrors

Jackson loves mirrors... maybe because he knows he's such a cutie to look at?! =)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone, especially those grandmas and moms nearest and dearest to us!

Grandma Carol

Grandma Peggy

Aunt Stacy

And of course, Mommy is THRILLED to be celebrating her 1st Mother's Day with my little man!!!

Sunshine!

Yesterday Jackson and I survived our first day at daycare (Jackson) and back at work (Mommy). It was a little bit rough on Mommy, but it definitely helped that when I dropped the lil man off at daycare in the morning he was smiling and ready to play! Work was... well, it's work, so we'll leave it at that.

Ready for work and daycare... Jackson wore his Super Baby outfit!

Luckily during the month of May we're easing into things, and only doing that daycare/working business on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Which means that today Mommy and Jackson got to stay home and hang out! We took advantage of the sunshine and played outside, where Jackson practiced his many expressions...

Lil' Illini

My lil' Illini man - not just anyone could pull off this look, you know, but Jackson seems to wear it well... and of course orange and blue are great colors for him!

It's May!

It's May already... and my little man is 4 1/2 months old! Time really does fly when you're having fun! This first picture makes me think of that song "I don't want to work... I just want to bang on the drum all day!" =)