Pretty Keen At Month Eighteen!

September

What's new baby boo?

• Not eating. Or should I say having one single bite of anything offered and then spitting the rest out. 
• I'm pretty sure he says, "shoes..." in the cutest most unintelligible baby way possible. 
• Imitation seems to be a big thing for him now as he can copy a movement in just seconds where as it used to take him days/weeks/months. I'm impressed! He'll actually sign back to me now though I'm not entirely sure he understands all of them. 
• One thing I reeeeeeaaaaaaaaally love that he does now is runs smiling to me for hugs. Mmmmmmmm happy baby hugs. Finally it's not just Daddy we want to hug & snug all the time. 
• Chatting before falling asleep? He's up there hoo-ing and babbling up a storm for 15min to an hour! At first I was both alarmed and annoyed but then a ton of other Moms told me that it's just how they process their day and wind down.

Roadtrip To Gma & Gpa's House!!
We took a long weekend and drove down to Canon City to hang out at Gma Sylvia & Gpa Paul's mountain home. So many new things to explore! Jaxen really had a great time out there in the wilderness and did very well when Gma & Gpa watched him so Ben and I could go climbing at Shelf and then the next day at Voyager. What we found out the hard way on this trip is that it's now a bad idea to try to travel over nap time. It just won't happen. On our way down he only ended up sleeping for 30 min. As a result, he woke up pretty sick on Sunday and has since shared that sickness with me. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Luckily it was no more than a runny nose and scratchy throat.

October

• Down the stairs? No problem! As long as there is a railing to hold on to!
• Climbing on everything! I guess that's what I get for taking him climbing all the time in utero! Ben built him a climbing wall one weekend so we can start working on him.
• Trying to jump but not being successful.
• The newest craze at the playground these days is going down slides! He's not quite ready to do it himself but he'll go down holding my hands.
• Intermittent 6am(ish) wakings. Booooooooooo. At least they're short lived. Possibly teeth on the way?
• Project Daylight-Savings-Baby-Clock Reset: 
• [NIGHT]begin 10/22 new bed time = 8:45pm 
• 10/26 new bed time = 9pm
• 10/29 new bed time = 9:15pm
• 11/2 new bed time = 9:30pm 
• [NAP] 1:30/1:45/2pm     This worked VERY well. Next time I'll start earlier though. While everyone else was having a hard time the morning daylight savings time ended, Jaxen slept 'til 7:15. As usual, the things that everyone seems to struggle with the most are not an issue for us.

Gma J's Visit!
We had a nice long visit with Gma J this month! We took Gma to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins, saw some farm animals and got a little scared of the pigs. Thanks for coming to visit!

Halloween
I can't thank Kelsey enough for babysitting for us so we could go to a costume party!!!!!!!!!!! We had a great time!! Thanks to Jared & Tina for hosting an awesome get together too. Ben went as a zombie and I went as Lara Croft which was probably one of the best costumes I've ever put together. Before we went to the party we dressed Jaxen up in his triceratops costume and he helped us hand out candy. It didn't last long though. He didn't like the hat part. I already have ideas for next Halloween!!!!!!! There really need to be more Halloweens.

Click here for an excellent cooking video.

25lbs                         32.5" tall

      November

•  That guy is looking me square in the eyes and doing exactly what I told him NOT to do. 
• The only time Jaxen sits still is when he's trying to figure out how something works. Other than that we are GO, GO, GO all day long.
• Growing less in the horizontal plane and more in the vertical one.
• Started swim lessons at Swim Otters! First 6 lessons Kathy had to work through a lot of crying but it progressively got less and less. The work I did with him this summer in the pool seemed to pay off, he was somewhat used to floating and could hold his breath when going under. I plan to keep him in most of winter just for something to do and a way to get his energy out. He naps soooooooooooooooooooooooooo well on those days.
• There is a shortage on mugs and bowls lately as Jaxen can now reach the counter tops, pull things off, then throw them with considerable force.
• According to weeks of messy diapers, fussiness, and lack of eating there are definitely teeth on the way. I still don't see anything yet but I'm suspecting the cuspid's.
• At the indoor playgrounds, my kid is the one who's always trying to escape into the great outdoors. Having had our first batch of unacceptable single digit weather, this disinterest makes me nervous. It was a hard week to get through. Luckily, Colorado is generally NOT cold <3

A MT Thanksgiving
  Just like last Christmas, we split the drive into two parts and stayed in Casper.We decided to retest the "no napping in the car anymore" theory and left around 1pm. A 30 min nap happened and he held up like a trooper. I just get so nervous when we have to mess up our sleep schedule...it's sooooooo important to sleep! So far, Jaxen as proven to be pretty a pretty flexible guy though.
  Once we got to Gma & Gpa's house there were all kinds of new places to explore! There was a kitty to chase, MORE doggies to snuggle and Jaxen sure enjoyed entertaining Great Grandma and Great Grandpa, uncle Rory and aunt Michelle, uncle Ryan and aunt Kasey with his large smiles, giggles and antics of every kind. We even made friends with Chase next door who was nice enough to share his extra stroller, some toys and his sled! We had a really great time and a very delicious Thanksgiving and we are so grateful to have been able to be with everyone. It was very hard for me to leave. Wish you were closer Mom...
  All too soon, it was time to hit the road in our new black Friday purchase. That Rav4 made all the difference on the snowy trek back to Colorado. Stupidly, we re-retried traveling over nap time and he actually did nap for about 45 min just before we got to Casper. Next time I'm booking a hotel with a pool, making sure we can do an early check in, traveling in the morning and doing nap time at the hotel. THERE. It's in writing. Hold me to it.

Photos from the last three months are HERE.

Click here for our Xmas ideas! 

I update this list frequently so check back. If an item disappears it's already been purchased or I changed my mind and removed it in favor of something else.

HOWEVER, WE WOULD RATHER YOU BUY JAXEN SOMETHING ACTIVE LIKE SWIM LESSONS OR ACTIVE INDOOR STUFF.
He barely touches the majority of the toys we have now anyway.

+9 million accuracy