Dear Jackson,
Today we began the celebration of your first birthday, although you seemed pretty oblivious to the importance of the day. We had our usual playdate with your closest friends (Holden, Tucker, Charlie, Wells, Asher, Elliott, and Betsy), and it was a two hour whirlwind of activity and fun. You like the babies and try to touch their faces and steal their pacis, although you never otherwise use a paci. You enjoy the bigger boys too but are also content to just watch and play on your own. Your other favorite playmate is Thatcher. I'm hoping sharing will come somewhat naturally to you since you've shared all of your toys with him from day one. I've tried to teach Thatcher to leave your things alone, but then you go and stick them in his mouth. You two "fight" over toys sometimes, and you enjoy every second of it. You like his crate too, and whenever you can, you get in it.
Independence is something I've tried to instill in you, and boy have you taken to it! You entertain yourself in your room for 10-20 minutes at a time and will often play alone in the kitchen floor even longer if I leave the tupperware cabinet open. This week you've really enjoyed your music table and play crayons that you alternately eat and slam together to make noise. Oh you love to make noise! Slamming things into tables or against each other or the door--it doesn't matter so long as it's loud. You love music too and begin bouncing when you hear it. You and I dance around to Taylor Swift & Pandora stations, and you and your Daddy listen to bluegrass and the Lumineers a lot.
Your typical day begins around 6 a.m. with a bottle followed by Baby Einstein. Then it's a little bit of play time and breakfast. Most mornings we feed you a smoothie (banana, strawberries, blueberries, and spinach) mixed with oatmeal, and then you feed yourself finger foods like scrambled eggs, bread, cheese, and puffs. You like to share your finger foods with Thatcher.
You're ready for a nap by 9 a.m. and usually sleep about an hour and a half. After your nap we play some more, read books if you'll sit still, and if you're lucky, I let you climb the stairs, which is one of your most favorite things to do. You've been climbing them for months! And while you've been able to walk for over a month now, it's just been in the last week that you've chosen to do so with great frequency. Some days you walk over half the time! It's really fun to watch; you usually look like Frankstein with your arms out straight in front of you.
Sometimes we run errands together, and you're such a good shopper! You're patient and pleasant and love watching people and riding in the cart. We shopped one day for 3 hours, and I think you enjoyed it much more than I did. Your Nana and Pops take you shopping a lot.
We have lunch around noon, and your Daddy often comes home to eat and visit. Your face lights up whenever you see him. You're a great eater, and lunch is more veggies and fruit with some sort of protein and grain. You like black beans, yogurt, and everything else we've given you (except mashed potatoes). Since today was your birthday I let you try chocolate milk, and you're a fan! Your birthday party is Saturday, and then you'll finally get to try cake, which will be your first taste of a sweet.
Your next nap begins 3 and a half hours after your first one ends, and it's usually only an hour. After this nap we like to meet a friend to walk if it's warm enough. We walk with Keri and Lindsay and Betsy a lot. Thatcher loves to go with us. You eat an early dinner around 5:00. You have a bath every other night, and this is one of your favorite activities. You squeal every time we head upstairs and would play in the tub for hours if we'd let you.
You're usually ready to go to bed pretty early regardless of what is going on and lights are almost always out by 7:00. Either Daddy or I give you your bottle in the dark with the sound machine going, and when we lay you down on your belly in your crib, you push your behind up in the air and pull your puppy underneath you. You're so precious.
One of the most striking things about you is how happy you are. You smile a lot, laugh in delight often, and like everyone. I'm often asked if you ever have bad days, and thankfully those days are rare and just when you're not feeling 100%. And thankfully you've never even had a fever and have enjoyed a healthy first year of life with only the occasional runny/stuffed up nose.
Last weekend Daddy and I left you with grandparents for the weekend (Grandma half the time and Gan and Poppy the other half), and I don't think you missed us one bit. Your grandparents adore you, and you're such an easy baby that it makes it really fun for them to keep you.
I am so glad to be your mom and am excited about seeing how you grow and who you become. I am so thankful the Lord blessed us with you.
Love,
Mommy
p.s. I am so thankful that you're my son.
While the photographs on Pinterest are great eye candy, one of my pet peeves about Pinterest is that sometimes all the pinned item is is a great photograph--a photograph that practically seduces you into making a recipe that you might know better than to make if it weren't for the incredible photograph. My first Pinterest fail was Reese's Krispies; I thought peanut butter, chocolate, and Rice Krispies would have to be awesome combined, but you couldn't give these "treats" away. That experience made me wary and was reinforced by my next experiment that rendered a mediocre dessert. The photographs trick me into bad ideas! I gave Pinterest one more try last night and made baked s'mores and finally cooking success! 
