Trips and Jackson update.

Lots to update on, so here goes!

First the traveling:
My Aunt (O'Sheila) and Uncle Don came to visit 2 weeks ago. They stayed home with Jackson while I worked Monday through Thursday. Thursday night was my going-away for work, which was very nice. There were about 25 people there and we all had a good time. Sheila went with us, but Don stayed home and slept. When we got home from dinner, we changed and loaded Don, Sheila, me, and Jackson into the car for the drive to Ohio. (Daddy stayed home.) It's normally a 10.5 hour drive. Don made it in 9.5. Hmmm... how'd that happen? Jackson did very well--slept most of the way, and only fussed for about 2 hours on and off. Once we stopped and changed his diaper, he was happy again and went back to sleep.

That was Thursday. Saturday we went to Hacker (my mom's side) Family Christmas in Cambridge, OH. 2.5 hours each way. Jackson didn't do so well this time. He has a hard time when there's someone in the backseat with him (me this time) and they won't take him out of his carseat. The ride home was a little better because he was VERY tired and finally fell asleep. Christmas was good. It's always nice to see family that I don't get to visit with very often.

Sunday Jackson and I drove to my dad's house in KY. 1.5 hours each way. I timed it better and since it was just the two of us, no one in the backseat with him, he was fine to sleep. He slept the whole way there and back. Also had a nice visit with Dad, Grammy, and PaPa. Although he wouldn't go see any of them. He was very clingy. I think he was having a hard time since Daddy wasn't there. He's been fine since we've been home.

Wednesday Jackson and I flew back to AR. What an adventure. Pushing him in his umbrella stroller with my CPAP hanging on it, his backpack diaper bag on my back, and carrying his *not small* carseat through the airport. Security was extra fun. I didn't buy him a ticket, but there was an extra seat from Dayton-Charlotte, so I was able to put his carseat in the seat next to me and put him in it. Then he proceded to scream for the entire flight and kick the lady's seat in front of him. Joy. From Charlotte-Little Rock, I gate-checked the seat and held him on my lap. He fell asleep about 10 seconds after we took off and didn't wake up until after we landed. YAY! Much better!!! We had to get up 3 hours early and I was exhausted, so when we got home, Jackson and Mommy took naps while Daddy went to work!

So overall, we were travelling 25 hours over the course of a week. That's a lot for a 14-month old, but he did well overall. He's a trooper for sure!!


Now on to the Jackson news:

He was evaluated the Monday before we left for possible delays in any area. He tested okay in all but one, ranging from 11-month level to 13-month level. But in one area (receptive communication) he only tested at a 6-month level. Receptive communication is how they react to sounds around them, like someone talking, or a noise, etc. He had a hearing test yesterday which he passed with flying colors. So now it's on to speech therapy. We're hoping to get something started SOON since we'll only have about a month before it'll be time to move to Japan. The therapist that tested him wrote a very thorough report and at the end she gave us a list of things we can be working on. I'm trying to do those whenever I can. I put it on the fridge to remind me! Some are common sense, but some are things you wouldn't think to do. Hopefully with a little therapy he'll be caught up to his age group sooner rather than later.


On a side note, I'm *almost* officially a stay-at-home mom. I have 3 more days of work, plus one day of out-processing, but basically I'm done working. It's a little strange! But I have a checklist of the things I'd like to get done each day, so it still kinda feels like work a little. I'm planning on cooking every weekday and that will be a BIG change for me! I'm also planning on exercising, but we're on day 2 and it hasn't happened yet. I'm just going to have to figure out where it works best at. Probably the morning between breakfast and nap? Who knows?! Well, Jackson's going to be waking up any minute, so I guess that's all for now.