Halloween Costumes

I eluded yesterday that I would be revealing Jaxon's Halloween costume today. That revelation will take place below. But first, the creative process that led to the selection of Jaxon's costume. I wanted to do something fun, that would play off of Jaxon's name. So at first I thought of a "Jax-in-a-box" We didn't actually flesh out that idea, but Jaxon did try it out on his own. Alright, so it isn't really a box, but Jax-in-a-Basket is close enough.
The basket he is crawling around in is kept in the living room and all his toys and diapers, etc, go in here at the end of the day. But one day he decided to clean the thing out and climb in it himself. I suppose he wanted to see what Moses liked about it so much.


So with the Jax-in-a-box idea, not really Halloweenie enough, we decided to go with something a little more orange and dress Jaxon up as a pumpkin. But not just any pumpkin. He is a Jax-O-Lantern. Here he is with his brand new costume straight from Zellers.
He looks a little uneasy, but I think that's because the zipper opened up and his leg was showing through. Just a little wardrobe malfunction... the zipper worked fine the second time we used it, so it should last for the Halloween party next Monday.
Here he is, the little pumpkin, ready to go trick or treating and get lots of candy... candy that mom and dad will eat for him. I don't really think that we will take him out on Halloween. He is too little to really know what is going on. We might visit family or friends on Halloween, but most likely we will stay home and turn the lights off (so we don't get kids ringing our doorbell) and eat all the Halloween candy we bought for ourselves.
I'm still not sure what I'm going to dress up as for the Halloween party. Amanda has said she will dress up in her old Chem Tech lab coat and be a mad scientist. I don't have any costumes that people haven't already seen a hundred times, so I may need to go to Wal-mart, or Value Village and find something new (and cool). Amanda said I could wear her witch costume from last year, but I don't think my legs would look so hot in black fishnet leggings... just a hunch.

Jaxon 7 Months... Halloween is coming...

Yesterday was Jaxon's 7 month birthday. He has changed a lot since we brought him home from the hospital back in March. Here are a few random pictures of Jax.

For Grandma Pisko's birthday, we went to Okotoks to have dinner with the family. Here Jaxon is showing his support for the Calgary Flames by wearing Uncle Jay's hat. He didn't really like having the hat on his head, as you can see from the look on his face.

Here is another picture showing Jaxon's favorite thing to do... he loves to stick his tongue out and make "Raspberries". It wouldn't be so bad if he wouldn't do it during feeding time, during church, or if he didn't spit out so much drool while doing it.

Jaxon really likes eating baby food and trying new flavors. I believe these pictures were taken when he tried sweet potatoes for the first time. He also really liked beans, apples and plums, and peas and carrots. He wasn't too fond of the broccoli, potato, cheese casserole that I tried to give him though.

Like any baby, Jaxon likes to get himself really messy when he eats.

Here is Jaxon showing off more of his big boy clothes that he wore to church last week. He is finally getting big enough to fit into some of the really nice clothes that we've had hanging in his closet since he was born.

Halloween is coming up soon and I need to think of a good costume to wear. Amanda and I are having a little Halloween get together on Monday Oct 29 with some friends and we have a costume for Jaxon picked out, Amanda has a costume picked out, but I still need something to wear. In years past I have dressed up in a big foam cowboy hat... ... a purple velvet "Big Daddy" hat ...

... and last year I dressed up as Darth Vader ... So I need an idea for a good Halloween costume this year.

On a side note, Jaxon's Halloween costume is really great, and quite ingenious if I do say so myself. I will have pictures of him in his costume to put up tomorrow.

Tuxedo

Ever since he's been back from Ottawa, Jaxon's sleep patterns have been a little bit off. He likes to stay up late, and he wakes up in the middle of the night again. On the other side, he now falls asleep in random places. Jaxon fell asleep in his high chair yesterday after eating lunch. He was crying and fussing and then all of a sudden he was quiet, and we turned around and he was sleeping.

We dressed up Jaxon in his 3 piece Tuxedo for Church today. He got this suit from his Aunt Mel for Christmas last year, 3 months before he was even born. He looks a little but tired in the picture below, but that's just because we have 9:00 church.

Jaxon is getting really good at knowing when to pose for the camera. As the following three pictures show.

As soon as Jaxon saw the camera in my hand, he clasped his hands together and put on his little smile...

... I did have to call his name to get him to look at the camera, but he had the cute look down all on his own.

Halloween Candy

Jaxon and Amanda are finally back home in Calgary. They arrived home on Wednesday October 3. Since that time, Jaxon had been getting used to crawling and climbing around the house. Here is a picture of Jaxon being a ninja.

Since he's been home, Jaxon had been eating food while sitting in his high chair. Here is a picture of Jaxon the first time we put him in his high chair. He really likes being in the high chair (as long as there is food in front of him). Since Jaxon is sitting right here as I'm updating this, I'll let him tell you his first impression of being in the high chair. Jaxon says, "gf vbhyj bnuvm/ jkk h" (Note: those are actual letters that Jaxon typed on the keyboard.)

One night, Tim decided to let Jaxon ride in his litte dump truck, only it was a little too small for him to fit in. (either that, or Jaxon is getting a little too big)

Jaxon likes to explore everything around the house. One day he decided he wanted to investigate the underside of his saucer.

This is what Amanda sees first thing in the morning when she goes to get Jaxon for breakfast. He is standing waiting at the end of the crib looking out the door.

If you duck down behind the end of the crib, then you will see Jaxon peeking his head out to try and see where you went to.

We took Jaxon to get his 6 month shots on Thursday night. He didn't really mind the first two needles, but the third and fourth ones put him over the edge. He is now 17.5 pounds, and 26 inches, and is growing like a weed. He likes to eat his baby cereal and really likes carrots, and apparently he also really likes candy (he must get that from his mother.) We went to Wal-mart today and picked up some candy for Halloween (it won't last until Halloween, and we have no plans on handing any out on Halloween, it's just for us to eat) Here is Jaxon with a little bag of skittles.

We got so much candy that the bowl was over flowing. But it will probably be gone by Halloween.

Climbing Jaxon

Today Amanda sent me the picture Jaxon posted below. He has now learned how to climb up furniture and get himself into a standing position. I really can't believe it. Last week he was really just learning to crawl, and now he's climbing chairs. Crazy.

One More Week

After spending the weekend with Amanda and Jaxon in Ottawa, being back in Calgary for one more week of Bachelorhood is going to be tough. Amanda and Jaxon have been in Ottawa since August 30, and I have been in Calgary since September 6, but I took Monday off this week and went to visit for the weekend (Friday to Monday) The quick 3 day weekend trip was a nice treat to see the wife and kid, but it wasn't really long enough. I couldn't believe how much Jaxon had changed just in the two weeks since I had last seen him. He has gotten a lot bigger, he is crawling really well (he hasn't mastered the alternating hand crawl yet, but he has the two handed caterpillar crawl down pat), he stops in the middle of crawling and will sit up on his own, and his favorite thing to do now is to stick his tongue out and make spitting noises at you. Thanks to Grandpa Peter for teaching him that one. When Amanda gets back to Calgary with the video camera I will upload a really funny video of Jaxon showing off his spitting skills. Speaking of Amanda getting back, she and the baby will be flying in to Calgary on October 3. It's been a long time.

I have a few more pictures of Jaxon below. These are pics that Amanda sent me last week.

Jaxon trying to tell mom that he needs his diaper changed. He likes to play with his diapers.

Jaxon learning how to juggle. He likes when you roll the juggling balls to him.

Jaxon posing for the camera. He is getting to be the little poser when the camera is in his face.

Jaxon chewing his fingers

Jaxon lying on the carpet... looking a little spaced.

Jaxon crawling and smiling

Another big grin for the camera... Man look how chubby those cheeks are getting.

videos

Today

Well I think now that I have got all the past posts of Jaxon's life on the website, I can finally begin to update this site with current events and happenings. I still have a few more pictures of Jaxon that I'll post below, but here is what's been going on.

• I've been back in Calgary for a week and a half, which means Amanda and Jaxon have been in Ottawa with out me for the same amount of time.
  
• Peter and Charlene started the cruise yesterday, but left Ottawa on Saturday, so Amanda has been alone with the baby for 2 whole days.
• Since I've been a bachelor, I've decided to grow a "bachelor beard" Maybe I'll post some pictures of the beard up here...
• I've managed to complete five of the 13 tasks that Amanda left for me to do while I'm at home with out her.
• I will be flying to Ottawa this weekend to visit Amanda and Jaxon. A month is a really long time to be without your wife and son.
  

Here are some picture of Jaxon that Amanda has e-mailed to me.

Jaxon sucking on a cloth after his bath. He likes to suck on things.

Jaxon also likes to be a ham for the camera. Here he is posing for the camera waiting for his picture to be taken.

Jaxon says "I'm ready for my closeup"

Another big grin for the camera.

Jaxon peeking up over the steps from the living room into the kitchen.

Jaxon sitting on the front steps with Grandpa. He really likes sitting outside (so I hear)

He looks like such a big boy in this picture.

Speaking of being a big boy, Jaxon is already learning how to read the TV times so he knows when his shows will be on.

Pisko family in Ottawa (August 30 - September 6)

On August 30, we all flew to Ottawa for a last little vacation before summer ended. The plan was that Tim would stay for a week, and then Amanda and Jaxon would stay for the entire month of September looking after the house and Rachel while Peter and Charlene were on a cruise to Hawaii. We arrived in Ottawa late on the 30th, and the next morning we were off on an overnight trip through New York State to Vermont. We drove to Plattsburg, NY and stopped off to see the Ausable Chasm, but it wasn't really anything great to see. Here is a picture of Jaxon hanging over the bridge at the top of the chasm
Here we are waiting on the shores of Lake Champlain for the ferry to come and take us across the lake to Burlington Vermont. If you look in background you can see Vermont.

Jaxon's first steps in sand. He didn't really like the feeling of the sand between his toes.

At the hotel in Burlington, Jaxon went swimming for the first time. He really enjoyed it because the water was nice and warm.

Jaxon with Dad getting ready to go into the water.

Jaxon swimming with Mommy and Daddy

Jaxon didn't like the hot tub. The water was way too warm for him, but he did like snuggling with mommy in the towel and getting dry.
After the morning swim we were on the road to see some of the sights of Vermont. The major highlight was the Ben and Jerry's Factory. Here is Jaxon with Grandpa pretending to be Ben and Jerry.
Jaxon really enjoyed sitting in the grass at the Ben & Jerry factory.
Back in Ottawa after the Vermont trip, Jaxon had his first taste of solid food...
He was all smiles for his first taste of the baby cereal.

Jaxon likes to roll around on the floor and chat with whoever is listening (even if no one is listening he still likes to chat... I think he just really likes the sound of his voice)Jaxon grinning as he gets fed some more cereal. Since we started giving him some baby cereal, he has been growing like a weed
Jaxon's first attempt at green beans. He didn't enjoy them that much. Probably a little too soon.