One of a Kind

Jakob created this M & M:

Big Boy

Jakob went to bed again last night with no problems. Todd took him upstairs, read him a story and that was it! He did come into our room this morning at 5:30 a.m. I told him to go back to sleep for a couple of hours and then he could come into our bed- he went back to bed for 2 minutes, came back in and said "I slept all night!". I knew he wasn't feeling well, so I decided to let him stay until it was time for me to get up. He does have a surprise waiting (a hot wheel), so he said he will sleep all night in his bed tonight so he can have it tomorrow morning.

His cough is worse than yesterday and he said his throat hurts, so I am keeping him out of school today. I made sure I asked if his chest hurt- don't want it to turn into pnuemonia!

I usually take Jake and Kaleb's picture on Wednesday to mark Kaleb's age, but because Jake is sick, they went solo today.

Lots of changes

Jakob has made some really big changes in the past few weeks and we are so proud of him.

As I mentioned before, he has been trying new foods. He has been trying and eating for the most part just about every dinner I have made (with the exception of my home made pot pie)- he even tried a cucumber and my Mom's American Chop Suey (wasn't too keen on the onions, so he could not continue).

Another big change for us is he has slept in his own bed all night by himself! This is a big thing for us as Jake has shared our bed or his with one or both of us since he was an infant. (There was a 2 month period when he was 10 months old that he did nap and sleep in his crib, but he stopped when we spent a week in Nashville and then Todd started a different shift when we returned...totally messed him up). We have tried as he got older to get him to stay in his toddler bed or his big boy bed for the last couple of years, the only way he would was if we put him in his bed AFTER he fell asleep- and then he would only last 2-6 hours at most. So, Sunday night Todd read him a story and laid down with him until he fell asleep (around 9:30 p.m.). He came in our room about 1:30 a.m. wanting to come in the bed (yeah, no room as Kaleb and I are now sharing the King size with Daddy rather than in Jake's Full size) and softly asked him to go back to bed and he did! I think he came in one more time and then finally went back to bed on his own until morning. As a "treat" we gave him one of the trains (Bulgie) we had stashed for a special occasion. He was so excited. Last night I wanted him to go to bed around 9 p.m., but with some compromise he went at 10 p.m. (normal for him). Kaleb and I read him a story and then came downstairs- he stayed in bed (called down to me once when I walked down the stairs) until around 4 a.m. He was a little more adamant this time about sleeping in our bed, with a little more persuasion than the night before I got him to go to bed- he actually stormed out and slammed our bedroom door. He stayed in his bed until morning. Pheew. Hopefully we have a good night tonight..he knows that there are more surprises coming from KinderTrains.com.

We are having a time getting him to stay clear of Kaleb as he has yet another cold. Do not want Kaleb to get sick (he has been congested in the mornings but usually clears up within an hour) again!

At times I feel like a broken record, constantly reminding him to do this or that, it's rather frustrating. After watching Nanny 911 last week (Todd watched it with me) for the first time. The couple had 3 out of control kids and the parents were not on the same page. The older child was blamed for a lot and the Mother would take her frustrations out on him. They determined that he was acting out with negative behavior because he was not getting enough "atta boys" for good behavior and he wasn't getting the one-on-one time with his parents that he used to get. The Mother was also nagging about every little thing rather than picking the important battles to fight. After one week of working with the family, things drastically changed for them. So looking at the footage gave us ideas on how we could change some things around here so it doesn't seem so "crazy" at times. Sometimes we forget what we should be doing when our "routines" are changed. With more positive encouragement and less nagging, we have seen a change in Jakob this week. Still lots of energy though!!

Family Photo Journal

I have created a new link on all of our pages to our new "Family Photo Journal". Rather than posting a ton of pictures on the kids' pages, it will be easier to post them here. Feel free to comment or upload!

Enjoy!

New Obsession

Jake has had a few days off from school due to parent teacher conferences..and boy is he buzzing around!

Last night we lined up all of his Pixar Cars..he is only missing a few believe it or not!

Conference with his teacher went well. She told us that she just loves Jakob and he is very bright- she is curious to see how he turns out in life (she said it wouldn't surprise her if he is a comedian with his "dry" humor). His "report card" was almost all 3's (excellent) with a few 2's (showing improvement). Aside from remarks noted under"Cognitive, Personal/Social, Physical, and Creative Domain", she said: "Jakob is a charming and humorous child. He has a clear understanding of age appropriate concepts and enjoys interacting with adults and peers. At times, Jakob has difficulty sustaining attention and can be overly concerned with others' behavior or actions. Recently, Jakob has been able to sustain attention and is expanding his play and/or projects."

I think I had mentioned before that he is trying new foods (crab rangoon, shrimp, jambalaya to name a few..). We seem to have a little difficulty with him dressing himself (he now needs "help" with his shirt and socks..). His memory is out of this world; he also always seems to know who I am on the phone with when no names are mentioned and know what/who I am talking about (even if I spell something out!!).

He still has a wonderful love for Kaleb. "Mom, I love him so much I can't stop kissing him!".

Hopefully it will remain!!

Today while pumping breast milk, he says "Wow Mom, that is a cool machine!".

The kid is a trip! Although he is a bit much at times, I will miss being home with him when I return to work. I am going to be helping out at class snack time this Thursday and next- looking forward to that!!

Behind the Scenes {Jake's First Field Trip}

Today we went on a field trip (first one!) with Jake's class. We were able to see what it is like "behind the scenes" in a grocery store (Big Y, Norwich). It was pretty neat- in about an hour and a half we visited the bakery, deli, produce section, seafood and meat counters, cooler and freezer, learned how to operate the register, and ate pizza!!

Here are some pictures:

Brandi decorating a cake

The ovens where rolls are baked (gloves on a rack means it is HOT!)

Where produce is delivered (we learned how to make green bananas turn yellow once they are delivered) and stored

Judy gave us cheese from the deli

Henry made us a party pizza for snack later on

We learned about some of the creatures sold in the seafood department- all of the kids were able to touch a lobster

Learning how to run a cash register- "Price check, isle 14"

"Mom, do you have any money?"

Kaleb hanging out

Cheeze

Jake's class is going on a field trip to a local grocery store on Tuesday and I get to go...woohoo!

Mom, Mommy, Mooom

Jakob: "Mom, can you turn the baby down?!"

Jakob: "Mom, can we have 2 babies like on TLC?!"

Big Goob

Jakob is excited to be back to school! He told me the highlight of his first day back was seeing his teacher and her new hair (it was in a ponytail!). Almost all of the kids were sick over vacation =(.

He told me last night that he wanted to go to the emergency room because he had an ear ache...I said no and then he said "I want to go see DR C!". Kids. I then had to go into how we do not want to go to the ER again unless we absolutely have to.

Before school today