Batter Up!

Fun in the sun last weekend....Jakob had so much fun with the automatic tee ball set. Every time I took a little video on my camera, he hit the ball (I would post, but the lighting was off- little too bright and it was really windy).

A little drama Tuesday night...Chinese take out made it all better in the end!

As I get out of the shower, Jake says (as he looks at my "girl parts"): "Mom, what's that?! I hope I don't grow one of those when I get bigger!!

I Spy 2 Crickets

I have been meaning to put together a "hunting" kit for Jake, but found one at Wallyworld for $4 instead. He and Daddy went on a walk (I joined later) and captured 2 crickets (he later let them go).

I want Long Hair!

And the battle still goes on when I need to give Jake a hair cut. He was like "I don't want a hair cut, I want long hair like a girl. I am a girl!". In the end, he got the hair cut and the experience wasn't as bad as some of the others. Here he is with my hair elastics on his ears before the clippers came a buzzing.

Early to bed, Earlier to Rise!

This is a project Jake made at school...too cute!
Jake attended Taryn's birthday this past weekend- they had a moon bounce and boy did he have fun! Another one coming up on the 19th!

I had said before that Jake knew the roads he passes on his way to school, well he now knows pretty much every single road in the borough and where they go. Tonight on the way to get supper, he was like "Mom, can we take Soule St."..I was like huh?

Last Friday, Nana joined us for pizza and then we went to the the Ice Cream Social held at the High School. For $1, we each had 3 big scoops of ice creams with all of the fixings. (I made brownies). There was also a book fair and the basket raffle (the class made "How does your garden grow?"). It was fun.

He enjoys watching medical shows and "House". He has said some pretty funny things since I posted last, but I just can't rem them for the life of me. Never a dull moment around here!

So Much Energy!

Jakob: "I don't want Stroganog for dinner!"

Jakob: "Wow Mommy, you did big "nerds" in the toilet"

Jakob dressed himself yesterday morning in shorts and a t-shirt (it was 36 degrees at 7 a.m.!), by the time I got home he was in a different pair of bottoms..he new peeve is how the crotch of jeans bulge out when you sit so he feels the need to change!

He is so excited to go fishing with Daddy tomorrow. Grampy bought him his first fishing pole yesterday (a blue bamboo one).

Today at the Dino Park:

Jakob's "Little Miss Muffett"

Attack of the Hive Man

Jake has been one big hive this week! I am almost positive he has allergies. We have found some triggers: when he runs all around, lemon, or gets upset. I will have to see if Dr. C can see him when I take Kaleb in a few weeks.

I do have to say things have been better as far as him listening and eating all of his food. We do have trouble in the "I can't do it" department. "People" baby him when it isn't needed (cut his sandwiches into bite size pieces, cut the crust off, get him dressed...shall I keep going.

Last Sunday Jake went to his first birthday party (for his girl Hannah). She lives down the street so we walked over and had a good time! The kids (Steven, Taryn, Austin, Russell, Cheyenne- from school) played a few games, ate cake, and played!

Tuesday we went to Reading Night at the school. The kids came in their jammies and enjoyed 10 minute stories in 7 classrooms. Jake was so cute, asking questions or telling the person reading that he had the book at home. He knew almost all of "Brown bear, brown bear"- the girl reading that story handed out bear necklaces. After we were done, we all headed to the cafeteria for drinks and snacks. At the end, the principal sand a few songs and played the guitar. The last part of the evening was a raffle (about 15 books)- Jake was disappointed he didn't win the "competition". It was a good few hours out of the house!

Wednesday, Tracy came with baby Sienna (she is so cute!)..and Jakob just loved her.

Friday Jake spent the day with Nana. He went to Owen Bell Park to get rid of some of his energy, and also helped prune the apple tree! At night we celebrated Grammy's birthday and watched "Happy Feet"- he was so excited for this, he told the class on Thursday!

This morning Jake was laying on the couch giving his baby "pretend breast milk".

This afternoon we went to Gwyneth's birthday party at Build a Bear in the mall. It was fun. The kids had a choice of 2 bears to pick out. When it came time for Jake's to be stuffed, he went up to the machine and when asked to sing a song he made one up called "Far away love". While they sing, they are supposed to put their foot on a foot pedal to make the machine fill the bear...well Jake is singing his heart out, tapping his foot to the beat...the machine is stopping and going...it was quite funny! I thought he was going to start singing some Johnny Cash.

I didn't know this until today that Gwyneth's Daddy has been in the Middle East for a year and a half. We did meet him at the Holiday celebration in December and he seemed excited to be there and they looked so happy. I am lucky that Todd wants to be involved and wants to go places (like today) with Jake (he was disappointed he didn't get to go to Hannah's birthday party last week). Some parents take the time they have with their children for granted.

Here is Jakob all pooped out from today with his bear "Tracy".

Jakob is obssessed with American Idol! He asks if it is on everyday.

Didn't Like the Chicken Soup?

I have updated the family blog with Jakob's new musical interests as well as a picture of him asleep at the dinner table last night.

Where do they get these things?

So last night Jake was in our room getting a bedtime story read to him as Todd takes his shirt off for bed. Jake points his finger at Todd, laughs, and says "A retard with boobs!". I just about died...it was so funny, but it wasn't.

New Song

Jakob's new favorite song is Depeche Mode's "John the Revelator" off of their CD "Playing the Angel. After asking to play it 15 times, I finally downloaded it to my iPod. He sang it all the way to Walmart Sunday...he was shaking his head all around, trying to sing, and had a little shimmy going in his car seat!!

Kaleb makes his singing debut in the video too.... he seems to enjoy the music.

The shiner under his eye is from the fight he had with a swing on the playground today...the jelly is from dinner.

Cars and Body Parts

• Jakob has a new love...CARS! Yes, he still loves trains and signs, but the newest thing is cars (makes, models). We all know his favorite is the Mini Cooper. He has to look at the section of the newspaper that has the car ads; he loves the TV commercials; and especially calling out the cars we see..."Mom, it's a KIA SEDONA!". I was like what how do you know that? He also has Todd read off some of his Hot Wheel cars and has remembered all of them. I have yet to show him some of Todd's car magazines.

• At school, they learned about the body a few weeks ago, so he comes home and was like "I eat my food and it goes down my esophagus, then in my large intestine then to my small intestine (or however it goes...he knows) then I poop and it goes in the sewer! It was cute, he just rattled it off. Last week they learned about teeth...so he came home to tell us that certain kids were going to get "toof ecay" because they did not brush their teeth that day. I still have to post some of his art work for Jan/Feb from "school and update what they have been up to.

• He has a little toy clock thing that teaches you how to tell time, so we were doing that yesterday morning as he was showing interest.
• He seems to enjoy the cartoon "The Pink Panfer (Panther)"

A Ride in the Chair

What a week! They cancelled school on Wednesday due to the "storm", so Jake was a bit upset as it was Valentine's day (he had his Valentine cards all set to go and he had a red and white striped shirt all picked out to wear).

I came home early from work on Thursday and got a call that Jake broke out in hives and I needed to pick him up from school (he has been breaking out on and off since- break out the Benedryl). He was so upset...he kept saying I don't want to go home, I don't like my home..." (I asked why he kept saying that and it was because he was afraid of his bed....anyway). He at least was there long enough to exchange his Valentine's.

Yesterday was his first trip to the dentist. He was so good...no trouble at all (I thought for sure he wouldn't even make it to the chair!). He met "Dr." Sue, the Hygienist. She and I both thought that she would only be able to have him sit in the chair and have his teeth counted. Things went so well, she was able to clean his teeth! He loved the water cup/fountain! He picked out orange flavored tooth paste...let her floss even! He had a chance to brush "Charley's" teeth (I rem this thing from when I was little). Then Dr. L came in to look his teeth over- he said that they were in great shape and that the spaces between them were great! For being so good, he picked out 2 stickers and a car from the treasure chest....he also got a crayola toothbrush and floss. Next appt. in August.

So this morning for breakfast, Jake tried: a pancake with SYRUP, sausage, AND corned beef hash! Could not believe it! He ate it all. Todd is so happy because he loves hash and thinks that Jake should automatically love it.

He is still being a handful...not listening!!!!!

Out of the Mouth of J

Jake's cough is still around, so we saw Dr. H today (Dr. C is in Ireland!)- he has an ear infection (I think he will be taking after me)- he never said a word. We are doing better as far as dinner/bed time goes. (He was a little fresh today and threw a piece of chicken at my Mom!).

Jake's funny phrases for this week:

• "Mom, I don't have to pee, my winkie is dry!
• As I was nursing Big K: "Mom, I am so happy to see you using your booby again!"

Was going so good

All week Jake hasn't given me any trouble about going to bed. Last night, Todd put him to bed and he was up and down up and down..."I don't want to go to bed"..."I want to take a nap downstairs"...yadda yadda yadda. I think he finally settled down around 11 p.m. or so- he went to bed at 9:30 p.m. This week he will be going at 9:30 p.m. and the following week will be 9 p.m.- he was used to going to bed around 10 p.m. No more.

Right now is is at the dinner table crying because he doesn't want what I made for lunch (Fiesta Cabbage...which he has had before) and he got down after I told him not...so, I took his Pixar Car collection away. He wants to "take a nap" (I told him if he goes "upstairs to nap alone, he will have to eat when he comes down).

Lovely last day off.

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