Play Date Wednesday

Jacob and I headed over to the Wiley's this morning for some much needed play time - for both Jacob and me! I swear that Jacob and Miles are the only two toddlers who can play together for two hours plus and never fight or throw fits. They are such great little buddies and so great playing together. Crazy to think they first met each other when Jacob wasn't even crawling yet, and now they talk and laugh together and play so nicely with one another. Oscar is growing up so quickly, too. He's such a happy baby, and will probably be running around with Jacob and Miles before we know it. I love seeing Jacob and Miles play together - they are such good little boys and totally interested in the same things. Give them some trains and cars and they are set for the day!

Afterwards, Jacob and I headed out for some lunch - he was starving and I didn't want to make him wait until we got home. I love sitting and eating with Jacob all by myself and listening to everything he has to say. Just wonderful mommy moments that I hold dear to my heart - I'm lucky to have such a sweet little guy. It's funny, but today he dipped everything in ketchup. He normally doesn't like sauces much, but has started liking ketchup lately. Maybe because I eat an insane amount of it (although not nearly as much as Mike does!), and Jacob assumes there is no other way to eat a french fry. I think he's so cute when he says french fry. The "f" noise has been hard for him for some reason, so he says "shrench shry." He also says "shork" instead of fork. We'll work on it...but he's not even two so it's not that big of a deal, really!

And....in depressing news....our shrews are back. Last year, wonderful shrews decided to live in our attic. They smell. Really bad. And it sticks up our whole house. We had to cut out a section of our ceiling in our kitchen to clean out the nest they had made in the area you can't reach from the attic. And, in one trip up into the attic cleaning up dead shrews we caught, Bob fell through the ceiling in our guest bathroom. Yes, it really happens in real life. Bob fell through the ceiling. And, now, almost six months later, we have shrews again! These animals stink, and you know you have a shrew as soon as it comes into your house. It's unbearable - well, not that bad, but it's gross. So, Bob has some work to do in trying to find their new nest and how in the world they found a way into our house after making it shrew-proof. Darn shrews.

Baking Cookies

Tuesdays are Gymboree days, and have been since Jacob was only eight months old. Crazy how we see each others kids grow up week by week, and how attached Jacob is to his teacher. Which, is why we stay with Tuesdays - it's the only day she teaches.

Jacob moved up to the new level when he turned 22 months - almost 2 months ago - and this has been my absolute favorite level for him. The kids are starting to role play, and play pretend, and it is such a joy to see him grasp concepts so easily. Every two weeks the theme changes, and these past two weeks have been about cookies. They pretend to mix batter, roll cookie dough, cut out cookies, scoop them onto baking sheets, bake them in the oven, and serve them. Jacob has LOVED this theme, almost more than the two weeks devoted to cars and trucks!

I love seeing him interact with the other kids, share, and learn how to deal when other kids take his stuff. Since he doesn't have an older sibling, he doesn't understand that concept really, and still gets confused why someone took his toy. I'm proud of him each and every week for how well he behaves and for learning so much. It's such nice one-on-one time for the two of us - no distractions and no where else we need to be for an hour each week.

The rain is starting to get to Jacob! We bought a new toy at Target (thank you dollar spot) for his sand box, and haven't been able to use it yet. The toy is where you put sand in the top and it comes out the funnel and makes pinwheels spin. He's played with them at the Children's Museum, so he keeps walking up to it and asking to play in the sand box. Despite the rain, we still played with the toy...just a bit messier. I let him play on the kitche table with buckets of water. I knew it would be messy, but didn't anticipate how far the water would fling when it whipped around the pinwheels. Oh well, just water. He loved it and was doing great with scooping cups full of water without tipping.

Planning for Jacob's party is in full swing, and I cannot wait for him to turn two! The nice thing about his birthday falling on Memorial Day weekend is that Bob is always done with school in time for his birthday. The downfall, most people go to the Indy 500 or have family plans that weekend, which limits who can make it to his party. When he's older, I won't have his parties that weekend, but for now I like to celebrate with whoever can make it, and have his party as close to his actual birthday as possible.

Uncle Mike Visits

Uncle Mike is in town today, and Jacob is loving every second! We wish Aunt Kris could be here, too (Jacob adores her), but Mike is only in town for less than 48 hours because he is going to the Jimmy Buffett concert with Dad tonight.

Today is also Mom's birthday! Happy Birthday!

Jacob woke up asking for eggs and sausage, so Grandpa ran to the store and bought some things for a delicious family breakfast. Then, Mike asked Jacob to go on a walk. That boy walked the entire neighborhood all by himself. When I say walk, I mean he ran.

We have had the best morning, and it's so nice to see Jacob spend time with Mike and play. Mike is so great with him. I wish we lived closer, but I truly treasure the times we do get to spend together.

Jacob also snuck in a little play time with Jack.

Monkeys, Wishes, and Trains

The past few days, Jacob has started getting back into his usual routine of waking up at 6:15 or 6:30, which is actually what I prefer. I actually think this is his "summer" routine, because this is what he did last summer, and it has started again. Maybe the birds singing wakes him up, I'm not sure. He still only slept until 7:30 at the latest anyway during the summer, with an occasional 8 a.m. greeting mixed in. But, what I love about him waking up so early, especially in the summer, is that we are outside and enjoying the day before the heat gets terrible. Plus, everything is so much quieter in the morning! I remember when he was only 2 or 3 months old and taking him on walks at like 7:30 in the morning watching people leave for work. They probably thought I was crazy, but I liked getting my baby going without having him suffer through the heat of the day.

Anyway...Jacob woke up at 6:20 this morning. We have been staying at home a lot this week - I just wanted to stick around and not have anything planned this week. We've painted (he calls it his "masterpiece"), done tons of play-doh, lots of sandbox time, and played cars galore. This morning we started playing, I made bread for our neighbor who unfortunately lost her father yesterday to cancer (she has a daughter only a month younger than Jacob, so he was saying "Kylee, bread" the whole time - he loves playing with her!), and we watched some cartoons. Around 8 I decided we should head to the museum and be there at opening time, which for some reason I thought was 9 a.m. We drive there, and there is NO ONE in the parking garage. Mind you, I have a membership, and we have been there a TON, and I KNOW it opens at 10, but just didn't think of it this morning I guess. So, we are in the garage with Jacob talking about dinosaurs and me not wanting to wait an hour to go to the museum. Instead, we just headed over to the zoo, where we also have a membership. We had just been less than two weeks ago, but the zoo never gets old with a toddler.

I must say, today has got to be in the top 5 of my favorite days with Jacob. I just felt so blessed to be a stay-at-home mom today, getting to go to the zoo and take advantage of the cool, sunny weather and not be in a rush to do anything. We usually go through the zoo without a stroller since really, how can you see animals from a stroller anyway? I usually just ended up taking him in and out of the stroller the whole time, which was annoying for both of us. But, no stroller means a tired mommy by the end of the trip. We were there for about three hours today, and I think we were both totally exhausted by the end. I let him run, and run along with him (even though he's almost two, I am still paranoid about him falling on his face). We took a long time at the monkey exhibit, where he was proudly swinging his arms like a monkey. He tossed four pennies into the wishing well and was yelling "wish" with each throw.

I worked at the zoo while I was pregnant with Jacob, and I knew that this time of year is absolutely insane with field trip season in full swing. But, it really didn't impact Jacob or me at all. He tried to join a few groups and would follow some kids around for a little bit, but I usually do the zoo backwards anyway, so we didn't really hit big groups at any exhibit. Jacob's favorite was still the ducks. I swear I should open up an attraction in my own backyard for kids showing ducks swimming in water and that would entertain toddlers for hours. He quacked and tried to feed them pebbles. He enjoyed the seals, and we tried to do the dolphin show, but it was starting late because of the field trip groups coming in, and it was hot, and we took off after the first few jumps and splashes.

I also realized how "old" I am when I knew Jacob needed lunch and wouldn't stay awake for the ride home if we left without lunch. I ordered Jacob a kids meal while we were at the zoo, and nothing for myself because of how expensive it is. I knew I had plenty of food at home, and as long as he was fed, it didn't matter if I had to wait another hour. I went home and ate a frozen meal I bought on sale for 90 cents. I felt old, and proud of myself, at the same time!

I just loved being able to be there to listen to Jacob explain his thoughts, talk about animals, and have conversations with him all morning. I am so lucky to have such a well-behaved little man who rarely throws fits, and when he does, I can honestly say I don't blame him (when kids take your toys, when you have to hold your mommy's hand when all you want to do is run, when you need to stop playing the amazing game you have created just to eat). I loved hearing Jacob tell me about the monkeys, ask to ride the train - which we rode for free today! - put new sentences together, and talk about what he was going to tell Daddy when he got home from work. It was just such a peaceful, amazing day with Jacob that I will always remember. Every day is great with the little guy, but some days you just get this feeling like there is nothing more important in the world than giving your kid an entire day of undivided attention. No, I didn't do a load of laundry or pick up dishes from breakfast. No, I didn't pay bills or clean the bathroom. But, I showed Jacob what a flamingo was. I watched him dance to oldies while we ate lunch in the shade. I saw his smile from ear to ear when the train stopped and rang the bell. I heard him tell me what color the animals were and which ones he liked. I saw him tell kids "no sticks" when some of them were playing with sticks. I heard every word he said and loved every second. Bills and laundry will be there tomorrow, but I would never get these memories if I didn't put other things on hold for the day.

Jacob...thank you for being my best friend and showing me how wonderful a day with just the two of us is. I will always treasure these days with you, and am so thankful your Dad works hard for me to stay home with you every day and watch you grow right in front of my eyes. We'll go to the museum next time...at 10.

Mr. Silly

Jacob is hilarious! I know, all moms think this of their kiddos. But, he really just makes me laugh nonstop every day, and when he's not making me laugh, he's making me beam with pride.

Last night he climbed up on the couch and bit my pants. My first thought was, "Oh no, he might start trying to bite!" Nope. He looked up at me and said, "I eat mommy pants." So funny, because we always joke with him and take his toy dinosaurs and dragons and say they are eating his shirt or pants.

He's not even two yet, and is just so darn smart! I wanted to take some time while he naps to write down some of my favorites so I can remember them always!

*He calls police cars "wee-wees." Like the sound they make. Even though he can now say police, he still says "wee-wee" when we see a police car on the street.
*He knows all of his colors now! He can correctly tell you what color something is and says them all - red, blue, green, purple, brown, black, gold, silver, orange (which I think is the cutest color word he says). The only color he still won't say is yellow, but he can point if you ask him which one is yellow.
*He understands and names things like top/bottom, in/out, big/little, heavy/light, dark/light.
*He orders for himself. So proud of this one. He tells the waiter exactly what he wants, and the majority of the time, they understand him. I think it's great that he feels comfortable doing this and I encourage him to order for himself every time.
*He will also pay for me. Yes, I trust him with my debit card while we are in line.
*He's speaking in 5 or 6 word sentences now, which is crazy. He'll repeat just about anything (so cussing is completely out, same with talking about others because he'll repeat that, too).
*He counts 1,2. But, most of the time he says 2, 6, 9.
*He will sing some short songs - finish certain sentences in songs and sing short lines.
*Follows directions extremely well - I'm so impressed with him listening and understanding what someone is asking him to do.
*Says please and thank you. No joke. I don't even ask him to say please, it's just something he picked up on his own a few months ago. For the longest time he would say thank you, he would just smile at you. Now he actually says it. Sometimes I remind him to, like when he gets a new toy. But, most of the time he just says it, and it's actually at the appropriate time.
*Overall, he has great manners. He behaves in public. Over the past 23 months, we've only had to leave somewhere because he was throwing a fit once, and we later found out he had an ear infection. He doesn't throw food on the floor, and eats very well with a spoon and fork on his own.
*He "reads" a book to me, and to his stuffed animals.
*Likes to play pretend, and creates games all by himself. Now that he has the vocabulary to tell me what he's creating, I can join in his game instead of trying to guess what he's wanting his people or animals to do.
*Really likes to cook, and play pretend with his play food.

I love being Jacob's mom, and can't wait to see what he takes on in the coming year. He learns so quickly, and it's been such a joy seeing him turn into a little boy right before my eyes. Since I don't have a little girl, I don't know all of the differences, but it's so cute to see my little boy think crashing cars is funny, and making noises and hiding things is hilarious. To see him run like a crazy man and start to be a little rougher is so fun, and makes his quiet moments snuggled up on the couch with a book so special.

"Hap Mothers Day"

As Jacob would say! Bob and Jacob had a boys night last night while my mom and I went shopping, and Bob taught Jacob how to say Happy Mother's Day! It was such a great surprise when I woke up Sunday morning to hear him. Bob had to work at 7:30 Sunday morning (his second job...oh the joys of health insurance premiums), so he left flowers, magazines and cards on the table, and Jacob had colored a picture for me. What a wonderful morning even though we couldn't all be together. We will celebrate together as a family tonight when he gets home.

Jacob and I headed up to my parents to have breakfast and have the morning together. Jacob and Grandpa made us breakfast. Jacob was talking all morning about making eggs with Grandpa.

Jacob brought Grandma some flowers, and gave me some more flowers that Grandma and Grandpa had waiting for me. We did some shopping, had lunch, and Jacob took a mini nap. We are headed home in a few minutes to see Bob and we might head to the park. What a wonderful mother's day to have a healthy, smart, handsome, loving little boy to celebrate with.

The car smells great

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted! You can clearly tell life with a toddler is unpredictable and busy!

The break from blogging first started when our wireless internet at home decided to stop working. I actually enjoyed it and realized how much more time I have when I'm not checking out random things on the computer. Plus, it reminded Bob and me of our first year married when we lived without internet or cable for the entire year. We rented movies for free from the library. It was worth it though...we were able to purchase our first home together at the end of that year at the age of 23.

April has been fun, busy, and eventful with lots of play dates, trips to the zoo and museum, a new sandbox for Jacob and much, much more. But, the past week has been, well, smelly.

Last week Jacob was sick and I think I changed diaper after diaper for three days straight. We took him to the doctor to make sure he wasn't dehydrated. He was okay, came home and had his very first vomit session ever (how we made it two years I have no idea). He was back to his normal self by Monday when Bob came down with the worst case of the flu I have ever seen. Taking care of Bob and Jacob at the same time has made me one exhausted mommy!

Bob wasn't getting any better, so we drove up to our family doctor this morning. On our way, Jacob threw up in the backseat all over himself and the carseat. Bob caught some of it, and needless to say, our backseat was covered in the morning's scrambled eggs and milk. Yum. It was 9:55 a.m. and we were just passing a children's resale shop. We pulled it, purchased new clothes for Jacob and changed him in the restroom. It was actually a great find since this is probably the nicest resale shop for kid stuff I have ever seen. Toys in excellent condition (wish I had time to look!), name brand clothes that they steam before putting out on the shelves, and an entire side of the store we didn't even look at. We walked out with Jacob sporting a new Nike shirt and Old Navy jeans. The woman was so nice and we will definitely go back when we need some new gear.

The doctor's office was much less eventful. Bob has had his blood drawn, and we'll find out if he has anything major going on by Monday. Jacob has strep throat, which is probably why he won't eat anything and why he is so irritated by the food he has eaten. He's napping now and will take his first dose of medicine when he wakes up. Poor guy!

Hopefully we'll be healthy again soon to get back outside to enjoy the weather and to gear up for our little man turning two at the end of the month. I can't believe he's almost two! I'll be back to blogging more often once our house settles down again soon!