Ta Da

We may have a future magician on our hands.........I guess that 529 we opened up for Jacob may be going to someone else :).

Swimmig

Jacob LOVED swimming in the pools in Orlando. They were heated and some were just the right size for him because they had wade in areas like a beach. He really enjoyed riding on his daddy's back like a baby alligator.

Orlando

We had a wonderful time in Orlando this past week with Andrew's parents. I was very nervous to fly with Jacob not knowing how he would act but he LOVED flying. He enjoyed looking out the window, getting his snack and juice, and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the iphone.

Mike picked us up at the airport and took us to the Wyndham Bonnett Creek. The place was wonderful! It had a ton of pools, a playground, and a huge pond that was home to several kinds of ducks. My in-laws were on the 7th floor of one of the buildings so Jacob would get right off the elevator and go right to the window to check on the ducks. Jacob could also sit on the patio of the timeshare and watch all the buses, garbage trucks, big trucks, and golf carts go by throughout the day. The big picture window in my in-laws room was like his tv because he would stand there and watch all the activity.

The place was also about 5 minutes from all the Disney attractions and it had buses to go to each one. The first night we went to downtown Disney and Jacob got a Donald Duck stuffed animal at the Disney Store (to go with the Mickey Mouse Grandma and Grandpa had waiting for him when he arrived). Tuesday, Andrew and Mike went to a spring training game while Barb and I took Jacob to the playground and then to the pool. Jacob LOVED the water and it made me wish we had a pool to go to here or lived somewhere warmer in the winter. Wednesday, we headed to Animal Kingdom where Jacob watched the Lion King show, got numerous autographs from characters, and took his 1st safari ride. The big hit of this day......brushing the pig at the petting zoo and getting to ride on the school bus to get to the park! Thursday, we decided to take it easy and spend the day at the pool since Jacob loved swimming so much. He rode on his daddy's back around the lazy river and learned how to jump off the side of the pool. Thursday evening there was an alligator show at the place we were staying so Jacob got to see a baby alligator (another hit). Friday came too soon and we were all a little bummed to leave the fun behind. The mini vacation did start getting us all excited for our adventure to OBX in July!

Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for letting us stay with you and for a lovely week in Orlando.

Happy Valentine's Day

So much Learning

It is amazing to us how much Jacob is learning. It seems like all of the sudden he just started picking up so much stuff. Some of the things he is learning:

1. He is starting to put words together to forms sentences. Example: Good Morning, Daddy. Bye, Bye Mommy.

2. He remembers everything!!!! We really need to start paying attention to what we are doing around him. I said "Let's go" one morning as I was backing up to take him to school and now every morning as I start backing up to take him to school he says "Let's Go"

3. He knows a few letters and can point them out in books, on t-shirts, or signs. He knows B is for Birmingham, E is for Elmo, O, Q, X, T, and P. We are trying to teach him to spell his name but right now all he says is "O" and "B" in his spelling voice. It is really cute.

4. His shapes....triangle, circle, oval, and heart. He made a diamond art project in class but yesterday when I asked him the shape on his paper he just said "hmmmm". So much for that shape.

5. We are working on getting his colors down. He knows purple (go Ravens), Red, Orange, and Yellow. We are working on blue and green. He still gets the colors messed up sometimes but the one that he never messes up is Purple. His entire school is painted in purple to cheer on the Ravens during the playoffs.

At 20 months Jacob is the best little boy you could ask for. He really just melts your heart with his chubby cheeks, thighs, and cute little voice. The only thing I would ask for him to change is his biting other children. He still continues to be a bit of a bully and at 35 lbs. would you mess with him?

Puke-O-Rama

Well there comes a time in a parents life when their child pukes during the night for the first time. I was hoping my time would never come but last night at 10pm as I got half way up the stairs I could smell that terrible smell and knew my time had come.

As I opened the door to Jacob's room I thought I would throw up right then and there but I pulled it together, screamed for Andrew, and picked Jacob up out of his crib and threw him in the bathroom. The poor guy didn't even cry because he didn't know what was going on.

Andrew ran the bath and put him in as I started the clean and Lysol the room. We got the room cleaned and Jacob dressed again and ready for bed. Andrew decided to take him up to our loft and have him fall asleep up there. He fell asleep on Andrew and as Andrew came down the stairs to put Jacob in his crib he threw up again! I knew at that point it would be a long night.

Jacob was a trooper throughout the night. We didn't know where to put him. We didn't want to put him in his crib to be alone and sick so we put towels down on the floor in the loft and Andrew slept on the floor with Jacob. Jacob could be distracted by staring at the moon through the skylight and would fall asleep for an hour at a time and then puke again. His puke bucket was an old wipes container that we kept by his head. He did really well with going in it and didn't make too much of a mess. Andrew wanted to put the BabyBijorn bib on him to catch the puke but I said "no way".

By 3:30 it was all over and Jacob slept from 3:30 until 7:30. We went downstairs, had a little water and crackers, and watched Mikey Mouse. At 10:00am Jacob was back upstairs taking a nap and slept until 1:00. I think he feels much better now and is eating a little Jello.

I sure hope this is just something he ate and not a stomach bug because this week has been a bit traumatic for me with pneumonia, turning 30, and now puke o rama.

Merry Christmas

We had a wondeful Christmas and feel very blessed to have been given so much. We woke up on Sunday morning and took Jacob downstairs to see his train table. He LOVED it! He had a wonderful time looking at all the buildings, trains, and making the noises on the track.

After opening gifts, we had a nice breakfast and headed off to church.

When we got home from church Jacob took a nap while Andrew and I prepared to host dinner for the grandparents. Andrew made a wonderful ham and the grandparents helped to provide the sides. The dinner was wonderful and it was great to have everyone with us. Jacob had a wonderful Christmas and was in bed by 7:30. Today Andrew and I head off to my parents to drop Jacob off for a few days. Andrew and I will be driving down to Williamsburg, VA on Tuesday morning and spending a few days there to celebrate my 30th birthday.