The Music Man

We have been very busy around our house.  Jacob has been potty training and moved into underwear today.  He only had one accident at school.  YIPEEE!  Hopefully he doesn't have any accidents on our couch or carpet :).   We went shopping for undies last week and he happily picked out underwear with pirates, trucks, footballs, and fire trucks on them.  He is so proud to wear them.  When you tell him that he has to tell you when he needs to pee he rolls his eyes at you.  You can tell he has probably been told a million times and is so tired of hearing it.  I love how cute he is when he pees in the potty and you tell him how proud you are of him.  His face lights up and he jumps up and down. 

Jacob has also been very busy with his swim lesson at Michael Phelps Swim School.  We have gone the past two Saturday mornings and he loves it.  This past Saturday he kept telling me he could swim by himself and to let him go.  I'm so glad he loves the water.  I think we may need to sign him up for private swim lessons with his teacher Mr. Joe. 

Lastly, Jacob started Soccer Shots on Wednesdays at school.  He is learning how to play soccer and I think he is having a good time.  They teach them how to dribble, kick, and shoot goals.  Last week he came home saying he kicked the ball in the net and was very proud of himself. 

I thought I would post this video below.  My mom taught Jacob the song "Down By the Station" but he can never remember all the words.  He just made up all the words at the end of the song.  I love this video.  Our little music man may be taking piano and voice lessons in the near future :).

Has it been 3 months?

Yes, I know I haven't posted for almost 4 months now.  To be honest, blogging is not really my thing.  I am not one of those people that can work all day long in front of a computer and then go home and spend a few hours on the computer in the evening.  When I get home all I want to do is eat a nice dinner with my family, give Jacob his bath, and snuggle with him at bed time.  Once I put Jacob to bed I like to just chill out with Andrew on the couch.  I don't want to think about a blog post.

I know my fmaily likes to see pictures of Jacob and know what he is up to so I will continue to do some posts for you.

What have we been up to this summer?   Well.....

 - We went to OBX with the Birmingham clan.  Jacob loved the beach, pool, playing with his cousins, and the Duck Parade with Duck Donuts.  Now he likes us to draw pictures of him in a parade with Grandma and Grandpa.  He is always playing the drums in the parade pictures.  I think he may take after his father and play the drums in marching band one day.

- Working.  I have been busy with all the new hires starting this Fall and Andrew has been busy with his work projects.

- Watching our bubba grow and learn.  Last night I came home late and he was sitting on the couch with Andrew, watching "his shows" and eating popcorn.  When I sat down and looked at him I couldn't believe how much he has changed and grown.  He really is turning into a little boy.

- Watching the Olympics.  Jacob really enjoyed the Olympics this summer.   He is obsessed with Michael Phelps.  He had Olympic week at school and he could name all the events and athletes.  The teachers were so impressed with his knowledge that they made a special Olympic book just for him.  Michael Phelps (one of the male teachers at the school) even called Jacob on the classroom phone and told him to remember his manners, to listen, and follow directions.  The teachers said he was so excited that Michael Phelps called him.

- Jacob has also been learning the letters and sounds of alphabet.  He knows: A, B, D, G, I, J, L, N, O, R, and Q.  He is also starting to recognize some numbers too.  He can count to 20 with a little help.

- Jacob is also really working on his hand eye coordination by practicing hitting the baseball.  Last week he hit the ball three times when I threw it to him.  Granted, I threw about 30 pitches but I was impressed that he stuck with it and kept trying.  I was very proud of him.

- Learning Spanish!

Soooo we have been very busy around our house.

My 2 Year Old

Well, if I didn't feel old when I turned 30 I feel old now that my little baby is 2. Last Saturday we celebrated his 2nd birthday with a Mickey Mouse party. I thought he would like the theme since it wasn't too long ago that we got back from seeing Mickey in Florida. I decided to go all out for this one making Mickey Mouse treat bags with Oreo cookies, cutting the cheese with Mickey Mouse cookies cutters, and cutting up the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the shape of Mickey. It was pretty fun preparing for the party and getting into the theme. I feel like there are only so many years that you get to throw theme parties for your kids. I think he had a fabulous birthday. What was his favorite part of the day...... the cupcake, balloons, playing basketball with his cousin Garrett and Uncle Jason, and his Playmobil trash truck. It was a wonderful day filled with love and wonderful friends and family.

Jacob had his two year appointment this morning. He weighs in at 38 lbs and is 3 feet tall. He is in the 99% for weight and 89% for height. I think we are slowing down a little on his height which his daddy isn't thrilled about. (He wanted a 6 ft 5 in. left handed pitcher :) )  All in all the appointment was great and I think Jacob is right on target with what a 2 year old should be doing.

At 2 Jacob can do so many things but here are just a few:

• String many words together to form sentences
• Drink from a regular cup (not sippy) Very messy but he can do it.
• Sing Twinkle Twinkle, If you're happy and you know it, ABC's, Happy Birthday, Ants go Marching, No More Monkey's Jumping on the Bed, Row, Row, Row your boat, and There were 5 in the Bed
• He is starting to play independently with his train set, cars, and kitchen
• He can pee on the potty before bath time and even push a few dribbles out to collect 2nd jelly bean instead of one :)
• Use a fork and spoon to eat
• Understands a lot of what we are saying to him and can do things you ask him to do IF he feels like it.
• He LOVES to go to the store and help you shop. Usually, it ends up with you buying a few things for him (he suckered me into a Playmobil toy yesterday) but I like having my little buddy along.
• Puts himself to sleep when you put him in his crib at night. In the morning, waits for you to come in around 7am to get him.
• He LOVES to read books....his favorite books right now are The Little Dump Truck, Mini Racer, Seven Little Postmen, and Curious George
• Uses his right hand predominantly when he colors, eats, and throws a ball.

I am looking forward to watching our little man grow this next year and seeing all he can accomplish. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful and special little guy.

Hersheypark Happy!

Yesterday we headed to Hersheypark with my mom and dad and Andrew's sister, brother-in-law and their two children. Jacob was a little shy at first and spent about an hour taking everything. Eventually, his cousin Garrett got him on a ride and then Jacob was ready to ride for the rest of the day. I think his favorite ride was a toss up between the ladybug ride and bumble bee. He loved how fast the ladybug went but loved that he could press the button on the bumble bee and it would make a buzzing sound. I think at one point Garrett told Jacob to stop pressing the button on the bumble bee because it was getting annoying :). We had wonderful weather, wonderful company, and a wonderful day at Hersheypark. What a great way to end Jacob being 1. On Saturday he will be 2. I can't believe my little baby is turning into such a little man.

Yougits

For the last few weeks Jacob has been saying "yougits." I could not figure out what in the world he wanted or what he was saying. I would ask him to point and he would just laugh. I would say, "yogurt?" and again he would just smile and laugh. FINALLY, this weekend I figured it out! It is MUSIC! I don't know how he gets yougits out of music but at least neither one of us is frustrated by not understanding. He can say the M sound so I don't know why he says yougits but it is cute.

Banana

Jacob is really starting to put words together and form sentences. He will ask me "What is that?" when he hears a noise. He will ask for a snack and then say "Daddy have one too." He will tell you what he wants to wear to school (his fire truck shirt) or bed (fire truck pants). He will even pick out the books he wants to read and tell you the titles.

One day Jacob came home and started saying banana instead of nana and it was so funny how he pronounced it we just had to get it on video.......




Another word I want to get is glove. Jacob says glub. It is really cute.

Eye Mask

We noticed our little man is a little sensitive to light. If we leave the light to bright at night when we put him to bed he will cover his eyes with a blanket to get to sleep or tell you "light off." Sometimes in the morning we will find him with a blanket over his eyes to block out the morning sun or squinting like a mole saying "too bright." I guess pretty soon he will have to get an eye mask like his mommy.

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.

Christmas Tree

On Saturday we headed out to get our Christmas tree. We decided to take Jacob's wagon this year. Jacob happily got in his wagon and we headed out to the farthest corner of the tree lot to get our Frasier Fur.




















Once we finally made it to the trees, we got Jacob out of the wagon and started looking for the perfect tree. Jacob, taking after his father, decided to take a huge poo in the middle of the tree lot. I chuckled a little because I now know he will fit in perfectly up at deer camp and in the woods hunting. :) After the battle of changing his diaper in the middle of the tree lot we found our perfect tree.




















Andrew cut it down and Jacob said "oooohhh no". Jacob was very worried about the fallen tree. The whole way back through the tree lot Jacob kept saying "oh no, tree". We took the tree to the "tree shaker" to get all the dead needles off and he loved that part. He kept shaking like the tree. HILARIOUS!

We then headed back to the truck to load the tree and wagon. Poor Andrew had a time trying to fit everything back in the truck and secure it. The nice thing about taking the wagon is it will go everywhere and Jacob loves to sit and go for a ride. The bad thing is it takes up so much room. We finally got everything to fit and used the tailgate as a picture taking opportunity.






(Wasn't it nice that Paul Bunyan stopped by to get his picture taken?)










I think in a year Jacob will be able to carry the tree out of the farm by himself.






















It was hard work picking out the perfect tree.

1st Haircut

Before





















Today Jacob got his first haircut. It started out a little rocky. He didn't want to sit in the chair by himself and he wouldn't put the cape on. Once he got on Andrew's lap and saw the lollipop come out he changed his tune. He sat pretty still while he ate a lollipop, smartees, and M & M's. He even sat while the stylist got the clipper out and buzzed around the sides and back. Our little baby's curls are all gone and he has turned into a little boy. (We have about a 40 second video b/c the batteries weren't charged..sorry)

18 Months

Jacob had his 18 month appointment on Friday

Height: 34.5 inches (95%)
Weight: 34 lbs. 3 oz. (99%)
Head Cir: 50.5 cm. (97%)

He was very good for the doctor and showed her all his tricks. He was even pretty good when he got his flu shot.

At 18 months Jacob has added about 30 words to his vocabulary since a month ago. He is taking one nap a day during the week but twoa day on the weekends. He sleeps on a cot at school. He is really starting to get into music. Tonight he even signed more please and pointed at the radio for me to turn on the music. He loves to start songs and have you sing the rest. Right now his favorites are Ba Ba Black Sheep, Row Row Row Your Boat, and Elmo's Theme Song. I think I'm going to sign him up for a music class in the spring.

At our appointment on Friday our pediatrician said to get a potty chair and start casually putting Jacob on it at bath time and other times throughout the day. So, today I ordered one online. We are not to push him, since boys take longer but she said to just start introducing it to him. I have to say I am not looking forward to emptying potty chairs. (Yuck) I don't think I'm looking forward to trying to teach a little boy how to aim either. :)

This weekend was a perfect fall weekend. We raked leaves yesterday, and Andrew and I stained our deck today. We are both very tired and sore. Thank goodness the stain is supposed to last 15 years because we do not want to do that again. :) Andrew said he will sell the house before he has to stain the deck again. I have to say it looks much better than it did when we moved in 3 years ago. It was worth the hard work.

Halloween 2011- Our little lion

Well it took a little convincing and a few skittles but we got our little lion in his Halloween costume on Monday night. He had his Halloween parade at school around 3:45 and he refused to wear his costume, but he still wanted all the candy. Then, after the parade at school and Halloween snacks we headed home for the parade around the neighborhood and neighborhood pizza party. I convinced Jacob, with some skittles, to get in his costume before all the neighborhood events. Once we got down to the events with all the kids Jacob had a WONDERFUL time. He loved running around after all the boys in their costumes. After the neighborhood parade and pizza party Andrew took Jacob around to a few neighbors for some candy. I went home and started passing out candy to about 200 kids. I think Jacob had a good Halloween and so did his mom and dad.

Class

We have had some changes this week in our household. Jacob started in his new class at daycare and Andrew started a project management class at work.

Jacob LOVES his new class. His teachers are so kind and wonderful to him and Jacob gets to be a big boy. I think he loves the class because he has a lot more freedom to run around and they have big boy toys like cars, trucks, and tractors. They also get to sit at little tables and chairs for snack time and lunch time. They have storytime, sing songs, go outside twice a day, and do art projects everyday. He has to sleep on a cot at nap time and he has done a really great job with it. At night he is so exhausted from only getting one nap a day that last night when Andrew put him in his crib he said, "Bye Bye". Andrew said he must have been so tired he just wanted Andrew to leave so he could go to sleep. :) I think the BEST part of his new class is it is mostly boys and they are all his size. He isn't constantly being nagged to be gentle or to calm down like his last class and he can totally be himself.

Andrew was selected at his company to participate in a project management class. The class is for several months on Wednesdays. The class has a textbook he has to read and study and he also has homework every week. On Monday night Andrew came home with the textbook and put it on the kitchen table. Jacob climbed right up on the chair at the table and got the book. The book was pretty heavy and he was getting frustrated with not being able to open it and read it. I put him down on the floor and he happily turned the pages and looked through the book while I made dinner. I hope his love for books continues throughout his life.



Our future engineer :)

Fall Things

We have been busy doing fall things with Jacob over the past two weekends. Two weekends ago we took him to pick out his pumpkin with about 1000 other people at the pumpkin patch. This past weekend we took him to the Hereford Fall Festival to check out the fire trucks, tractors, and monster trucks. Yes, they had two monster trucks at the fall festival. The most popular attraction....the tractors! Andrew and I liked the school bus monster truck smashing cars but Jacob hated the loud engine.

All in all I think Jacob has been enjoying fall.