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.

Little Helper

Jacob loves to be our little helper around the house. On Saturday he followed me all around the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms with a rag in his hand pretending to dust. After I would dust something he would take his rag and do the same thing.

He also LOVES to sweep with the broom so I went online and ordered him a little broom last week and he loves it so much. My friend told me the swiffer can be adjusted down to his size so on Sunday he followed Andrew all around the house helping to clean the wood floors with his swiffer.

You think he will still want to be this helpful cleaning when he is 16???????

Time at Grandma's House

Well Jacob has officially started his trips and weekends at Grandma's house. Back in September my mother in law asked if she could take Jacob for a weekend. Andrew and I picked a weekend that would work for us and so the date was marked on the calendar and the countdown started. I didn't know how I felt about Jacob leaving for a weekend. I wasn't worried for him but worried for me and not having my baby boy around. I think if you are a stay at home mom you are probably thrilled to give your kids away for a weekend, heck a week or maybe month but when you work all week you look forward to the weekends with your baby and getting to play with him for two whole days.

Of course, like I said, I had nothing to worry about and Jacob had a wonderful time. He must have played and played and been the center of attention because when he came home he was in the best mood, laughing and joking around. I heard he was a great helper sweeping leaves, said lots of words, was in a good mood, and hopefully did not wear grandma and grandpa out too much.

On Sunday morning my parents brought Jacob down and attended church service with us. When my parents walked in with Jacob on Sunday I felt like I hadn't seen him in forever. I think he grew 2 inches and learned a few more words at Grandma's like "night, night".

I did miss him but it was nice for us to have some time to ourselves too. I forgot what that felt like to just hang out and not have to worry about a kiddo. Andrew and I went out to eat on Friday and Saturday night and we also painted the guest bedroom so we could say we were productive.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for watching Jacob over the weekend!

He Called Me Da-Da

Although Jacob has a wide range of vocabulary, can tell you when something is hot, where his nose, head, and belly are, when he is thirsty, and understands when you ask him to close a door he still called me Daddy or Da-Da until September 23, 2011. It melted my heart when I walked in the door on Friday evening after work and Jacob was in his highchair, looked right at me, and said "Ma-Ma." I could have died right there and been a happy mommy forever.

When I would come down the stairs in the morning and Andrew would be feeding him yogurt he would say "Daddy" and point right at me. When we went to my parents a few weekends ago he called me "Daddy" the entire weekend. Now, in his defense, we didn't really work on Mommy and Ma-Ma and Dad was his first word. He also loves Andrew to the moon and back and you can tell he wants to be just like Andrew so I guess I should be flattered.

Jacob would say "Ma Ma" and walk around the house saying "Mama Mama Mama" but would never associate me with Ma Ma.

I thought the moment would never come when he would call me Ma Ma. I'm so glad he learned my name.

His Words..........

Jacob is really starting to talk and gain a vocabulary. We have been working with him on certain words and then others he will pick up after you say them once or twice.

We are working on body parts right now and putting two words together like "bye bye Daddy". He can point to his nose, belly, and head. He can also find mommy and daddy's belly.

The teachers in Jacob's class say he has the best vocbaulary in there and they say he talks all day. Andrew said the apple doesn't fall far from the tree with the two grandmothers he has.

At 16 months here are the words he says:

- More please (with the sign language). I think Grandad will be teaching him "just one more" pretty soon.
- Daddy and Ma Ma
- Apple
- Bubble
- Hi and Bye
- Book
- Truck and Tractor
- Bottle
- Shoes
- Baby
- Shhhh (with the finger to his mouth)
- Thank you
- Wee (when going around bends in the road and over bridges)
- Poo :) He tells you when he's gone in his diaper. (Does that mean we're ready to potty train?)
- Dog and Woof Woof
- Hot
- Ball
- Row
- Uh-Oh

Disclaimer: Most words are in "Jacob language" but we know what he is saying. I was also recording him by myself.

Independent

Jacob has become very independent lately. Last night I made butternut squash soup and he decided to feed himself.



I am so glad that my little boy is growing up but very sad that he is becoming a little boy instead of my baby. His hair is getting pretty long in the back and I keep telling Andrew we need to cut his hair. Andrew will not let me get it cut and I think Andrew doesn't want to cut Jacob's hair because once we do our baby will be gone.

So what other things make Jacob so independent.....
1. He likes to turn on the water at the sink and brush his teeth
2. He wants to pull his wagon around
3. Go up and down the stairs by himself
4. Feed himself
5. He likes to read his truck book and farm book to himself
6. He loves to be the DJ and play the music when we have DJ Dance Party in the kitchen. He will push the button on his toy and play music while we all dance around.
7. Jacob likes to be the one to close all the doors around the house
8. He will brush his hair and my hair in the morning

I'm sure in the next few months he will only become more and more independent as he uses his words more and gets bigger and stronger.