20 months old

This little munchkin is 20-months-old today! I can hardly believe we'll be celebrating his 2nd birthday in 4 months. Jacob is our little clown and loves dressing up in anything he can get his hands on.

Harry Potter 3-D glasses

His pirate hat.

He loves to perform and will start blowing raspberries on the back of his hand at dinner if he thinks he can get by with it.

This is such a fun age developmentally. I remember Joseph's verbal skills booming during holiday visits with extended family and Jacob is no exception. He added quite a few words to his repertoire while we were in Indiana. My parents live about a half-mile from a train track which, given that they live in farm country in flat Indiana, you can see from the living room windows. Joseph has always been quick to jump on the couch at the first hint of a train whistle to watch it go by. This visit Jacob joined him with excited finger pointing and "choo choo!!!!" He also started saying "night, night" at bedtime and calling Joseph "Joe!" Not all of his words are completely distinguishable and some sound very much like others. So, we often play a little guessing game if he's not actually pointing at something . . . "daddy? doggie? blankie?" until we get a nod, giggle and clapping.

Jacob loves music and loud noises. He absolutely loves the drum and guitar he has already gotten for Christmas. (Thanks aunties.) I'm not sure if my current deafness has more to do with my cold or the drum pounding.

Jacob is still our early bird. We've had a few mornings recently where he slept past 7. I was hopeful. Alas, he was back up soon after 5 again this morning. He usually takes a good afternoon nap though so I really can't complain.

The biggest challenge at this age is discipline. He is a high-pitched screamer when he's mad (and sometimes just for fun). Since he is communicating a lot more his tantrums are also now usually because he's mad instead of just frustrated. We're trying to nip them in the bud and have been getting some great parenting input through a couple different Bible Studies at our church.

Jacob is our picky eater. I usually have to force a bite of something new into his mouth before he'll willingly take a bite. He may eat 2 pieces of pizza one day and refuse to eat it the next. The list of foods that I'm guaranteed he'll eat is short: applesauce, yogurt, bananas, oatmeal, pop-tarts, sweet potato fries. He will probably eat something if it's dipped in applesauce or ketchup. He is great at using a fork (when he wants to eat).

He is still our little Linus, dragging his blankie around with him everywhere and sucking on his thumb. It's still precious. Eventually we'll deal with it. :)