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Friday, April 27, 2012

Blastoff - Part 2

I had to follow up my previous story with this:  Jacob just came into the kitchen and told me that his plane was "going to the moon!"  This was part of a much longer paragraph of which I also understood, "stars, dark, plane broke, oh no!"

Blastoff!

Jacob seems to have inherited his brother's love of rockets.  He was in the living room playing with this plane, holding it on its end and saying, "1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1, 0, blastoff!"  And then the plane "lifted off."  I love watching my kids play.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

This is the moment . . .

I need to remember when they're fighting. . . 

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Hugs

The boys really missed each other yesterday while Joseph was at school!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

another potty story

sorry - but this seems to be our life. . .


Joseph just came inside from blowing bubbles:

J: "Mama, can I go peepee outside?"
Me: "yes you can" (I mean, you're already inside but sure.)
J: (heads outside but then ducks his head back in the door) "are you sure I won't distract any people or birds?"
Me: "they can't see you. we have a fence."
J: "I think maybe the birds can see me. And cars. And bugs."
Me: "they cars can't see you because we have a fence. The birds and bugs don't care."
J: "ok" (heads back outside)

3 seconds later. . .

J: "I think I'll just peepee inside."

school pictures

I am always surprised by how great Joseph's school pictures turn out. Love this crazy kid.






preschool

Yesterday morning we had a parent-teacher conference at Joseph's preschool. I can't say enough about how much I love this school and how much Joseph has thrived there. Because Joseph will start full-day Kindergarten in the fall, we have decided to let him have the summer off for some "big boy" time with Mama. So, sadly, he only has 7 weeks left at his school. I know he'll really miss his teacher and his friends but we did find out that one girl from his class will be attending his same Elementary School.


Because of the convenience of the preschool to AR Childrens Hospital there is usually a long waiting list for new admittance. However, the Director told us if we enrolled Jacob before Joseph left, our wait time wouldn't be as long. We found out this week that they have a spot for him and he'll be starting in 3 weeks! He'll go just 2 days a week and I'll pick him up mid-afternoon until he gets used to the schedule. I am excited to see how much Jacob blossoms from this experience and am looking forward to having some one-on-one time with Joseph this summer before he goes off to Kindergarten and the new baby arrives.

TMI warning

I've debated about sharing this on a public blog. . . but it's funny. . . and I need to remember this:


The other morning Jacob and I were up in his room getting him ready for the day. Suddenly he farted . . . and then he "sharted" at which point he said "uh oh" and then braced himself on his chair. After a bit of hunched grunting, he stood up straight, smiled and said "Ta Da!"

I believe it's time to start serious talks about potty training.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

2 years old!!!


Our sweet, crazy Jacob is 2 years old. Technically this happened 12 days ago, on March 30th, but we got up early that morning and hopped in the car to commence our week of travels. I was going to post about him when we got home, but then decided to wait until his 2-year-old well visit today.


The stats:

Height: 35.5 inches tall - 80th %
Weight: 32.3 pounds - 90th %

We were a bit concerned about his very picky eating but he seems to be tracking well and his Dr. feels there is no cause for concern. He'll eat when he's hungry!

Talking:
Jacob talks a blue streak. We have many conversations. I hear "mama?!" about 50-million times a day. Other often used phrases: "I did it!" - "There it is!" - "Uh oh!" - "Have Nice Day!" Most recently he has begun praying along with Joseph at meals and bedtime. He also loves to sing "You are my Sunshine" along with me.

Eating:
As previously mentioned, Jacob is our picky eater. He would gobble up a peanut butter & nutella sandwich at every meal if I let him but may/may not eat anything else. What might be eaten at one meal will be pushed away at the next. He's slow to try anything new. We still encourage it and figure he will eat it when he gets hungry enough. (Which was proven true when he ate an entire bowl of red curry chicken & rice one evening - broccoli and all.) He is good about eating his "breakfast candy" (Flintstone vitamin) every morning and we keep Pediasure on hand as a last resort.

Playing:
Jacob tries very hard to keep up with his big brother. He loves Trains above all and plays with them constantly. He can turn almost anything into a train. Joseph and Jacob spend quite a bit of time upstairs playing with the trains/train table. I'm excited about finishing up the room over the garage which they will begin sharing this summer. We are going with a train theme which has proven a bit challenging since most of the room decor I've found is cartoon-y. But we've been able to find some great things and it's coming together.

Sleeping:
Jacob continues to be a light sleeper compared to Joseph but still sleeps around 11 hours at night and 2-3 hours in the afternoon. Although the occasional bedtime is a challenge, usually he's very easy to put to bed. He loves to give big hugs and kisses. He says - "night night" - "love you" - and "okay" in response to "sleep tight!"

Pre-school:
Jacob will start attending pre-school two days a week beginning in May. The waiting list at Joseph's school is quite lengthy if you don't have a sibling already enrolled so we are getting him in quickly before Joseph is done. He loves taking Joseph to school and is reluctant to just drop him off and leave so I think he'll really enjoy staying. The house will be quiet! Well - only for a few weeks until Joseph graduates and is home for the summer.

Misc:
Jacob is a really sweet boy but also incredibly stubborn. I have to remind myself often that I'm the mama and I always get to win. Also - as the second child - he is picking up many skills by himself just by watching/mimicking his brother. But I also find - as the second child - that I don't work with him as much as I did Joseph at this age. We are working on colors and he's doing quite well, pointing to the correct colors when I name them. We also need to work on him pointing and naming them. He has "Blue" down pat. We need to work on numbers as currently most numbers are "2" or "9." On the plus side, I have let the "second child" thing keep me from keeping his baby book and scrap books up-to-date. yay for that!

I can't believe it's been two years since Jacob was born. He has definitely added a lot of laughter to our family and I look forward to seeing how his personality develops from here.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

traveling - part 2

The main reason for our trip: Christopher had a conference in DC and I wanted to tag along. Once we got to Indy my parents took the boys up to the farm with them for a few days and Christopher & I jetted off to DC. I was really looking forward to seeing the cherry blossoms this year as it is the 100th anniversary of the gift from Japan. However, due to the mild winter, the blossoms peaked early this year and only a few trees were still in bloom.
I completely over-exerted myself on the first day by walking from our hotel at the Capitol all the way down the mall and around the Tidal Basin. But it was totally worth it.
Somehow I have missed the Teddy Roosevelt Monument on previous trips and it is incredible. It takes up quite a bit of space and is covered with quotes, fountains and statues. Here is a single example.
I was able to see the new MLK, Jr. Monument which is also amazing.


My cousin Michael was able to get us in to tour the White House. I had been on the tour many years ago but this was Christopher's first visit. You don't get to see much but the tour is still interesting. We also found a small museum in front of the White House that contained additional furnishings.

I visited the Library of Congress later that afternoon and peeked into the main reading room.
No protesters in front of the Supreme Court when I walked past but we did see the "Million Mustache March" at the Capitol when we arrived. "Shave our taxes, not our 'staches!!"
Christopher had to work much of the time we were there but we enjoyed some great food and fun visits with my cousin and a few other good friends.

traveling - part 1

We have spent the last week making the "family loop" - traveling through Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana to see all of our immediate family members. We had several reasons for this trip but they offered us a perfect occasion for Joseph and Jacob to make their "Bigger Brother & Big Brother" announcement.We stopped in Nashville to celebrate Jacob and Aunt Aftin's birthdays. We also got to see cousin Ava for the first time since Christmas and she is getting so big! Her smile is precious.
Then we headed up to Indianapolis to see our cousin Scout and meet our new cousin Rigby. We also got to celebrate Grandpa's birthday and cousin Cannon's birthday a little early.
Scout is very generous with the kisses.
Cousin Rigby!!! We all had lots of chances to snuggle this little guy. He is so sweet and will be so big when we see him again.


On our last day we took a trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. It is the largest childrens museum in the US and we try to visit every time we're in town, especially since it's so close to Jon & Natalie's house.


Happy Easter!


No guilt in life, no fear in death -
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny!

Easter 2012


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