All the Chell family here for Christmas, and the pictures we have are L-A-M-E lame! Fortunately, Jacob's uncle Josh took some great photos that he'll kindly share with us when they're cleaned-up. Until then, we have 2 pictures.
Essentially, recently Jacob has discovered the delights of Tetris (though he looked at the screen once for about 30 seconds and got bored).

And then he got to snack with a gorilla.

That's it for now. We'll do better soon, I promise.

Enjoy the last few days of this decade!!!

"The boys are back in town"

The boys had the fun of all playing together in Houston this past weekend!

In this instance, the 'boys' mean Jacob and his fellow boy cousins.

(Left to right: Colby, Samuel, Parker, and Jacob)

Here, "boys" are Daniel, his father Danny (aka "Didi"), and Uncle Trent (Parker and Sofia's dad).

And all the cousins in their brand new Christmas outfits

(L to R: Jacob, Colby, Samuel, Parker, and baby Sofia down front)

Sofia shows love, too- here she's loving on the next cousin due to arrive in May (to join siblings Samuel and Colby)

And finally, proof of Jacob's continuous quest to prove he is capable and in need of a sibling, what with his adorable glee and gentle love toward Sofia (as he also shows toward friend Rosie in Berkeley).

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

DJ Jazzy Jacob

If you are a frequenter of the antics of Jacob, then you'll love this.

Consider it an early Christmas Present.

This morning Jacob and I were over at a friends apartment who owns a keyboard. Jacob turned on the beat and started nodding his head to the music. Then he started shouting "hey, all mine" to the beat.

I think it's gonna be a single.

Proud Jacob

Just something we thought was pretty funny. Jacob and I made our gingerbread house while Daniel was away, so Jacob had to show off all his hard work as soon as Daniel got home. You like how Jacob congratulates himself on a job well done? (Good Job, Jacob!)

Jacob and Co.

I'm thinking that when Jacob becomes a teenager and hears the stories of all his girlfriends of toddlerhood, he'll wish he still had such charm.

Mondays this fall have meant a fun few hours with adorable Olivia. It's been hilarious to see the HUGE difference between girls and boys of the same age (while she is extremely verbal and articulate, Jacob is all brawn and energy). Can you just see the necklace and purse she found while Jacob stomps and jumps around saying "jump" as he leaps from everything...

His older lady friend, Odette, came over during the Cardinals game last night and Jacob couldn't have been happier. Anytime she left his sight, he came running out to the living room and crowd of game-watchers to ask with slight panic, "Uh-dette? Uh-dette?"

That being said, he's been missing Jenny- but he also seems to have fond memories as he smiles to her picture and name (or apartment door or window, toy, anything that reminds him of her). It's been really neat to see him remember her with positive emotions...

On that note, Jacob's less than positive emotions are beginning to emerge in the toddler way. He gets frustrated when things don't work the way he WANTS them to- like when his shoes don't go on after he feels he's adequately shoved his feet onto the tops of the velcro straps. It's really cute to see his cognitive development and emerging desire for autonomy.

The gingerbread house we made was interesting as he wanted to put each piece on, but got agitated when the candies stuck to his hand rather than the roof. After tasting the candy, all frustrations were forgotten and with the new eat everything mission in full throttle!

Then there's the issue of using crayons only on paper. Here's Jacob so peacefully and happily scribbling away...

Until I wouldn't let him draw on the couch. Then his life was oh so awful and required a statement fall on the yoga mat.... but then he was on to playing with the ball and life was happy again.

Oh the struggles and dilemma of being a 20 month old boy.

Whirlwind week

We hope Thanksgiving was great for everyone! Here's a quick photo montage from our past week:

We said a sad goodbye to jenny, sofia, and anders (but Jenny and jacob were really grown-up about it ;) )

We went to San Fran with Didi and Yaya, where jacob rode the carousel and talked to sea lions

Jacob got to open some christmas presents early!

and last but not least, Jacob got his first girl cousin (and Parker got a little sister) Sofia Rochon- she and her mom Tally are healthy and home!

To nap or not to nap....

This past week, Jacob missed his nap on a couple of days and then proceeded to sleep through the entire night. Amazing.
But are we really already arriving to that point, I mean he's just barely over 1 1/2! Yikes...I don't know if that's scarier for daniel and myself or for his mood after 6 pm!
On the first day of missed nap, his exhaustion caught up with him at dinner time as evidenced by this pathetic piece of video.

Yes, he does a falling asleep head-jerk while drinking his water. Yes, he does his sign for "all done" but say "more" at the same time. Yes, he does nearly miss his mouth with a piece of toast. Yes, this was hilarious...and pitiful. Following this pathetic display, Jacob proceeded to get a second wind and run around with his Didi for another hour before bath time. Then, he slept for 10 1/2 hrs straight, close to his record. Even that tired, he couldn't sleep past 6:45 am...but I shouldn't complain having a few nights with more than 8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep!

Trial Separation

Poor Jacob and Jenny, as this week has been their trial separation. Jacob is with me in Phoenix until Friday, b ut Jenny (referred to by jacob as "nee") returns to Sweden the following Friday. And that's for good.

I'm not sure what we'll all do as we have all enjoyed Jenny and her parents Anders and Sophia... While in Phoenix, Jacob has pointed to these pictures on our camera and said "Nee, Nee" then attempted to either find her, or becomes upset that she isn't here to play.
Last Friday, Jenny and Sophia along with Jacob and myself, rode the train (BART) and bus to get to the Zoo! Everyone had a blast, especially on the train and carousel. Oh, and of course, the animals were cool ;).

Rub a dub dub

Jacob and I are in Phoenix while I get some thesis work done....but this was Jacob during bathtime with Daddy before we left. Enjoy!

The night owl

If you've read a post before, you likely are aware of Jacob's disinterest in sleeping at night. In true form, he decided tonight that instead of getting undressed for a bath, he would rather find his hat and shoes and get back out to the playground! The picture doesn't look weird until you understand that it was at 8:00 pm when Jacob is already usually bathed, pajamamed, and ready to snuggle before sleep (he actually enjoys the part where he goes down to bed...it's just continuing to sleep all night that he detests....).

Silly Tuesday

Not much to report here. Yesterday, Jacob begged to take his dog on a walk to the park (peasssss, peasssss), so we did.

And he forgot how to make normal expressions for the rest of the day!

But apparently so did I.

A few firsts and Halloween

This would've been Jacob's first rainbow, but he was asleep in the car (riding to the Seattle airport). Next time...

First visit of a newborn, yay for Rosie Roberts arriving Oct 27th! (You'll likely see more of her during this school year).

Jacob's first juice box...and really, first serving of juice that's not from someone else's cup.

Jacob attending his first birthday party; his Swedish friend Jenny turned 3! The Halloween theme fit just right as it was all new and hilarious for Jenny.

His first taste of popcorn, thanks Jenny and her parents Sophia and Anders! By the way, he loved it so much he chased Sophia and the bucket of popcorn down the walkway.

And jacob as a little fireman.

He refused to wear the hat, and much of it was too big....but he nailed the "wee-ooo weeee-ooo" siren sound. And "Booo".

We're so proud.

Happy November!

Following the Oregon Trail

Last weekend, Daniel, Jacob and I all got see Oregon and Washington for the first time as we visited Tavin and his parents Sarah and Chris. We had a really nice time visiting and have some nice pictures to share!
Jacob found these knee and elbow pads and insisted on wearing them for the entire morning.

One day, we went to an old school that is now a place space for kids....kids big and small as seen by the dads playing away!


Tavin and Jacob having a good read.

Our visit to very windy Long Beach (coast of Washington right next to Oregon). All Jacob wanted to do was chase seagulls and play in the sand. All while running. He was the energizer bunny and screamed when we left (due to frustration and cold hands)!

A cold group photo

These two boys are hilarious and growing so fast!

Jacob has really embraced "no". He has started to tell everyone "no" when they approach him if he thinks they will take his toy/book/object of attention. Hopefully it stops soon!- This is him reallllly not wanting to share his water.

Wagon rides!

It's raining, it's pouring...

As the remnants of the Pacific typhoon beat down on us, we stay inside and try to figure out fun things to do in lieu of the daily walks, bike rides, and park visits.
In case you were wondering, this is some of what a cooped up jacob does:




Yes, every last one of those books began on the bookshelf this morning.

Just an FYI: The scratch on his face between the eyebrows is a direct result of Jacob attempting to imitate his swedish girlfriend Jenny. At nearly 3 years old, she is capable of maintaining balance while jumping on benches in the courtyard. Jacob, 1 1/2 years younger and likely a foot plus some shorter, didn't do it so gracefully and fell face first. He was a trooper and was over it in about 5 minutes. But he looks pretty tough..and neanderthal-esk.

18 months...or can I finally refer to age in years?

Jacob is officially 18 months and doing most typical toddler things quite well. He adores playing with and shadowing kids a bit older than him...but tends to be a bit of a bully when he's with younger munchkins. Below is Jacob and Jenny (his almost 3 y.o. Swedish friend) sitting our recycling bins out in the courtyard.

He laughs and smiles as much as ever but can better communicate what is tickling him just so and can usually signify what is bugging him when he's frustrated. -However, he certainly has his toddler irrational frustrations...those are fortunately short lived and distractable.
He enjoys mimicking and, as seen below, sometimes does it quite well....and sometimes cracks us all (including himself) up.

Unpromtped, Jacob has a slew of words and learns new ones constantly (today was "happy" and "glasses") but he really doesn't string them together. We're working on colors, number, and the alphabet... So far we have: "two" and "a-b-e" but he just smiles and mimics when we practice colors.

I suppose he's too distracted jumping off of playground equipment (part not intended as jumping points), climbing onto the dining room table and toilet tank, and picking all the green strawberries and tomotatoes from the community garden (sometimes eating them....)?

He's growing fast and constantly reminds us of his jokester personality and instinctual empathy.

And no, he doesn't consistantly sleep through the night. Maybe when every tooth is in, he has no germ, and has worn himself out? Sigh...