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.