Mi Casa es Pooh's Casa

Jacob loves Winnie the Pooh and expects that his stuffed animals get the same treatment that he gets. Often at meals he will make sure that ‘Tigger’, ‘Raddit’, ‘Eeyore’, ‘Pooh Bear’, and ‘Piggie’ get enough to eat. There was a concern the other day that Pooh Bear- Jacob’s favorite- wasn’t wearing socks, so Jacob saw to it that Pooh not only got to wear socks, but also that he got the best socks- Jacob’s Cardinals socks.

As I read that last sentence out loud, Jacob yelled from the other room, “Go Cardinals!”

His stuffed animals are the first ones out of the crib in the morning and all must be accounted for before Jacob goes to sleep at night. During the day, Jacob’s friends enjoy frequent diaper changes, snacks, water, trips to the potty, and playing with play-doh. I have a six minute video chronicling these things that I am still trying to find a way to post on the blog. These will have to do for now.

I know there are many of you out there who could use a blog post right about now. Here's a "Where's Jacob" picture for you amidst his favorites.

Jacob has lots of words and phrases.

His favorite phrases include:

Of course he still says, “Hey, all mine,” and “How do you do dat?”

When you offer him a snack, he says, “I like that.” When it comes to food, he also says, “More tookies, please” and “I want some ka-ka korn” (popcorn…)

When you suggest to him that it might be time to take a nap, he says, “I don’t like that.”

If you put on your jacket or shoes he says, “Where are you going Dada/Mama?”

When he gets bored, he runs, turns on the TV and says, “I want to see sharks, yay!”

He loves to sing and dance. He knows all the words to “You are my sunshine,” “Wheels on the Bus,” “Ring around the Rosie,” and sings along with dozens of others. Jacob is quickly picking up the alphabet song.

He loves to watch Simpsons, see anything with Sharks, anything with dinosaurs, anything made by Disney/Pixar, and Winnie the Pooh. As you can tell, we have to put limits on the amount of TV he watches. But it has been raining. And we live in a 550sqf box.

Here he is playing one of his favorite games, "Chop-chop timber"

Here he is showing off his basketball skills. Jacob can now identify a football, basketball, baseball, tennis ball, and soccer ball. But somehow they all end up in the basketball hoop as Jacob says, "Shoot the goal!"


Much love from the bay area,
D, A, and J.

Under the Sea

With friends Eric and Megan (recall the infectious laughter on Jacob's "all mine" musical debut- that's Eric), we went to the Aquarium in San Francisco! Not only was a great time had by all, but Jacob got to see a real-life Nemo and Dory and pet several creatures.

When informed he was going to see a shark, Jacob wiggled and yipped with excitement the entire car ride (25 min) to San Fran. It was hysterical!
Here's the first thing we saw upon entering the aquarium- where Jacob immediately identified a nemo and a Dory.

The rest sort of speak for themselves....so, enjoy!

And when a munchkin literally runs the entire Aquarium (twice), this is what the ride home becomes. There were still goldfish crackers in his little fist.

We returned to Berkeley in time to get 1 day of sun before 3 storm systems move in (now through the end of the weekend) bringing in nearly 5 inches of rain. Obviously, there will be loads of indoor time and quick, wet, and muddy spurts of outdoor time.

Thus far, we've adapted Jacob and Ma's cup game to our Berkeley abode.

We've played basketball in the cold windy drizzle as a trio.

We've played with play-doh.

We've danced to music and watched football.

Fortunately, we've had Tavin visit (wahoo and hilarious). This means, there's been chair spinning, laughing, hitting and attempted biting, crib jumping, and crib diving with stuffed animals! And he'll be back for more visits during the week, phew!

Certainly, more silly more times to come. Stay warm and dry

Finishing touches

Though we've returned to Berkeley, there's camera material to be posted from Raleigh...so we're gonna get a double post today!

About a week or so before we left, Jacob discovered the art of opening doors- turning knobs and barging in on anyone at anytime.

Fortunately this skill hasn't transferred to our doorknobs here in Berkeley....yet.
Thanks to the friendly Kroger florist, Jacob experienced the joy of balloons.

The helium even lasted overnight, giving double joy as he sat with Ma the next morning reading books!

And now, a short snippet of the fun that can be had with Pa, Jacob, and an old Christmas popcorn tin.

21 months and counting

I don't usually refer to Jacob's age in terms of month unless it's a discussion with another parents or regarding milestones. Seeing as it's been awhile since milestones have been mentioned, this will be a quick catch-up on the current (and hilarious) Jacob.

(Grayson with Jacob in his beloved frog towel)

Since leaving Berkeley in mid-December, Jacob's verbal development has been astounding. When we left, he was still rarely putting 2 words together and was learning friends' and family members' names at a leisurely pace. Now, Jacob recalls names of family members who've been gone for over 2 weeks and has spoken several 4 word sentences (unprovoked)! Though, let it be said that his first real sentence was typical Jacob: "I see a basketball". Since then, it's been the typical toddler motto's including but not limited to; "I want some", "I do it", and a family favorite "No, all mine" (so proud.....ugh).

The picture below is a snapshot of the silly but imaginative games Jacob plays with his Ma (grandma) while singing 'Ring around the Rosy'. Jacob actually sings "Ashes, Ashes, all fall Down'- then knocks every last cup off his head feet, etc. Not much beats hearing your child actually singing the words (almost in time and tune) to songs in the backseat during car rides!

Additionally, Jacob now scribbles like a pro. Back in Berkeley, Jacob made stray lines here and there, then boredom would set-in and Jacob was off and running. Now, he'll draw and accurately broadcast his lines, circles, and (attempts at) stars and squares for 10+ minutes.

Car rides are fun not only for the singing from the backseat, but for the color shouting that has begun. Yesterday all we heard was "yellow" as we made our way through a parking lot with loads of yellow barriers! He's got yellow and blue down pat and we're working on green and red.

This munchkin was been a selective snuggler from the start- he just never wants to miss anything! Recently, his pets and stuffed animals have really become his "babies" and snuggle objects and he just wants to snuggle them, talk to them, and take them to use his potty. Obviously, we think it's precious.
And finally, Jacob has a sweet tooth. Duh, most little kids (and adults) do; it's instinctual and protective as sweet flavors in nature tend to be safe, bitter ones poisonous. Usually Jacob tries all foods before deciding whether or not to like it, but I've recently tired of him not actually eating greens beyond avocado and peas. Last night, he ate broccoli in exchange for some grapes. No fighting, whining, or pouting: just ate the broccoli as asked, drank some water, then devoured some grapes. Thus, the cheesecake bites he got to enjoy with Ma in the following video were balanced some by the broccoli (not a very good dietitian point-of-view, I know).

Happy 2010!

Apparently, when Daddy is away Jacob MUST play- play football, that is. Daniel left Monday morning for Chicago (2 weeks) and now all Jacob wants to do involves football in some regard... hmm, any connection?
Last night for about 30 minutes, Jacob "hiked" the ball to "Pa" (jacob won't say grampa but loves calling my dad pa.)

He also snuggles with his football pillow every chance he gets.

In other news, Jacob can count to 10...ish. He has actually counted to ten once saying each number except 8; however, his preference is to count to 3 then repeat 9 seventeen times. ANd laugh a lot.

This video shows his affinity to the number 9. And his feelings of security about being off-balance as he falls onto my leg next to him (which you don't see, but I promise my leg caught him and he didn't fall far).