How about a picture montage of Jacob's favorite activities:


Swinging in the big kid swing at the park just a few blocks away.


Monkeying around with daddy.


Hanging with the family (including grandma!) in San Francisco.


Attempting to crawl. Really, just rocking back and forth and smiling about it.


Reaching for things to play with, suck on, pinch, etc. while holding on to the couch.

He's still a happy boy, giggling for everyone and actually happily eating 2 rice cereal meals a day (this is only true since last week). Enjoy the pictures!

Jacob (the liar.)

Well, really Jacob never lied..I shoudn't call him a liar. He just made me a liar! Apparently typing that Jacob didn't like rice cereal made him willing to try it:)

He's eaten it sparingly but at least he isn't aggressively turning his head away. Honestly, his cereal covered bib and empty spoon seem to appeal to him more than the actual spoonfuls.

Cabbage patch kid growing in the garden...

5 months old and such a blast! We know we’re really lucky to have a kiddo with such gleeful demeanor and flexibility. Though he is able to eat his toes, I mean less physical flexibility and more flexibility with schedules, locations, who he’s around, etc.

His days here at seminary have been fun and chockful of interesting places and people. Aside from visiting the Berkeley marina and San Francisco, Jacob spends his days chilling with his buddy Jackson (21 months old), flailing and flying in his Johnny jump-up, and flirting/schmoozing heavily with all the seminarians. Obviously, we think highly of our little one but it sure is fun when other adults have fun playing with him, too. One such person told Jacob he is in the cabbage patch phase- chunky, bald, and smiling. We agree, thus the title this post. Though, to his defense, Jacob is finally beginning to get some more hair as you can see in the following pictures if you look hard enough.

Jacob doesn’t protest tummy time nearly as much and actually seems to enjoy doing what “big kids” (i.e. parents) do. From push-up position, he can easily flip himself onto his back and he now does so when he’s about to get his diaper and pj’s on at night. About 2 weeks ago, Jacob started some independent sitting. He's now up to about 30 seconds before he just can't quite maintain the upright position.

He also now enjoys standing a bit while holding on to the couch. He happily stands there until something distracts him and he turns his head with his whole body. But just look at those legs....they'd hold just about anyone upright :)

Needless to day, our little nudist doesn’t prefer clothing. In hopes of wearing him out before bed but avoid the cranky stage, we just have about ½ an hour of naked time for him. We can’t say that the end product is a baby who sleeps better, but at least he’s delighted up until the pj’s get put on.

We didn't want to introduce rice cereal too early but we felt that since Jacob is grabbing for food, drooling, and pretending to chew, we'd let him have a taste of some cereal. His reaction to it leaves us wondering if he'll ever willingly taste it again. He appears to absolutely hate it- to the point of clamping his mouth shut and shaking his head to avoid the spoon after just three bites. This is the kid that will put anything in his mouth and gnaw away. Perhaps when he's ready for pureed foods we'll just bypass the cereal all together....

That's the overall life of Jacob. He squeals, flails, and gnaws on anything around him. He is wearing mainly 6-9 month clothing but being that September is the "hot" month in Berkeley and we have no fans, little boy is having some flashbacks to AZ and naked afternoons. He really doesn't mind :). Much love to all from Berkeley! -We've only had one earthquake and it wasn't too bad, so don't be scared about visiting :)

This is a "hold over" post as we're planning the big post for his upcoming 5 month milestone (this week). However, we've been doing some fun exploring in our new home town and have some neat pictures to share.

One day, we went to the Berkeley Marina just miles from our home and walked a bit out on the pier (not the whole way because it may just be the longest and windiest pier I have ever experienced). Over Daniel's left shoulder you see the skyline of San Francisco and hiding behind the other shoulder is the Golden Gate Bridge.

Another day we went to San Francisco with the Loomis family (Heather, Jon, and Jackson, who are also here from AZ). While in the city, we got some delicious bread, fantastic views, and free entertainment from the sea lions on pier 39.

...and then at the end of the day- Jax and Jacob conked out in the car.

While this video has nothing to do with leaving the apartment, it does have to do with how we've been spending our time. Jacob is becoming a real laugher and we love discovering what gets him giggling. In this video, I'm mocking the little head shiver he gives us before peeing and he seems to find it just gut wrenching hilarious. Aren't you glad I explained?

Settling in

In the past few days, we've added some "new" things that we think are worth sharing via photo. (Mainly due to Jacob, duh.)

First, we got Jacob a jump-up yesterday and he is unstoppable!

Thanks to great grandma Barnes, little boy also got his first crib- and he loves it. And he's sleeping a bit better each night he's in it (thank goodness).

(<--this is jacob's "thug" look)

And finally, today we received a couch (thanks to a fellow seminarian's interest in craig's list!). Jacob likes lounging already and I'm sure we will love it, too.

When our apartment is more livable and looks like a home, we'll post pictures for everyone!

Reporting from Berkeley

We made it- and in pretty fine form. Sacrificing just one frame in the move (dents and nicks on stuff doesn't count as a loss) leaves us feeling pretty smug for now! Daniel, his dad, and brother Luke bravely drove the vehicles and load of "stuff" out here last Friday/Saturday and Jacob and I came in last Saturday (Jacob slept like a champ the whole flight). Our 2 bedroom apt (seminary family housing) feels more 'spacious' than believed it would, so we're really feeling very fortunate! Our new address is:
1300 Delaware St, Apt 11
Berkeley, CA 94702
Here's Jacob with his DiDi after traveling to Berkeley!

So far this community/our apartment has convinced me of a few things, some positive, some not so much...:
-dishwashers make you messier; handwashing dishes makes certain that you do it in a timely and efficient manner
-screen doors on apartments are awesome!
-gas stoves/ovens just make me nervous.
-'babyproofing' is easier to do in a small apartment
-we can recycle nearly everything. it's bliss.

Moving on to the Jacob aspect of the blog:


Jacob is doing wonderfully during the day, squirming and squealing with joy during all the walks he gets and charming all new people with his cheeky grin. At his 4 month check-up, he weighed in just over 16 pounds (75%ile) and 24.5 inches (40%ile). He's just a solidly built baby that is making his mom and dad's arms really strong!:) After his shots this past time, he took a teeny recovery nap and then awoke ready for action. He was so active and mischevious that he intentionally reached down, grabbed a hold of his band-aids and ripped one right off!

Before we moved out of our apartment last June, Jacob had gotten through most nights typically waking twice to eat then happily returning to sleep. Through moving and traveling, we attempted to keep his evening predictable and he was usually a decent sleeper. This was true until he arrived here in Berkeley.


We're hoping that a real place to call his own will make Jacob feel more secure and calm. The little guy's crib just arrived at the store today, and Daniel is off picking it up so that we can do our darndest to get it up in time for a test run during Jacob's afternoon nap. Here's for hoping!!


This afternoon we're visiting the Rose Garden with some other little guys, so Jacob is meeting people all over the place! Much love to everyone <3

SUMMER OF FUN

Hello All.

It has been a while since I have posted something, but I think this will make up for it. We have had a great time this summer, and while we're not ready to call it Fall yet (it was 113 today), we are closing a chapter in the next week. So, without further ado, here's Jacob's 3rd movie, a look back to his first summer.

Mucho amor,

DP