Jacob Takes The Wheel

It didn't take long for Jacob to grab onto that wheel and start going. He has an instinct for driving and knowing what vehicles are. Jacob hopped up and onto Uncle Rob's new tractor (lawnmower). Since Jacob didn't seem to have a fear of this machine that he had never seen before, it was time to fire it up and go for a spin. He was all business and didn't show his excitement. We figured he must have really liked it because he was aaaahhhhing to the engine and bumps and one point and was overpleased about needing to get off, but that quickly subsided.

Jacob tried showing Chloe who was boss between them. Jacob kept reeling in her leash and sometimes giving it a good tug. They became much closer friends as Chloe was chasing (following) Jacob all around the dining and living rooms. Jacob kept checking over his shoulder to see if she was still on his heels. Chloe will probably really be looking for Jacob for a while after this trip. We hear that she kept watching the door and looking around for him after the last visit and he was much more fun this time... ;)!

Back to the Jacob knowing vehicles. Chloe has/had some stuffed NASCAR dog toys. Jacob went right for them and immediately start pushing them around the floor. Of course since a couple of them were Gordon and Johnson he started crashing those right away. Let's hope this is a prelude to what is going to happen in California this weekend. Looks like he knows who his mommy and daddy aren't rooting for :D!

Jacob Turns 11, Anyssa Turns 14!

Happy birthday to Anyssa and Jacob!

Anyssa is starting her second year of being a teenager, while Jacob makes one more step toward being a year old. We headed out to Bagger Dave's and got some burgers and fries. Jacob enjoyed watching the train go around the restaurant and was sometimes fussy because it wasn't in sight when it was in other parts of the restaurant. Evidently, it looks like he will be into trains at least for now.

Jacob is now saying momma more and more frequently, but we dont' think he has quite figured out that is a meaningful word yet. Amy is answering to it and I am not... heehee! However, I do acknowledge where his mommy is etc. when he says it. It's just a matter of time when he makes the correlation. I guess Jacob's first word will be momma. We thought it might be yuck after last night. Amy kept saying "yucky pucky" and "yuck" after dinner and Jacob decided he was going to try and start mimmicking the sound... I think Amy stopped just in case it really happened because then "momma" wouldn't be Jacob's first word...

Bath Time - A Little Older

Amy thought it had been quite some time since we took some pictures of Jacob in the bathtub. We have changed from the hard-sided tub with a sling, to just the tub, to a new inflatable tub. The toys are still the same, just a few more and a couple less. The reason for the couple less is that Jacob enjoys taking a bite out of them on occasion and then swallowing the plastic. So, those do get exchanged/replaced on occasion. Jacob enjoys his baths and sometimes more than others. We are able to splash him a little bit without too much turmoil... Well, not really any, but we don't dowse him either. Anyway, here are some pictures of Jacob in the tub, just a little older...What?!?! Are you taking a picture of ME??? I'm not so sure about this... I am going to have to give you a Jacob chop! Hiee yah!!!Boy!! This bath stuff sure wears me out!! Good thing mommy and on occasion daddy gives it to me right before I got to bed.

If It Isn't Nailed Down...

If it isn't nailed down and it is the right height or at least good enough, Jacob is pushing it around the house. It can be a toy that you are supposed to walk behind (which frustrates him when it stops because he hasn't figured out to turn it yet), a toy that rolls and it just works out that way or a chair from the dining area getting pushed from there into the kitchen and toys that are the right height that just works and goes across the floor. He certainly is beginning to like walking/cruising more and more all of the time. I think sometimes he forgets that he doesn't know how to walk and cops a squat and then starts crawling to his destination. OOooohhh how the world inside our house is going to change once he figures out how to walk unaided... This is going to be some great times!!! :D!!!

Mommy Can't Take It Anymore

I guess I must have really done something today. I don't know why, but I just have a lot more energy now and am really wanting to learn more about what is behing closed doors. There is thing box in the living room that has pictures and movies on it and then some buttons below it. This isn't too interesting because it is just all black. However, there is this silver box that has all kinds of buttons and doors to put my fingers in and stuff. I try looking at mommy and/or daddy to see if I should put my fingers in there. I hear something like "no" and then see a look that can kinda scare me, but I just laugh it off and stick my fingers in. Then I heard a little louder no and sometimes when I do it I all of a sudden find my self sitting on the floor with a toy and no longer by those boxes. Not sure how that works, so I just get back up and go back to the boxes again. When this gets boring, then I try opening this door that I can see stuff behind and I can sometimes see myself in. There's lots of goodies in there like books and papers and stuff. Mommy didn't like it when I pulled a bowl out and almost hit my head with it. After that mommy said something about it being that's it, we are going to Babies R Us.

Before long, I was tossed into my car seat and strapped in so that we could go for a ride. Guess what, when I mommy got me out, we were at Babies R Us. After we got home, I was no longer able to open that door. I tried and tried, but I just couldn't open it. Then I saw this white thing that I didn't notice before. I started touching it and then I started hearing no on occasion again. I think this might be what is keeping me from opening that door now. Mom was playing with the two boxes and putting this clear thing in front of it. It was fun pulling that off! I saw mom and dad talking when dad came home and were holding the plastic. I don't know what's going on, but I have a feeling that it will have something to do with me putting my fingers in one of the boxes... Guess I will just have to go somewhere else to explore.... :-D!

I think this might be what they are calling childproofing...

Frankie Needs To Go Outside

All Jacob needs to hear is a bark at the door and/or some one saying that Frankie needs to go outside and Jacob immmediately gets super duper excited!! He is smiling, giggling and laughing and gets very anxious to be picked up to go out with her. He really likes to be a part of the task. He quickly settles down once the door is openened though. It is pretty funny to see, you can't help but to laugh with him because he is so darn animated when he does it. I doubt we will ever be able to get a picture of it or capture it on video though. He is so interested in the video camera that even when he doesn't see it, he knows you are turning it on by the noise it makes. Then he is all about trying to get the camera...

Look Out!!

Look out!!! Here comes Jacob!! Look both ways before getting up off the floor or pulling out a chair because Jacob is on his way to somewhere fast. His now found talent only accelerates his ability to get into an open fridge or open dishwasher. We thought he was fast before, but we were sadly mistaken...

Sleep Training

Sleep training for Jacob has once again resumed now that things have settled down. He was pretty much trained and then there was the camping trip and it was difficult to maintain the nightly routine. We were increasingly more lenient with our regimen and Jacoob quickly took advantage of it. The sleep training resumed last night and it was the first night in a while that he slept through the night.

The need for sleep training and routine has become more needed as we are getting closer to the commencement of the school year and Amy's tenure as a stay-at-home mom comes to a close. Amy has been sending out a good number of resumes and has her first interview today. Please wish her luck!!

Jacob Is Crusing!

Jacob is increasing his cruising speed along the furniture and now includes cruising on the furniture. He is also getting much more stable on his feet and is getting closer to walking while some one is holding one hand. I don't think he is quite sure that he can do it yet like this, but I think he could if he wanted or tried to. His new thing is developing his skills at what his mom has dubbed "rolly polly". He really likes rolling the ball back and forth and is getting better at it.

Other noticeables for Jacob is his ever growing hair. We may need to cut it ourselves or take him to get it cut before his first birthday. He needs to look sharp for pictures and company, right? Jacob's weight gain has definitely decreased since he has become much more mobile although his height continues to increase. He has practically outgrown his infant carseat in length as his feet are hitting the back of the seat in the car now. He has reached the target for weight so that we can turn his seat to be front facing. Just need to wait until he turns one year old, yep, he is almost one already, and we can legally turn his seat around (or get a new one that he fits in better...).

Shutterfly Changes

In case you haven't noticed, sometime in the last week or so Shutterfly made some drastic changes to their site. This is the site that "Our Photos" is linked to. More functionality has been added, although I haven't tried or understand all of it yet. I will continue to tinker with it and let you know how it goes. Apparently, if you are added as a member, you can send comments via e-mail to the site via the andgfeb2006@sfly.com e-mail address. Not only can you send comments, you are also supposedly able to send pictures and/or projects to the site. These features can be turned off and on and we haven't decided as to what we would like to keep and delete. Looks like some one still has some homework to do... I'll update you later.

Technical Difficulty

Our main computer has come down with a virus and is waiting to get into the doctor to be looked at. There was some indiscretionary mingling on the web that caused the computer to get sick. The preventative in place to avoid such indescretitions had expired and did not remedy the ailment. To avoid further degradation of the hardware, a conscious decision has been made to let the computer gain rest in this time of need before heading to the doctor and becoming healed.

In the meantime, Jacob is now REALLY cruising along the couches, furniture, walls, cupboards, etc. and is hanging onto our hands/fingers less and less when walking. He is making many more facial expressions and is kinda sorta sticking his tongue out. Not sure if this is trying to make words or being defiant/funny... Also, his sleeping habits have been out of sorts lately so, we are once again working on that. We aren't sure if it is due to the camping trip or knowing that some one is now living next door to him. Sleeping habits are hit and miss at night and nap times, etc. are evolving as well.

Hopefully, our main computer will be healed shortly and we will be back online as usual.

Follow-up Appointment

Jacob was taken to the doctor today for follow-up to his 9-month appointment. The doctor wanted to check and see if the fluid in his ears from his ear infection was dried up. Good news!! There is none of the fluid that shows up after the infection and everything checked out as well too!! Jacob weighed in a 20 pounds, 10 ouces and is now 29-1/2" long. He certainly didn't gain much and the doctor asked as if she already knew the answer as to whether or not he is pulling himself up. Amy answered yes and the doctor noted that babies don't gain weight as fast once they are more active in pulling themselves up.

During their discussions, the doctor noted how muscular Jacob's legs were. Amy had tried to putting Jacob down and he quickly stuck out his legs so that he didn't sit down. The doctor said, "There isn't any fat in those legs..."

Jacob is definitely getting more and more mobile every day and improving the speed at which he is getting up on the furniture as well as walking along it. Bursts of energy are ever increasing his laughter and speed. Look out world, here comes Jacob!!!!!

Picnic At Grandpa's!

Amy, Jacob, Anyssa and I packed up the family mobile and headed off to Ohio for a picnic with the family. Little did we know that it was going to take so long to get down there. We knew of one of the closures on I-75 and were okay with that. Little did we know that there was one more that we needed to deal with. Once close to the Ohio border, there was a major back up, so we got off the expressway and ventured around on some backroads. This was definitely a timesaver. How am I so confident you ask... Well, I started laughing once in Ohio and the vehicle that almost rear ended us going into another construction zone (Amy was wondering why I was so close to the barrels because I was allowing for the goof ball some room on the road in case he needed to swerve off, stupid Buckeye fan!!) flew by us once again even faster than he did the first time. Anyssa and Amy couldn't figure out what was going on because I started laughing out of nowhere and starting waving at the fool flying by. I guess I must have been pretty funny because they laughed at me for a while and then brought it up on the way home too! The normal time of an hour to get out of Michigan was almost two this time...

After finally getting down there we were greeted by many of the family and were relieved to have gotten there. We even had a surprise visit from Amy's Uncle David who drove in from Oklahoma with his son. It has been a few years since we saw him, so it was a nice surprise to see him.Jacob enjoyed watching everyone play soccer and bag toss, baggo, tailgate toss, bean bag toss or whatever the case may be while gnawing on Abby's purse, etc. This was all under the watchful and protective hand of his Uncle Jerry. (Does anyone know what the official name of this game is? Maybe it doesn't have one so that is why you hear so many different ones...) Anyway, there was fierce competition going on... Last year's contenders were no match for Amy and Abby this year. They were on fire. I guess Amy's belly not being in the way this year may have had something to do with it... ;)!

Amongst the festivities, Grandma B. passed out frozen treats. Jacob picked the red to try not know what he was in for. We thought he might not like the popsicle since it would be cold, but he quickly grew to like it. First he would suck the flavor out and then bite off a chunk.

This might have been the first time Jacob has thought about his career choice when he grows up. We aren't sure if he was telling us he wants to be a plumber or a carpenter with his baby butt crack... :D!!!

Unfortunately, our timing wasn't as good as it has been for other trips. We usually try and time Jacob's naps so that we can still get to bed at a reasonable time. Well, this time Jacob was able to get enough sleep on the way home so that he could keep us up until after 11 since we didn't get home until 9 or so... Oh well, can't time everything the way you would like all of the time. At least he wasn't cranky when we were waiting to go to bed.