Staying Cool!

Jacob and I had another fun time at our Monday play-away group. After hanging with our neighborhood peeps we headed out to have lunch with Doug and run a couple of errands. Jacob was of course an angel...even without a good nap! When we got home mommy had to make an important phone call. What does this mean for Jacob? He could get away with a little more then usual because mommy had to concentrate through an annoying automative system. While I was busy on the phone (28 minutes!) Jacob decided he would take advantage of this distraction and play in the fridge. Now I saw this and figured it wasn't a big deal, after all he was having fun, not hurting anything and keeping himself quiet and busy. Before I knew it, he had climbed all the way into the fridge!! Now as all Michiganders now we have been enjoying some warm weather and Jacob was thrilled to be able to wear some shorts today. I guess he was still warm and felt the need to get cool, because not only did he totally climb in the fridge but he tried to close himself in!!! Even while I was on the phone I knew I could not pass up the opportunity to capture his cuteness...so I managed to grab the camara and take a few shots with the speaker phone on! Look at my adorable hot tot trying to be a cool cucumber!!!

Yeah for Play-Away!

Jacob and I ventured to our first toddler play date on Monday! Jacob had a blast! Now that I'm back at home with Jacob I knew I needed to find a way to keep him socializing with kids his age. He had done so well at daycare and we got nothing but great reports on how well he interacted with the other children. I was a little concerned with Jacob losing some of his "people skills" while spending all of his day with just mommy. So I hit the web and started searching!! Low and behold I found something that is held at the community center only two blocks down our street! It's called Play-Away and is geared for 1 to 3 year olds. The class has a "teacher" that leads a loosely structured play time. The first 20 minutes is free play time and when we first got there Jacob didn't want to let go of his mommy. He was definitely uneasy with this new environment. I lead him to a corner full of toys that included a kitchen with play food. When I sat on the floor with him it wasn't long before he was cooking something up!! After free play time, the teacher leads the kids in circle time. Each week will have a different theme but with this being our first gathering she had us singing some familiar songs. All of the children were sitting in their moms laps with we sang a hello song, which included all the kids names and the popular song The Wheels on the Bus Go Round & Round. Next she started the well known ditty The Itsy Bitsy Spider. This definitely excited Jacob, he sprang from my lap and proudly stood to do all of the movements while everyone sang! It was the cutest thing! So much for his being shy! At the end of his performance everyone clapped and Jacob loved being in the spotlight and laughed and clapped along! He was a hit! (and mommy was so proud). After circle time the group sits and does a craft. Jacob sat at the table like such a big boy and happily worked on a name plate full of stickers. It was a masterpiece! Then it's more free time to just play, Jacob's favorite, besides the kitchen area was the slide. The teacher wraps up with a parachute goodbye activity. Jacob didn't take to that so much but it was the first time he had experienced such a thing so we'll see if he warms up to it. Overall Jacob really enjoyed himself and I was pleased to see how well he got along with and enjoyed being with the other kids in this class. On a side note, it was also really nice for mommy to meet some other local mommys and make some of her own friends!! This class meets every monday so it will be a really nice routine for me and Jacob to go and meet with our friends and socialize. They also have "Drop-In" play time available at the center and Jacob and I joined that as well. I plan to take advantage of that 2 times a week. The Play-Away and Drop In are each one and 1/2 hours long. I am very pleased because I know that this will be an excellent way for Jacob to continue developing his socialization skills, burn energy and have a blast! If his first time is any indication he is REALLY gonna love it! And if Jacob is happy...mommy is happy!!!

Happy Easter!!

A Visit To Bunnyville

Jacob joined right in along with many other kids at Bunnyville. This event was held at the Detroit Zoo. Fortunately, we already had our membership so we avoided the membership line and the even longer line to get tickets for the day. The more we use the membership, the more we think it was well worth it.

After getting through the gate, the first thing we did was get ears for everyone in the family. Amy had her much nicer ones, but Jacob and I wore our ears proudly. Of course, Jacob didn't know he had his on because otherwise, they would have been taken off much sooner.
We didn't attend all of the activities, but we did manage to do a craft with the reptiles. We decided to skip the exhibit portion and avoid the heat in the building and skipped to the craft. Although, Jacob did enjoy standing there watching the turtles.

We didn't participate in everything Bunnyville had to offer, but we did try a few more. We thought it would be fun to get bunny noses and whiskers, especially for Jacob. The line wasn't too long, but the wagon stood still for a little too long and it was getting later in the day and time for Jacob to eat and take a nap. Amy showed Jacob how easy it was and that it didn't hurt, but this year we just needed to pass on the face painting. Next stop, the jelly bean hunt.

The jelly bean hunt was over pretty quickly. There were tons of plastic jelly beans all over and the object was to get three in a basket and then turn them in for a prize. Jacob loved the idea of picking up these items and just couldn't stop at three. However, he was a real trooper and was ready to get his prize.
Back around the zoo some more for an attempt at meeting the Easter Bunny this year. We weren't sure what would happen, but had a pretty good idea. After all, there wasn't a very good story with Santa... As we got to the door, Jacob looked around the corner to see the Easter Bunny. Jacob was waving and the Easter Bunny waved back. Then it was our turn... It wasn't long before Jacob spun around in his mother's arms and was trying to run away while crying tears of fear. Unfortunately, we needed to wait for the camera people to figure out whatever they were needing to figure out. The Easter Bunny tried to get Jacob to warm up, which he did a little bit, but still of no avail for any hopes of Jacob sitting with the Easter Bunny by himself. Once again, maybe next year... ;)!
Now it was time for Jacob time. We ventured over to the smaller playground while we waited for the picture to be ready. Good thing this was for charity because the picture was a little disappointing. Fortunately, we had our camera and were allowed to take a picture. It turned out much better...
Bunnyville turned out to be a nice adventure which totally wiped out Jacob...

A Fun Afternoon...

Due to the Holiday weekend, we were able to get out of work a little early. This meant fun with Jacob time!! It wasn't long after getting home that the wagon was Jacob filled and rolling down the sidewalk at a steady pace. Jacob was having a blast as we walked down to the Boys and Girls Club several blocks away. After signing Jacob for a few classes, we ventured over to the park where there were some other kids that we similar to Jacob's age. It was such a nice day out that we ventured all over the neighborhood.

An Afternoon at the Zoo

The family used the annual zoo pass just like we purchased it for. A sunny afternoon with no plans, so we loaded the wagon and Jacob and ventured the two miles to the zoo. This would be Jacob's first trip of the season to the zoo. We don't think he was too sure about what this adventure was when we were in the parking deck, but he quickly warmed up to the idea. After all, he was getting pulled in his wagon... ;)!

Jacob really enjoyed seeing the animals. There were quite a few that we were able to see. Some were more active than others. The kangaroos were just sunning themselves, but the rhinos and zebras were taking strolls and galloping a bit. Jacob was probably the most interested in the zebras and the lions. The lions were roaring back and forth.

Amy and I found Jacob to be pretty wide-eyed the whole day while he was taking everything in. We ended up spending more time there than we had anticipated and still didn't see all of the zoo. I'm sure we will definitely get some good use out of the zoo this summer. We plan to go back next weekend for bunnyville and the week after for Earth Day which have kid activities including crafts and bands.

Day 5 - No Pacifier

Well, it looks like we have made it now five days without Jacob having a pacifier. Day three was pretty rough as you could definitely tell what Jacob was looking for and wanting. It probably didn't help that he only got about an hour nap when he generally takes a two hour plus nap. So, he was definitely found digging in his basket, looking in his bag and pointing to areas where there would generally be a pacifier hanging out. It was a little rough, but Jacob made it through the day without too much bother.

Day four became easier, but there was a much better nap and a little more time for adjustment. There was a significant reduction in the outreach for a pacifier. Jacob was now forgetting about the pacifier's that comforted him for several months.

Day five... Jacob doesn't really appear to be looking for a pacifier to console him at all. He was very much giggly, smiley and looking for fun to be had. He didn't appear to be looking for a pacifier any longer, but Amy did notice that he was starting to cling to a blanket with a stuffed animal on it.

In the past week or so, there has been a huge change in Jacob wanting to learn more words. Maybe now that he doesn't have a pacifier in his mouth he has found a new talent... ;)! The latest word that came from out of the blue was hot dog. Amy was feeding him and saying hot dog and all of a sudden, he said it plain as day. This is not a word that we have been working on with him, but there was no doubt at all what he said. We think we are close to the time where we really watch what we say because he is picking up on them and really starting to mimic our words and our actions.