All About /// Jacob

The past few months have rocked Jake's world. At first, he could care less about the babies. Then he'd get annoyed with them and would steal their bottles and run away. Eventually, their crying got on his nerves and he'd say, "Babies! Stop Crying!" 

But after a few weeks of getting used to them being around 24-7, he decided he totally loved them. He plays with their ears as he walks by (a sure sign that you've got his approval and love :) and he cuddles them and says "Ahhhh. Baby loves Jakey!" As they get more interactive and fun, Jake loves them more and more. And it makes us so happy. 

Jake really has been a trooper. He pretty much entertains himself and is a good boy while I take care of the babies' never-ending needs. Of course, youtube videos and chocolate helps :) But really he is such a good boy and my best buddy. So here are a few little tidbits/experiences/funnies/facts about my besets boy Jake:

Funny things he's said lately:

"Ah nuts!" (Quoting Monster's University)

"It's spooky! Halloween Town! I Jack! The pumpk..." (Jake absolutely LOVES Nightmare Before Christmas and quotes it frequently--though at first he couldn't really say the word pumpkin and it would come out as pumpk. Halloween is by far his favorite holiday.)

"Come here, come here." As he waves me over.

"Momma, help me!

"The Lina (Caroline)", "The East (Easton)", "The Chloe (Chloe)". (At first everyone's name had "The" in front of it. So cute, but he's outgrown it.

We were playing with the play phone in his play kitchen. He answered it and said, "Hello? Chloe's House?" He loves his cousin Chloe and playing in her room.

The family was sitting around talking and somehow the word "butt crack" was brought up. Jake immediately yelled, "Butt Crack! Butt Crack!" It was hilarious and a good reminder that little pitchers have big ears.

I did something Jake did not like, he yelled, "No, Mommy!" Wow, that caught me off guard.

"Nah-wits lights!" (Christmas Lights)

Every Sunday before church, I talk to Jake about sharing in nursery. After I picked him up from nursery one time, he told me, "Share...toys! I nice." It makes my heart melt to hear him talk to me and tell me about his day and that he was being kind.

"Stop it!" --This one makes me rethink the words I choose to say to him. He's definitely mimicking me now.

"Jakey wants milk. Jakey wants bwanket (blanket). Jakey, Jakey, Jakey..." He talks about himself in third person. It's quite funny and adorable. And I love that he thinks his name IS Jakey. 

"The pew-pew." (Guns are pew-pews. Cuz well, that's the sound they make!)

Jake broke his arm on January 25th when he was jumping on the bed and roughhousing with Scott. Urgent Care thought it was Nurse Maid's Elbow. We ended up taking him to the ER and it was broken! It was a rough, painful experience for Jake. Poor guy. He got a cool orange cast though and liked to tell everyone the whole story of how it happened: "Jakey jump bed. Jakey fall off edge. It hurt!"

We've been pretty cooped up in the house with the twins, and Jake was really wanting to go outside and do something. My mom was leaving to run errands and Jake saw and ran to her and pleaded, "Jakey needs out! Take Jake!" hahaha. It was hilarious and so, so sad at the same time. Now that the weather's warmer, the babies are older and there are no longer construction workers in the backyard with big tools, we hang outside a lot more :)

"Another Baby?" Sometimes Jake forgets that there's two of them.

"Ruuuuuby."

Jakey wants another tookie!" (cookie)-- He's a demanding little soul.

"Woot Beer (root beer) and Toke (Coke)."

"Where gramma go? Hey, come back!!!"

"I got turkeys!" --Meaning: I'm ticklish. This is probably my favorite of his sayings.

Words that describe him:

Defiant, spunky, silly, smart, sweet and affectionate, energetic but cautious, possessive and stubborn, picky eater! A nut head! 

His Favorite Things:

Drinks with a straw. If he sees a big drink with a straw, he WILL steal it and drink it til its gone.

Pirates of the Caribbean song. He loves to sing, "Yo ho! Yo ho! Pirate's Life Me!"

Playing with his 7 month old cousin, Ryder. He thinks Ryder is just hysterical.

Swimming! Clothes and all, he will get right in.

Making gun and car sound effects. Such a boy. 

Angry Birds and Bad Piggies. He is OBSESSED. He would sit and watch YouTube recordings of other people playing the games ALL DAY if I let him. So he has also become very possessive of the computer--or "puter." Case in point: One night, Jake came and slept in our bed. Early that morning, I was changing Ben. Jake suddenly woke up and sat straight up and yelled, "NO! No MY puter!" Then went back to sleep. OBSESSED. 

Ears. He still has an ear fetish and likes to grab our ears or kiss them or just play with them. He'll walk by the babes and just touch their ears in passing.

Chocolate, candy, soda. It's a never-ending food battle with this one.

Being outside.

Kissing, rubbing and smelling my arms. :)

Falling asleep in the oddest positions and locations. He's started to refuse taking a scheduled nap. So instead, he basically just falls over in exhaustion wherever he's been playing: grandpa's office chair, exercise equipment, my bedroom floor. 

TWO

Jake is TWO. He had a happy birthday (despite a super sick mommy) and got many fun presents. The day before I took him to the mall in Concord for a little b-day shopping and then we rode the kiddie train around the mall. He loved it.

But he was such a stinker that day! I had the mindset of "whatever my Jake wants today, he gets" (nice of me huh? :) But he wanted nothing to do with all the things that I thought would just make him so happy. Usually he loves to play at the Mall playplace. But that day? Nope. He wouldn't even let me put him down which is super odd for Jake. He's never been attached to me.

So I got him his very own lemonade from Auntie Anne's. Jake loooovvveess drinks, shakes, sodas, lemonades you name it, and he looovvvveeess to hold the cup all by himself (he's actually a drink stealer so watch out.) But that day? Nope. Wouldn't take a single sip. Absolutely refused.

So I headed to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and bought him his favorites (my kid has had a major sweet tooth since Easter.) And?....Wouldn't take a single bite of a chocolate. Seriously! I felt like I was in some kind of alternate universe. Who is this child?!

In the end, he just wanted some new tchoo-tchoos and Rex from Toy Story. So he was happy and healthy, but my plans had all majorly backfired. Oh well.

His absolute favorites on his actual birthday, however, were the BOONS! (balloons.) And blowing out his birthday candle. He discovered that blowing out a flame is pretty much the coolest thing ever, in fact he was so in love with the whole ritual that we did it about 14 times. An hour later, Scott and I found him on the dining table with his cake and pushing his number 2 candle back into the cake and then pretending to blow it out over and over. He destroyed his cake. But it was hilarious.

Oh and he didn't even take a bite of that cake. Not one single bite.

Happy Birthday my Jake. You are definitely a two year old!

peek-a-boo

brush your teeth

twenty-three months

J tidbits:

He loves his dad's ears. I've probably written about this before but it is just so sweet and funny. He is constantly pulling at them, playing with them and rubbing them when he's tired. It's J's sign that he is sleepy.

He loves to play in our car and turn on the hazard lights. He gets upset at red lights because he wants to GO! and keep the car moving fast. And the car usually says, Bah! Bah! at first then he remembers it's Beep! Beep!

He is sleeping so wonderfully and goes to bed like a champ. I hope it lasts forever.

He's pretty much on a food strike unless it involves chocolate.

He's a big helper. The other day, he wanted to help me put the groceries in the trunk and handed me bags near to him. Such a sweetie.

He's always sneaking into the bathroom to steal our toothbrushes.

Every day he says, "Peeeeasse!" and then leads me to his room to play Tchoo Tchoo (his train set/table is his fave right now.) And I have to play correctly. I have to hold the brown train at all times and I have to keep it moving. He puts me in my place if I'm not doing it right :)

He currently sings the alphabet song like this: "A E E E E E E E E E E E E E E........" and so on. But he also likes letter Y.

J is just our favorite. 

He is a great snuggler, l-o-v-e-s nursery, is happy and silly and busy and curious and so much fun. Happy 23 months J! You are almost 2! 

caught

I guess that child proof door knob thingy isn't working too well. He slowly came back out of my bathroom... hugging my razor. It was tons of fun getting that thing out of his kung fu grip.

twenty-two months

twice in the same day both scott and i found jay playing in the toilet. i found him swirling some chopsticks in the toilet in the morning. then later, scott found him with both feet in the toilet bowl...just standing there. so he is obviously interested in the potty. he loves to pull himself up on the potty and sit on it. he's practically in the splits and loves to just sit there. when i take him off, he flushes the potty then wants to wash his hands. so on the bright side we may be able to start potty training soon! yeehaw!!

jay is in the fridge 24-7 playing with the fridge light switch. (but all the fun ended when mean ol' mom bought a fridge lock :) and a gazillion times a day he pulls me toward the pantry, has me pick him up and grabs for the cornstarch. he's convinced he wants to eat it.

has learned to open all kinds of doors. no room is safe from him now. sigh. 

lived for a solid week off of chocolate, candy, chocolate chunk muffins, jellybeans and goldfish. sigh 2.

loves loves loves the park and just being frrreeeeeeee! he runs all over the place so happy and wild and carefree. the other day he went down the slide all. by. himself. no help at all. such a proud (yes i was proud dangit!) mommy moment that he is getting so big and fun and independent.

will eat all the pepperoronis off the pizza first. then will eat the crust second. then the rest of the pizza last.

he's a super picky eater (candy aside). he wants nothing to do with food right now unless it's chocolate or goldfish or milk.

really into babies. when he sees one he points and says, "Beby!" he laughed and laughed yesterday at church watching our friends 7 month old chew on a toy. 

this last month he's started pulling me toward my bed around nighttime and just wants to snuggle me. i love it. he'll wrap his arm around my neck and just smile at me and give me chicken peck kisses. it's the sweetest thing. i'm so glad he's always been my little cuddle bug. 

and...when Jay is angry at me he'll kiss me really hard. haha. if that's his worst then i'll take it!!!

toy story obsessed

I've said it before and I'll say it again...our kid loooooooves Toy Story. He usually likes to "be" Buzz and hands me Woody and says, "please?" We play Toy Story daily. We solve a Toy Story puzzle daily. We watch Toy Story 1, 2 & 3 daily. Our daily lives at home can be summed up in one word: Toy Story. And though at times I'd rather claw my eyes out then watch it again for the umpteenth time, I'm so happy that he's happy. 

 I call this "The Toy Story Trance".

twenty-one months

my wild child is still growing. still having fun. and still loving life. "twenty-one months" tidbits:

he works out! hah, but seriously, he really does. almost every night he will begin to run. for no reason that i can particularly uncover, except that he likes it. he runs back and forth from the front door to the fireplace over and over and over again.

loves bath time. he's constantly getting in the tub and turning on the water...still fully clothed.

if something is dark and small--like a piece of chocolate--he will ask me, "Choc?" (and then a sort of guttural sound meaning "-olate.") rocks, headphones...if it looks like chocolate then he wants it bad. he gets sad over pictures of chocolate too. he tries to grab them and pretend to eat them and when that obviously doesn't work out he says, "ohhhhh." so sad. but don't feel too sad, he eats thin mints daily.

j is loving puzzles. his favorite--go figure--is a Toy Story one.

he's a bow tie kind of guy. he insists on wearing one throughout the day. it's uber stylish with monkey pjs.

he's binky free!

still a bit of a neat-clean-freak. he likes brushing his teeth, rubbing lotion on his face and putting bubbles on his face to "shave" like daddy. he gets very concerned over messy hands and spills and if he makes a mess he'll yell very worriedly, "SPILL!"

new found love for trampolines.

and my all-time favorite j tidbit: he likes me to nibble his ears. it's hilarious. but he is dead serious about it, which makes me laugh even harder. as he falls asleep, he'll rub his ears over my face...for like ten minutes. sometimes he'll wrap both my arms around him and chicken peck kiss my arm over and over. i try so hard not to laugh and disturb his "going to bed" ritual but it is so funny and cute! and i love that he loves me so much! i usually get all the kisses but j always wants scott to hold him and rock him. it's precious.

happy 21 months mister!

our favorite things

are books. you have no idea how happy it makes me to have j run to our reading chair and sit so excitedly with his little hands clasped, waiting to read stories with me. he often shuts the door too, just to make sure we are uninterrupted and have absolute quiet. it's our favorite time(s) of the day. 

our favorite reads at the moment: The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton; Winnie the Pooh; The Three Little Pigs; Deep Sea Dive; and Humpty Dumpty (which is four lines long but J's fave.) 

i simply can't wait until he's old enough to share in my love for Harry Potter, Charlotte's Web, Where the Red Fern Grows and dozens of others. it's gonna be awesome.

 we love books so much we wear them on our heads.

bye bye binky, binky bye bye

i am flabbergasted right now. i think we may have done it. i think we are off the bink. wow. we are on day three of no binky. sure he calls out for it every now and then, "Bink-y!" (which kinda breaks my heart and I may or may not have totally cried that first night as he searched frantically for it and sobbed so sadly. he clung to me so tightly as he went to sleep because i've totally taken away his security blanket and he was scared! so our sleeping rituals have gone a little less smooth without binky, but surprisingly it's been easier than i thought it would be.

which i NEVER thought i would say. and i have a confession to make: i'm scared without binky too! in the past, if j got too cranky/crying i could stick that binky in there and....silence...instant calm. but seriously, what do i do now if he has a meltdown in public??! how do i keep him calm in sacrament meeting??! how are we gonna get through our 5 hour airplane flight at the end of the month??! i'm looking for answers here, these are not rhetorical questions. help!

i've tried to replace binky with a cozy, uber soft, stuffed animal named "puppy" (he's pretty darn cute.) every time j calls out for binky i say to him, "hug puppy! here's puppy!" i know i'm probably just creating another separation anxiety induced security blanket here but hey, puppy won't change the shape of j's mouth. so i'll take it. but what's worked for you (or you all--since i'm not sure who exactly reads this except for my mom hah!)???

through this all, i've come to realize that both scott and i relied on the binky too much. because it's easy to give in and it's easy to have a fail-safe way of keeping your kid calm and quiet when he needs to be. because, let's be honest my j is a talker. he talks talks talks and i usually haven't a clue what he's saying (but i know most of it revolves around basketball, dad and toy story.) but yes he's a talker and kinda loud. he's my climbing, curious, silly, wild child. but i realized something else over the weekend (at stake conference actually)...it's OK that he's loud and talkative. obviously, scott and i take him out to the hall if he's being disruptive. but he's a toddler. he likes to be crazy. and i don't want j growing up thinking he can't speak up and say what's on his mind. that he has to be quiet all the time.

here's where i guess i project myself on the situation. i wish i had spoken up more when i was younger. mainly throughout junior high. i wish i would've not been scared to stand up for myself in certain circumstances and not let people walk all over me or make me feel that what i had to say was unimportant or didn't matter. maybe junior high and high school does that to everybody, i don't know. but on a whole, i was scared of hurting other people's feelings. which is great and all but sometimes you gotta look out for number 1.

so i want j to be strong and always stand up for himself, because i won't be there by his side during school (or maybe i will. in camo in the bushes making sure nobody treats him meanly. hah.) truthfully, the whole thing freaks me out and i know i'll bawl on that first day of preschool/kindergarten/whatever. not because i'll be sad he's growing up, but scared that someone's gonna be mean to him, steal his toys, not include him, say mean things, or heaven forbid tell him naughty things and teach him about the middle finger.

i totally understand now why my mom wanted to know every detail of my day at school. you gotta know if you need to go all ghetto on some kid/parents. who knew that a binky would inspire all this right? binky=stand up for yourself? in my world it makes sense. so i'll end with a Downtown Abbey quote since everything about that show calms me (my personal "binky" :) "Isn't it the business of parents to worry?" Yep. Boy it's stressful.

my little cowboy

my jay loves all things Toy Story and plays with Woody and Buzz all day long. he usually makes them fight each other--though i tell him over and over that they are actually friends. i guess it's just a boy thing to have your toys fight and wrestle each other. he also loves to wear a "ha" (hat) like Woody and ride his rocking horse saying "weeeee!" the hat was actually Scott's. he wore it on his mission in Bolivia. and jay just loves it. 

lately, jay has been putting the "ha" on all his toys and tries to wear Woody's small plastic hat on his own head (it doesn't fit :) the other day, puppy got a turn wearing the hat. it was pretty fun :)

i love all the imaginative playing he is doing lately. just today, he brought this same puppy over to me and waved the puppy's hand and said, "bye!" he's becoming a little boy right before my eyes and i love it! so active, so sweet, so silly, so imaginative, so smart, so fun.