First Swimming Class - My Little Fish!

Jacob and I enrolled in a "Mom and Tot" swimming class twice a week for a month and we had our first class on Monday. We are in the class with Kaile, Bronwyn and Kai, Jacob's friends from my mom's group (also the mom's I went to Hawaii with). Jacob absolutely loved the class!!! For the first part of the class we went into the big pool and just got the kids used to the water, I asked the instructor to dunk Jacob because I thought Jacob would do okay (he loves to take showers and get in the water) and Jacob did great, he laughed and had a smile on his face the entire time. So, he got dunked a few other times during the session. Then we went into the toddler pool for the second half of our class where the kids are able to touch, but poor Jake's feet just seem to float up all the time, he likes to float on his back and kick his legs - it's pretty adorable. But we played with water toys and played singing games and tried blowing bubbles in the water. We are looking forward to the classes to come!

Jacob's swimming suit!

"Ready to go to swimming class mom!"

Eatin' and Drinkin'

As I have mentioned before, we usually get Jacob an empty Starbucks cup when we drink our "addiction" but last night I slipped this on his sippie cup and he thought it was AWESOME! He kept coming up to my Chai Tea and giving me cheers.

At dinner tonight, Jacob had Mac N' Cheese and I had to break out the phone camera. He had cheese everywhere! All over his hair, in each ear, up his arms, all over his face, a mess but worth all his smiles. We had a great time laughing with him and watching him shovel his face full of pasta!

On Saturday, Nathan was invited to Portland to go fishing with some co-workers. My mom and I took Jacob to the mall to visit the Easter Bunny (picture will be posted at a later date) and we bought Handy Manny light up shoes... thanks Stefanie and Kai for the tip! But Jacob got to experience a happy meal and I had to break out the camera phone once again.

He enjoyed the hamburger bun, after a few bites he disected the burger and discarded the pattie. Our doctor said this is normal until around age 3, most kids don't care for meat (which Jacob has shown a disinterest in chicken and any kind of meat). But he loved the bun and ketchup!

He enjoyed taking the fries out of the carton... and back in the carton... and out of the carton.


Wiping his mouth when he got messy.

Friends

We've had a busy week last week, seemed like we were on the go a lot with playdates and doctor's appointments. Here is some cute pictures from my phone of Jacob coloring with Kaile and Kai. We have a little table set that we have been meaning to put together (but really don't have room for) but seeing how much Jacob enjoyed using Kaile's, we should make space!

Jacob and Kaile coloring

Kai, Kaile and Jacob (Kai loves to draw Elmo)

18 Month Checkup

Jacob had his 18 month checkup on Tuesday and all is well. He is weighing 23 pounds (25th percentile) and is 31.5 inches tall (15th percentile = short)! Jake weighed 21 lbs 9 oz at his 12 month check up, so he hasn't gained too much. The doctor said since he isn't too tall, he is such an active boy and all his motor skill are just fine, he is okay! Jacob still has the 12 teeth but has 2 teeth poking it's way through ... which explains the bite he gave his friend the other day.

Jacob and I have also joined a Kindermusik class once a week for 10 weeks. Tuesday morning was our first class and Jake had a great time! We are in the class with 5 other mom's and kids and it is a taught class, so Jacob will get a lot out of it. We also start swimming classes on Monday, twice a week for a month at the local swimming pool. And we will continue with our library story time once a week, Jacob enjoys listening to songs, stories and of course bubbles at the end!

Jake is just growing up so quickly, I watched the video of him walking for the first time last night and I couldn't believe how fast the time goes. He is now pointing to certain objects in books when we ask him where the things are, or who they are (and actually getting them correct... especially when they are Pooh and Tigger related). He is really working on making animal noises, is obsessed with lions. He is still off the bottle, went cold turkey - they are all safely packed away in storage and is drinking cold milk from a sippie cup twice a day. We are still working on going down the stairs safely, he doesn't quite understand the concept quite yet. He is such a cuddle bug in the mornings still! He gives GREAT bear hugs and will point to your nose, ears, eyes, chin, tongue, teeth, hair, belly button, cheeks and will pucker up for a kiss on the lips!

Gymboree!

Our mom's group went to the local Gymboree for an hour on Saturday with our kids and husbands. Jacob had a GREAT time! He had so much fun with Nate and his friends. Here are some pictures we were able to take of our time there. I will post pictures of my trip to Hawaii last week soon, I had an AWESOME time!!

Jacob getting his groove on to music!

Kaile

Bronwyn

Jacob has become a monkey lately, he climbs on anything and everything.

Mike and Kaile

Little B!

Slam Dunk! Okay, Jake's short... this might be as close as he gets to this!

Landon and Jacob

Bubbles!

Bye-Bye Bottle!

Jacob loves his flashcards and all of his first words books, he enjoys pointing to all the pictures and now he is able to say some of the words! It's so fun to see the excitement on his face, even in the last few days Jacob has learned so much. He will point to the shoes and then point to his own feet, he will point to the orange and then point to the bowl we have sitting on the table that is full of oranges. He will point to the car and say "car", he will point to the lion and make a "grrrrr" noise (it's a very tame lion, but a good grrrr noise) and he makes a good monkey noise too. The picture of the cat is "kitty-kitty" and he can say "ball" he is starting to say "book" pretty well. Many other words that I won't bore you with, but it's amazing to watch him learn and grow. He is becoming such a young boy.

Jacob usually gets 1 bottle at nap time and 1 bottle at bedtime full of cold milk, the rest of the day is sippie cups full of water (with a little bit of juice). On Monday I decided Jacob needed to go cold-turkey (well, at least try)... and it worked!!! I was so nervous, but I put Jacob down for a nap Monday afternoon without a bottle and guess what? He fell asleep! Yeah, it took him longer to get to sleep, he talked in his crib for about 20 minutes, but he didn't cry. So, we have been a bottle-free house for 3 full days now! My goal was to accomplish this by his 18 month birthday, which is on the 15th of March... cutting it a little close, aren't I? But hey, we did it! Yippee!

What a cutie!

"What mom?"

Auntie Libby came up and stayed with us for a few days this week, it was a lot of fun. Jacob had such a great time with her, he fell in love! Everytime she disappeared out of the room, he looked for her and always wanted to sit in Libby's lap. Here they are together watching it snow outside. Thanks for visiting Lib, Happy Birthday, we love you!

Jacob Chatting

Here is a video of Jacob on his cell phone copying Nathan talking to Comcast. I was in middle of vacuuming (which is why the cord is laying in middle of the floor - and no, we usually do not let Jacob play with it)! But Comcast called Nathan back to "discuss" our services and Jacob decided to have is own discussion as well. Now he talks like this all the time, but it was pretty cute to capture it on video for the first time.

Jacob has been feeling left out when grandma, daddy and mommy all get a Starbucks. So, grandma brought him his own small Starbucks cup and lid on Saturday morning (empty of course) and Jacob thought it was very cool! He played with it all day until there was nothing left of it and we had to get a new one on Sunday.

Jacob has been learning to many new things lately, it's difficult for me to even begin to tell you. He is starting to talk more and more, but he does understand so many things we tell him. All we have to do is say "Go get your Sippy Cup or Tigger or a book or a Diaper" and he is off getting it. But he is saying car, baby, ball and a few others. But he has to say it on his own time, he does not like to be prompted - he rebels.

Time Outs! Yes, we have started time outs and it's working beautifully! He has to sit on his bottom for one minute away from his toys and all distractions, we explain what he did wrong and then he has to hug to say he is sorry for what he did. Now he is putting himself in timeouts!!! I'm not kidding. He has done it three separate times now, all I have to do is get the mean-mommy-tone "Jacob" and he puts himself over in his timeout spot for a few moments and then he comes over and promptly gives me a hug to say he is sorry. Ahhhh.... this mommy stuff is easy!

Jacob has learned to blow his nose this week - yes, like you needed to know that. But I think it's cute. He learned it on his own by watching me - we both got minor colds. So, he grabs a kitchen towel or a baby wipe and blows really hard (doesn't wipe) and then has a huge booger hanging out... yes, I should get a picture of that! Would you stop checking my blog?!? But he already knows how to wipe his face off after he eats meals, it's pretty cute!