Sledding with Jake

Dec 19th brought us the Snowpocalypse. On Feb 5th came Snowmageddon. Today, we decided to take Jake out sledding.

Knowledge base

So Jake now knows what a phone is. Today Andrew told him "Go get your phone" not expecting him to know what he was talking about. To our surprise, Jacob toddled over to where his cell phone was on the floor and picked it right up. He is learning faster and faster each week. He now does the signs for "food", "more", and "ball". He also sometimes does the sign for "milk" but we don't know if he fully understands what it means.

He has been really fussy the past few days. Yesterday Rachel discovered that he has 2 new teeth coming in! Both are upper molars.

Baby sign

Jacob is learning more and more signs in sign language. We've been teaching him Baby Sign which is a somewhat simplified version of American Sign Language. Today he learned "cracker" which is where you knock on your elbow. He knows "dog", "more", "food", and kind of knows "ball."

We had a nice, low-key Thanksgiving 'round these parts. Andrew's sister Laura recently had open-heart surgery, and needed some peace and quiet for recovery. We went over to the Lees' house and had a simple, no-fuss (but yummy, thanks to cousin Catt) dinner. Now we're loving preparing for Christmas. I LOVE this time of year, and Jake is so happy about all the lights and shiny ornaments.

Here's a little adorableness for you:

Halloween

Although a little later, here's some adorable pics our our Little Stinker's second Halloween. Jake LOVED trick-or-treating! We went with our neighbors, and little Chloe (2 years old) showed him what to do... and by the end of the night, Jake was toddling up the stairs, banging on the doors, and sticking his plastic punkin out to receive candy. He would even reach in to pick out a piece for himself. He also loves sorting through his candy, although he doesn't seem to understand why it keeps disappearing and Mommy and Daddy have chocolate on their fingers....
Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Our Pumpkin in the pumpkin patch:


Our Little Stinker:

Happy (very belated) First Birthday, Jacob!

On October 24th, 2009, our baby boy turned a year old. Andrew loves this stage with Jake, although he can't wait for soccer practice and playing catch in a few years. I, for my part, can't believe that my teeny little miracle is walking, babbling and a YEAR OLD ALREADY. I'll admit that I cried to see him growing up so fast. But it was wonderful to celebrate with family and friends that afternoon. Here are a few photos.

Jake's first birthday was teddy bear-themed:


Some photos of the cakes:





And the birthday boy:


Jake reeeeally enjoyed his first taste of sugar (esp. since it was chocolate):



Opening presents:





A few weeks later we had a big birthday party at the neighborhood playground for the three little boys (Tyson, Beau and Jake) who turned one at the same time (Tyson's 2 weeks younger than Jake, and Beau is 3 weeks younger). It's been wonderful having other little boys (and other moms!) around to play with over the last year, and it was so nice to celebrate with the little ones.