Merry Christmas Jacob

It was Jacob's second Christmas, but really seemed like his first. Last year he was just a little baby and hardly even played with toys. This time, he's really into toys, and loves to play, play, play. Especially with trains. So it's only fitting that Santa got him a train table fully decked out. A week prior to Christmas, Jacob found a catalouge in the house and turned to the page with the train tables on it. He pointed to the trains, signed "please" and made a sign by opening and closing his hands over and over, which I interpreted to mean, "I really, really, really want one of these". All while squeeling with delight at the thought of a train table. So, I was very excited to know that Santa would be bringing Jacob his very own train table.

Our strategy for Christmas morning was to feed Jacob prior to opening gifts, knowing that he wouldn't eat once engaged in play with his new toys. We almost accomplished this task. Jacob bolted out of the kitchen and noticed the toys under the tree, the John Deere tractor to be specific. He ran over to the tree and turned around and made his happiest of faces. This was the first of many happy faces we recieved on Christmas day. We managed to feed the boy and then continued to open gifts, saving the train table for last. Of course, Jacob loved all of his gifts and is still overwhelmed by the amount of things to do in our house! But, the train table is by far his favorite. Each time he sees it, he acts surprised to see it there. I think he is overjoyed that he gets to keep it!

The "help" of a toddler

Here are some pictures of Jacob being my little "helper". He is so into everything I do lately and just wants to help, so I let him! It makes my tasks take twice as long, but at least I have company. Lately, he has been into helping me bake. He likes to stand on a chair and watch what I do, while sampling the goodies.

First Snow

This weekend we had our first snow. Technically, not the first snow, but the first worth mentioning! We picked out our Christmas tree the night before and it was ready to be "decked" right as the snow began to fall. And so began the fun process of decorating a tree with the "help" of a toddler. Jacob was really into it, he loved the bright shiny lights and was so excited to see the ornaments. Why do they all have to look like little toys? Matt encouraged him to hang some ornaments on the tree but, he quickly discovered that it was more fun to take the ornaments off of the tree rather than put them on. I have a good number of plastic ornaments that we let him play with and he gathered them and hid behind the couch with his loot! How funny! Our tree is pretty, but definitely not magazine worthy! The ornaments are all clustered at the top of the tree, a sure sign that we have a kid!

After Jacob's nap, the snow had accumulated enough for us to go out and play. We all bundled up (At least Jacob and I did) and ventured out into the snow. I was so proud of Jacob to finally wear his snow boots. I've been trying to get him to wear them for a good month now, and today, he decided that they aren't so bad! He did cry when I put them on, but it subsided once we were outside in winter wonderland. We went for a walk through the neighborhood and took turns holding onto Jacob as he learned how to walk in boots and snow. We only experienced one faceplant and Jacob shook it off without a tear! We returned home to a cozy living room with a twinkling Christmas tree and enjoyed hot cocoa by our fire. What a wonderful winter day.

How Thankful are We?

What a great Thanksgiving we had! The day before Thanksgiving was my 20 week ultrasound and we found out that we are having a HEALTHY, baby GIRL. I am Thankful for that! How exciting to have a little sister for Jacob!

As Matt and I prepare for the transition from one child to two children, we feel very complete to have one of each! I am also very Thankful that this big transition is still 20 weeks away. I'm not quite ready to give up "my time" with Jacob. We have had so much fun playing together, laughing, chasing and enjoying each other's company over the past 17 months. What a joyful time it has been. However, I can't help but wonder, what will I do when I can't devote my every last minute to his needs? I wonder how it will impact him to have to wait his turn to have me hold him. I wonder how he'll feel when he sees me holding his little sister. I wonder if he will ever remember what it was like being the only child. I never ever wanted to have only one child, but there is a part of me that is sad and grieving for Jacob as he will never have "all" of me again. But, I am Thankful for all of the time I have had to spend with him. I can only hope that Jacob and his sister will have awsome memories of playing, laughing, sharing and growing up together. I am Thankful to be able to give Jacob the gift of a sibling.

Is my kid normal?

I'm sure that every parent experiences times when they think, "is what my kid doing, "normal"? Jacob does many things that make me think...he's NOT...or at least his behavior is sometimes not! For instance, he ocassionaly decides to crawl around on the floor with his face pressed to the floor. Of course he mostly saves this strange behavior for when we are at our Music Class and the other parents and teacher can get a good look at this fine talent he is displaying. Or, there are the days when he likes to bang his head into things. Possibly we have created this behavior by responding..."did you bonk your head?" And he pats his head, then proceedes to do it again. The latest "skills" that Jacob has discovered are jumping and climbing. The climbing is a very normal toddler behavior that I know will loose it's appeal soon, or at least I hope so. He's climbing on everything, the couch, the chairs, and even up onto the shelves. It's quite funny to watch. But also very nerve racking. Finally, he's discovered how to jump. This came from a song we sing in music class and he has been trying to master this skill at home by practicing all the time. He's so funny to watch. Most of the time, he doesn't clear the floor, but on occasion, he will get both feet off the ground. I know that kids do silly things and you may not think that jumping is silly. But I do! It's so funny to see him working so hard to master this skill. I guess I should be so proud of my little boy for learning to do all of these wonderful things. And oh yeah, he's discovered that he can stick his finger up his nose. That's another fine site to see. All in all, Jacob is living up the life of a toddler and all of his "normal" or "abnormal" behaviors are a part of learning, growing and discovering the world around him. I'm so happy that I get to be around to watch it all take place. What a wonderful job I have.

Trick-or-Treat

This year was Jacob's first experience Trick-or-Treating. We dressed him in his blue monster costume and took him out for all to see. It was 4:30 and NO ONE was out yet! We were by far the first Trick-or-Treaters of the evening. We walked with the blue monster to 3 different houses in the neighborhood, the people we know, and helped him to learn the art of begging for candy..."Trick-orTreat". Jacob still has no idea what candy is, his mean Mommy didn't let him try any of it. I think we'll save that for next year...why spoil all the fun at once!

My Little Blue Monster

Today was my last of "three-in-a-row". That is when Matt has to work 3, twelve-hour shifts in a row. So I had the bright idea that I would take Jacob to a fun Halloween party for kids up at the Colby College campus. I heard about the event and knew that it could be a fun thing, so why not try it out? The advertisement said, "rain or shine". Of course, it was raining! Short on other ideas, I thought we should go anyways...what's a little water? So I get my little blue monster dressed in his costume and drive up to campus. By this point the rain has lightened to a mist and I'm happy about that. I strap my little blue monster into his stroller, against his will and begin to follow the crowds of princesses and ninjas. We arrive at the welcome area and receive a map of the various activities...Great! First stop, Halloween Mask Making. We head to the first building only to get close enought to realize that this campus is NOT for strollers! Go figgure. I head back to the car, determined to have a fun day. At this point my little monster has realized that we are walking away from all of the fun! He complains about this the whole way to the car. I manage to put the stroller into the car without losing my child in traffic, and we head back up to the event. First stop, Halloween Mask Making. I carry my 28 pound child into the building and we enter the crowd. I see paper plates, glue, and best of all glitter! NOPE, not for my 15-month-old. He still eats everything! Next stop, face painting. We walk to the face painting and on the way, Jacob is intersted in the rocks, wet leaves, and most of all the puddles! I allow him the freedom to wander and explore as we slowly make our way to the next stop. I arrive with a wet monster who has basically no interst in face painting. I sit him down anyways and request a fish for his cheek. He does love fish, but has no idea what this pretty young college girl is doing to his face! I thank her and we are on our way. Next stop, candy apples. This should be a hit. After another round of wandering and puddle play, we end up at the candy apples. The college kids think Jacob is the cutest monster they have even seen and Jacob is too overwhelmed to even look at them. I dip the apple into the carmel and we are on our way. Jacob seems to have no interest in the caramel until I dip my finger into it and let him have a taste. YUMMY! This is my new luer. I use the caramel to get my monster to our next location as quickly as possible. I'm getting tired of the wandering and wet puddles at this point.
We head to the next stop and yet again, an activitiy that is just not age appropriate. Let's be honest, the only activities that are age appropriate for 15 month old kids are whatever they want to do at that particular moment! So I re-evaluate the situation and check my map. Cookie decoarting. That sounds like it could be good....at least for Mommy. On our way to the cookie making, there are several puddles. At this point, I am soaked and so is my soggy little blue monster. What the heck! I allow Jacob to play in the water. That seems to be his favorite part after all. Before I know it he is laying on his tummy and putting his face into the puddle. A College kid walks by and I say, "he's trying to swim!" The kid seemed amused. Another watched as she chatted on her cell phone. I think she was probably thinking to herself, "that will never be me". All I have to say is, "Yeah right!" I ask Jacob to please not drink the water and he puts his face into the water, looks up at me, smacks his lips and says "AHHH". I finally decide enough is enough and I pick up my soaking wet little blue monster. We arrive at the cookie decorating and I grab a cookie, smear some icing on it and place a few candies on top. We sit down to eat. Another mom comes in and joins us. Her children are neatly dressed in their Monkey and Tinker-Bell costumes. Dry as a bone! I declair that my child is a mess and she nicely offers me a wet-wipe. I kindly deny the wipe...thinking in my head, "what the heck is that wipe going to do...my child has been swimming in puddles?" Jacob and I finish our cookie, adding frosting to the long list of things now covering my child. We make our way back to the car and I strip Jacob down to his onsie before strapping him into his car seat. I sigh and think, "at least I'll get a good nap out of him". Boy, was I ever wrong. No nap! And you wonder why he's a monster for Halloween!

I'm a Blogger!

Here I am sitting inside on a beautiful, sunny fall day and I have decided to start a blog. I'm only inside, because Jacob is taking a nap...hopefully a LONG nap! Possibly I wanted to blog because I have several friends who blog and they have shared their blog pages with me, which I find to be very entertaining! I'm not much of a writer, so I don't think I'm going to be a blogger to entertain others...Selfishly, I'm going to blog to entertain me! Or maybe that's why other do it too!
This summer we moved to Maine and we have enjoyed all of the beautiful summer weather that Maine has to offer. (Rain for the whole month of June doesn't count!) The rest of the summer was wonderful with sunny days spent at the pool, lake and the beach! Did I mention the Lobster? I think I must have eaten 12 lobster rolls this summer....possibly more! Fall has been equally as wonderful with sunny days and cool crisp air. I love fall in New England with all of the smells you can only find here. It's cooling off more and more each week and I know that it is trying to prepare us for the long months of winter ahead. However, I did survive 18 Vermont winters and I know a little something about winter in New England! You can never be prepared for the LONG and COLD months ahead. I am planning to have several activities to keep me busy when the snow sets in, scrapbooking, cooking, and now blogging, and oh yeah, trying to keep up with a toddler...that too!