I Can't Believe I Have a 3 Year Old!

Well, the title says it all. I REALLY can't believe Jacob is 3 years old. We celebrated his birthday this past Sunday the 22nd. The theme was Spiderman, of course. For the past month, we have been talking about this birthday party. I mean, I've really been building it up to the point that I think I was as excited about it as Jacob. We'd ask Jacob what kind of party he was going to have, and his quick reply was, "Spiderman!"
"What else do you want at your birthday party?"
Jacob: "Spiderman cake, ice cream, and TOYS!"
So with all of the excitement surrounding this monumental event, I felt I had a lot of expectations to live up to. Granted, they were the expectations of a 3 year old, but those of you who know me know that stress is part of my nature. I wanted it to be perfect for Jacob.
Sunday morning started off nice & relaxing. I woke up at 7:15 and thought, "Okay, the party doesn't start until 2:30. I have plenty of time to wrap his gifts, make the cake, prepare the finger foods, write in his card, decorate, shower, and carry out all of my normal day to day motherly duties to Jacob & Alex. I'll probably even be done early!"
Yea, right. Didn't happen that way. Without the help of my wonderful and awesome mom, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and sister, I think the party may have started about 3 hours late. Thankfully, they were there to help prepare food, get balloons, calm me down as I stressed about Jacob's cake (just wait- that story is coming up), watch the kids, help take pictures, and help set up the party. I honestly don't know what I would have done without their help. Thanks again, everyone.

The day before the party, when I asked my mom to pick up white icing & red food coloring at the store INSTEAD of the simple, ready made colored icing in the tubes, I must have been out of my mind. I've never used food coloring for anything other than dyeing Easter eggs. Why did I think I should give it a try for Jacob's party? Hindsight is 20/20. So my very helpful mom, sister-in-law, and husband took the kids out for a boat ride while I got to work on decorating the Spiderman cake. I rubbed my hands together and excitedly (but nervously) began the process of creating red icing. Directions: for one canister of white icing, use 24 drops of red food coloring. Simple, right? I think the panic set in when I was up to 40 drops and the icing still looked Pepto Bismol pink. I kept adding drop after drop until the bottle of food coloring was empty and the icing was a lovely shade of dark pink. Then, as though I were some kind of artist creating the perfect hue for her painting, I got the brilliant idea to add a splash of blue food coloring to darken the pink, and perhaps manufacture a shade more closely resembling red. Two drops of blue plus dark pink equals a shade of purpley (is that a color?) pink. So then Lauren Picasso Higdon decides to add a drop of yellow to lighten it up. Whatever. That didn't work either. So I paced around the kitchen, glaring at the bowl of icing that I named "dusty rose". There wasn't time to go to the store to buy the icing in tubes I should have asked for in the first place, so all I could do was start icing the cake. It wasn't the vibrant red & blue Spiderman I envisioned, but thankfully, the icing darkened slightly to a sort of faded red. Here's the final product:




Lesson learned: I will never use food coloring again. Ever.

I planned on having a few outdoor activities for the kids during the party. We played outside at the beginning of the party because I was afraid we'd be rained on if we waited. So after snacking on the finger foods, we threw swim suits on the kids (Jeff, am I allowed to tell them that you somehow put Alex's trunks on Jacob without realizing they were the wrong ones? Poor Jacob came waddling out in 12-18 month sized shorts.) and we all went outside. Jacob's aunt Tricia brought her inflatable pool and I bought bubble guns for all of the kids so they could each have their own. I also found a battery operated Spiderman you set on the grass and it blows bubbles on its own. Perfect in theory. Of course one of the bubble guns never worked and Spiderman blew his bubbles for approximately 10 seconds before becoming defective. Oh well. The kids still had a blast. There was swimming in the lake, swimming in the pool, "fishing", and bubble guns that DID work as advertised. Here are a few pictures:

Uncle Matt is glad that Jacob has possession of one of the working bubble guns.


Jacob & his cousin Daniel


Even though he was getting over a virus, Alex got to enjoy the lake with Daddy.


Jacob enjoying the pool's slide. Good thing he had on that life jacket. Whew. :)


Jacob & his friend, Victor, looking cute as they fished together.


After having fun outdoors, we all headed in for ice cream and the "dusty rose" & blue Spiderman cake. I had been singing Happy Birthday to Jacob the entire week before the party. He even began singing it to himself. But when the entire crowd in attendance sang to him, I couldn't get over the look on his face. It was a cross between excitement, happiness, and utter amazement that all of these people were singing directly to HIM. Being the emotional sap that I am, I got very tearful looking at my 3 year old son who I love so much. I could clearly recall his 1st birthday, as we all sang to him around his highchair. His birth and first birthday don't seem that long ago, but at the same time, they do, if that makes any sense. There's something very bittersweet about each milestone the boys hit. I remember crying when Jacob got his first tooth because I was going to miss that adorable gummy smile that's a baby trademark! It is amazing to watch your child learn to crawl, take his first steps, say his first words, converse with you, and grow up. But at the same time, it's a reminder that I'll never have those first moments again. I only have the pictures & video footage to remind me of the baby that he was & never will be again. It reminds me that he's almost too heavy for me to carry for an extended period of time, almost too tall for me to hold him comfortably in my lap, will start preschool in the fall, doesn't need me as much as he used to and wants to do things "all myself!", and will continue to become more independent and need me less & less. It's such a cliche, but they really do grow up too fast. Even Jeff admitted to having a difficult time with the fact that our baby is so grown up. He was such a big boy sitting at the table, looking at his cake, & smiling at all of us. Fortunately, I was able to pull myself together before turning into a blubbering mommy and enjoy watching my son blow out his 3 little candles.






I figured that as the mom, I was entitled to a few moments of sappiness & nostalgia. Right?



We lit the candles twice more so his cousins Daniel and Lainey could help blow them out.



Luckily, the person I was trying to impress the most (my birthday boy) was thrilled with his cake. He loved it and after he ate it, he came up to me and said, "Thanks for my cake, Mommy. Dat cake was so good!" So it was a happy ending to the cake fiasco.
Here's a picture of the 4 of us at the party. You can tell Jacob was ready to get back to his cake & ice cream, but a picture of all of us was a necessity. Would you believe this is the first picture of the 4 of us together since someone took one at the hospital when Alex was born? Two pictures in 10 months!



After we ate cake & ice cream, it was time to move on to the presents. It was also time for my big surprise. Spiderman would be making a cameo appearance at Jacob's party. All of the adults knew about it, but none of the kids, and especially not Jacob. When we would talk about who would come to his birthday party, Jacob would rattle off a list of people, and I'd ask, "How about Spiderman? Will he be there?" Jacob would look at me with a grin and say, "No, mommy!" as if I were silly to even suggest such a thing.
We all heard a knock at the door. I called out, "Jacob, someone's at the door! Will you come open it up and see who it is?"
So Jacob hurries over and opens the door. I carefully watched his face, worried that he would be terrified and the surprise I was so excited about for weeks would be ruined. And for about 2 or 3 seconds, he did look quite apprehensive about the tall man with a red suit & mask at the door. But then he broke into a big grin and opened the door wider to let Spiderman in. Aunt Tricia captured the moment perfectly:



Spiderman did worry a couple of the other kids, but I don't think he caused nightmares or scarred anyone for life. But I was relieved that Jacob loved every second of it. Spiderman handed out little gifts to the kids, and when he asked Jacob if it was his birthday, Jacob looked to be in awe that Spiderman knew that about him. When he got his gift from Spiderman, he said, "Thanks, Spiderman." And he couldn't take his eyes off of him the entire time he visited. Since Spiderman left to go fight bad guys, Jacob has talked about his surprise visitor and who was under the mask: Peter Parker, of course! Who else would it be? Not Uncle Chris, that's for sure!





Jacob enjoyed all of his gifts, receiving cars, a race track, action figures, a Spiderman couch, a Superman costume and a Spiderman costume. He loves all of his presents. Earlier today, he was playing in his room, alternating between his new cars and superheroes. He came out of his room, with his hand covering a smile on his face. I asked, "What's wrong, buddy?"
Jacob: "I so happy! I really like my new cars and I love you!"

Since he opened up that Spiderman costume from his mommy & daddy on Sunday, I've probably put it on him at least 20 times. He makes an excellent Spiderman.




Working on his laptop. What, you didn't know Spiderman has office hours too?


Jacob sharing his new Superman costume with his cousin, Daniel, who just so happens to be a huge fan. Perfect! Now we have TWO cute superheroes!


Jacob has also enjoyed trying out his new Superman costume. At first Superman was shooting webs, but after a quick lesson from mommy on Superman's powers, he now flies around the house.




In spite of the icing disaster, and the fact that the Spiderman cake is far from winning any decorating awards, I suppose I can consider the party a success. The birthday boy enjoyed every minute of it, and whenever I looked at him, he was having fun. Mission accomplished. All of the stress & planning paid off & knowing he loved the party made it all worthwhile.
Thank you to everyone who came to Jacob's 3rd birthday party:
Nan & Pop Pop
Grandmom & Granddad
Nani
Aunt Kerri & Uncle Matt
Uncle Scott & Aunt Tricia
Daniel
Lainey
Uncle Chris & Sarah
Brian, Angela, & Victor

We loved having all of you there. Thanks for helping to make my big boy's day a special one!

Even when he's a teenager who argues with me & thinks I'm uncool, or when he wants to devote all of his time to his friends, girlfriends, and later, his wife...no matter how many of Jacob's birthdays I celebrate, he will always be my baby & my sweet little man. I'll never forget the way I felt when I first met him on June 22, 2005 at 3:16 p.m. It takes time for some moms to fall in love with their babies...I guess I was one of the lucky ones who loved hers at first sight.



I hope he always knows how wonderful I think he is, & just how much I love him. Happy Birthday, buddy!

The Father of My Boys

To all of the daddies, but especially to Jeff, Happy Father's Day!

To a wonderful dad on Father's Day from me, Jacob, and Alex. Did you ever think you'd get a blog post dedicated to you? :)



I say thank you for:

*my 2 beautiful, sweet, wonderful, and adorable boys
*working hard so I can stay home with them
*being such a good daddy; I've always known you would be.

Jacob says thank you for:

*pretending to be Spiderman or the villain, depending on which one I want to be
*playing cars with me
*tickling me when I purposely sing the wrong lyrics to the Spiderman song

*letting me ride with you when we go pick up breakfast
*introducing me to one of my favorite songs: "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier"
*letting me ride up high on your shoulders

*giving me such stylish haircuts
*talking to me about Jesus (although Mommy does think we need to explain that Jesus is NOT Ronald McDonald.)
*playing "bike truck" with me
*helping take care of me when I'm sick (like last night & today)
*playing with me in the pool


*sharing your Coke (but not for sharing Dr. Pepper- yuck)
*playing football with me

*teaching me to blow bubbles in the pool
*for playing in my & Alex's rock band

*laying with me in bed at night

*making it so clear that you love me

*being such a good daddy and one of my best friends









Alex says thank you for:

*holding me
*teaching me to ride a bike...kind of

*playing ball with me
*our conversations

*for trying to talk Mommy into cutting my mullet (I think she'll agree when I'm a year old.)
*letting me pinch you, tug on you, and pull your arm hair
*tickling me
*being such a comfortable pillow

*trying to distract me while Mommy changes my diaper when I'm in my wild mood (yea, I'm on to your tricks...I know you're just trying to keep me from rolling away.)
*letting me drive the boat!

*giving me hugs & kisses

*loving me & being a good daddy




We all love you very much! Happy Father's Day!

A Date with a Little Man

Today I went on a date with Jacob. A few weeks ago, I decided I was in need of some 1 on 1 time with my little man. I hate to admit it, but I don't think Jacob & I have gone on a fun outing together, just the 2 of us, since Alex was born. It seems like I'd get an overdose of 1 on 1 time with him since I'm a stay at home mom, doesn't it? But really, lately, it's not as much as one might think.
There are times that Jacob shares and plays wonderfully with his little brother. But like all of us, he occasionally enjoys time to himself. And now that Alex is independently mobile and wants to play with everything Big Brother plays with, Jacob sometimes feels the need to retreat to his room for uninterrupted play...aka no sharing necessary.
Lately I've been feeling emotional, sentimental, and downright sappy at the thought of my firstborn turning 3 years old. Three! He's no longer a baby or even a toddler. I believe he now officially qualifies as a preschooler, which he will begin attending twice a week in the fall (but that will be another emotional post for me to write in August). When I look at him now, I see fewer babyish characteristics & traits. He just looks like a big boy. I feel like I need to squeeze in as much 1 on 1 time with him while he's little in case I'm too uncool to hang out with in later years.
I also felt that Jacob may benefit from a little Mommy & Me outing. The other day, he opted to eat his lunch on the couch with a TV tray. Alex gets giddy whenever he sees one of these trays because they are perfect for pulling. He's almost knocked food off our laps countless times. So I thought I was doing Jacob a favor by taking Alex in another room so he could eat in peace. A few minutes later, I heard a little whine, and suddenly Jacob appeared in the doorway.
Me: "What's wrong, buddy?"
Jacob: (looking sad & whimpering) "No want you to play with Alex. Want you to see me!"

That comment, coupled with all of the times he has immediately climbed up in my lap after I put Alex down for a nap, saying, "Hold me, mommy", prompted the planning for our outing. So I made plans, arranged for a babysitter for Alex (thanks, Grandmom!), and the date was set.
He doesn't have a car yet, so I drove on our date. :) The plan was to first attend a free Music class through a local Gymboree. I was excited about it because Jacob LOVES all things related to music: singing, dancing, & playing instruments. He has several songs that he sings frequently throughout the day. Some are old classics such as "Old MacDonald" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider", but others are choruses straight out of songs you hear on the radio. While making plans for our date, I was determined to find something new, special, and interactive. The pool was out because we do that all the time, so it wasn't something new or different. Same thing with the playground. I considered one of those indoor play areas where kids can climb on, crawl through, and bounce on inflatables. But that wasn't interactive. I wanted to participate with him. The music class was perfect.
There were about 10 kids total, all accompanied by their parent or guardian. I was curious to see how Jacob would handle a structured class setting, and he did great. A couple of times, he ran across the room shooting webs and doing superhero rolls across the floor, but I only had to call him back over to me once. The rest of the time, he followed the leader's instructions and to my surprise, was also quite outgoing. At one point, the teacher sang three notes, and asked for the group to sing it back to her. She had a microphone, and one little boy leaned over and sang the notes back to her. Jacob called out to her, "I wanna do it!" So she sang in ascending keys, "Bah, Bah, Bah!" Jacob leaned in, put his mouth to the microphone, and repeated them back perfectly. The whole group (including his ridiculously proud mommy) erupted into cheers & applause. We yelled, "Yay, Jacob!" I wish I could have gotten a picture of his expression. He was SO proud of himself and the grin on his face was priceless.
We played different instruments, sang songs, and my personal favorite was the dancing. Those of you who have seen me dance may wonder how I could have enjoyed doing it publicly, but it was so fun to dance with Jacob. Some of the other little kids started dancing independently beside their parent, but I felt so special when Jacob turned to me and said, "Hold my hands, Mommy!" And we danced, spun around, and jumped up & down while holding hands (which was a huge hit with Jacob and much needed exercise for Mommy).
I could tell Jacob was having fun, and this was confirmed when, at the end of the class, he said, "No wanna go home, Mommy." Luckily, we had one more fun thing to do to round out our date. But first, the Music teacher had to give all of the kids a Gymboree stamp. Now I don't know if Jacob saw another child do this or if he came up with it all on his own, but as I was preparing the camera to take a picture of him receiving his stamp, this is what I saw:



He may very well have been the only child in the class to receive a stamp right on his bellybutton. Once the crucial belly stamp was done, he then held out his hands for her to stamp.



I wish I could have gotten more pictures, but on the other hand, I'm glad I didn't. Because that would have meant I wasn't participating along with my date. And I was too busy banging rhythm sticks together, ringing bells, dancing, singing, and enjoying the pleasure on Jacob's face to pull a camera out.
But you know me...I did manage to take a break for 2 minutes & snap a couple of Jacob mastering the art of triangle playing:




After saying our goodbyes (Jacob was reluctant to leave until I mentioned a milkshake was in his future if he followed me), we headed off to our next destination: lunch.
There are not many other experiences cuter than dining out 1 on 1 with your child. Now if they're acting out & misbehaving, there are probably LOTS of things that are cuter. But Jacob was terrific. How could someone not enjoy looking across the table at this?




We ate our chicken nuggets, shared a Coke, and chatted. At one point, he reached across the table and touched my nose.
Me: "What was that for?"
Jacob: "Because I like you."

Do I even have to explain how cute that was?

Jacob was thrilled to see the kid sized Frosty I ordered him. If there was any doubt at all regarding his love for ice cream, it was obliterated during the time he took to savor every single bite of his Frosty. One of my favorite quotes of the day came during his enjoyment of his delicious dessert:
"Milkshakes make me happy."



Really? I never would have guessed.

I had a wonderful time with my date today and I'm pretty sure Jacob did too. He has talked about our music class all day, telling anyone who will listen. As if it wasn't rewarding enough having him all to myself for a couple of hours today, this afternoon he came up to me, threw his arms around my neck and said, "You my best friend. I love you so much."
Sigh. I'm in love after only 1 date.
:)

Quickies

Apparently I'm a postaholic today, but just had 2 quickies I wanted to share:

1) Jacob was listening to our old voice mails on the phone and was yelling into the mouthpiece, "HEY!" over and over to the people leaving the messages. He seemed a little confused why Grandmom & Aunt Tricia were not responding to his repeated greetings. :)

2) I've mentioned how full of wildlife our apartment is. Well, just a few minutes ago, Hailey started barking her head off at the French doors overlooking our "backyard". I look out, expecting to see another dog, but here's what I saw:



Pretty neat! I had just enough time to grab the camera & call Jacob over. Then the bunny darted away. Jacob ran to his bedroom, saying, "I wanna see it in my room!" Pretty smart because his bedroom window overlooks the area the bunny ran to. Unfortunately, we didn't see him again, but I thought the boys were cute looking for him out the window.



Edited to add:
This is what happens while you're blogging and posting pictures, and think your 3 year old is playing cars in his room, when actually, he is pulling out every item from the hamper.




And yes, I know I need to do laundry. :)

Little stories

Today has been one of those days. I'm exhausted from my long day yesterday and my lack of sleep last night. There's no caffeine in the house and right now, I'd be willing to pay good money for just one can of Coke. The boys have been tired today, too, and Alex has been very high maintenance. Getting him to sleep in his crib instead of our bed has been the nightmare I've been dreading it would be. And potty training Jacob is a daily battle. Some days we have lots of successes, and other days, it's like he forgets he knows he should be peeing in the potty. Earlier this afternoon, I said out loud, just talking to myself, "I've GOT to get out of this apartment."
Jacob: "Why, mommy? Where you going?"
Me: "I don't know. I just want to go somewhere."
Jacob: "Oh. Leave us here?"
I felt like the worst mommy in that moment because he thought I wanted to get away from them. It truly wasn't at all what I meant.
Me: "No, honey. I don't want to leave you here."
Jacob: "Oh. Leave Alex here?" And he smiles.

So in spite of feeling tired, frustrated, cooped up, and ready for the weekend, I'm thinking of some cute Jacob & Alex moments to cheer me up. Right now Alex is napping in his crib, and Jacob is snoring beside me on the couch. I figure I have time to blog a little before it's time to wake him. And this way, you can read about the cute conversations and interactions.

Today after lunch, I snuck into the kitchen to eat a Hostess chocolate cupcake. These are my latest chocolate indulgence and I hide them from Jacob. I don't want him to have that much chocolate in one sitting AND I already have to share the box with Jeff. If the cupcakes need to be divided 3 ways, then I'll have to start buying 2 boxes. :) So anyway, I try not to let Jacob see me eating them. Well, just as I was finishing up chewing the last bite, Jacob approaches me. I felt guilty, like a little kid who just got busted sneaking a dessert she wasn't supposed to have.
Jacob: "What you eatin'?"
Me: "Uh, my lunch."
Jacob: "What is dat?" And he gets right in my face, peering closely at my mouth. He was like a detective examining my lips for evidence.
Me: "I told you, it's my lunch."
I'm a bad liar. He obviously doesn't believe me. I was starting to sweat a little under the lights.
Jacob: "Open your mouth."
I started laughing.
Jacob: "Open your mouth, peez."
So I did. He caught me.
Jacob: "Dat chocolate? I want some chocolate."
So I compromised and let him have 2 Hershey Kisses. Small pieces of chocolate that aren't my latest craving. :)

Jeff & I were trying to delay getting out of bed as long as possible the other morning, so we had the boys playing around in bed with us. Jacob looks over at Jeff, and points to a tiny mole on Jeff's face.
Jacob: "You got a boo boo, Daddy?"
Jeff: "That's not a boo boo. That's a mole."
Jacob: "Oh, a mole." Then he looks up & down Jeff's arms & chest, and says, "You got a lot of moles." Then, "You got a lot of hair. Why you got more hair than me?"
A conversation for another day many, MANY years from now! :)

Twice now, Jacob has bumped his head on the side mirror of a car in a parking space next to ours at the apartment. I'm not sure whether to attribute this to bad parking on our part, or to Jacob's tendency to walk while seeming oblivious of his surroundings. Both times he bumped his head, he turned around, looked at the offending car, and said, "Why you hit me, car? Dat not very nice."

Alex has been saying "Dada" for a couple of weeks now. But he just started saying "mama" this week. :) "Mama" was Jacob's first word (Jeff doesn't believe me, but I swear it was! He followed suit with "Dada" one week later.). Just like his brother, however, right now "mama" is only said when he is whining, hungry, tired, grouchy, wants to be held, or all of the above. "Dada" is said in a sweet, cheerful voice. But even though he only says my name when he's whining, I know he loves me. I want to always remember the look on his face when I'm holding him, and he looks at me, gazing into my eyes. He looks like he's studying every feature of my face, wanting to memorize it. I guess he's thinking, "Huh! Would you look at that? She's got a face! I guess she's not just a walking boob after all!" But seriously- it is so sweet, it sometimes makes me teary. Especially when he gives me one of his hugs & super sloppy kisses after his staring session.

My other sweetie pie also melts my heart when he tells me he loves me. I was so excited when he learned to say that phrase. The first time he said it to me, I cried. The other day, he came up to me and said, "I love you so much. You're my friend." And he gave me a big hug, a kiss right on the lips, and then a little Eskimo kiss! It made my day.
A couple days ago, I was putting his shorts on, and he told me again that he loved me.
Me: "I love you too, bud."
Jacob: "I know you love me." And then he pats me on the head and gives me a kiss, like I was the child, and he was the parent. :)

Jacob loves to stand, jump on, and climb on the back of the couch. It's one of those battles I wasn't sure I wanted to take on, but every time he does, I tell him to stop it. He's not so great about listening.
Me: "Jacob, get off the back of the couch, please."
Jacob: "Okay." And he climbed down.
I thought to myself, "That was too easy", and sure enough, look over to find him climbing back on the top of the couch.
Me: "Jacob! Get OFF the back of the couch, please!"
Jacob: "I not Jay-up! I Peter Parker!" (For those of you lagging behind in your Spiderman trivia, Peter Parker is Spiderman's alias.)
Me: "OK, well, Peter Parker, Mommy said you AND Jacob need to get down off the couch now."
Jacob: thinks for a second and says, "You not Mommy...you Mary Jane." (Mary Jane is Peter's girlfriend. I guess Mary Jane can't tell Peter OR Jacob to get off the couch. I have to give him points for originality!)

Alex & I were playing in the family room when I heard loud yelling coming from Jacob's room. When he's not in the sharing mood, and needs a little bit of independent play time, he'll go into his room and close the door so Alex can't get to him. So I hurry to his room, open the door, and find him standing in front of his bed, playing with his cars.
Me: "Are you OK?"
Jacob: "Yes. I fine."
Me: "Well, what was that noise?"
Jacob: "I do dis: aaaaahhhhh!!!!!" (and repeats the loud, echoing yell that brought me to his room in the first place.)
Jacob: He had a big, proud grin on his face during & after his yell. "I like dat noise. You like dat noise?"
Yes. I love it. Please do it again. I'm sure our apartment neighbors also love dat noise. But I couldn't help but laugh.

There was a giant housefly buzzing around the apartment the other evening. Jacob kept waving it away, saying, "Shoo, fly!" One time he said, "Shoo, fly! Go home to your parents!"

A couple days ago, Jacob said he was going to look at his boo boo in the mirror (he likes to check out his injuries. I guess if they look really bad, then he can decide it hurts a lot more than it actually does.). This normally takes less than 30 seconds, so when he'd been gone significantly longer than that, Alex & I went looking for him. He was still in the bathroom standing on his stepstool in front of the mirror. But he had Jeff's deodorant, and was "applying" it all over. All these years, I've only applied deodorant to my armpits. You may be surprised to learn that for an even fresher, cleaner scent, it's helpful to apply more thoroughly. Jacob suggests that the deodorant be applied not only under your arms, but also your cheeks, chest, the back of your neck, and in your hair. All I can say is, thank goodness the top was still on, otherwise, he would have reeked of some variation of Old Spice deodorant. He's such a little man, and I think it's so cute when he does these little Daddy copycat behaviors with the deodorant & brushing his hair with Daddy's brush.

I often marvel at the imagination of a child. It is so interesting to listen in on the conversations Jacob makes up when he plays, or the scenarios he & his cousin devise when they're together. But sometimes that same imagination can get you into trouble. After the above grooming episode, Jacob noticed the roll of toilet paper sitting on the back of the toilet. He picked it up, began looking through it like a telescope, saying, "I on a ship! I a pirate- arrgh! I looking for sharps!" (sharp = shark) Then he began to freestyle swim through the bathroom- I mean, the ocean- saying, "I swim in the water! Aahh! A sharp!"
At some point, he must have decided that the toilet paper roll wasn't a very realistic looking telescope, but that if all of the toilet paper were taken OFF the roll, that would be much better. So what happens next? I walk back into my bedroom to find a little boy standing in my closet, looking just slightly guilty, with a cardboard tube in one hand and a huge wad of toilet paper in the other. He takes off running to the bathroom. I have just enough time to say, "Not in the toilet! There's too much!" But, the pirate was too quick. The wad of toilet paper wound up in the toilet. And the pirate ended up getting a lecture about listening to his mommy. Fortunately, the story has a happy ending. I was afraid the toilet would be stopped up by the thick wad of paper, but it wasn't. And it's a good thing, too, because I think Jeff & I actually stored our plunger. I guess we decided to take a gamble that no one would clog the toilet in the 3 months we'd be at the apartment. Let's hope the pirate doesn't strike again in the next 6 weeks.

I love everything about Alex's laugh: the sound of it, his big grin & dimples, the way he kicks his legs in excitement, and that you can see his 2 little bottom teeth. I love that he wants to do everything Jacob does. This morning, Jacob was wildly chasing after Hailey, who was barking and running around. Jacob squealed in delight, and Alex immediately squealed. He copied Jacob's squeal two more times. Of course as soon as I got out the video camera, the chase & squealing ended. But it sure was cute while it lasted.

And I love that when he knows you're going to tickle him, Jacob begins to laugh hysterically a good 10 seconds before you've even touched him. :)

OK, I'm cheered up. Now I can have a fun rest of the afternoon with my 2 boys.

A battle of wills: Mommy vs. Alex

When I was pregnant with Alex, he was very active in my belly. I felt a lot more movement with him at all different hours than I did with Jacob. It often felt like he was doing aerobics or some kind of kick boxing. I joked with the nurses & Dr.'s during my OB visits that if his in utero antics were any indication, this little guy was going to be my wild man. I think I was right. While it's amazing to watch how easily mobile he has become, it can also be quite tiring. It didn't take long for Jacob to learn that Alex can get into pretty much everything...including Jacob's toys. Today I found a big toy truck in my hamper. I asked Jacob what it was doing in there. His response: "I put it in dere cuz Alex cannot reach it." Smart guy and can't say I blame him.
Alex is very ambitious, and has several goals he strives to meet daily:
1) Get toilet paper, tissue, or any paper product and put it in his mouth.
2) Get Hailey's dog food & put it in his mouth.
3) See if he can hit and get away with it.
4) Try to get into the kitchen cabinets & play with wine bottles.
5) Put as much as possible into his mouth.

Currently, Alex is going through a very physical phase. At least, I'm hoping it's a phase. He's a hitter. And when he hits, it's not one playful tap on the leg. It's a barrage of about 12 slaps in a row. If you're unfortunate enough to be holding him when the assault occurs, then you get slapped repeatedly in the face. Heaven help you if he's holding an object that can be used as a weapon. Jeff had to confiscate a plastic toy hammer from him yesterday. We never experienced this issue with Jacob, so I've been uncertain how to address it. He thinks of it as a game, probably because everyone (myself included) would say, "Stop hitting me, you silly boy!" or something to that effect with a big ol' grin on their face. Because he's a baby. Pretty much everything they do is cute, even hitting. So you can't really blame him for thinking it's funny when we've all responded by laughing, smiling, or tickling him. At his 9 month check up (which went perfectly, by the way!), I asked the pediatrician about the behavior. She suggested that after he hits, sit him on the floor, move away from him and look down with a mean, stern look on your face, saying, "No hit!" very firmly. The first couple of times I tried it, I had a hard time keeping a straight face. Looking down at those big blue eyes and smile as I dramatically crossed my arms, tried to frown & furrow my brows, and firmly tell him not to hit in a fake angry voice. It was funny. Was, being the key word.
So Jeff & I have been working on it. Even Jacob has learned what to do. Yesterday, Alex smacked him on the leg, and Jacob scooted away from him, crossed his arms, and said, "No hit me, Alex!"
Today, Alex & I are having a battle of wills. A little while ago, Jacob & I were sitting on the couch together while he snacked. I was watching Alex play with some toys on the floor. Alex came over to me, pulled himself up to standing, and started hitting my leg. So I followed the pediatrician's suggestion to discipline him, and after standing up, crossing my arms, and telling him not to hit, I sat back down beside Jacob. Alex looked at me, wide-eyed, then came right back over and started hitting me again. Repeat disciplinary action. He approaches again, and resumes the slapping of my leg. Again, I stand up and tell him "No hit!" I swear, he came over to me a total of 10 times, and after every session of hitting I endured, I had to repeat the discipline. Oh, the stubbornness! Why did he have to inherit that from me? :) As he was hitting my leg over & over, he's looking at me as if to say, "What are you going to do about it? How bad can a 9 month old's slap hurt, anyway, ya wimp?" I'm not sure if a 9 month old knows how to talk trash, but that's what it looked like he was thinking, anyway.
Finally, after 10 times of the same scenario, I think he realized that I was going to keep putting him on the floor and scolding him every time he hit me. I sat back down beside Jacob, and saw Alex making his way back over to me. Really? Was he going to try for #11? He stood up and started hitting the couch right beside my leg, and looks at me as if to ask, "Is this OK?" I just smiled at him because he's so darn cute & sweet. And because I won that battle. :) Now let's see if I can get him to start sleeping in his crib instead of our bed. So far, he's winning that one.

Here are a few examples of my wild child's daily adventures:

I can play in this toy basket AND the drawer at the same time! Good time management.

Surely there's something in here I'm not supposed to have. This thing only has toys in it?

Really? Only toys in here, too? Where do we keep all of the fun stuff?


I get to chew on this plastic hot dog and look cute at the same time. I know I look cute because Mommy's pulling that camera out again.

You're lucky the apartment doesn't have a staircase, Mommy. Just wait until we move to the new house! You think I'm everywhere now, but at least I can be confined to one floor!

What am I doing in your room? Um, nothing. I will say that it doesn't involve a tissue.


I love my little wild child. I knew that's who he would be before I even met him. And I wouldn't change a thing about him. Well...maybe sleeping through the night would be nice. :)