One-Year Update

If you are wondering why this update is so late, it's because Jacob finally went to the doctor for his one-year check-up today. They rescheduled on me, making it actually half a month late. Oh well.

So, here are his one-year stats: (actually 12 1/2 months)
height: 33 inches
weight: 28 lbs, 1 and 1/2 ounce

For both of these he is off the charts! I think I've got a future linebacker on my hands...

Other interesting things:

Loves: juice, yelling "dada" (I think he picked it up from me yelling up the stairs to get Larry's attention), toothbrushes, being outside, church nursery, smiling at anyone who looks at him, cheese, yogurt melts, fruit (he can eat a whole banana), giving hugs, and music. He loves the theme songs to most cartoons, but the only one he'll watch for a while is Barney...

Hates: sitting still, being told "no," shut doors he can't open, having his face wiped, getting his nails cut, when somebody else is crying (he'll cry too; we are trying not to mess with him too much on this one, but it's so cute that he'll cry when we pretend to cry).

Skills: He walks a little bit between furniture, people, etc., but he hasn't gained the courage to try it more. He's been doing this for a few weeks now and hasn't really progressed. I think he'll walk about 10 steps--he does a lot better with a ton of encouragement. I guess he likes to show off. He likes to pick big things up off the floor (think like a weightlifter). He's getting good at throwing things, but he doesn't know the difference between what can and can't be thrown. He says "mama" and "dada," but that's it. He babbles all the time, though.

Sleeping: He sleeps about 9 to 9 1/2 hours a night (usually from 8:45 to 6:15) and takes two naps a day of about 1 1/2 hours long. I think I might be able to get him to drop the first nap--he's done it a few times without major issues and slept more at night, but I really like my two periods of the day where I can get things done (or to be honest, when I can relax by myself, take a shower, shave my legs, or read a book).

Teeth: I'm not sure whether to write 8 or 10--He has all front 8, and his molars on the bottom are peaking through.

Well, I think that's about it. This picture shows another one of Jacob's likes--fridge! Every time we open it, he tries to get in there and play.

Jacob's First Birthday Party!

Although his birthday was on Sunday, the 22nd, we decided to have his party on the 21st at my parents' house in Manteca. We had just moved the weekend before and having it in Manteca just seemed to make so much sense. August in the valley is usually incredibly hot, but the 21st we woke up to cool temperatures, so we even got to have the party outside in the backyard. (I'm sure it's a lot easier to be able to hose down a first birthday party mess than to have to scrub the tile floors...luckily, I really didn't do much clean up.)

Jacob did very well despite only sleeping about 45 minutes that morning. The party started at noon and we had hamburgers, watermelon, and grapes. Then we opened presents. Jacob didn't really get into the presents, but he did like the little soft Tonka cars from Uncle Mike and Auntie Karena. Tijs also liked playing with Jacob's toys.


Here Tijs is actually playing with the gift that he gave Jacob. I guess that's an advantage of being 8 months older...


Anyway, then we had cupcakes. I made them different colors so they might look like balloons.



Jacob was not sure what to do with the cupcake at first. I don't think he realized he could eat it. Once I broke it up and fed him some of the cake part, he got right into it.


Jacob's Uncle Mike Z thought it was funny to add frosting to Jacob's face so he'd have more colors. Jacob seemed to like the frosting a lot!

After a quick bath and a diaper change, the party was over, and I think it went very well!

Moving!

About a week ago we rented out our house in Patterson and are now going to rent a townhouse in Los Banos. The main reason we are doing this is because Larry will be teaching in Hollister now (70 miles from Patterson), and Los Banos will be closer. (He'll still have to drive 45 minutes to school every day). At least we'll be only an hour from Manteca and Modesto. I'm pretty excited about the move mostly because I really enjoy packing and unpacking; I don't, however, enjoy all the cleaning so our house looks good for the renters!

Here is Jacob playing his grandma-great's piano for the last time. My dad came and picked it up to take back to his house. We are really going to miss it.

Jacob has also deciding to help me pack. He just climbed right in when I was packing all our games.

All this packing has really started to agitate Jacob. Sometimes we all just need a few sips of wine!

Cause and Effect

Jacob has begun to climb EVERYTHING, especially the couch and his stroller. The other day he learned a valuable lesson. He was playing in his stroller...

I WAS watching him, and it didn't look like he was going to fall forward...However, when I was out of the rooom, I heard a crash, followed by crying. I think he tried to reach for the keys in the cup holder and the whole stroller tipped backwards. I think he would have been okay except I'm pretty sure he somehow cut his forehead with the keys. Here was the result:

Jacob's first trip to the lake

This week Wednesday, Larry and I drove up to Lake Combie in Meadow Vista, CA to go on the boat with my sister Cindy and her family. Jacob was so good the whole time. I think he really liked the boat; for a little while I thought he was going to fall asleep. You can tell from the pictures that he was just so relaxed. I think he may have fallen asleep, but his life jacket kept getting in the way.

It was fun to get to wakeboard again, but I got tired so quickly. I'm definitely not used to waterskiing anymore. Larry tried to wakeboard, and I think he would've had it if he had been able to try again later. He got up for a few seconds, which is pretty good for never wakeboarding or skiing before.

After wakeboarding, we got out of the tube and Larry, William, and Michael tubed. It was fun to watch the boys fly in the air really high, and when Bill decided to "dump them" they skipped across the water.

Michael on the tube and William in the boat.

Larry tubing

We had such a good time, and we can't wait to go waterskiing again!

Swimming at Pake and Beppe's!

About a month ago, Larry's parents finished their pool. It has been a great place to go to cool off now that the weather has gotten hot. Jacob has swum (yes, that's correct) probably 5 or 6 times already, and he LOVES it! They have a little spot in the pool where he can sit under an umbrella, too! It's a huge shallow spot about 4 feet wide and 5 inches deep. He loves to sit there and splash water everywhere. Here are a couple of pictures of the first time I saw him in the pool.

We have to be careful with this boat. It is NOT very safe, but it looks pretty cute, though. Jacob's Uncle Bill makes fun of this hat...he says he looks like a girl. It's the only one I could find. Oh, well!

Jacob wasn't scared at all to go all over the pool with his daddy.

10 months!

After my last massive post, I promise this one will be shorter...

I can't believe that Jacob is already 10 months old! That sounds so old. And he definitely no longer looks like the helpless, quiet baby we took home from the hospital. Here are just a few highlights of Jacob this month.

Likes: doors (opening and shutting them), chairs (pushing them back and forth and pulling up to a stand), yogurt, juice, biting people, french fries, saltines, giving hugs, when people clap for him, going for walks in the stroller, and, of course, SMILING!

Dislikes: green beans (I think--it's been a while since I tried them), diaper rash, sitting on my lap, baths, lying still while getting his diaper changed, having his nails cut.

New Skills: crawling the regular way on hands and knees, pulling up to a stand, walking when I hold his arms up, giving kisses (I think that's what he's doing--today I got licked on the lips), giving hugs, dancing

Teeth: 6 (three on top, still missing his left front tooth---3 on the bottom)

The highlight of this month was his first out-of-state trip to Idaho about a week ago. I think he did pretty well, but I'm not about to do it again for a while.

This is what I walk into just about everytime Jacob wakes up. This was the first day he did this.

Unfortunately, he also woke up with a big scratch of the side of his nose. (Maybe he should let me cut his nails...)

I have to be VERY careful not to leave the dishwasher down. He likes to roll the bottom drawer out and take out the silverware...he is going to grab a knife someday.

Apparently Jacob likes baby spaghetti!

After spending so much time with his cousins in Idaho, Jacob could not figure out why Tijs wouldn't play with him...Tijs couldn't figure out why Jacob wouldn't leave him alone...(notice how Tijs is keeping Jacob away from his sippy cup!)