Saturday, August 25, 2012

Happy birthday Bear!



Nearly 2 weeks ago, we celebrated Jakey's first birthday!  (I was shortly thereafter struck down by the nastiest cold bug I've had in a loooooong time, and am still on the mend, which is why it has taken me so long to post these pics.)  Jake had a fun birthday celebration with one of our favorite curries for dinner, kukupaka (coconut chicken,) and dinosaur cake for dessert made by mom.  Yes, Jake already eats curry... but honestly, he will eat just about anything you put in front of him.  (Except for bananas- he only eats them 50% of the time.)


Charlotte and Toby told me that Jacob wanted a dinosaur cake.  I did my best, and this is what I came up with.  I like making the kids' birthday cakes-so far we have only done one store bought cake and we all agreed it didn't taste great- but inevitably about 20 things go wrong and I get very frustrated.  So far the kids have all been happy with the end results though and I hope they will make for happy memories of their homemade cakes.


Jakey liked it.  He kept looking at it like he was trying to memorize what it looked like for future reference.


The happy, sugared up, ONE year old boy!


We did invite just a couple of our friends over to celebrate with us, and the kiddos had a great time playing together.  I confess, Rob and I don't socialize much, and WE had a great time visiting with a couple of our grown-up friends as well.  :)


Today we took the kids to Monkey Joe's for a fun family activity and for the first time Jacob was DETERMINED to participate. He bounced and went down the slides and just smiled from ear to ear.  

His personality is emerging more all the time- he is super kinetic... always in motion.  His favorite game is to play ball.  You have to be careful though, because he will throw anything that comes into his hands, including my Kindle which is currently broken from being thrown on the tile floor. He especially likes to throw things down the stairs. He empties my cupboards and rearranges the chairs several times a day. He is also fearless about water and sticks his face under the water in the bathtub regularly. I don't think he has any idea that he is a baby; if he sees Toby doing something then Jakey will try to do it too.  He will occasionally settle in for a cuddle, and he likes to give kisses, but only for a moment because he's got to get back to making messes! 

Jacob is still not very verbal.  We can make out a few things like "dada," "om," "up," and "all done." He also shakes his head no.  But that is pretty much it for communication beyond growls and giggles.  He is a speedy walker and doesn't resort to crawling anywhere anymore. He can go up and down the stairs.  He has also gotten better about sleeping and will often sleep from 8-10 pm, then get up and have a bottle and then sleep from 10pm-5am.  He also still takes 1-2 naps during the day. He has 8-10 teeth in his little mouth- though it is challenging to get a good look at them as he speeds by. 

One of Jake's absolute favorite things to do right now, is to brush his hair.  Which is really very funny considering that he hardly has any. He gets a brush out of the bathroom drawer and just strolls around the house brushing his hair and smiling.  You will no longer be his friend if you take the hairbrush away from him.  We are so thankful for our funny little Jakey bear. I am somewhat dismayed at how quickly he is growing up, but I'm guessing that will always be the case.  Right this moment he is pulling on my leg to be picked up, and I suddenly want nothing more than to cuddle with him... while I still can.  Happy birthday Bear!  

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

In her own words


Ready to go to Kindergarten!


Charlotte found her locker, and her seat, and was all set for school to begin.


One last squeeze before we left our sweet girl!  
(I thought I would be emotional, but I guess I got that out enough beforehand because we were all just smiley and excited for her new adventure.)



Here is Charlotte to tell you all about her first day of school... I thought about writing something to accompany (explain parts of) this, but I decided it would be best to let her speak for herself.  ;)

Monday, August 06, 2012

Edist-ooooooooo!


On Saturday we ran away from home. We drove to Edisto Beach in South Carolina and spent the day as a family enjoying the sun, sand, and surf.  I would call Edisto an overlooked little beach haven.  There was ZERO traffic on our route there (something unimaginable on a Saturday in August in NJ or MD!) We were able to park the car (for free) and be on the sand in about 10 steps. Across the street was a Piggly Wiggly where we could grab milk for Jake's bottle and snacks for the rest of us.  Perfect spot for a day trip.  :)


Jake embraced his first time at the beach by crawling straight into the water. No fear.  Even after getting nailed by a wave, he came up sputtering and kept moving forward. He is a crazy kid! 


Our engineer, Toby, dug ditches and built castles in between dips in the ocean.


And Charlotte barely left the water all day. 

As you can see, the beach was nearly empty.  There was a group of young adults from Quebec next to us though.  We had fun chatting with them (in English and French) about their travels down the coast headed for Florida, then west to California, then north to British Columbia, and then back east to Quebec in a van- picking fruit as workers when they are in need of cash.  Sounds like an adventure, huh?! The kids enjoyed sharing seashells, buckets, and shovels with our new buddies from the north. 

Fun memories.  :)