Merry Christmas! Choo Choo!

Merry Christmas! Choo Choo!

(December 26, 2008)

We had a great Christmas at the Corcoran house this year. Last year we had a 4 month old who couldn't sit up, couldn't stay awake more than 2 hours, and could have cared less about the tree, presents, Christmas music or Santa......My what a year can do!

Fast forward a year and you have a little boy who is walking/running around, fascinated with the ornaments on the tree (NO was said in my house a lot this year), LOVED LOVED LOVED ripping the paper off of the presents, danced to the Christmas music and well.....Santa.....let's not talk about Santa!

Jacob made out pretty good this year with presents, if you read my post from November titled One small step for man....and Choo-Choo Trains you know that Jacob loves trains, mostly Thomas trains, but he isn't that picky. So Santa focused most of his gifts around this typical boy obsession. The main gift was a new "train table" so that Jacob would have somewhere to set his train tracks up, then of course he got a few motorized Thomas and Friends trains, an awesome Thomas book, and of course what child isn't complete without his very own Thomas toothbrush, spoon/fork, and cup!

Jacob loves his new toys and his imagination has really bloomed since the new table has been set up....he loves loves loves playing on a child sized/height table and will use the new table for his trains, cars, and for coloring with crayons! Santa got this table at Target so it was very reasonably priced, cause they can be very expensive!!!

So until next year when we will have an almost 2 1/2 year old!! HOLY COW!!!

Happy Anniversary! Being Jake!

Happy Anniversary! Being Jake!


It is hard to believe, but one year ago today I posted a picture of 4 month old Jacob in his Santa hat and started "Being Jake". I have managed to post a minimum of one post a week for the entire year and I want to thank everyone who reads it regularly! Stay Tuned, I am sure year number two will be even more interesting!

Death of the fuzzy mullet!

Death of the fuzzy mullet!

First let me say that I am the proud mommy of a 16 month old! This week was an interesting week, we got to kill something in the Corcoran house. The death was quick and painless and we were all better because of it.

Jacob was born with absolutely no hair other than this reddish blondish brownish peach fuzz and then a few longer pieces on the back of his neck. As the months have passed his hair has started to come in slowly but surely. He still is no where near a full head of hair and for 16 months old I am really starting to get anxious about being able to give him a cute little haircut. Unfortunately Paul and I both were born with thin hair and didn't get our full heads of hair until after two years old. So Jacob is going to be hair deficient for another half a year or so.

But now comes the problem, that hair that was longer on his neck when he was born has continued to grow.....and grow.....and grow. I have been letting it grow because I wanted to see if it was going to grow into cute little curls. Well the only thing it grew into was a fuzzy mullet! So we had to make an executive decision and give him a mini-haircut! My sister is a beautician so I called her up and she killed the mullet! Jacob instantly looked older and with the fuzziness gone it made him look like his hair was thicker! I LOVE IT!

So Rest In Peace fuzzy mullet! I won't miss you!

Dear Santa.....

Dear Santa,

I would like to apologize for my behavior today. I hope your temporary hearing loss has returned after my loud high pitched screams and of course I am very very sorry for almost kicking you. If you will allow me to explain I am sure we can come to an agreement and I hope that you will not forget about me Christmas night as you are making your rounds.

Since I am only 16 months old I am slowly learning about things around me, but still have a fear of strangers. I was not given enough time to figure out if you were friend or foe as my mother haphazardly dropped me off on your lap only to quickly cower behind the lady in the funny hat who was trying to get me to smile by shaking annoying bells in my face and asking me to "look over here".

I am sure you are a very nice man, I mean hey you bring children toys, but you should really rethink the wardrobe as the all over red, funny hat, and ALL THAT HAIR tend to scare little people like me. I do come by my fear of you honestly as you will see in "exhibit A" my father once screamed and almost kicked you when he was a little older than me, I guess it runs in the family.....oops!

Exhibit A: Paul 2 years old 1968

In case you do end up forgiving me for our little encounter today I would like to ask you for the "Elmo Live" doll, it just cracks me up and I love how it gives me kisses when I see it in the store, and of course anything "Thomas the Tank Engine" would be awesome! You know how I love trains! I promise to be good for the rest of the year and not give my parents too much trouble. Until we meet again next year!

Sincerely,
Jacob

Grandpa is doing great!

Grandpa is doing great! (December 6, 2008)

We headed down to spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma at Mt. Vernon today and we got to see Grandpa in his Physical Therapy. He is doing really well and has gained a lot of strength in his legs and is working on his arm strength as well. Check him out!!!

Grandpa can move his leg up and down all by himself! GO GRANDPA!

First time Grandpa tries to walk with a walker, he does pretty good!

The next time he walks he does even better, watch his foot/leg move
without the help of the Physical Therapist!
(Don't ask me why the camera turns half way through, just tilt your head! GRIN)

Just like my Daddy!

Just like my Daddy!
(December 5, 2008)

These past two weeks have been pretty stressful, but that's why we have little children in our lives! Leave it up to Jake to make us all smile! He decided that he wanted to be just like his Daddy and while Paul was on the phone he got our other phone and walked around for over 10 minutes following Paul around the house "pretending" to talk on the phone. He would even stop every few minutes and push some buttons just to make the effect that much more real!!!

A Hospital Thanksgiving!

A Hospital Thanksgiving!

(November 27th, 2008)


As I mentioned in the previous post the Corcoran Clan has taken over the hospital Telemetry floor. There are Grandma and Grandpa's 9 children (Ed, Sean, Kate, Deirdre, Amy, Jim, Paul, Aggie, and Lucy), 5 spouses, and 20 of the 32 grandchildren all running around the 2nd floor of the hospital. The staff think it is great and say that they have never seen such a loving and supportive family. Grandpa is doing a little better and has started intense physical therapy and will soon be going to a rehabilitation center for an even more intense 3 week therapy session. He will need to learn to walk, talk, read, and write again but we are all hopeful and the doctors have said that he should gain a good bit of his mobility back.

Thanksgiving day turned out to be a very happy, but somber day at the hospital. The hospital staff were gracious enough to allow the family to use one of the conference rooms near Grandpa to setup 10 tables and a buffet of food. Grandpa even got to come down and say prayers with us and even ate some turkey and mashed potatoes!

(Front Row: Paul, Ed, Grandpa, Grandma, Aggie(lap), Sean, Lucy(lap), Jim.
Second Row: Amy, Deirdre, Kate.) 1970's

(Front row: Ed, Grandpa, Jim
Second row: Aggie, Paul, Grandma, Kate, Lucy, Amy, Sean, Deirdre)

ME GRANDPA! You baby Jacob!

ME GRANDPA! You baby Jacob!

This week has been a crazy week! Paul, Jacob, Dustin, and I all went away on Sunday for a much needed mini-vacation when we got the call early Monday morning that Paul's father "Grandpa" had suffered a stroke. We all immediately packed up and headed to the hospital. Paul's father is a one of a kind man who can make anyone feel at ease and doesn't have an enemy in the world. The father of 9, grandfather of 32, and great grandfather of 2 is so loved that the entire Corcoran clan have taken over the hospital this week. Four of Paul's sisters (Amy, Kate, and the Twins Aggie and Lucy) all came out from California and of course the rest of the family is already here. Jake has had a lot of "little mommies" to help him during the long hours in a hospital. As you can imagine having a 15 month old in a hospital for 5 days straight 5-7 hours a day can be quite nerve racking, but luckily God has given us a very relaxed little boy and other than the occasional melt down when he is hungry or sleepy he has been great. Paul and I have been able to spend time with Grandpa and have been able to check out mentally for a little while without Jacob needing or wanting us too much.

I do think that Jacob understands that something is wrong and has been very concerned when seeing Grandpa and will even gently touch Grandpas hand or foot and ALWAYS waves to Grandpa when he sees him. Jacob has spent a lot of time with Paul's parents during his short 15 month life. There is one thing that Grandpa does with Jacob that never fails to make Jacob smile or laugh. Grandpa will point to himself and in a very low voice and say "ME GRANDPA!" then in a high pitched voice point to Jacob and say "You baby Jacob!"........Jacob just loves this and we have been doing this when we see Grandpa this week. We have also been going to the mall with Grandma and Grandpa about once a week for the past few months and can't wait to be able to go again when Grandpa gets better.

(Jacob and his "Little Mommies" at the Hospital)

It is all a waiting game now, but we are praying everyday and know that this will be a long hard road that we will all, especially Grandpa will have to travel. Please keep him in your prayers! You can never have too many prayers!!!

I can do it by myself!

I can do it by myself!

11/16/08 - 11/22/08)

First let me say that I am the proud mommy of a 15 month old!!!

I don't have much to write about this week. Unfortunately Jake, Paul, our nephew Dustin (who lives with us) and myself all got a nasty nasty nasty stomach virus this week which pretty much had us laying around on the couch for 3-4 days. Jake got it the worse and was sick for three straight days which of course meant that we were home with him trying to keep him comfortable. Then Tuesday night the rest of the house got sick but we were all better within 24 hours (Thank God!). But as you can imagine the whole week was shot before we knew it.

During our time being sick Jake was forced to play by himself a lot more than normal. Being a stay home mom means that I am here to play with Jake a lot during the day. In a way that is great, but I obviously realize that it can also be bad when Jake wants you with him 24/7. Luckily Jake realized we weren't feeling well (reinforced by him giving a lot of hugs and kisses during our sick day), so he started playing by himself.

He did pretty good, but it is funny to see the baby that you swear isn't old enough to do anything on his own to suddenly not need you. He walked around the house, got his toys out himself, even at one point got me the remote that was just too far out of my reach. The best part of the whole day was when he got out his favorite toy but couldn't find all of the balls that fit in it so he decided that a ball was a ball! He obviously got frustrated when the balls that he tried to use with the toy didn't "bang through"!! We all laughed for awhile and then helped our little guy find the right balls for the toy!

We are all feeling much better now, and are getting ready to head out for a little mini-vacation before Thanksgiving!

What does a picky eater eat??

What does a picky eater eat??

(11/9/08 - 11/15/08)

I have had a heck of a time getting Jacob to eat “real” food. This has been going on (for those of you who don’t follow this blog) for a few months now. At first I wasn’t worried about it because I was still nursing which was giving him his majority of nutrients that are needed throughout the day. Now that I am down to nursing only in the morning and at night we are being faced with the “picky eater syndrome” that I am sure most parents deal with at some point. I have found a few tricks that seem to be working for Jacob, some I have thought of or found on my own and others I have gotten from awesome blogs like this one or from this website.

Now please keep in mind as you read about the following foods that even though it might look like “WOW Jake eats a lot!” some days that could be the case and then others days or even multiple days in a row he could go all day on half a chicken nugget a raisin and a few oyster crackers! YUK!!

Beverages:
PediaSmart Vanilla
Lactose Free Organic Formula
Mots for Tots Fruit Punch or Apple Juice (one small juice box)

Food:
Silver Dollar Cinnamon Carrot Pancakes Organic (recipe below)
Sweet Potato Waffle (organic freezer section at Super Target)
Plain Eggo
Piece of Whole Wheat Toast with butter
Tyson’s All Natural Chicken Nuggets (2)
Cheese Quesadilla
Mini Corn Dog
All Natural Hot Dog
Broccoli Cheese Chicken Nuggets (organic freezer section at Super Target)
Fries dipped in waaaayyyy too much ketchup
All types of crackers (saltine, oyster, graham, Ritz)
Banana
Fig Newtons
Yogurt covered Craisins (dried cranberries)
Any kind of dried fruit (cherries, blueberries, raspberries, raisins)
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Stage 3 Gerber Organic baby food

More crackers are eaten then anything above, but we are slowly starting to move away from ONLY crackers and he is getting so he doesn't only expect crackers when he is sitting at the table. The PediaSmart drink has also been a lifesaver. A single serving has twice the protein and vitamins than the same amount of regular formula. Although I have to admit that I don't mix it according to the package directions or I would soon find myself broke as they call for 1/2 cup of mix per 6 ounces of water. I just act like it is regular formula and add about 5-6 formula scoops per 10 ounces of water. It is still thick, creamy, and tastes like a watered down vanilla milkshake

I know that I have a lot of people who read this blog (I can track visitors) but I don't seem to have very many comments left on this blog (except Mr. LIAYF who is a very loyal reader/commenter - THANKS) but if you are reading this blog and know of any good AND NUTRITOUS things that I could try to get Jake to eat please let me know. And please don't say things like green beans, peas, or broccoli cause I have been there and tried that!!! Jake also is in the "I can do it myself" mode so if it requires good use of fork/spoon technique we might have to wait on it, but good "finger food" ideas are great!!!

Now here is a recipe that I created myself and I have to say that it tastes GREAT!! Everyone in my house likes them and they honestly taste like french toast pancakes. But of course have some veggies snuck in!

Cinnamon Carrot Pancakes

1 Cup of Organic Pancake Mix (or any pancake mix that requires only water)
2/3 Cup Water
1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Organic Applesauce
1 Medium Organic Carrot shredded
1/2 - 1 tsp. of Cinnamon (season to your taste)
1/2 -1 tsp of Sugar (this is optional I thought they were good without but Jake likes it sweeter)

**The first three ingredients are according to the package directions, your water and oil measurements could be different depending on the brand of pancake mix you purchase**

I use a TBSP. measuring spoon and make a bunch of silver dollar pancakes. I then put them onto a baking sheet and put them in the freezer (I have a large freezer in my garage) if you only have your kitchen refrigerator freezer you can put wax paper or aluminum foil in between layers on a plate or in a bag and freeze. Once frozen I put them in a freezer bag and when I need them I can just microwave one or two for about 25 seconds. If you want serve them "as is" or with butter and some syrup for dipping! I hope you all try them out and like them as much as we do!

We're Moving Now!

We're Moving Now!

Well Jacob has gone from walking two feet to walking for upwards of 40 minutes at a time around the house!! Now if he could just grasp the art of standing without pulling himself up on some sort of furniture we will be set!! He is sooo cute when he walks around, he is soooo serious! HILLARIOUS!

One small step for man......and Choo-Choo Trains???

One small step for man.....and Choo-Choo Trains???

(11/2/08 - 11/08/08)

This week Jacob has been focused on two things, and two things ONLY!!! Choo-Choo trains and walking! As a 14 1/2 month old Jacob is starting to show his parents that he is definitely 100% ALL BOY!!!! Of course if the fact that his first real word was BALL didn't give it away his now OCD type quality over Trains has definately shown his father and I that we are going to have the typical Ball, Trucks, Dirt, Bugs, Super Hero loving tough and tumble boy!

The whole "Choo-Choo" obsession actually came about from desperation on my part this week. His Aunt Lucy got him a Thomas and Friends wooden railway set for his birthday back in August. Knowing that he wouldn't be ready for something like this for awhile I packed it away with the understanding that we would bring it out when Jacob got older. Now I know that 3 months later isn't exactly "older" but remember....I was DESPERATE! Jacob was in a little bit of a cranky mood, the typical Backyardigans, Imagination Movers, books, toys, etc....were just not cutting it. Usually if Jacob gets like this I will bundle him up and take him for a walk. Unfortunately the day in question was cold and rainy so that was out! I thought a change of scenery would be good so we headed upstairs to roam around and check out the new scenery.

While in Jacobs room, he found the train box and started trying to drag it out, I thought "what the H*ll!" and started to help him unpack the box......

**6 days later**


We now play with the train set EVERYDAY, we are now taping Thomas and Friends on the TV (Backyardigans and Imagination Movers are sooooooo last week), Jacob now is OBSESSED with trains and very quickly learned how to pump his arm up and down while making his own version of a "WOO WOO" sound. And as you can see up top, we have also had to start riding the train at the local Mall! If you click on the tippy top picture you can actually see that his arm is up and he was "woo woo'ing" for about 3-4 minutes until the train took off! But hey, who cares, it make my little boy happy and that makes me happy! I am sure this will soon pass as with everything else in Jacobs short blinders induced vision of fun life!

Jacob has started to get the nerve up to do what Paul and I know he has been ready to do for WEEKS!!! He has started to let go and slowly start to walk on his own. The video above doesn't really do his walking justice. He has walked 15-20 feet to get to places this week but of course I can't walk around with a video camera every second of every day so this is the best one I have been able to capture! He is on his way!! YEAH!!!

FEAR!!! What is it??

FEAR!!! What is it??

(10/26/08 - 11/1/08)


Growing up I was a kid that was always afraid, I grew up in a very rural (OK the boonies) town where there weren't a lot of houses near mine and my house was in the middles of the woods. You would always get weird noises of animals coming from the darkness, the branches of the trees would cast eerie shadows on my bedroom walls, and the old house would creek and moan with the changing of the weather and temperature.

Was I afraid of these things because they were different? Was I afraid because as humans we are genetically programed to fear them? Or maybe it was because I watched scary movies, or saw my mother or sisters afraid so I LEARNED to be afraid......the truth is I don't really know.

This week with Halloween fast approaching the stores were in full display with there aisles of candy, masks, decorations, and costumes. As parents Paul and I have NEVER EVER scared Jacob. We have honestly sheltered him from anything that would scare him, and have never exposed him to any sort of masks, goblins, spiders, or weird creepy music. So when we were walking through different stores this week the pure fear that went through Jacob shocked Paul and I. It wasn't just a whimper or a quiet MAMA coming from the stroller it was an all out FEAR PANICKED SCREAM with Jacob physically shuttering and then trying to crawl and scratch his way out of the stroller and into my arms!

This happened a few times this week because you can't even go to the grocery store without some sort of Halloween decorations being up. First it was the big furry spider that had blinky red eyes, then it was the skull mask that was haphazardly askew on the under stuffed pillowcase body, then multiple times it was simply masks, or animated candy dishes that would shriek or cackle as you walked by them and set off their motion sensors.

No matter how you sliced it this week has shown me that fear MUST be somehow genetically ingrained in us. How did Jacob know to be scared of these things? Is he the only 14 month old that behaves this way?? Have I been blessed with a scare-dy cat for a child?? I would love to know if anyone else has had this problem? I am just glad that Halloween is over now so that all of these evil creatures can be packed away.......OH NO!!! NOW WE HAVE HUGE SANTA FIGURES TO SEE!!! Say your prayers people!!!!

Last year Jake was only 2 months old for Halloween so I didn't dress him up, I put on his BOO PJ's that his godmother got him and took a picture and Photoshopped him to look like a mouse! This year I have done the same thing because honestly he isn't walking yet, he doesn't eat candy (except for the occasional bite of some chocolate that I have) and he isn't really into anything. He loves the Backyardigan's and the Imagination Movers, but is obviously not asking for them nor will he understand that he would be dressing up as them. So I got him a "Pirate" shirt with the good 'ole "Jolly Roger" skull and crossbones on it and Photoshopped him to look like a Pirate!!!


As the Backyardigans say:

What do you do with a Scurvy pirate?
Load the cannon up and fire it!
What do you do with a Scurvy Pirate?
MAKE HIM WALK THE PLANK!!!

ARGH!! Happy Halloween Me Hearties!!!

Jake's Favorite Things!!

Jake's Favorite Things!

(10/19/08 - 10/25/08)

Jake has always been a very vocal and social little baby. He may not giggle constantly or let every stranger pick him up, but in terms of his "learning" he is ALWAYS watching. You can look at him and see that everything he sees or hears he is storing away for later use. Now that he is getting older (14 months old) and his body is physically able to allow him to form more words and get to where he wants to go or do what he wants to do the whole world is opening up to him.

Here are a few of his favorite things as a little boy growing up in the country:

1) Waving HI! and Bye-Bye! to people or as he likes to say (DIE and DIE-DIE), yes my little boy with all of the excitement he can muster tells you in the nicest way to DIE every time you enter or leave a room! He of course combines this with the ever popular backward baby wave!

2) Making animal noises! He has now up'ed his repertoire of animal noises from just a dog (baaf-baaf) to now ROOOAARRR for a lion, MOW (add an M in front of OW (ow as in a boo-boo)) and you have his version of MEOW for any type of cat!

3) Bringing his mother books to read and then only letting me read approximately 1-3 pages before he rips it out of my hands and gives me another book....this can sometimes happen 20+ times!!! My favorite time of day....NOT!!!

4) Playing with is Daddy, this is always his best time! Paul has the best imagination and can keep even the crankiest of Jacob's happy for a long time!

5) Going on walks outside in his new wagon! (You know the wagon that I was looking at when he got his first boo-boo).......

6) Saying MAMA MAMA MAMA MAMA upwards of 1500+ times a day!!! Please kid....go back to saying DADA like you used to!!! AAAAHHHHHHHHH


Those are just some of the things that take up my day, sometimes it can get very monotonous but now that Jake is older he can also play by himself. He has also started to understand the world around him more. Now that he has gotten older he has been able to connect the things around him. We have a fireplace that we have been lighting (gas fireplace, you flip a switch...how convenient) in the mornings when we get up and he has a book that also has a picture of a fireplace. He has been pointing to it and then pointing to our fireplace. He also the other day went and got his "This Little Piggy" animated stuffed animal when I was playing the game on his PIGS before bed.

He still isn't walking but has taken upwards of 4-5 steps by himself and when you are walking him while he holds onto your finger he isn't even using you as support. He is 100% walking by himself, but take your hand away and he falls flat it looks like he is doing the same thing with walking that he did with crawling. He didn't crawl until 11 months but could have weeks earlier and that is what is going on with walking too. It doesn't bother me in the slightest though because I know that he is physically able to walk and that it is all in his head!!! My little scare-dy cat!!

OW! That hurt!

OW! That hurt!!

(10/12/08 - 10/18/08)

It was bound to happen eventually, you plug all of the outlets so that your child doesn't get hurt. You put annoying drawer/door stops on all of the cabinets so that your child can't pull a pot down on their head, you rearrange and de-decorate your whole house and put up gates to quarantine off certain areas all in the hopes that you can keep your child from hurting themselves.

But the one thing you don't "baby proof" is yourself and of course what ends up hurting your child turns out to be something that YOU yourself accidentally do. This week Jake got his first official "Boo Boo" and it was all because of my lack of good judgment. We were taking a walk one day and I parked him on what I thought was a perfectly flat piece of real estate to go look at a tiny tykes wagon that my sister-in-law said that we could use for Jake when all of a sudden I hear a THUD and then WAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

I of course rush right over and pick him (and the stroller up) and see that he has a scrape on his upper cheek! HOLY COW!! It scared the "you know what" out of me! Trust me the yard wasn't sloped hardly at all but I guess those three wheeled outdoor strollers aren't very stable especially when you have a 14 month old in it who is very nosy and is trying to turn and look at what his mother is doing! Regardless I feel/felt so bad after it happened! How could this happen on my watch?

Since this happend I have been told by many many many parents that this is only the start of the "boo boo's" and that you especially have to watch out for boys cause they tend to be more into daredevil tactics then their female counterparts. OH BOY! I can hardly wait!!

This incident reminded me of when I was little, I was in kindergarten, and my sister and I were playing on our old rusty metal swing set outside. We of course were playing by ourselves and my sister got the idea that she was going to do flips over the side bar of the swing set so she needed me to hold this HUGE metal two person swingy thing that was on the swing set. I was doing a pretty darn good job when my hands started getting slippery and I let go of the swing. Luckily it missed my sister but instead of moving away myself I just ducked and bent over just in time for one of the rusty screws to hit me in the head. This is one of the earliest memories I have, of course I remember it in a really cool way, cause lets face it what's more cool then going to school and showing off a head full of stitches to your teacher and school mates!!!! But the other thing that I clearly remember is that right after it happened there was a lot of blood and my mom of course trying her best to find where I was hurt and trying to clean me up. She handled the whole situation very well at home, once we got to the hospital all bets were off though and again I CLEARLY remember the nurses having to get her to sit down because she was light headed! Up until the other day this has always been a little inside joke with my mother and I! I used to joke with her about almost passing out because of course I have good memories of this accident I remember the blood but not the pain!

Well Mom! I am very sorry about joking with you about that because my heart was pounding a mile a minute when Jake got hurt and he only got a shiner for his accident. I can honestly say that if he would have had his head split open and blood all over the place they would probably have to make me sit to keep from passing out too! I could never imagine the fear that goes through you when you think your child is hurt, it is a crazy ride!!

Jake of course is fine and his first black eye is healing nicely and is hardly noticable! Hopefully I won't be writing anytime soon about his next "Boo Boo"!

The Joys of Fall!

The Joys of Fall!

(10/5/08 - 10/11/08)


Oh the "Joys of Fall", we have the cooler nights, the milder days, the leaves changing, Fall Festivals, Halloween.........COLDS!!! UGH! Jake has his first cold of the season, and while it isn't a horrible one when it comes to colds/flu Jake is very very wimpy (probably not unlike most babies and some adults I know)! If all of the planets aren't perfectly aligned, if there isn't peace in the world and if Mommy doesn't fix things IMMEDIATELY! There is hell to pay!

You know Paul and I are seriously starting to think that there is a conspiracy against us. I read other blogs of parents who have children right around Jakes age and of course I talk to other parents of children, and it seems that Paul and I just can't catch a break! We FINALLY got Jake sleeping well at night, starting to eat real food again, drinking out of a cup (and not just nursing) and now we have a baby with a boogie nose that wants to wake up every 2-3 hours!!! AAAAHHHHHH!!!! Please Please Please someone tell me that eventually all babies sleep???

But the ironic part to all of this is that Paul and I are talking about when a good time for Jake to get a sibling is, but with the way my luck is going I won't get Jake sleeping through the night until I am 9 months pregnant and then BAM!!! I will have another newborn.....

Are dark circles and puffy bags under the eyes in fashion yet??? Cause if they are I could surely be the poster child for them! I know that there is the flu shot out there for the little ones, but I have a real problem injecting anything into my child that isn't really necessary. Is it wrong for me to think things like "We didn't have the flu shot and we all survived"???? This is my new dilema....you go to your doctors and the first thing out of their mouth is "When do you want to get Jake his flu shot"....not "Would you LIKE to get Jake the flu shot" or "Have you thought about getting Jake the flu shot" but WHEN!!! They just assume that you are going to do it, and I for one unless Jake is getting the flu every other week am going to choose to just keep my child out of the cold, limit his exposure to germs, and hope that he survives the Fall and the upcoming Winter!

Hand in Hand!

We went to a wedding this weekend, and I just loved this picture that was taken of Jacob and his Daddy!

Assuming can be hazardous to your health!

Assuming can be hazardous to your health!

(9/28/08 - 10/4/08)

First let me say that yesterday was Daddy's birthday!!! Happy Birthday Daddy!

Growing up I was always told that you should never assume……you know what they say about assuming…..don’t you??? But as a parent isn’t it our job to assume? I mean hey, these little bundles of joy don’t come with instruction manuals, and they sure as heck don’t get born talking to tell us what’s wrong. We assume they are hungry, tired, or bored, we assume that each cry means something different and we try to help them accordingly. My life for the past 13 ½ months has been about nothing but assuming! And for the most part I think I have done a darn good job of assuming correctly.

For instance Jake inherited something from his father that is definitely a family trait. He has gotten A LOT of teeth in a very very short amount of time. He was our toothless wonder until he was 8 months old. Then between 8 and 10 months (8 weeks of teething) he got eight teeth! Trust me when I tell you that it was absolutely horrible and our once sleeping through the night munchkin started NOT sleeping through the night. But who can blame him, I mean I don’t have personal memories of teething but it can’t feel good and I am sure it hurts a good bit!

We got through that torture and were able to get some good nights sleep for about a month or so before teething hell part two started. To cut the story short Jake is now working on his 15^th tooth!!! Yep that’s right…..13 ½ months old and has 15 teeth!!! But the worst part is that he just started getting this second round about 5-6 weeks ago….so if you do the math…..OUCH!!! Especially since it has been all molars and eye teeth, supposedly the worst ones!! But my motherly assuming kicked in and the homeopathic teething tablets, Motrin, teething gel, and Tylenol were always at arms length and seemed to be doing the trick……SO I ASSUMED!!!!

Well I am about to tell you how the age old adage of “You should never assume, because it makes a *you know what* out of U and ME” is absolutely true….at least in my case!

**SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING**

In addition to teething I am trying to wean Jake so when he turned a year old I started mixing a little bit of whole milk into his formula bottle and hoping that he would at least cut out one feeding a day. He seemed to take to milk very well and even seemed to enjoy it and would on occasion drink upwards of 6+ ounces a day (trust me that is good for him). But for the past few weeks his night wakings have been coming more frequently and it had really started to take its toll on me. But ASSUMING that he was getting 6+ teeth and that they must really hurt, I just ASSUMED that it was wakings due to pain. However one night last week I was just baffled…..he was waking up every hour to two hours and was screaming (colic like screams). I had just given him a dose of Motrin about 2 hours before so it shouldn’t be teething pain….right???

Then it all hit me like a tons of bricks…….his bad night wakings, his poo diapers (sorry to get graphic), his eating habits……they all started changing since he has been a year old, and that is when I started to introduce milk!!! That day I rushed out and got some rice milk to just do a day or two test and VOILA!!!!! He slept 10 ½ hours the FIRST NIGHT!!! And since has only been getting up once a night for the past week. We are working on getting it down to no times a night, but hey when you go from 4-5 times and get it down to once you thank the Lord and don’t get picky!!

So the whole time I ASSUMED it was pain from teeth, which to my defense it could have been some of it, but it was also that the poor guy was having tummy pains too!!!!

I have added a new video to the top right!!!

If the shoe fits!

If the Shoe fits!

(9/21/08 - 9/27/08)


This week Jake got his first two pairs of shoes....now many of you might be wondering why a 13 month old would just now be getting his first pair of shoes? The answer to that is that although I have no problem spending money on toys, clothes, etc..... I just never got into putting shoes on my little one. He has grown sooooo much since he was born that even a cheap pair of shoes ($10) would have only lasted him for maybe a month. He is only 13 months and is already in a size 5 1/2 childrens shoe!! So we lived with socks only last fall and winter, and of course all spring and summer we have gone barefoot.

My sister got him three pair of shoes for his birthday but he wanted NOTHING to do with them. They were hard soled "real shoes" because lets face it most children by the time they are wearing a 5 1/2 are already walking and need the extra protection while walking outside. But Jake wouldn't even put his feet down on the ground while in these shoes. So I took them back and exchanged them for a size or two larger (cause dang it they were adorable and I want Jake to wear them eventually). Then I went on a mission to find Jake shoes that would protect his feet but also not feel like shoes.

There are these things called Robeez, but honestly I just don't like the look of them and they don't stay on his feet well.....for those of you who don't know what they are they are basically leather socks for a lack of a better description. So while at Nordstrom one day I found these shoes called Pedipeds. They are super flexible, have a padded leather sole, and a normal leather "shoe part". I went home and ordered him two pair online, one "sneaker" shoe and one "church/dressy" shoe. Jake LOVES them! He knows these are his shoes and when you tell him that it is time to go bye-bye and that we need to get this shoes on he will sit down next to you and stick one foot up in the air to give you access to his foot!

Even though Jake isn't walking yet, he is on his way to having shoes to help protect those little piggies of his. He is pretty darn close to walking and has forgotten he is standing up a few times and will play with something with both hands and actually balance for a few seconds before either falling or catching himself against whatever he is standing at. I walked at 14 months and I honestly think he is on his way to following in his mothers footsteps (pun totally intended)!!

Me and my imagination!

Me and my imagination!

(9/14/08 - 9/20/08)


First let me say that I am the proud mommy of a 13 month old!!! So much has changed since our little one turned a year old. It is almost like a switch was flipped and all of a sudden all of the things that we had been trying to teach him and all of the times when you thought that he just wasn't listening have all decided to show themselves!

Our little guy has quite the imagination, I didn't really think that a one year old would be able to start "imaginative playing" most of the books I have read said that imaginative play doesn't start until around 16 months, but trust me.....JAKE DOES IT NOW!

It is actually pretty darn cute! He does a few things, while in the tub he takes these two fish we have and bounces them (as if they are walking) and pretends like they are making noise/talking to each other. He'll move one and go "da da da da" and then move the other as if in response and go "da da da da"....

We also bought him a tent......yes that's right....a tent! And of course it is right smack dab in my living room, you know the living room that used to be so perfectly awesomely decorated. The one that I used to pride myself on for being so perfectly color coordinated.....



SIGH....oh well.....once you get one peek of him inside the tent hugging all of his stuffed animals and "camping" out with them it makes the new "kid chic" decorating style that I have adopted all worth it! There is also a tunnel that goes with the tent and Jake likes to pull it over top of himself and hang out in there.....he will start talking to himself and occasionaly pop his head out and say "ba" (for boo).

I just love this new stage, it is soooo awesome to see him starting to play with toys the way they are intended and to bring certain toys to me because he wants to play with them. I used to have to guess what he wanted to do and usually it would take me many different toys to finally find something that would make him happy. Now he just tells me "nah" or will bring it to me himself!

Scene Stealer!

Scene Stealer!

(9/7/08 - 9/13/08)


When you first bring a baby home from the hospital and even the first few months they are all that anyone can talk about! You walk into a room and BAM you hear "Oh look at the baby", or "He is SOOOO adorable" or even "I just want to kiss those chubby cheeks"! But what happens when the "newness" of your baby wears off? What happens if the attention the baby gets isn't as intense as it used to be??

Well if you are Jacob, you MAKE YOUR PRESENCE KNOWN IMMEDIATELY!!!! Paul and I have noticed that Jake is really becoming sooooooo independent over the past 3-4 weeks, so much so that sometimes he searches things (or people) out on his own. He especially searches out his ATTENTION!

I will give you an example. Unfortunately this week my second cousin passed away and we all had to go to a funeral with a small gathering afterwards. Of course everyone was very sad and the mood expressed that. But Jake not understanding these things decided that he needed to be the life of the party. I would say that this was all coincidence but on multiple occasions he would look at me (with almost a "hey is this OK Mom?" or "watch me!") expression on his face and he would proceed to ham it up! He pulled out all the stops! He waved at people, gave them his flirty eyes (he double blinks at people), crawled around, bee-bopped to imaginary music, and even gave kisses to his grandmother and hugs to people. Needless to say that the mood was instantly lightened and Jake got what he had been seeking! ATTENTION!

I would think that this was all a one time thing, or that it wasn't a conscience effort on his part, but a few days later we were shopping with his other grandmother and were in a childrens clothing store when he started flirting (honest to God) with another little girl in the store. After talking to the girls mother we learned that her name was Katie and she was 18 months old. Jake was in his stroller and Katie was walking around the store. Jake and her would wave to each other from across the store, she would even occasionally come over and her and Jake would do the customary "poke each other" kid stuff. Eventually they must have realized that they were each OK and started "kid speaking" he again pulled out all the stops, he went through his repertoire of noises/spit bubbles, barked like a dog, said bye-bye (di-di), and then he did something that shocked his grandmother and I. In the MOST GENTLE of moves he held his arms out, tilted his head to the side and gently brought Katie to him for a hug! There was even a pat on the back! All I can say is "MY SON IS A SCENE STEALER"!!!

Watch out girls! My son is going to be a heart breaker!!!

Vroom Vroom Cruisin' the Dunes

Vroom Vroom Cruisin' the Dunes

(8/31/08 - 9/6/08)


Have you ever listened to a song and instantly thought that the singer must know exactly what your life is like? Each and every verse and chorus matches your life so perfectly that you will end up playing it over and over and over until you have absolutely worn out its lyrics and become so sick of it that you never want to hear it again?

Well, Jake has now officially gotten his first official "that's my life" song, and Paul and I are in the stages of the playing it over and over and over and over again! The song is from the every popular (and completely awesome) Backyardigans. If you aren't familiar with this show it is on Nick Jr. and it is about 5 kids who play in their familes backyards and use their imagination to create a new adventure for themselves each week. You of course have Pablo the Penguin, Tyrone the Moose, Unique the ???? (crazy alien don't know what she is), Tasha the Hippo, and Austin the Kangaroo.

Over the past few weeks Jake has gotten very independant and has gone from not crawling, to now crawling and "Cruising" all of the furniture. He cruises so much that now that is all he does ALL DAY LONG! It is actually quite nice. I have found that I can now empty the dishwasher, vacuum, and do other chores without having to have him with me or without him being under my feet and getting into somewhere that is dangerous. Just steer him towards the couch, or coffee table and he will run laps around that thing for hours!

I have the DVR system through DirectTV and for those of you who don't have a "TIVO" type device the only thing that I have to say is....unless you want to be addicted, DON'T get one! It has allowed me to tape shows, rewind shows, and basically do anything I want with television. It is AWESOME! I wouldn't know how to go back to not having one now that we have had one for a few years now. So I have the Backyadigans series being taped. So anytime the backyardigans is on the box automatically tapes it. The reason why I tape it is that the Backyardigans is the only show that Jake watches, and we use it as part of our "wind down" routine in the evenings.

The other day an episode called "Surfs Up" came on and it has some of the best songs of any episode that I have seen to date. One of the songs is called "Cruisin' the Dunes" and it matches Jake to a "T" (except it doesn't sound right replacing Dunes with "coffee table"). Here are just a few of the lyrics:

Vroom Vroom Cruisin' the Dunes
Look once I'm hear, Look twice I'm Gone
Vroom Vroom Cruisin' the Dunes
Vroom Vroom Cruisin' the Dunes
Morning, and Evenings, and Afternoons
Vroom Vroom Cruisin' the Dunes

Here is a link to the song, but beware, listening to this song could mean that you will have it stuck in your head and be singing it for the rest of the day!!!

Maybe just this one time! Really.....Just once!

Maybe just this one time! Really.....Just once!

(8/24/08 - 8/30/08)


I have done something that I swore I would never do. The idea that I have given in on this one solid determined rule of mine tells me that I am completely and utterly at the mercy of a 26 pound little cutie pie. What did I do you ask? Well I let my son ride in one of those germ infested, dirty, one wheel wobbly childrens shopping carts. Now to my defense Paul and I went to the grand opening of the new Circuit City in our town and there had probably never been a kid in the cart in question so in turn NO GERMYS! But as with all things with Jacob, if you give an inch he will take approximately 80 miles! It is funny that when you aren't a parent you have these illusions of grandeur about how perfect of a parent you are going to be, I mean hell how hard can it really be? Right??

But then 9 months later (or years later...if it took you awhile to have a kid like Paul and I) you come face to face with this adorable little creation and when he sticks his little finger excitedly into the air and screams with delight at this red car with he HUGE "COME TO ME, PLAY WITH ME" cartoon eyes you find that you are rendered helpless in the situation. And you then realize that you have forgotten all of your "how hard can it be" rules and have but one vocabulary word left in your mind. So you look at your son and say YES! YES YOU CAN RIDE IN THAT CART, and yes I know I am starting a horrible habit that you will want to continue at the supermarket where the carts are greasy, dirty, and muck covered!

Deep Sigh! But I swear that I will not falter on my other rule that I have.....and that rule is that Jake will NEVER play at the community playground at the Mall.....nope......no siree......don't care how much he bats his eyelashes, or gives me a pouty face, or squeals in delight!! Seriously....I swear....Why do I feel that I can hear your thoughts and you are mocking me!!!

There are going to be some changes!

There are going to be some changes!

(8/17/08 - 8/23/08)

Now that Jacob is a year old there are going to be things that change around here! For starters I am no longer going to post each blog entry with a "week". Now that Jake is a year old there really isn't a point in listing his age as weeks. I will however still occasionally throw a "months" out there for anyone who loses track of how old Jake is. The next thing that changed was his car seat! HOLY COW did he L-O-V-E having his car seat switched to forward facing. It was like the world had suddenly appeared to him and it was BEAUTIFUL! The look on his face and the grin from ear to ear was so cute that Paul and I laughed about it for a couple of hours. He honestly looks like he is proud of himself or something when you put him in his car seat now!

The next thing that is going to change is his eating. I am going to reluctantly start weaning him from breastmilk. I am very very sad about that because I truly love breastfeeding and feel that it is the best thing for my son. However it has started to cause problems and Paul and I feel that it is best for me if we start to wean him. I got in 12 solid months of breastfeeding and it will probably take me another month or so to fully wean so all in all I am very proud of myself. My weight is extremely low, I feel lathargic all the time, and honestly I can't keep up with his appetite anymore. And trying to keep up has taken its toll on me, he wakes up at night because he isn't full when he goes to bed and then all of my nutrients are going to him so I look like I am beat up all the time. Since he has been a 100% breastfed baby his bottle/sippy/cup skills leave much to the imagination, hell his food choices are even worse. Basically carbs, carbs, carbs, and oh yeah, carbs! My son loves Ritz crackers, cheerios, grahmn crackers, and these Gerber Graduates thingys that I can't remember their name. He recently became obsessed with hot dogs, but those aren't nutritious AT ALL. So the goal is to start broadening his food choices while lessening his breastmilk. He did drink a couple of ounces of cows milk this week so that is promising. If anyone has ever tried to wean when the baby wasn't the one initiating please give me pointers, I have a feeling he is going to HATE IT! But Jake was given a mother that isn't going to be physically able to continue long into the second year, so hopefully we will both come out of this without too many scrapes and scratches!

Happy Birthday!

Exactly 1 year ago (at 1:35 pm) our little Tator Bug (AKA Jacob Paul Corcoran) was born! He has been a wonderful addition to our family and we have cherished every day with him so far and can't wait to see what he is going to do next!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB!

Week 52 - What is this thing you call...CAKE????

Week 52 - What is this thing you call....CAKE???

(8/10/08 - 8/16/08)

This week had Jacob's first birthday party! I have to say that it turned out really well. Almost all of the family and friends that I invited got to come, and Jacob was surrounded (literally) by all of his girl cousins who just can't quite seem to get enough of him.

I made cupcakes for the guests, and Jake had his own cake that he could tear into! Well....maybe POKE into! Paul and I were pleasantly surprised at how he handled the cake at his party. Since Jake's "people food" consists of pears, peaches, and CARBS CARBS CARBS (cheerios, goldfish, mini ritz, grahmn crackers) we didn't think he would tear into the cake at all. He just isn't a "food" baby yet. But once he got that first taste of the homemade buttercream icing, all bets were off! He still didn't tear into it and poked it to death, but ALOT of the icing and minimal cake made it into his mouth. So much so he spit up a few times later that day, which of course made me feel really bad!


Then there were the presents! OH MY! The presents!! He got A LOT of presents. Many Many Many Many presents! So much so, that I have almost his whole wardrobe for the winter months (including 3 pairs of shoes) and toys for him to play with for a long time! He got a few "ride on" things which he LOVES and got two pianos to play with. One is a xylophone type of piano and the other is a light up one. He just loves music toys!

We also got our first professional family photos last week. I have uploaded all of them to the photo album (at the top right of this blog) and they turned out GREAT!!! He didn't really smile, but he loved the red car soooo much that when we tried to take him off of it he cried!

Well I have 2 days, 15 hours, and 4 minutes until I have a one year old!!!

Week 51 - Gettin' Ready for the BIG Day!

Week 51 - Gettin' Ready for the BIG Day!

(8/3/08 - 8/9/08)

This week has been spent getting ready for the BIG 1st Birthday Party!!!! Of course I know that Jake won't remember anything other than what he can see in pictures years from now, and because I understand that I have not gone overboard for the party. I only got a few decorations: balloons, Winnie the Pooh plates and table decoration, and then a banner that says "Someone is turning one". I am making cupcakes and a few finger foods for the party and only immediate family are invited. Trust me even if that sounds like a lot to you, his 2nd birthday party will be HUGE cause I do love to throw a Parrrrrrtttaaaaaaayyyyy!!!

Paul and I are going today to get Jacob's pictures taken at an actual professional photographers. Every single picture that has been taken of my little tater-bug has been by my own hand. He is very photogenic so it has been easy (and cheap) this first year. He has started doing something when he gets his picture taken (don't ask me where he learned it from) but he will squint his eyes when he gets a picture taken. I guess he feels that he either needs to shield his eyes from the flash or he thinks that squinty eyes means he is smiling harder.....who know what goes through his head! I kinda hope he does it for the pictures today, I know that it would be nice to get one with his HUGE brown eyes, but these pics are for capturing a moment in time and right now his moment is squinting at the camera! (I will post some next week)

Jake also learned a new word this week (we are up to 8 words), he is notorious for eating anything and I mean ANYTHING that is on the floor. I am now vacuuming up to 3 times a day to make sure I get all of the minuscule fuzzies off of the carpet and hardwood floor. Usually when he does this I say UCKY! Well he started telling on himself this week, when he finds something on the floor he will now pick it up, show it to me, say Uh-Kee and then proceed to put it in his mouth........he is such a little goober!!

He also found the steps this week, he can pull himself up on the first step but hasn't figured out how to climb yet. We bought gates and will install them next week when we get this party over with!

Week 50 - There's no place like home!.

Week 50 - There's no place like home!

(7/27/08 - 8/2/08)


This week started on a very good note, but ended up a very bad note that had me constantly repeating the words "There's No Place Like Home".

Before I was Jacob's mommy I was a High School teacher at a Technical High School where I had Juniors and Seniors and taught them Computer Repair, Computer Cisco Networking, and Web Design. I absolutely loved my job and can honestly say that I enjoyed work and would have done it for free (I of course wouldn't really, but I was definitely not at my job for the money because school teachers make nothing for the skills they know/teach).

Back in January I was approached by the IT director at the local Community College about teaching a week long web design class (Hence the photoshopped image of Jake) to 8th - 10th graders. Of course at the time I thought.......hhhhhmmmmm that will be 2 weeks before Jake turns one I can't IMAGINE why I wouldn't be able to leave him for 5 hours a day to teach this class.......

HUH!!!! FAMOUS LAST WORDS!!! I started this week very excited to get back into the classroom and to also be teaching webdesign (which is my favorite thing to teach). The week was all set with my mother-in-law watching Jake Monday and Tuesday, Jake's godmother watching him Wednesday and then Paul was taking two vacation days and watching Jake on Thursday and Friday. I went off on Monday with everything setup and ready to go, feeling very good that even though Jake was still breastfed that his new found straw drinking abilities and the fact that "if he was hungry enough he would drink out of a bottle" would ward off any bad things that could possibly happen while I was away for those short 5 hours a day.

When I got home the first day, I was met by my mother-in-law and told that other than cheerious, a few pears, and 2 ounces of milk he wouldn't eat for her at all. Not a big deal I thought, I immediately went in the other room and fed him and we didn't skip a beat the rest of the day. Let's fast forward to Wednesday.....the food has now dwindled to only a few cheerios, NO pears, and two tiny sips of milk.....I am now REALLY WORRIED! I have a baby now that is barely having two pee-pee diapers a day and because I am gone for 5 hours, my milk supply is starting to dwindle....

THIS WAS A HORRIBLE IDEA!!!

Now came Friday! Again, a few cheerios, one cube of a peach, and 1 ounce of milk.....HOLY CRAP WHAT HAVE I DONE!!! Needless to say by the end of the week, I wanted to be home with my son and never leave him again until he is weaned!! Then this morning, he woke up with a 102 degree fever and was projectile vomiting....which means what little liquids I had recouped in his tiny little tummy are now all over my shirt!!!! Yep you read that right...I was in the line of fire and got puked on!!! But we have his fever under control and he hasn't puked this this morning so hopefully we can get this horrible week behind us, and I can figure out a way to get my son to drink more than 1 ounce of milk/juice/water out of something OTHER than me!!

Week 49 - Can you say NUM??

Week 49 - Can you say NUM??

(7/20/08 - 7/26/08)

Well it is official, all of the comments that people told me over the past few months while I was worried about Jake not crawling were true. He went from taking two wobbly steps a little over a week ago to down right "booking it" within 4 days (which everyone told me would happen). So he is now all over the house, trying to climb the steps and is officially frustrating because now he doesn't want to sit at home, in the stroller, or shopping cart AT ALL!!! He wants to try out his new found skills of crawling even if in the middle of the grocery store!!! As a matter of fact he crawled all of the the local Staples last night because we finally realized that his crying was more disturbing to the other customers than him crawling around the store would be. Don't worry it was an extremely clean floor!

The one cool thing he is doing right now is letting me know when he is hungry. The past few months whenever Paul or I would feed him finger foods we would say "YUM". Jake has now decided that he is going to say YUM too, although his comes out as NUMMMM! So now if he wants some cheerios he will point to the container of cheerios and say NUUUUMMMMM really really loudly! It is really cute, he even the other day said NUM while pulling on my shirt to be fed....that one I find hillarious, cause I can picture it now being in the middle of church or something and Jake pulling on my shirt wanting to breastfeed and having everyone in the church look at me while he says NUM NUM NUM NUM!! Sometimes when he is really hungry he repeats it until you feed him which could be 20+ times if you have to walk any distance to get the NUMs!

Paul took a few days off this week so we researched local attractions that we could take Jake too, we found that there is a petting zoo about 40 minutes from our house (which is alot closer than the hour and 10 minutes the D.C. National Zoo would be. We went and Jake had a great time!! He got to see sheep, deer, zebras, camels, monkeys, parrots, horses, many many many more animals. We got to feed the camels and the sheep. Jake just absolutely LOVES animals (as I am sure most children do) so it was a great family outing!!! We will definintly go back every summer while Jake is growing up!

We are thinking about getting Jake a dog for his birthday (Ok Ok Paul and I would like a dog too, and are using his birthday as an excuse) but seriously Jake LOVES dogs, and even barks when he sees a dog since he can't say doggy yet!!! I just don't know what kind to get, we want something that is small but not too small, doesn't shed, and is good around kids........any suggestions???

Week 48 - We are mobile! Slow but mobile!!!

Week 48 - We are mobile! Slow but mobile!

(7/13/08 - 7/19/08)


First let me say that Jake is 11 months old today! Yeah! According to Super Hero Birthday Boy we are 30 Days, 14 Hours, and 56 Minutes away from his First Birthday!!!

So this week came with A LOT of new things that Jake decided to do. I guess he wanted to cram as many things as he could in before he was 11 months. Obviously from the video he is crawling now. Don't get me wrong though, he isn't going to win any races, and he is still semi crawling. He will crawl about 4-5 feet then stop, then crawl another couple feet then stop. And he still occasionally straightens his legs and falls down to his belly, but he is pretty good at getting back into a crawling position now so I give it another week and he will be racing all over the house. It took him a little over a month to go from the "rocking onto his knees" phase to actually crawling, but he got there eventually just like I thought and everyone had been telling me.

The same day he started crawling we had another big surprise. Jake started getting up again in the middle of the night (only once though) which is better than I was getting, but not as good as a few all night sleepers that he had last week. This particular night in question he woke up around 11pm and when I went in to get him he was sitting straight up in bed. He hasn't been able to get himself into a sitting position from lying down before (he would get close but not quite) and he hasn't done it since, but I have a feeling our lives are about to change dramatically!

Jacob also started drinking out of a straw this week. Being a 100% breastfed baby Jake has never had to learn how to drink out of a bottle or sippy or anything else for that matter. I of course have tried to get him to drink out of all of those, but it always ended up with him chewing on the bottle/sippy or playing with them. I am teaching a class in a week and I realized that I had to have some sort of liquid nourishment for Jake while I was gone 5 hours a day for a week. So I thought I would try a straw cup from the store (kinda like a sippy but a straw instead). Well he loves it, and immediately started drinking out of it. So now I feel a little better being away......it is going to be my first time away from him for any significant amount of time so I am scared!!

Well I am off to get Jake, he is pulling on a lamp cord!! OH GREAT!!! I am totally NOT going to love the whole crawling thing!!! (hehehehehehehe)