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!!!