14 Months

Jake turned 14 months old today. Wow, where does it go? I never want to look back & say I wish I spent more time with Jake. I always feel like everything is so crazy busy, so yesterday, I took a personal day, to just hang out with Jake. We had such a wonderful time! We read lots of books and played with toys. We also went to the aquarium with Connor & Addie. What a fun day! I feel like he changes more & more each day and is constantly discovering something new. Each day he seems more like a little boy & less like a baby. These moments are flying by!

Jake & Connor watching the fish

Playing in the water at the petting exhibit. Needless to say, the animals made sure to stay far away.

More water to play in & more animals to scare
He threw a small screaming fit when I finally made him leave. I knew it was time to leave though because he kept sticking his hand in the water & then licking the water off his hand. Gross!

Connor being brave around the snake

Addie said "no way"!

Amazed by the big shark*

*(Okay... not really amazed. He was actually licking the glass [I know, gross again!!] & a shark just happened to swim by as I took the picture.)

Last weekend was our first weekend in quite a while with no snow or flurries! So we used it to spend some time in the backyard training for the Olympics.

Opening ceremony

He is competing for team Auburn

Training for the bobsled. Look at that hair blowing in the wind!

Helping mommy push the bobsled back to the starting line

Sweet blue eyes trying to impress the judges

He also competes for team Alabama! (Yes, I stopped the events halfway through, so he could change shirts. Robbie just rolled his eyes!!)

Nervous, waiting for the judge's score

Yea! Celebrating the win!!

Hugs for mommy & her wind-blown hair

Olympians need their rest too

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. We had fun just hanging out. It is our 3rd weekend in a row here in Chattanooga. I think that Jake is getting tired of us. He was going through a phase where he would scream when I would drop him off for daycare. This morning, he hopped out of my arms. When I went to kiss him good-bye, he pushed me away. The little booger! He is very hot or cold. One second he is clingy, and the next he is too cool. Kids!

On Friday, his school had their class party.

Ready to eat some yummy snacks (excuse the goofy tiny bibs, they are provided by the daycare)

It took him a while, but Jake found the cupcake
Yummy

One of his new favorite things to do... pretend write with a pen. Thankfully he hasn't yet figured out that you can make a bigger mess when you actually take the top off the pen. Hopefully this way will entertain him for as long as possible!

On Valentine's Day, before church

Okay, disclaimer on the outfit. I admit that I put the undershirt (with the big collar) on Jake right before we left for church. I knew that it wouldn't give Robbie long enough to protest for me to change it. I was feeling pretty smug with my victory, until we were out to eat for lunch afterwards. Jake was twice mistaken for a girl! Now Jake has been called a lot of things (chubby, crazy hair, cookie monster) but never mistaken for a girl. I couldn't believe it! The elderly couple, I forgave, because I figured they just didn't have their glasses on. But the young girl holding the door?!? She said what a cute little girl. I snapped at her that HE was a boy. So I guess my collared shirt gets put up. What is frustrating, is what IS a one-year-old boy supposed to wear? If I had my way, he would wear something smocked or monogrammed everyday. But 1) I can't afford it! & 2) his father would kill me. I can't help it though, I don't want him dressing like a 10-year-old boy either. I just can't bear to put my one-year-old in skulls or camo. It doesn't help that the stores have 5 girl racks for every 1 boy rack. (I don't blame them, girl's clothing is much cuter!) All well, at least we have Polo we can agree on!

Notice Jake's hair? It is FINALLY sitting down. (But only if you have just washed it. Once he takes a nap, it is back to crazy sticking up.) I guess since Kate Gosselin got a new hair do & decided to stop spiking her hair, Jake decided he would change too.

Eating a snack after school

Love those fat chubby legs! He likes to stand on his tippy toes when reaching for something.

Things Jake is obsessed with:

• Pens
• Closing doors (he has to clap afterwards every time)
• Dancing
• Playing peek-a-boo
• Mommy making his bath toys dance along the edge of the tub
• Blowing kisses & waving good-bye
• Saying da-da. 1,000 times in a row.
• Pushing the button to close the garage door. If you forget, and don't let him do it, he throws a fit
• Banging on ANYthing
• Brushing his hair. Usually it is with the handle of the brush, but he loves it. If he sees a brush, he has to grab it "brush" his hair.
  
  Paci Update: We are now 1 month paci free. It has been hard, but has gotten better each week. It just stinks because he never used to cry when being put to bed, and now he screams his head off. The last few nights have been cry free, so we are getting there.
  

Over the Weekend

Happy Superbowl weekend! Superbowl weekend will always be special to Robbie & me because that was the weekend we met. It was a random chance meeting, and it changed my life forever. 4 years later, I've moved, we're married & we have a 1 year old munchkin. Speaking of the munchkin, he's got some new mad dance skills. His favorite song to jam out to is "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".

Super Bowl 2010

What a difference a year makes! This was Super Bowl 2009.

Happy Birthday Gran (my dad)! I love you!! Love your little buddy, Jake

Gran's birthday wishes from 2009

The blue cow just got out of the bath (Thank you Aunt Lindsey for the super fun towel!)

Great job Mimi! Mimi (Robbie's mom) has taken up smocking. This is the first outfit that she made for Jake. She did such a great job!!

HELP! One of my goals for 2010 is to learn to use different birthday gifts I've received. If anyone has any tips or good tutorial suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

• Camera. For my 31st birthday, I asked for a new camera. I should have known I was in trouble when I asked for it, I didn't even know what to call it. I asked for 'a big camera that you wear around your neck'. Robbie did buy it for me, but he has ended up using it more than me! I've always loved taking pictures, but I want to truly understand & know how to use a camera. I really want to learn to use all of the features and not just keep it on auto.


• Sewing Machine. For my 29th birthday, I asked for a sewing machine. I have never taken it out of the box. In my defense, I received the sewing machine in December, but was getting married in April. I was super busy planning the wedding, so I figured that I would just learn to use it after the wedding. Well, 2 months after our wedding, I found out we were pregnant, so more & more stuff has just been piled on top of that box. But I really want to learn to use it. I just feel so overwhelmed by it. The only part of the machine that I know the name of is the needle & thread & I don't even think that those are parts of the actual machine! I have never used a sewing machine in my life. But I've been fascinated with the concept of sewing, I've just never taken the time to actually sit down & learn how to do it.

And I end this post with the blow of a kiss.