Eat, Sleep, Poop

When Jake was first born, I felt like all he did was eat, sleep, and poop.  He still does all 3 a lot, but at least we get lots of play time, giggles, fun sounds he learns how to make, and lots of new tricks he is picking up on in-between these activities.

Jake is eating stage 2 and 2 1/2 foods, and he is a "Puffs" addict (they are cereal- like Cheerios- designed for babies).  His favorite foods these days are pineapple-pear and pear-raspberry combos.  I don't blame him, they're good!  He also likes apples-squash-raisins, apple-cherry, and the squash-zucchini.  He's not a big fan of bananas or peaches.  He tried juice for the first time yesterday, but wasn't actually a huge fan.  His drink of choice is water out of mine or Andrew's cups.

As previously mentioned, sleep is still a HUGE part of Jake's life.  He's a great sleeper at night, plus he takes at least 3 naps every day still, usually about 1.5 to 2 hours each.  All that nap time is related to us keeping him up late- he usually doesn't go to bed until 10, after his last feeding at 9:30pm.  This might make us awful parents, but the evening is when we can both play with him and when we can spend quality time together as a family.  And nap time is when I get my work done.

He used to be a little more picky about wanting to be in his crib for his naps, fussing and rubbing his eyes.  But the past couple of days he hasn't bothered.  He just rolls around until he finds a comfortable location and falls asleep wherever is most convenient for him.  Of course we move him to his crib, but just like his daddy, this boy can sleep anywhere.

Babys Versus Dog

Andrew and I laugh that when they are together, our dog Kyle gets more attention than baby Jake.  Like when we're going on walks, we get told we have the cutest dog (or at least we did before he got shaved a couple weeks ago).  Nobody ever mentions the baby.

Or the other day when Jake tagged along when Andrew was taking Kyle out to go to the bathroom.  A woman was out on her porch smoking and said how cute Kyle was, but that we should get him away from the 2nd hand smoke.  She never mentioned the baby potentially being harmed from her cigarette!

Seriously, Kyle is cute, but Jake is SO much cuter!  And I'm so much more worried about his heath than the dog's.  We love Kyle, but seriously...

Growing Boy

I know this blog is all about Jake, but he's pretty much our lives at this point.  Andrew and I are completely smitten by him and LOVE being Jake's parents.

This past Sunday Jake did a lot better than the previous week.  Going to church in the middle of the day really messes with his schedule, and he's a boy who likes being on a schedule.  It works perfect for us during the week and actually helps me get my work, but watch out when he's not eating and sleeping at the right times!  The previous week he was the grumpiest I have ever seen him- crying and everything.  Although Sunday's can be a little rough, I LOVE dressing him up for church :)

The day after he turned 8 months old, Jake figured out how to go from laying down to sitting on his own.  And now he does it over and over and over.  I'm not sure what he's thinking, but to me it seems like he lays down just so he can sit up again.  He's pretty proud of himself, and we're pretty proud of him too.

Here he is the first time we came into his room after his nap to find him sitting in his crib.

And now that he can sit in his crib, he's been working on climbing more.  Our furniture is all pretty big, which makes it taller than the typical couch, chair, etc.  He's not quite big enough to reach it and pull himself up on, so he's been practicing in his crib.

He also LOVES bouncing on his mattress.  He bounces up and down and looks like he's going to fly forward, but so far he's been able to keep his balance.  He can really get going, though!  He's going to love jumping on his bed when he figures it out!

Jake also loves playing with me, Andrew, and especially Kyle.  He loves when Andrew has him chase Kyle around and laughs harder than any other time when the dog coughs.

Our best estimate as to his weight is 20 lbs (we weigh ourselves and then hold Jake and weigh ourselves again), and our best guess of his height is 30 inches.  Andrew estimated that at Babies R Us when we went to get Jake a toy there based on the 12 inch tiles on the ground (no, he didn't actually lay Jake on the ground- just hovered him above).  Unfortunately he was already too tall for any of the bouncing toys that hang over door frames :(  With how he loves to jump, bounce, and kick, I'm sure he would have loved that, but apparently we waited a little too long.

This summer my mom has come and stayed with us quite a few times.  She's only a couple hours away, so she'll drive down and often stay a couple of nights, taking care of Jake for us while Andrew does his school work, goes to class, etc, and I get lots of work done.

It's been so fun to have her come and stay!  We all love it- Jake gets tons of attention, Kyle gets played with more than typical days, Andrew and I are able to get tons done, and we all eat great because she takes more time to prepare good meals than we can!

This week was the last time she'll be able to come for awhile, as she works for he school district in Wadsworth, and school is back in session tomorrow.  We're bummed out but enjoyed her summer break as much as she did!

Andrew, Jake and I also finished the first Hunger Games book this week.  We LOVED it.  Jake enjoyed being read to while rolling all around and Andrew and I really liked the story.  In fact we read super late Sunday night into Monday morning because of the Labor Day holiday.  Then we woke up and read it some more.

We went to the water park for the last time of the season (Labor Day is the last day it's open- boo) and Andrew read to us while I drove.  After we got there we stayed in the car an extra 5 minutes or so to finish the chapter.  A little ridiculous?  Probably.  But we definitely enjoyed it!

Our friends are letting us borrow the next 2 because we were WAY down the reserve list and the library and couldn't wait any longer!  Andrew's picking them up on his way home from school, and I'm certain we'll be working on Catching Fire tonight :)

Life is going well.  It's crazy and busy, but it's so fun to be a family of 3!

The Great 8

Jake is 8 months today!  I cannot believe how fast it's gone, but then in other ways I look back and can't remember what life was like without him.  What the heck did we do all day?

This past month Jake picked up on a few things.  My favorite has been smiling for the camera.  All I have to do is pull it out and hello cheesy grin and squinty eyes.  Oh what an adorable face!

Jake's 6th tooth is finishing coming through, and I think this has been the worst of them all!  My normally laid back little man has been a lot more demanding the past few days, and I know exactly why when I look at his gums stretched so thin, red, and swollen.  That darn tooth better finish coming in fast!

Jake LOVES his dog.  Loves, loves, LOVES.  Unfortunately he now enjoys kissing him, which really consists of getting as close to him as possible and opening his mouth for the dog to lick inside.  YUCK!  I never thought I'd get a picture of that awful sight, but when I was trying to get a picture of the two of them together yesterday, I did.  Definitely an accident, but fun to document I suppose.  I guess he doesn't know where that gross dog tongue has been...

Another favorite for Jake is bath time.  He now stays in until the water starts to get cool and his fingers and toes turn into raisins.  And he smiles the entire time.

Jake still isn't crawling.  We are so lucky!  Andrew and I joke that when he starts to, we'll push him over.  Of course we wouldn't, but we're enjoying the last little bit of time when he can't get too far.  He's an excellent roller, but can't make it through the doorways yet.  Life is going to get a little crazier when he's mobile.

He's now to the point where he gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but then he gets tired and lays down to rest.  Oh I love this little boy!

Last night Andrew lowered Jake's crib!  I learned I have to kiss him goodnight before putting him in his crib from now on- he's way to low for me to reach anymore.  Just tonight for the first time he got EXTREMELY close to sitting up from laying while in his crib (we were reading in his room when we first put him to bed).  I can't believe how fast he's growing and learning!

As of late Jake has been making new noises.  His favorites are kissing, clicking, and gasping for breath.  The first time he made the gasping noise I thought he must have asthma and freaked out a little.  But then he saw he got a reaction out of me and laughed.  Now he does it ALL the time.  He has also picked up on singing a little.  When we're in the car with music playing, he hums along, and it is the cutest thing.  Andrew and I always look at each other, smile, and say how lucky we are to have such a sweet little boy.

Jake also loves kicking.  And boy can he kick.  I knew before he was even born that he liked to move his legs, and he hasn't disappointed...at all.  He kicks in the tub, sitting on the floor, in his carseat, and most of all when we put him in his crib.

He's also starting to notice when we take things away from him.  He used to not care when we took something from him that he shouldn't have, but that's changed recently.  He also seems to know when we leave the room.  I wish he wouldn't have figured that out, but at least he loves us and wants us around :)  He loves leaving the apartment (and will cry if he watches Andrew or I leave without him), being outside, our porch, going in the car, grocery shopping, and going on walks in his stroller.

We love this little boy to pieces and have enjoyed the past 8 months as his parents.  I can't believe how blessed we are to have him!

BEST news ever!

Andrew passed the 2nd Qualifier Exam at OSU!

Hallelujah!

He spent the entire summer studying for and worrying about this grueling test, and he found out yesterday that he passed!  That means he can get started on his research for his dissertation and go on to get his PhD.  I'm a proud wife :)

Water park fun

Yesterday we took Jake to the water park again.  We're running out of opportunities- now that school has started it's only open on the weekends, and next Monday is already Labor Day- when it closes!

Jake had a lot of fun splashing around in the baby pool, but I think his favorite was the lazy river.  We went around and around for over an hour.  It was nice for Andrew and I to just talk, and Jake loved gnawing on his sunglasses and watching everyone around us.

My favorite was when we came to the waterfalls or other obstacles that would splash Jake in the face- Andrew is so funny holding him up in the air, one direction or the other, to keep him from getting splashed (too much).  I laugh and Jake loves it.

Andrew helped Jake ride a water slide for the first time.  I'm not sure he knew what was going on, but it didn't seem to bother him at least.

I'm sad to see our swimming for the summer come to an end, but we certainly enjoyed it!

Jake's first haircut

Last Saturday was a big day for Jake (and for me): his first haircut!  His hair was starting to get a little long and ridiculous looking over his ears and forehead, so my friend Michelle cut it for us.  Michelle's husband is also getting a PhD in stats from Ohio State, and both he and Andrew graduated from BYU, so we were instantly friends.

Here are a couple before pictures showing how badly he needed a haircut:

And here it goes!

We fed Jake some dinner to try to keep him from moving around too much.  It kind of worked...

Even though he didn't sit still for Michelle very well, he didn't seem to mind getting a trim

Our dog Kyle also got a haircut the same day.  Jake still looks like the same little boy, although a little older.  But Kyle.  He looks like a different dog!

Our boys before:

And after:

I can't believe how fast he is growing- almost 8 months, 6 teeth, and already had a haircut.  Yikes!