Jacob the Klepto

That's right, we have been informed by Jacob's daycare teachers that he likes to steal other kids' pacifiers out of their mouths. Yuck!! We know that he has an addiction problem with his own pacifier, but now he feels the need to take everyone else's for his own liking too! No wonder he is always getting new colds :( He has learned where we keep his pacifier when he's not using it at home and crawls over to the table, pulls himself up, and grabs it. We need to find higher ground for it.

We have been trying to only use it when we need reinforcements to help get him to calm down or sleep. I learned at the dentist's office this week that it's better not to let them have a pacifier past 12-15 months of age to sleep with because it can increase the potential for dental problems later on. He usually only sucks on it to get to sleep and then we pull it out, so maybe this is a nonissue. I know that some kids keep theirs until they are two or three, but I would love to wean him from it much sooner than that.

8 Months

Jacob turned eight months old last week, how is that possible?!?! My dad commented that he is starting to look like a boy now instead of a baby. That's not something that I wanted to hear. My friend, Kristen, had her baby a couple of weeks ago and after seeing pictures of her daughter I can see how much Jacob really has changed since the newborn stage. Here is what is new with Jacob....

*He crawls everywhere and is starting to follow us around

*He is pulling himself up into a standing position

*He can feed himself finger foods, interestingly much better with his left hand

*He sprouted his second bottom tooth

*He loves to wake up around 5:30 am which leaves mommy and daddy really tired these days

*He is learning how to play better with his toys and how to manipulate them to do what they are intended to do, although he is also perfectly happy playing with a shoe or anything else that he shouldn't be getting into


Pictures from the last couple of weeks....

Eight-month snapshot

Playing with his new musical table

Getting ready to take Rascal for a walk

Hanging with Dad

Spending time with great-grandparents

Garage Sales, Part II

I took Thursday and Friday off from work, partly so I could check out local garage sales. I got Jacob so many toys!! I found everything that I wanted plus more. I'm still amazed how how cheap people sell their toys for. Granted, some of the toys look pretty nasty when you look at them with dust, dirt, and baby goo on them, but if you can look past that most of the toys are in great condition. Once I wash and disinfect them, they look really nice! The picture below is the display of toys that I collected this time around - all for $33!!!!!

Fake Coughing

We went out to dinner Saturday night to the Olive Garden, which is by far my favorite place to eat. It's been a little while since we have gone out to dinner and this was the first time we used the restaurant-style high chair. I was pretty nervous about how Jacob would do, but he couldn't have been happier! Dan's mom introduced me to the Clean-n-Go wipes, which I now use ALL the time. I'm such a germ-phobe that I scrubbed down his chair and table multiple times. Jacob is still fairly quiet vocally, but when he gets going he's unstoppable. Of course he got really vocal as soon as we sat down at the table, but it wasn't too bad since we were surrounded by other families with small children. Maybe the restaurant does this on purpose?!! Anyways, Jacob started fake coughing really loud accompanied by lots of smiles and giggles. To our knowledge, he has never done this before, so we were completely surprised. Ironically, someone last week asked me if he had done this yet. It just amazes me that someone so young would know to do this.

Crawling!!!

Our little man started crawling last Tuesday and has since become better and better at it. He started crawling only two days after first sitting up on his own from a lying-down position. Out of curiousity, I checked my baby book and I too started crawling at this age.... and just two days after first sitting up on my own too. I first started taking steps around 10 months and was walking well by 11 months, so at least we have a couple of months before we completely lose control! Jacob is now getting into everything in sight. We are babyproofing as we go along. Things I never thought he would find interest in, he does. He is like a magnet to any type of cord, which is frightening. He is also pulling himself up onto things that he can get a good grip on.

Funny story - when Jacob goes into a sitting position from lying down, he backs into it with his rump in the air. Diaper changes are very challenging these days and at times he decides to go into a sitting position before the diaper gets put on, so all I see is his bare butt go up in the air and then stare me in the face before taking a seat. Every time this happens all I see is the scene from 'Old School' when Will Ferrell gets into the backseat of his wife's SUV after picking him up from streaking down the street!! All you fans out there know what I'm talking about :)

Here is a video of Jacob crawling. (Pardon my annoying talking while filming!!)

Fun Fourth

Jacob had a really great day for his first 4th of July. We spent the day at Dan's mom's house for a cookout and visited with his family. Jacob had a good time playing with his cousins. That night back in Bloomington, we ventured out to see the fireworks. We got to the park about an hour early and had a nice time playing on the blanket waiting for the fireworks to start. A nice family next to us gave Jacob one of those glow-in-the dark necklaces. He loved it! As soon as the fireworks started, Jacob was mesmerized by them. His eyes were locked on them for about 15 minutes before he lost interest. Although the loud noise didn't seem to bother him, we left before the finale. I think that he might have been okay, but listening to the finale on the way back to our car, I was thankful we left early because it was pretty loud. All-in-all, it was a nice day.

Jacob and his cousins

Jacob and Grandma

Playing while waiting for the fireworks to begin

Jacob's glow-in-the-dark stick

Loving the fireworks

White Sox Buddies

On Saturday we had our good friends, Jason and Allison, over for a Cubs/White Sox showdown. They are avid Cubs fans and we (actually Dan) are Sox fans. It was nice to catch up and have our kids play together. Jacob is only five days older than their youngest so it was interesting to see them play together. When they arrived, Jacob was down for a nap, but when he woke up he seemed really upset that some other children were in his play area. This really surprised me because he does so well in daycare. The only thing I can think of is that he is used to being the only one at home. He settled down quickly and then played nicely the rest of the time. Lately, Jacob is into giving "kisses" where he grabs your face and then mouths or sucks your cheek. He spontaneoulsy did this to their baby, Natalie, which didn't make her too happy! I guess that it is never too early to teach him to respect the ladies :)

Jacob and Natalie

Jacob's attempted smootch