Bailey's Dance Party

Bailey loves to dance. Any music gets her going. I grabbed the video camera to capture one of her moves last weekend and got more than I could have asked for. You'll have to view the video below, you will see what I mean!

I Wonder Where He Gets It?

Jacob has some OCD in him. It's really no surprise because I make no secrets that I have my OCD issues. Jacob loves to line things up. Lately, it's his bigger toys that are kept downstairs. He turns them into a perfectly lined train. If one gets moved, he freaks out! He also likes to line up the letter magnets from the fridge onto the dishwasher. He also lines things up in his room when he is supposed to be sleeping. He makes lines out of his lego blocks and books. He went through a phase where he would take all of his sheets off his bed and then line his books, one-by-one, in a perfect square on top of his mattress. I seriously wish I got a picture of this. His OCD goes beyond making lines of things. He has to have his food in just the right spot on his plate and if you want to cut up his food, you better ask first because if it's cut the wrong way, he won't eat it! I could go on and on!

Bailey has shown her first OCD issue. When you feed her, she likes you on her right and sitting down. This was where I would always feed her when she was eating baby food, so maybe that's it. We'll soon see if this is the extent of it for her or if she'll take after her brother (and mother).

Mommy and Jacob Day

I took a day off last week to spend the day with Jacob. I miss my little buddy sometimes! Bailey gets plenty of my attention and is sick often enough that our one-on-one time outnumbers mine with Jacob. We had a blast. We went to the Miller Park Zoo for the first time and played at its playground afterwards. I didn't know that was there or how great a playground and splash park it is! We'll definitely be back and also to take Jacob's three-year pictures there I think. Lots of opportunities for some great shots! After the zoo and park, we met Dan for lunch at Culvers. Jacob loves the fish tank and we were lucky enough to get a booth right next to it. Afterwards, we played outside for awhile before he took a good nap.

It's funny, because although I know he had a great time at the zoo, his favorite moment was going to the restaurant. He even told everyone at school the next day what he ate there! I think that the day was as much for me as it was for him. I gained more patience with him and he actually seemed to behave ALL day. I am going to plan on more days like this because before we know it, he'll be driving and not wanting anything to do with me!!


Wallabies

Watching the birds

"Reindeer"

Alpaca



Giant tortoise

The real tiger was "hiding" so Jacob posed with this one. He actually thought it was real!

Fair

We went to the McLean County Fair a couple of weeks ago. The kids loved seeing all the animals and they also liked looking at the tractors. We somehow missed the building with the baby animals and kid-friendly activities. Oh well, we'll hit it next year!

Weekend with Aunt Sharla

I took the kids up to visit Sharla for a weekend at the beginning of July while Dan made a trip to Minnesota to visit his family. It was a rather busy week. I had a conference in Minneapolis from Sunday through Wednesday, which was my first time away from the kids. Dan left the next day for Minnesota and I took the kids to Decatur for the afternoon/early evening for a visit with my family and then we (including Rascal) took off Friday afternoon for Chicago. Needless to say, when we got back home at 10:00 that Sunday night, I was EXHAUSTED and so ready for to be in one spot for awhile. Oh and top of it all, Bailey had a stomach bug from Thursday evening to Saturday evening which added some fun to all!

We did have a great time up in Chicago. Friday night was a bit rough because Jacob refused to go to sleep until midnight. He slept in the next morning and then we were good to go! We visited Shedd Aquarium, swam in Sharla's pool (this was the kids first time in a pool and they LOVED it), and hung out. It was great to get away with the kids, but I couldn't do it very often :)

Updates on the Kids

I figured that it is time that I posted updates on Jacob and Bailey.

Bailey

My little girl is growing up and I'm not sure that I like it! She is really transitioning from baby to toddler. She is such a sweetheart, yet so ornery. I feel like she is more work now than when she was when she was a little younger. She plays well, but the monkey in her climbs on everything. She is learning how to go down the stairs and it's hilarious. She literally slides down all in one shot. It's so fast it's nearly impossible to go down with her to make sure she doesn't fall. She seriously has no fear! Here are some quick updates on her:

*She's finally talking and has about 10 words she says on a regular basis (mommy, daddy, milk, doggy, hi, bye bye, baby, ball, rabbit, yeah, snack, mine, uh oh) and also likes to mimic what we're saying.

*She is getting her other top three teeth ALL at once. The poor girl has her moments but she's doing better than I would. Supposedly if adults were cutting teeth, we would need morphine!

*She has started to throwing temper tantrums, and I mean the throw yourself on the floor, kicking and screaming kind!

*She's had a couple of bouts with the stomach flu in the past six weeks.

*She likes to dance to music.

*She is learning her body parts and can point to various ones (head, mouth, ears, belly, hands, feet).

*Her hair is growing out, more in the back, but with curls.

*She still won't eat vegetables (at least at home).

*Stats at her 15-month appt: weight 20 lbs (12th percentile), 30 1/2 inches (50th percentile). She's growing!


Jacob

Wow, what to say about Jacob. It is up and down with him. The kid needs some discipline and I miss my little sweet boy! He is Mr. Independent and wants to do absolutely everything himself. We're still trying to learn that balance of allowing him to be his own person, yet exert authority over him. Time outs in his room seem to work and incentives also have an influence over his behavior. I'm amazed how smart he is and the things he says. He really understands things and how they work and likes to talk about it. We're getting the million questions right now too. Here are things about Jacob:

*His potty training has plateaued at just peeing in the potty. Pooping is a ways away I think, but I'm not stressing about it.

*He is really into watching Dora the Explorer right now. That's right. We're okay with it. It's really a great show and he LOVES it. Dora is his incentive to behave right now, so it works for us too!

*He says funny things all the time. One common thing is: Us "Jacob, do you know what we're having for dinner?" Jacob "Yeah" Us "What?" Jacob "I don't know" This happens with many types of questions.

*He loves to share stories with others about his life. For some reason he tells it backwards. For example, "soooooo I got a boo boo, brick, I fell down". I often have to translate what he is saying. It's funny because he talks fine with us, but I think he gets excited when talking to others.

*He has (is) going through a biting stage. I blame the kids in daycare that seem to have it out for him. He has bitten a couple of kids there and has also bitten Bailey a few times. You think a kid who has been bitten so much at daycare would know not to do that, but he is two.

Well that's all I have for now!!