Jacob at 21 Months

It's been awhile since I did an update on Jacob and he has changed so much, so here goes! This blog is probably more for me because I STILL have not started his baby book, let alone Bailey's. If you ever feel like I give too much information on here, it's probably because I know that if I don't document it here, I won't remember because my memory is mush these days!

Jacob is sweet, hysterical, and exhausting all at the same time. I am constantly amazed at the new things he demonstrates each day. He is a sponge that doesn't miss a beat. I find myself looking at him in awe at how much he has grown up in the last few months and how he is no longer a baby, but this little boy. It makes me appreciate every moment with Bailey now because I know that she too will soon no longer be a baby. It honestly makes me want to cry!

Here is a long list of all-things-Jacob these days....

*He LOVES to sing. Daycare sings songs with them a lot and he has picked up so many songs from there. It's always interesting to try and figure out what song he is singing so we can sing along with him. I finally stumbled upon one of the mystery songs the other day when I was singing "Ring Around the Rosie" with him and he knew it and did all the motions. For the longest time, he has been singing the "ashes, ashes, we all fall down" verse, although I didn't pick up on what it was. His probably absolute favorite is "Wheels on the Bus". We have a CD at home that we play for him and he makes up put this song on "repeat" for him because it's all he wants to hear!

*He can be a great eater unless he is in a bad mood. We are eating more and more meals together as a family which is nice. He has been out of the high chair for a couple of months now and will sit in his booster seat unless he is in the mood to sit in our chairs. I quit fighting him on the this because it just isn't worth it. It took awhile to teach him to stay seated, but now he mostly does great. He also loves eating with utensils. He uses ours, which at first worried me with the fork, but he's done great! We also switched him to 2% milk at home (still gets whole milk at daycare) about two months ago. Pictured here is his first taste of corn on the cob!

*He is completely weaned from his pacifier!! We stopped giving it to him a few weeks ago because he had a nasty rash around his mouth that wasn't healing and getting worse. We think it was from using wipes on his face, but the pacifier wasn't helping things. He only got it at nap and bed times, but one night we didn't give it to him and he never asked for it again. If I had known it would have been that easy, I would have weaned him a long time ago!

*He talks all the time. He repeats a lot that we say and he knows the names to a lot of things and uses them correctly. He also is saying a lot of phrases now. He is also on a possession kick where everything is tied to a person and he uses all of our names in conjunction with objects. It is so neat for him to recognize something in real life outside of a book and call it by name. He loves buses and screams "bus" when he sees them on the road while we're driving. He also likes to look out the windows at home and watch the school bus go down our street in the morning. So cute!!

*In the last week or so he is starting to randomly announce when he is going "pee-pee". We bought him a potty a while back, but now he is starting to ask to sit on it. Right now, it's mainly a toy to him, but maybe he'll actually go on it sometime. I'm in no hurry to deal with potty training, but at least he is starting to show some interest.

*He is showing some compulsive behavior (gee I wonder where he gets that from!). He has special places for things and has a fit if they aren't where they are supposed to be. He also can't stand for doors to be open. If a door is even cracked open, he has a fit. It's interesting because he can be really messy, yet still have these compulsions. Another example occurred the other day. I always where flip-flop sandals in the house. Well, one day I left them at the bottom of the stairs and was walking barefoot around the kitchen. He stood at the gate to the stairs and had a temper-tantrum and said "shoes" over and over because I was supposed to have them on!

*He sleeps great. He now sleeps wonderfully in his new bed, although it is still just the mattress for now. I think soon we'll graduate him to the a regular bed set-up. He normally wakes up in the morning before we're ready for him and plays by himself in his room. This may change though because the other night he figured out how to open his door!

*The kid likes to push his boundaries. We find ourselves telling him "no" a lot. He climbs on top of everything and the other day we found him nestled in one of the shelves of his bookcase. If only we had the camera ready! We use time-out when he throws temper-tantrums and also threaten him with a time-out when we need him to stop doing something. For the most part it works. I know that he is just be a toddler, but I feel like he is a bit on the one side of the spectrum sometimes. He is just so high-energy which is part of the problem. I get so jealous of the parents of toddlers who can sit still and pay attention and not run off. It might be part parenting, but not all of it!!

*He is our little helper doing outside work. All summer he has been by our sides when watering flowers. He also likes to help us pull weeds. His role is to take the weed we hand him and put it into his bucket. He couldn't be happier to help! I mentioned to Dan that I wondered how long the free labor will last!

*If I had to name his favorite activities right now, I'd say they are singing, playing with bubbles, playing in water, looking for bugs, reading books, reorganizing his toys, drawing with chalk, stickers,, doing wooden puzzles (love Melissa and Doug!!), going for walks, and entertaining his sister.

Sorry for the book, but there just seemed so much to share!!