In the interest of keeping this post somewhat organized, I am going to break it up into catergories: Likes, Dislikes, Eating, Sleeping, and Communication. I am so behind (as always) with documenting what's going on with Jake, but I want to get this all down for future reference. Forgive me if this post seems long and wordy. Here goes...Update: Jacob had his18 month checkup on Jan 19th (he was actually 19 1/2 months old). His stats were: Weight: 28.44 lbs (77th percentile), Height: 35 inches (97th percentile), Head: 19.37 inches (82nd percentile).
LIKES
Jacob has MANY likes these days. The biggest one would have to be his matchbox cars! Most of these cars were actually Keith's when he was small (except for the few that Jacob has gotten recently) and it has been really fun watching Jacob interacting with them. One of the first things he says when he wakes up (in the morning and from his nap) is cars. He runs to the living room to play with them and he will sometimes play independently with them for a good 30-45 minutes. He can even name a few of them: Tank (which he calls "Kate”), Jeep, Volvo (“Bolbo”), Train, Car, Dump Truck, Van (“Ban”), and Tractor.
He also pretty much likes anything that has wheels - Bulldozers, Tractors, Fire Trucks, Dump Trucks, Buses, etc. He has many of these items and he is most often playing with them when he is not playing with the cars.
One of the newer toys that he has acquired that he really loves is the Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set and Inn at Bethlehem. Mimi (my mom) gave him these and he loves them! He can even name most of the people and will bring them to you if you ask him to. He knows: Baby Jesus (sounds like "Gezee"), Shepard, Joseph, Mary, Angel, King, Donkey, Sheep, Cow, Stable and Inn. A really cool thing that happened the other night was that he started saying Bible and wanted Keith to read him stories from his children's bible! I think having the Nativity Set and the Inn have really gotten him interested in the people and stories of the bible. Thanks Mimi!
Other things on his list of favorite things....
Books!! He is still a HUGE fan of books and enjoys reading them throughout the day. He doesn't really have any real favorites these days - he likes whatever one he can flip through or we'll read to him!
Elmo!! Yes, that cute furry little red thing has made his presence known in the Weimer household. Jake LOVES Elmo! He has a few Elmo DVDs that we borrowed from Katie and a few that he got recently from his Grandma (he pretty much only likes watching two of them, but I am trying to widen his array of options!). He would watch those things over and over and over again! And, although I definitely don't want to be a parent who uses the tv as a babysitter, it's nice that he will sit and be quiet for 30-45 mins while I need to get something done, like make dinner!
Shoes!! He loves to wear our shoes around the house - often on the wrong feet! He's really good at getting them on himself and it's too funny to see him come walking along with our shoes on!
Being outside! This kid LOVES to be outside, even when it's cold out. Mommy would prefer to stay inside where it is nice and warm, but not Jake! Here he is helping Daddy rake some leaves:
and pulling the wagon in the driveway:
He also really likes this tricycle that I got used from someone in my neighborhood. He does well with putting his feet on the pedals, but has a hard time staying on the seat. Sometimes he slides right off! Here he is with Daddy helping him:
Last, but not least, Jake LOVES his Daddy! The first word out of his mouth most mornings is Daddy. He asks about him a lot during the day and always thinks it is him when the phone rings. It is so awesome to see the two of them interact. These days they tend to do a lot of "rough & tumble" stuff and Jacob loves it. He says, "Again, Again!" Here is a cute video of them from this past weekend. I just crack up everytime I hear Jacob laughing!DISLIKES
There aren't too many things that Jacob doesn't like, but one that comes to mind easily is the vacuum cleaner! He is deathly afraid of that thing, although he will sometimes go near it when it is not on. If I even move it or turn it on, he freaks out! I am not sure if it is the noise that it makes or what, but needless to say, I cannot do any vacuuming when he is awake!
He is also somewhat afraid of the dust buster too, although much less so than the vacuum. He calls it the "Duster" and anytime I turn it on, even for just a few seconds, he comes running. He doesn't cry when I have it on, but he will watch me carefully and then say "Duster, Duster" over and over again until I put it away.
Jake is also having some separation anxiety issues. Unfortunately, my parents can attest to this from a few weekends ago when they watched him for us. Apparently saying goodbye to him and walking out the door (versus "sneaking" out) sent him into a complete meltdown and he cried for almost 45 minutes! We've also had this happen when we tried to leave him in the nursery at a church we were visiting. I know that we need to help him get past this by leaving him more, but it just seems so cruel! So, for now, we're sticking close by and hoping that he gets over all of this soon!!
EATING
Jake continues to be a really good eater for the most part. There are some days when he won't eat as much and then other days when I think he won't ever stop eating!! Some of his favorite foods right now are yogurt, cheese, fruit (any kind), pretzels, crackers (almost any kind, but especially the cheese peanut butter sandwich ones), raisins/craisins, and any kind of bread. He also started eating cereal with milk out of a bowl about a month ago. He does really well with it and asks for it most mornings. Here he is using a "big" spoon (which he sometimes likes to use if he sees me using one):
SLEEPINGJake continues to be an awesome sleeper!! He is still taking one nap in the afternoon (around 1pm) and will sleep anywhere from 2-3 hours. Lately when I say that it's time to go "night-night" after lunch, he goes right to his room. If we are in his room reading books and he is ready to go to bed, he will put his fingers in his mouth (clear sign of tiredness!) and go to the side of his crib like this:
Here he is getting ready to take a nap. He has a funny habit these days of pulling at the crib sheet and bunching it up in his hand or pulling on it with his fingers while he is falling asleep. I just think he is too cute!
His night-time sleep continues to go well too, except for the few times recently when he has woken up crying in the middle of the night and been inconsolable. I am not sure why that happened, although I usually blame it on teething (he currently has 12 teeth and 2 more are poking through on the right side). His usual bedtime is between 7:30 & 8pm and he usually wakes up around 8am.COMMUNICATION
Jacob's communication skills blow me away almost every day. It seems like he is picking up new words and phrases daily and the things that he understands amaze me! I tried to put a list together of all of the words that he is saying right now and I am currently up to over 100 words! He can point out numerous things in books (especially animals and vehicles). He knows most body parts and can point to them if you ask him (on himself and other people). He can say (and ask for) lots of different foods - I have even started giving him a choice of what he wants to eat for breakfast (his answer is usually toast or cereal).
He has also started saying some phrases like “I get it” (when he wants to be able to get something himself), “I see you”, “Kiss it” (when he has a boo-boo), “Get ‘em” (when he and Daddy are playing chase in the house). He also says "Um", "OK" and "Alright" (in the correct context!), which just cracks me up!
He also knows people's names and can point them out in pictures. He knows Mimi & Papa (my parents), all of my siblings and their spouses and all of his cousins (Pierce is his favorite, probably becasue we see him the most). He knows "Ga'mas" (what he calls Keith's mom) and Keith's aunt Kay & uncle Barry. He even started saying his own name and being able to identify himself in a picture:
The other great thing that Jake started doing is being able to understand and say possessive nouns. He'll say "Daddy's coat" or "Mommy's shoe" and sometimes he'll just point at something and say "Mommy's" (like my cell phone or my computer or a cup that I am using). It is so awesome to see his little mind working and she how he comes up with all of these things!
95% of the time, Jacob is a joy to be around. I look forward to spending every day with him and seeing what fun and exciting things he is going to say or do! Like all children though, he does have some issues that require discipline and right now we are mostly using Time-out. It works 99% of the time and when it doesn't, we (mostly I) have to revert to spanking. Both get his attention enough that he usually doesn't (soon) repeat what he had done. He is definitely getting better at listening and often does what I ask him to do without a huge struggle.
Like I said, everyday is fun and exciting and I can't wait to see what happens next!!
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