Where's the snow?

Jacob's ready for it but it's nowhere to be found! Too bad we're not still in Chicago.

Santa baby

With Christmas only 4 1/2 weeks away (yikes!), I realized that I have been neglectful in teaching Jacob "all things Christmas". We do have one Christmas book that we read all year long because he loves it so much, so he knows who Santa is and what he looks like, but that's about the extent of it. So, as one of our first lessons yesterday, he learned what Santa says. I'm hoping to get him as familiar with the jolly man as possible this year before picture-taking time, so we can avoid the meltdown that tends to happen when he sits in Santa's lap. That SO doesn't make for good pictures.

Just a little something to tuck away for later

Jaemie and I took Jacob and Owen to the Oakland Zoo yesterday. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Even though we are officially in mid-November, the skies were sparkling blue and cloudless and it was about 75 degrees. Now I'm starting to realize why San Francisco is the most expensive place to live in the country.

Jacob and Owen were on their best behavior. In fact, I don't think there was one incidence of pushing or biting the entire day. That alone is reason to celebrate! At the beginning of the day, we asked them to hold hands and follow us and would you believe they HELD HANDS AND FOLLOWED US? It seriously had to be the cutest thing I've ever seen. Of course I had to snap 20 pictures of this event but I don't think the pictures even remotely capture how cute it was. And here's the best part...Jacob and Owen will likely be quite embarrassed by these pictures 15 years from now. I'm already stocking up on my "embarrassing Jacob photos" for future slide shows and photo albums that I will whip out whenever his girlfriends stop by. ha. I can't wait.

Once again, Jacob loved the goats. He couldn't understand why they kept running away from him. Catcher (our cat) has a similar reaction whenever Jacob comes near him. He runs for his life. Poor baby...he just wants to love on them SO much.

Jacob passed out as soon as we got in the car and Owen kept asking "Ja-bah doing?" We kept saying "Jacob's sleeping Owen. He's night night." Owen clearly didn't want Ja-bah to be night night because he kept screaming "wake up Jeff!" This will only be amusing to those of who know the Wiggles. One of their most popular songs is "Wake up Jeff" and Owen knew exactly what it meant. I'm telling you, those Wiggles really know how to get into a toddler's brain.

Let's call him Jacob Wiggle

I'm not sure if you ever tire of Jacob's "Wiggles" moves, but we sure don't in this house.

We could egg this kind of dancing on for a long while.

And Jacob always delivers.

Another thing they don't tell you about parenthood

Now that Jacob has "found his words", I find that we repeat the same conversations over and over again. This is something that I never realized about parenting a toddler. Their vocabulary is limited so, naturally, the conversation is predictable and (at times) like a dagger through the eyeball. Let me give you an example. We are in the car today and I'm driving to the store:

Jacob: "momma?"
me: "yes honey"
Jacob: "Oh-woah" (Oh-woah is his BFF Owen)
me: "we're going to see Owen later Jacob."
Jacob: "Oh-woah PUSH"
me: "no, we don't push Owen. Is pushing nice?"
Jacob: "nooOOooo" (with a slight inflection in the voice)
me: "Right. Can you show me nice?"
Jacob: "Ice" (as he strokes his face gently)

a slight pause....

Jacob: "momma?"
me: "yes baby"
Jacob: "choo choo!"
me: "Do you see a train?"
Jacob: "nooooo. CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO!"
me: "Okay, maybe we'll see a train when we get closer to the tracks"
Jacob: "ah-kay"

another slight pause:

Jacob: "momma?"
me: "yes Jacob"
Jacob: "Oh-woah"
(here we go again)
me: "Jacob, we're going to see Owen later. Right now we're going to the store"
Jacob: "Oh-woah PUSH!"
me: "no, we don't push Owen. Is pushing nice?"
Jacob: "noooOOOoooo.:
me: "right. Can you show me nice?"
Jacob: "Ice" (as he strokes his face gently. Again.)

Another pause.

Jacob: "CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO!"
(oh, for the love of Lester...)

Why is it that they don't get tired of these "conversations"? Surely he remembers that we just had it? He remembers that there are balls in the bins at Old Navy when we haven't been there in MONTHS. He remembers that the fruit snacks are hidden in the very top right cabinet of our kitchen b/c he saw me pull them out of there ONCE. I think this kid is playing a mean trick on me.

Spooktacular

Jacob got to wear his fireman Halloween costume 3 consecutive days this week thanks to the fun playgroups we attended and for the more formal festivities last night. We went down to our town center where the stores were giving out candy to trick or treaters. Jacob didn't quite know what to think. Every time someone put something in his basket, he took it out, examined it, and wanted to hold it in his hand. We practiced saying "trick or treat" a thousand times this week (Jacob's version was "teet teet teet"), but I think with all the excitement, he forgot to ever say it!

We then headed down to Jaemie and Owen's house so we could do some more trick or treating on their street (It's flat and has sidewalks... something we can't say for our neighborhood!) Jacob was doing great until he realized how truly frightening the talking pumpkins, the cackling witches and the screaming skeletons were. If the house wasn't decorated and had a light on, he was all about it. If the house had even so much as a cobweb, he was holding onto Daddy for dear life.

His 2nd Halloween was a hit, and I'm so glad we chose the fireman costume. People were stopping us at the shopping center and asking if they could take a picture of him! I really hope he doesn't grow too much in the next year b/c I'd love to see him wear it again!















Jacob's first lollipop! And man, did he love it!