Kids Museums, Mustard Geysers and Haircuts Gone Bad

Jaemie and I took Owen and Jacob to the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum this morning. Jacob has been there once before but couldn't enjoy much of it due to the overwhelming crowd on the weekend. Today wasn't nearly as crowded so he could get his hands on everything. We didn't get to see much of Jaemie and Owen since the boys each had their own agenda so despite our thought that this would be a fun-filled day for everyone, we didn't even get in any mommy chat time!

Oh, but I did manage to completely cover my shirt in mustard after buying Jacob a pretzel. They had those gigantic squirt bottles on the side so I innocently pressed down on one to get Jacob a tiny glob of mustard for dipping, when the darn thing shot out at me like a crazy mustard geyser. My ever-growing belly was the perfect target and I was completely doused in yellow mustard. There should be a warning label on those things. Someone could have been hurt. Mustard in the eye, mustard in an open wound, you get the idea...

By the way, I should also mention that Jacob got a haircut on Sunday which explains the crazy sideburns he's sporting these days. I always tell the stylist to cut it short in the back and leave it longer on the top but I think this guy must have had trouble understanding english because he clearly did not listen to a word I said. Please recognize that I did NOT approve the 5-inch-too-short sideburns. I was having a panic attack the entire time he was sitting in that chair. And I thought my anxiety during my own haircuts was bad...it didn't even compare!

I did not approve of this military style haircut:



Gotta love great big bubble wands...



and balls in water...



and giant pinheads...



and tunnels...



and big foam blocks...



and adorable baby water smocks...

I can't believe it worked!

Jacob is up to his old tricks again and has been waking up at 5:20/5:30 am every morning. For those of you who know me AT ALL, you know I can't function at that hour of the morning and since Mark is gone every week, we had to do something. For Christmas, we bought Jacob the Teach me Time alarm clock from American Innovative. A long time ago, I read that this clock is helpful in not only teaching time, but helping kids stay in bed longer in the morning. The clock has a nightlight that changes colors based on the time you set. As long as your child is old enough to understand that he/she can't get out of bed until the clock turns a certain color, then it can be used to push back that wake up time.

I wasn't sure if Jacob would grasp the concept, so I showed him the clock and the different colors it can change and told him at least 100 times yesterday that green means "wake up!" so he can't cry for mommy and daddy until the light on the clock turns green. If it's yellow, it means "night night". I set the clock to turn green at 6:15 am. Again, as I was putting him to bed, I reminded him not to get up until the clock turns green.

Would you believe that kid listened to me?!

I woke up at 5:35 this morning b/c my body is programmed to check the monitor now at that time. Sure enough, he was completely awake and playing in his crib. But he was QUIET. I closed my eyes and tried to return to sleep but just kept waiting for him to cry for me instead. Sure enough, at 6:18 am, I hear "Mommy!" from downstairs. I ran downstairs because I was so excited about our progress and when I got into his room he started jumping up and down in the crib yelling "Green light mommy!! Green light! Wake up!!" I just started laughing and doing my happy dance for him. I was really shocked he remembered and more importantly, did what I asked him to do. Now, the true test will be if he continues to pay attention to the green light.

Thank you, American Innovative. Our household owes you.

There's no place like home

Well, when you've lived in 5 different apartments/condos/houses in the last 5 years (and going on your 6th), it's hard to really know where to call "home". But, for me, Texas is home and I'm excited to be going back even if it is for a short while. We are officially in contract and plan to close on June 1st.

Here's some pics of our new house! Not sure how we will furnish it yet, but I'm certain I will find a way (heh).

Easter Sunday

We had a great, relaxing Easter Sunday. Jacob was excited to open his Easter basket from the Easter Bunny and couldn't get enough of the candy-filled eggs (they are now currently hidden). Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the basket but it was a "Cars" movie-themed bucket filled with McQueen and his BFF Mater, lots of "Cars" stickers and a frisbee. The Easter Bunny also remembered that Jacob was going to be a big brother soon so he brought him the book called "Hello Baby!" Jacob really liked reading it and loved looking at the very-descript pictures (of the baby inside mommy's uterus - ha).

We went to church in the morning and Jacob actually did really well. Most of our attempts of going to church end in one of us playing with him outside for the majority of the mass because the kid cannot sit still for more than 1 minute. But, he didn't have one outburst other than when he started yelling "YEAH!" and clapping his hands wildly after the opening song. Many of our surrounding church goers got a great kick out of it.

After his nap, we decided to do an easter egg hunt in the backyard with more candy-filled eggs. Check out our videos from the hunt. He REALLY likes m&m's and jelly beans. But really, who doesn't?

Ready, Set, HUNT (2009)

It's that time of year again. San Mateo held its annual Easter Egg Hunt today and we wouldn't have missed it after all the fun we had last year. This year, Jacob understood the concept of racing out to the field as fast as possible to find eggs, but instead of picking them up and putting them in his basket, he'd run up to them all excited, and then run to the next one as fast as he could (without taking them!) We finally managed to explain to him that he had to gather the eggs and put them in his basket.

It's amazing to look at last year's blog post and see how much he's changed. He looked like such a baby back then! I really can't get over how quickly he grows. Last year he was barely saying 3 words and now he's speaking in sentences. My how time changes everything.

We hope you all have a fabulous Easter!!

BFFs

Jacob and I had the pleasure of watching Owen on Wednesday all by ourselves. I was little nervous mostly because you never know what's going to happen with the 2 of them, but Owen was an absolute angel and would you believe he didn't whine, cry or scream in the 3 hours we watched him? Now that's an impressive toddler. Jacob on the other hand was a different story, but I won't go into that (he may get mad at me 10 years from now.)

The other day, I asked Jacob who is best friend was. His response? "Elmo". Um, okay. Try again. I said "What about Owen?" to which he started screaming "Owen! Owen! OWEN! Mommy, go to Owen's house PLEASE!" They ask about each other at least 10 times a day...completely unprompted.

Which is why these videos are so darn cute. Boy, are they going to miss each other when we move. :(

Operation Potty Train

I've told this story a few times now since it happened yesterday which probably means it should be documented in the blog. As much as I hate to relive it, here goes...

Jacob and I were playing in his playroom yesterday morning after he woke up for the day. We were drawing on his easel when he asked me to draw a picture of Lightning McQueen (from the Disney movie "Cars"). So, I'm trying my best when all of a sudden, he comes up to me and says "Here Mommy" and rubs his hand on the top of my head.

I wasn't sure why he did that so I looked at his hand to see what he had rubbed off of it when he started shaking it wildly saying "Poop off mommy! Poop off please!"

And then I smelled it.

If a movie were being made of this moment, the editors would have placed it in slow motion. My face must have looked like something out of a horror film. Jacob continued to shake his hands while poop was being flung in different directions. I immediately jumped up and said "Jacob stop. STOP. STOP!!!!" I grabbed his wrists and pulled him into the bathroom where I flung him on my knee and held him over the sink and doused his hands with soap and water.

And then I saw it. The poop. In my hair. If it had been 2 weeks earlier, I definitely would have vomited right then and there. Thank goodness my morning sickness has passed. I managed to get him cleaned up without gagging something awful and then jumped in the shower as fast as I could.

I've heard of toddlers doing this before and I've always been horrified by it. I always felt fortunate that Jacob wasn't curious about digging in his diaper. I guess my time has come.

This was just another confirmation that Operation Potty Train will begin as soon as we make the final move to Dallas. I think the kid is ready. Heck, if he isn't, I AM!

Party Animal

Our youngest member of playgroup, Samantha, celebrated her 2nd birthday today at My Gym. I don't think Jacob could have HAD more fun. From the moment he woke up and we mentioned "Samantha's birthday party", he didn't stop saying "go to party" all morning (it's a good thing it was at 9:30 am!) He's really starting to get the hang of the Happy Birthday thing.

We had a great time and as the reality of our move sets in, I find myself hanging on to those precious fun moments here as if they are our last. The only thing that comforts me is knowing that we will be back in a year/year and a half's time and in the grand scheme of things, that's just a blip on the radar. Our year in Chicago now seems like an eternity ago...

Other than being displaced temporarily on the weekends for private showings and open houses (thank goodness for good friends that offer up their homes to us when Jacob needs to nap!) we are managing to get through this rough month rather smoothly. Oh wait, are we only 5 days in? Okay, so I'm optimistic. Mark is gone most of the week every week and we're just trying desperately to remind ourselves that this is a very temporary situation. In fact, we put an offer on a house in Dallas on Friday with the hopes of moving the first week of May. Please cross your fingers (and toes) that we can finally get settled very soon.

In other VERY good news, I received the results back from my NT scan on Friday and my numbers came back fantastic. The risk of the baby having a chromosomal abnormality is super low which was music to our ears. Now we can sit back and relax and hope the pregnancy progresses seamlessly. I can't believe I am 14 weeks tomorrow -- and that tomorrow marks 6 months until our due date. The time definitely passes quicker the second time around!

Here are some pics of our man at the birthday party today. Jacob just loves to party!

This smile says it all


Hanging out with Daddy


Following instructions from the teacher


Dancing with Elin (there really isn't anything more fun that THAT)


Riding the choo-choo train


Samantha, the lucky birthday girl!


Rock climbing with Daddy's help


All the instructor had to do was say "bubbles" and Jacob nearly fell over with excitement


Man, he loves himself some cupcakes


Seeing how much he can shove in his mouth at once while Mommy tries to keep him clean


Fun glasses in his goodie bag!