After Hugging Comes Tickling

Mother's Day!

My first Mother's Day as a Mom of 2! Jeffrey has been so sweet all weekend really, not letting me lift a finger. I got to sleep in this morning, and then we went to the club for a yummy brunch followed by a game of shuffleboard :). When we got home, it was time to have our first swim in the pool for the summer! Benjamin was so excited to get in, since he's been taking swim lessons for a few weeks now and has been waiting for the pool to be "not cold anymore". Well, he was the only one brave enough to get in the pool but we got the hot tub going and all 4 of us got in! It was Jacob's first time swimming, and it took him about 10 seconds to figure out how to splash and to know that he likes it!

The boys made me a beautiful picture with their handprints, and Jeff got me a beautiful bouquet of roses and lillies. There are cards and a gift I have yet to open.

It's been a wonderful day with my family. I feel very fortunate!! I love you Jeffrey - thank you for giving me the gift of motherhood. I love you Benjamin and Jacob ... You are the light of my life every day and it is a joy and an honor to be your mother. I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my babies you'll be.

Benjamin's First Real Picture!

Ben has done lots of drawing in his first 3.5 years, but this is his very first "real" picture. It's a scene from Peter Pan ... The drawing is all his, and the writing is from me as he told me what each one was. This is so interesting to me because there were no baby steps leading up to this drawing...he went from literally scribbling circles and lines to depicting several related things in detail.

He drew Neverland first and then put water in the middle and then said we need a crocodile in the water. He made sure to note the crocodile had sharp teeth. Next came pixie dust ("pisky dust"), and then Peter Pan, complete with sword according to Ben. Finally, he asked me to draw a star "right there" (pointing) ... In accordance with the known location of Neverland ... second star to the right and straight on til morning ;)

Big milestone alert: That face/body is the very first time he's ever drawn a face! This is a key developmental milestone we were anticipating sometime this year.

Teething

Jacob has had a hard 3 weeks as he recovered from 6 mo shots, got a little cold and then had to cope with his top 2 teeth coming in. After about a week of restless nights and irritable days, the left one worked its way through. Then he had another hard week or so as the right one broke through. I'll try to get a pic soon. It looks like he will have a cute gap there just like Benjamin did when they first came in.

The letter D

Benjamin was drawing a card for CiCi today, and he kept scribbling around in a circle and then drawing a straight line up. He would say Dh! Since he has never drawn anything purposefully that I am aware of, I didn't think much of it. But then I remembered he had been doing "sand paper letters" at school that day, where he traces cursive letters with his finger and says the sound. So I asked what he was drawing and he said Dh Dh Dh Deee!! With a huge smile on his face ... So proud of himself and his cursive Ds! me too ;)

Jacob Milestones (updated periodically)

First smile - 17 days
First giggle - 5 weeks
Rolling over from tummy to back - 7 weeks
Longest sleep stretch at night was about 4 hrs til 4 weeks, 5 hrs at 5 wks, 6 at 6, 7 at 7, 8 at 8-12 weeks, 9 at 13, 10 at 14, 11 at 15, and a full 12 hrs at 16 wks (4mos) old
First solids - 4.5 mo
First teeth - 4.75 mo
Rolling from back to tummy - 5.5 mo
Sitting up (tripod) - 6 mo
First wave & clapping - 6.25 mo
First word - "mama" 6.5 mo

Starting to sit up!

Sweet potato explosion aka Playdate!

Benjamin had his friends Emma, Aiden and Audrey from school over this afternoon for a play date. We had McDonald's happy meals and the kiddos played in the backyard. Favorites were the horsie swing, the sandbox, the rebounder and the tee ball stand.

While the older ones played my friend Darcie and I visited and I prepared to feed Hacob his sweet potatoes for lunch. Unfortunately, when I went to shake up his jar of food, I forgot that I had already shaken and loosened/unscrewed the top about 20 min earlier when everyone else was eating lunch. Sweet potatoes flew EVERYWHERE within about a 10 foot radius as I shook the jar and the lid flew off!!! Darcie and I laughed and laughed and I think even Jacob (who had also gotten flying food on him) was more amused than shocked as he watched us two grown ups almost pee our pants ;)

6 months!

Jacob is 6 months old today! He is an exceptionally happy baby, always ready to share a smile. He makes noises to get your attention and then smiles with his whole body because he's so excited that you looked over at him. He LOVES his food, and makes "mmmmmmm" sound with every bite. It's hilarious. He eats homemade foods and organic store bought baby foods. I have puréed for him: sweet potato, carrots, avocado, mango, banana, apple, pear, prunes. He also eats rice, oatmeal and multigrain cereals, blueberry, raspberry, squash, green beans, peas, and more.

He sleeps through the night still and nurses 4 times/day. He does a funny thing when nursing ... His free arm he swings hard back and forth, sometimes hitting me, sometimes catching his fingers in my mouth. He keeps his fingers there and seems to like hearing me say "wawawawa" :)

Ben's picture request

"Mommy can I get in the crib with Jacob? And you can take my picture with my brother."