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Stairs, older women, and days with grandparents

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
I feel like I write more about Bailey than I do Jake. Mainly because Bailey is saying so much and doing so many things, while Jake is still in the development stage and is much more laid back. So, this one is totally about my little man. While he is laid back, he is also learning to be aggressive. And he's sneakier than Bailey ever was. She would always do whatever she wanted, regardless of who was watching her. Jake, on the other hand, waits until he knows you aren't looking and then moves as quickly as possible to achieve his goal. Lately, his one and only goal seems to be going up the stairs. He'll sit, pretending to be interested in some toy, until he sees me turn my head. As soon as I do, he'll take off, crawling or walking in an almost run, as quickly as he can into the other room. As soon as he hears me coming, he begins moving faster, giggling a nervous, raspy little laugh. It's frustrating (to say the least) when I'm trying to do something, but adorable to watch him as he sincerely tries to sneak away.

He has the sweetest, sneakiest little smile of any little boy I've ever seen. Something about it reminds me of his daddy, but so much of it reminds me of Cory. For those of you who know Cory, yes, it does terrify me. :) Every time we go anywhere, Jake is working his magic with the older ladies. He knows exactly how to get their attention. He'll smile and stare at them, sometimes reaching out to them or waving his backwards little wave. Then, as soon as they notice him and start to respond, he'll turn his little head like he's shy. I have even caught him looking out the corners of his eyes and grinning, trying to pretend that he's not interested. It's quite adorable and it has all of the women going crazy over him. I can see why... that little dimple just melts my heart every time. Poor little Bailey is 100% frustrated by Jake's new attention-getting scheme. She's used to being the ham of the family, so I'm not sure how long this will last before we have a super meltdown.

Jake is growing up in so many ways, and sometimes I tend to treat him like he's a little baby still, much to his frustration. I guess it's easier for me if I feed him instead of letting him get it all over the place while he's learning to feed himself. It's just one of those things that I need to let go of, but didn't even realize that I was doing it. It was pointed out to me this past weekend. :) My parents kept Bailey and Jake for me last Friday so that I could work our Season Finale concert and a fundraising event. They had a wonderful day, playing outside at Mimi and Big Poppa's with Eian, Braden and Gage before going to a baseball game. Jake's highlight was when my parents were taking him to their home in Ashland and stopped at McDonald's. In the car, we let our kids have fries. Bailey gets apple juice in a box and is able to drink it without spilling it everywhere, so we let her have her juice in the car too. However, Jake typically and promptly pulls out the straw and turns over the box to pour the juice everywhere. So... for that reason and because of my inability to let him become a complete mess, we don't give him his juice until we get out, unless it's in a sippy cup. Mom and Dad made his day when they reached him the juice box on the way to Ashland. They said he was so proud... he just kept smiling and laughing over it. I guess the little things in life really do make it worth living. Made me feel like crap for withholding this experience from my little man... but I'm glad that he got to have it with his grandparents. How special he must have felt and how cool he must think they are. :) The Reese cups at the baseball field, along with the Ring Pop, and, although it was not reported, the gallons of pop that he probably drank when he was with them, probably helped a little too.

Sick...

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Brad recently celebrated his 27th birthday. As a result, we hauled both kids to the Outback to celebrate. We LOVE their cheese fries (calories do not matter on birthdays). The kids are huge fries fans... I think they could both live on them if we would let them. Jake sat at the head of the table in his high chair, eating fries and drinking fruit punch for most of the meal. We were having an enjoyable time, you know, a regular dinner out (a few occasional yells for more food, and a couple of spills, but typical).

Jake was getting tired and fussy, so I thought I'd take him to change his diaper and get him ready to go home while Brad and Bailey were finishing up. The bathrooms were conveniently right behind our table. As I came out of the bathroom after changing Jake, I felt his tummy rumble. All of a sudden, Jake decided to throw up everywhere. I had a white shirt on... he had drank fruit punch. It was not pretty. The poor little couple sitting across from us and the poor bus boy. :) It was 100% embarassing. lol

Has anyone noticed a trend that my kids like to throw up in public? :) These blogs are becoming more and more a medical record of my kids' decisions to get sick in public places!

Long time...

Well, it's been more than a month since I last "blogged." I guess that's a perfect indicator of how busy it has been. I could write at least 20 separate blogs to catch up... which I might try to do over the next few weeks. There are just certain things that I'll have to record, if to only help me remember them years from now.

Bailey and Jake both celebrated birthdays since my last blog. Bailey turned three on March 24 and Jake turned one on April 9. We had a pool party with a Finding Nemo theme at the Ashland YMCA to celebrate both of their birthdays together. It was a lot of fun, especially for Bailey since she enjoys swimming so much. It was bittersweet for me. I have watched Bailey grow up before my very eyes over the past year. She is honestly in the throes of becoming a big girl. I am thrilled that she doesn't wear diapers anymore and even more excited about her going to sleep without being held down. But, she also is now moving from being that sweet little baby to a little girl who will way too quickly start school and grow up. I guess it was just hard to look at her and realize that there are only two more years until she will start school and be gone. I realize that she won't be "gone," but it seems like once they hit that age, it flies by. Colt, my youngest brother, is now driving and dating, talking about college and careers. I can remember his first day of school like it was yesterday. I think that's what makes it even more difficult!

I also saw my little boy become a toddler. Jake began walking before he turned one and he has not slowed down since! Although he still wants his bottle and his mommy for most everything, he is more rowdy than ever and into everything he can find. He is still my little baby, but it blows my mind how fast the past year has gone... it seemed to go by even faster than Bailey's first year... which scares me just a little bit. :)



On each of their birthdays, Brad and I took them to Chuck E. Cheese's. They enjoyed it a lot... Bailey loves the slide (which is FREE!) and Jake loves the Bob the Builder dozer and the Teletubbies ride (thank God he doesn't want to watch Teletubbies though). Bailey was hilarious on her birthday... it evolved into a whole day of celebration. We made cupcakes and played whatever Bailey chose. She had recently gone to two birthday parties for her friends, Emma and Kaylee. Each of them had princess parties, in which Bailey and the other little girls dressed up in princess dresses. So, right as we were walking out of the door to go to Bailey's "party" at Chuck E. Cheese's, Bailey looked at me and said, "Hold on a second... I have to get something." She ran up the stairs, as quick as her little legs would take her. A few seconds later, she yells from the top of the stairs, "Where is my princess dress?!" I thought I would crack up. She completely associated her birthday with the princess dress. Thus, we arrived at Chuck E. Cheese's with our little princess.