It's so amazing to witness Jake's development, both physical and mental. Recently he made huge strides forward linguistically, and is finally using verbs. Sometimes he even speaks in complete sentences, and it's almost as though you can have a conversation with him!
It's still difficult to understand everything he says (articulation isn't so good yet), but obvious that *he* understands *us*. It's very fun to be able to communicate more!
My parents came to visit in early June to get some quality time with their littlest grandson, and Jake took to them right away! I was worried that with all his issues of separation anxiety (or "mommy-itis") that he wouldn't warm up to them quickly. But he proved me wrong. It probably helped that they brought him a big, cool wagonful of giant lego blocks :-)
Every morning when they came downstairs, Jake would look at them like, "Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?" but then they'd make a silly face or noise at him and the ice would be broken. By the end of their visit, he was actually making bids for their attention as much as (if not more) than he did for mine & Ben's. It was cute.
So, back during the '06 holiday season, Jake had a crazy round of teething (remember that?), where he got his first 6 teeth within the span of 6 weeks. All that drooling and chewing and crankiness finally came to a head... and then (phew!) we were done. For a little while.
Teeth #7 and 8 came along, rather unceremoniously, sometime around Valentine's Day.
But now - drumroll, please! - teeth #s 9 through 12 are making as dramatic an entrance as #s 1 through 6. And they are molars, to boot!
For the past month or so, Jake has been in crazy yucky teething mode... again. He's actually been in a much better mood this time around, but I can't believe how quickly they just keep coming! Funny, isn't it, that this is the way in which Jake's development is most "advanced"...?
Ben thinks that if Jake is the first kid to have all his teeth but the last kid to walk, then life isn't so bad. And I suppose he's right.
But the inconsistent nights of sleep are killing me!
Napping, that is. Jake hates to succumb. He needs it, but he hates it.
Actually, that's not entirely true. I do think he likes sleeping. He certainly enjoys life a lot more (as do the rest of us) when he gets his fair share of sleep. Especially at night...
But he just doesn't like to do it in the middle of the day.
More often than not, the info sheet for the day from First Years will say that he didn't take a morning nap. Alas!
And when I have him at home, it is an uphill battle a-l-l t-h-e w-a-y. Eventually I just have to leave him in his crib, crying, and walk out the door. Usually he'll cry for a good 10 minutes or so (sometimes more!) before he realizes that he's not getting out of it.
Then - magically! - he is in a MUCH better mood when he wakes up and has already forgotten all about the struggles that we had about napping in the first place.
Ah, ignorance (a.k.a. lack of short-term memory) is bliss! :-)
So one big milestone for Jake at his 1st birthday is that we were able to turn his carseat around so that he is now forward-facing! (Babies have to reach both 20lbs and 1 year of age before you can do this, so small babies have to wait a little longer... but we didn't have that issue!)
It is so funny to be able to watch him now when we drive. He just loves to look out over the dashboard (his carseat is in the middle of the back seat, so he can see out between the two front seats) and check out everything that's ahead of us. From his perspective, I'm sure it's a huge improvement from facing backwards, where all he could really look at were his own feet and the back seat!
I must admit, too, that I love peeking at him in the rear-view mirror, especially b/c he doesn't know I'm watching him. He still makes lots of funny faces and is very expressive, so I guess that must just be his personality!
happy 1st birthday, jake!
you've come a long way, baby... and so have we. this time last year i knew absolutely nothing about parenting. and nursing was such a difficult and painful experience. and baby jake really was just a (small) sack of potatoes, with eyes that were barely open.
we started our day today by marching into jake's room together to sing him "happy birthday." as is usual in the morning, he was all smiles and coos. ben changed his diaper and then i brought him back into bed with me for the morning feed (also as per usual). it's actually a really nice way to start the day. (assuming, that is, that we've had a decent night's sleep. sometimes being forced to get up at 7:00am isn't the greatest thing...)
all day i was looking for ways to make things special. (and i was acutely aware of exactly where i'd been at this time last year.) jake certainly wasn't aware of the fact that it was his birthday, but i didn't want it to seem like just any other day. breakfast was pretty normal (some of my crumpets and oatmeal), but even if jake didn't have it, *i* had the feeling that it was a special day. you know, like when it's your birthday and even though you're not doing anything special, things feel special anyway just b/c it's your birthday. yeah, like that.
then he actually took a monster nap. (and by that i mean a BIG nap, not a SCARY or otherwise bad nap.) from like 8:45 to 11:00. and i napped, too, just 'cause i felt like i needed it. (actually, at one point i looked at the clock and it was exactly 11:01 and i had a very intense flashback to a year ago. i expected him to wake up right then, and right on cue he peeped.) when he woke up (poo, glorious poo!) i put on his special "i love mommy, i love daddy" outfit, and although he was in a good mood (i.e. NOT a wrestling match), he proceeded to pester me (VERY clingy) until crissey showed up at 11:30. after that it was even worse.
now, separation anxiety is so strong these days that he starts crying as soon as she walks in the door, so it was really tough for me to just walk out and go run his birthday errands. after hanging out for some time together, nursing him (not even noon yet, and already the 3rd nursing session!), and not succeeding in being able to get away, i gave up.
in the end, crissey, jake, and i went out for lunch together, which was a first. it was nice, and i think it was a good plan given the situation. we were going to go to the burrito place (i did have to get up to west sound academy by 2:00, so it needed to be relatively quick), but with it only being a half-day for the bainbridge schools, the burrito place was packed. so we settled for crepes instead. and that was great!
after lunch we went over to the hallmark store and got jake a birthday balloon, a silly birthday hat, some birthday napkins, and (of course) a special birthday candle. then i ran out of time and had to shuttle crissey & jake home before heading up to poulsbo. (incidentally, dropping them off in the driveway didn't bring up any tears or wailing on jake's part. interesting.)
pe at west sound was fun, only the middle schoolers were there and so we played one giant game (boys vs girls) of capture the flag. (even though the girls outnumbered the boys 2 to 1, the boys still came out victorious.) the whole time i was there, though, i was thinking about jake and feeling bad that i wasn't with him on his birthday. at the end of pe when i couldn't find my car keys, i nearly had a major panic attack. but a quick scan of the field turned them up, and i was only delayed by 10 minutes or so. phew, crisis averted!
jake was asleep (as expected) when i got home, so i had a little breathing room but that quickly got eaten up with checking e-mail and a phone call from my sister. i never did get around to baking him the special "cheerio applesauce cake" that i made for the peps babies last week. hmmm...
after his nap we had some quality one on one time. the clouds had finally burned off, the temperature had risen a bit (not like yesterday's 80 degrees, but a respectable 65 or so), and so we sat outside on the neatly mowed lawn for some fresh air and vitamin d. it was one of those moments where everything was just right. and being absolutely "present", completely in the moment was all that mattered. the chirping birds, the blue sky, the slight breeze, the springtime trees, and the wonderfully pleasant air. if only every day were so glorious!
oh, and we also had some veggie booty. for jake, that was undoubtedly the best part. climbing all over mommy and eating half a bag of veggie booty; it doesn't get any better than that. i must've snapped like 100 photos during that time, i was feeling so sentimental. and the lighting just seemed perfect.
in any case, it was a very special hour (to me, at least), and he was so sweet. every time i made a funny face or sound, he would giggle his good old belly laugh and that always just lights up my day :-)
eventually we came back inside and then ben came home for dinner. broccoli, black bean quesadillas (of which jake had plenty), and then to top it all off, we lit his baby einstein candle and fed him some cottage cheese (arguably still his favorite food). all the while he was wearing his baby einstein birthday hat (which says, "it's my 1st birthday!"), playing with his balloon, and just generally being really cute. after dinner we opened his presents from gramma leelee & papa shel and uncle mark, aunt virginia, & cousin joshua. cool wrapping paper!
post-dinner entertainment consisted of trying to capture some video footage of the knock-the-blocks-over phenomenon, as well as the newly (just yesterday!) acquired skill of climbing up the stairs (!!). then the usual bath, getting dressed for bed (still quite the wrestling match), and obligatory joint singing of "snuggle puppy" (no books tonight; he was too tired!). then what better way to end the day than a good, long dream feed... (followed by the ceremonial bottle of stoney's tangawizi -- our treat for having "survived" the first year -- and unfortunately, a half hour of crying by jake. alas. finally ben went and snuggled for a bit until he was calm enough to go down for good.)
my goodness, as if i wasn't having a tough enough time with all of this separation anxiety, thoughts of weaning, and starting him at daycare. a strong rush of emotion makes me cry and i can't fully explain it. am i sad (sentimental?) that a whole year has passed? am i feeling guilty (selfish?) about putting him in day care? do i somehow feel that if i were a better mom (or had fewer other things to accomplish), i would be able to do it (motherhood) full-time w/o going bonkers? it's all of those "mommy war" issues all over again...
now it's approaching 10:00pm and although we still have 2 hours left of this special day of may 16th, i am feeling pretty exhausted. both emotionally and physically. not unlike a year ago! so i am off to bed, and will hopefully feel better in the morning...
but sweet dreams, my little froggy, and sleep well knowing that mommy and daddy love you very, very much.
We started the day by marching into Jake's room to sing "Happy Birthday!" Of course he had no clue that May 16th was such a significant day, but as is usual in the morning, he was all smiles and coos.
Unfortunately I had to work for a couple of hours, but Crissey, Jake, and I went out for lunch together before I had to rush off. It was actually a good way to do something a little different for his birthday (and seemed to help minimize the separation anxiety).
Then when I got back home, he & I had some quality one on one time, outside in the fresh air and sunshine. Oh, and we had some veggie booty. For Jake, that was undoubtedly the best part. Climbing all over mommy and eating half a bag of veggie booty; it doesn't get any better than that!
And then once Ben got home, Jake donned his special birthday hat, we opened his presents, and lit a ceremonial Baby Einstein #1 candle (in his cottage cheese!)
We'll celebrate more "officially" once all the grandparents are here together (next month), but for today, it was perfect. And Ben & I are feeling pretty good about having survived the first year :-)
We're a week early, but had hoped to get this check-up out of the way before starting Jake at daycare when he's 1. As it turns out, the doctor couldn't give him his shots (they showed up as "not yet due"), so we'll have to go back again.
But we did get all the measurements!
Height = 29 3/4"
Weight = 23 lbs, 3 oz
Yes, definitely slowing down in both departments (or leveling off, I guess). Still right on target in terms of growth curve, and squarely in the 55th-65th percentile.
What the numbers also reflect is that Jacob has almost perfectly tripled his weight since birth, and has grown over 10 inches in length!
So it seems like there's always something going on to disrupt the sleep pattern. (That is, if you think that being on the same schedule for 2 days in a row constitutes a pattern.) Maybe teething. Maybe hunger. Maybe a tummy ache. Or possibly a loud rainstorm. Perhaps a cold spell. Sometimes even an unexpectedly sunny morning.
And then there's the disruptive sleep due to overloaded neural development that comes with experiencing so many new things every single day. If you think it's hard to unwind, to debrief after a superbly stimulating day, just multiply that by 100 and you've got Jake's world. (It's also pretty apparent that his brain doesn't "turn off" when he sleeps -- too many newly developed neuromuscular pathways to cement, representing new movement patterns to be rehearsed!)
In terms of new movement patterns to practice while sleeping (or NOT sleeping, as the case may be...): first there was rolling over, then sitting up, then rocking on all fours (sometimes in conjunction with a little head-banging... oh, joy!). Now it's all about pulling himself up in his crib.
Pretty neat, huh? And yet I hesitate to label this one a "trick" b/c it tends to cause more angst than anything, since he hasn't totally figured out how to let himself down from that standing position. (Yes, this means that Ben or I has to go in there to assist. Many times throughout the night.)
It all started with some whimpering in the middle of the night. Nothing major, not the "I'm so hungry, please come feed me!" cry, or even the "My tummy hurts!", "My diaper is dirty!", or "I want to play!" cry. Just a bitty whimpering like he was half-asleep still. (And of course, *we* actually were.) Then it gradually built up in intensity. Finally Ben decided it was worth checking in on him rather than letting him figure out how to soothe himself back to sleep. Well... lo and behold, he was standing upright, holding onto the edge of the crib, and pretty much scared senseless about what to do next. It was so precious... (Then after a few more times, not so precious; just somewhat annoying. But still a little bit cute...)
Of course, this could be a headline every week -- because it seems like every week (or sometimes even every *day*!) that Jake is showing off a newly acquired skill.
Well, the latest and greatest trick is crawling. Forward, that is. We had a few weeks with the backwards crawl, i.e. pushing himself back on all fours -- just disappearing into remote corners -- rather than pulling himself forward.
Needless to say, this is a very exciting thing for Jake, since it enables him to scoot anywhere and everywhere. See that toy over there? Go get it yourself! Tired of hanging out with Mommy? Crawl on over to Daddy and climb all over him instead! That cool plant in the corner? Go explore it! (Oh, wait... maybe not...)
