I'm 45 Weeks Old!

Sorry this is a little late, but Mommy has been sick with a cold and has been going to bed extra early.

Great news: the pediatric orthopedic doctor said that my foot and leg are totally normal! My foot does turn out but the doctor says it's within the range of normal, and my hip was loose. He was really impressed with my progress, as I'm only supposed to be eight months old. He thinks I'm developing beautifully and there's no reason to worry at all. He sees a lot of preemies with cerebral palsy and he could see no sign of that at all in me. Yay! Mommy was so relieved. Based on what Dr. Blair said, she thought I'd need physical therapy at least.

The bad news is that I caught a virus at daycare. Yuck! All of the babies have it. Mommy took me to the doctor on Monday because I was pulling at my ears, but my ears were clear. I felt worse instead of better as the week went on. Mommy had to leave work early on Friday because daycare asked her to pick me up. I kept throwing up when they tried to feed me.

We went to the doctor again and it turns out I have a double ear infection! Poor me. it's no fun. But I've been taking my antibiotic and I feel much better. I have my appetite back and want to play.

I got a special treat this weekend -- I spent it with Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa. It was my first overnight visit with Daddy and I had a lot of fun, even if I was sick.

Grandma sang "I love My Rooster," and Grandpa and Daddy played ball with me. It was a lot of fun being spoiled! You can see how happy I am in this picture with Grandma (Jacob062505a) because I'm showing all of my teeth. I'm happy in this picture with his Daddy, too (Jacob062605a). Don't I look cool with my baseball cap on backwards?

I had a lot of fun climbing up the step between the family room and kitchen (Jacob062505b). Calvin the cat would run away from me into the kitchen, but now I can follow him! Pretty soon I'll be fast enough to catch him when he runs away.

I didn't have too much appetite, but I did eat at Daddy's. Grandma really spoiled me by holding my food bag for me (Jacob062605b). Ha! I fooled her into thinking I couldn't do it myself. Oh, and here I am looking really cute in my high chair. (Jacob062505c)

One of my favorite things to do now is stand. I've gotten really good at pulling myself up. Mommy bought me a new toy designed so I can pull up on it. I push balls through the top and it plays music. The balls go around and around, then come out the bottom. I've only had it for a week, but already I can sit down and get the balls myself, instead of having Mommy hand them to me. It's so fun to be a big boy! (Jacob062705)

Love and standing tall kisses,

Jacob

I'm 44 Weeks Old

Another weekend over....bummer. I'm settling into my new routine, going to school every day during the week. But I love the weekends, because I get Mommy to myself all day long.

Saturdays are usually a little tough -- I still think we're going to school when we get in the car, plus we have errands to run -- but by Sunday, we're right back in our old groove. It's so nice just to play and relax and have fun.

This weekend Mommy and I went to the Madison Farmer's Market. It's one of the oldest and largest farmer's markets in the country. There were so many people there! I was really excited, watching everything and basking in the compliments. I even got a balloon, because I'm such a big boy.

Every week I learn new things. Lately, I've been grabbing at the spoon when Mommy feeds me. So Mommy bought me a bowl with a suction cup on the bottom and let me feed myself lunch today. Because she's no dummy, she fed me pear yogurt (no stains). I did pretty well, but I was more interested in banging my spoon and smearing food on my high chair tray (Jacob061905). I'll get it eventually, but right now I like having Mommy feed me. Except sweet potato puffs, I'm good at feeding myself those!

Sleep is my big issue right now. I have a hard time napping at school and the less sleep I get during the day, the more I wake up during the night (it's a weird baby thing, the books say). Plus, I'm restless when I'm teething.

Normally, I wake up, fuss for a minute or two, then go back to sleep. Sometimes Mommy has to come in and get me tucked back in or change my diaper if it's poopy. But lately I've been wanting a bottle at weird hours. Mommy thinks I'm going through a growth spurt. All I know is, I'm hungry! So I get my bottle and go right back to sleep. Mommy isn't quite so lucky...

Here are some pictures of me sleeping. I used to sleep all curled up on my tummy and hardly moved during the night. Now, I'm all over the place, and I get into the weirdest positions! Of course, it doesn't bother me but Mommy thinks it's pretty funny. (Jacob061505, Jacob061705 and Jacob061805) I usually fall asleep playing in my crib, so I just kind of flop over wherever I am, usually holding Elmo.

I'm babbling again (no, not now -- in general). My favorite time to talk to Mommy is when we're in the car. I just talk and talk to her. She's very happy about it, as she was afraid I wasn't going to make syllables again! But I was just busy learning how to crawl and pull myself up.

Mommy is doing baby signs with me. She's always done signs for "bottle," "hungry," "nap," and "food." Now she's adding more and I'm starting to pay attention. I don't do them back yet, but I stare very intently when she makes them and says words. I like the signs for "flower," "kitty" and "more" the best. I understand some words, too -- especially ones related to food!

Oops, there goes Mommy sighing that I'm getting too big and soon I won't be her baby anymore. I don't understand; she encourages me to reach new milestones and learn new things and then gets all teary-eyed when I do! It must be something mommies do.

Here's a picture of me looking all grown up (Jacob061905b). I'm doing the patented Daddy head tilt and lopsided smile pose. Ignore my bedhead -- I slept funny and my hair stuck up straight all day!

Hugs and "I Don't Like Mondays"-Boomtown-Rats Kisses,

Jacob

I'm 10 Months Old!

Or I will be on Wednesday, June 15. That's also Grandma Sharon's birthday, so happy early birthday to Grandma!

So many things have changed in just a month. I can crawl...I can pull myself to standing...I have two teeth...I now live in Madison, Wisconsin with just my Mommy...I get to see my Daddy more often...and I go to school. Whew, what a month!

Mommy and I moved over Memorial Day weekend. I flew up with MeMe. I like my new house, although Mommy says it's an apartment. I have a big room all to myself and MeMe helped Mommy decorate it.

Mommy and I live in a suburb of Madison called Middleton. Here's a picture of me in front of our apartment (Jacob061205a). Our balcony is the empty one on the upper left. It's a cute little town, about 15 minutes from Mommy's work and my school. Mommy and I go for walks around the neighborhood. I like to look at the pretty flowers (Jacob061205b).

There's a park in our neighborhood. Mommy took me there last weekend and I went on my very first swing set! I don't have a picture of it, because Mommy was holding me on her lap, but I do have a picture of me riding a special baby ride (Jacob061205e). I really like the park! There's a sandbox and everything. Mommy won't let me play in it though, as I want to eat the sand and she says it's filled with those darn germs she keeps talking about...

There's an old train station right behind our apartment. Now it's a tourist center, but the train tracks are still (rarely) active. I got to see my first train last weekend. Wow! It was so cool. Mommy thought I might be scared because of the noise, but I practically bounced out of my stroller, I was so excited. Here's a picture of my face when I first saw the train. It's out of focus, but Mommy thinks it perfectly captures how cool I thought the train was (Jacob061205c). (You can also see my two new bottom teeth!) She sees "Thomas the Tank Engine" in my future...

The only thing I don't like about my new house is that MeMe and Pappy and Grandma Grace aren't there. I miss them. MeMe talks to me on the phone and I get so excited when I hear her voice, I try to eat the phone!

I also don't like that I don't get to spend much time at home, because Mommy goes to work and I go to school. But I'm getting used to it.

I visited Mommy's new office. It's really nice and she has lots of pictures of me, so she can think about me when I'm not around. Here I am trying to figure out how to make the chair whirl around...whee! (Jacob060805a) And here I am eyeing the computer. (Jacob060805b) I really like computers, I want to play with them.

Everyone Mommy works with is really nice. They all think I am very cute and well-behaved. Although as Mommy points out, who is going to tell her that I'm ugly and annoying? She said that as a joke and one of the young art directors very earnestly assured her that if I were ugly, he'd say so. Mommy and one of the other women had to explain to him that you NEVER tell anyone their baby is ugly! Really, I'm just a baby and even I know that.

While Mommy is being a wage slave at the office, I go to school. My school is called "Here We Grow." It's brand new, so everything is really nice. Here I am playing in the stationary walker (Jacob060805d). I love my two teachers. Here I am with Miss Melissa (Jacob060805c) and Miss Kelly (Jacob060805e). I'm the oldest baby in the infant room. I like being King of the Room! I don't nap as much as the other babies and I'm much more interactive, so Miss Kelly and Miss Melissa play with me a lot. (And speaking of ugly babies, I am definitely the cutest! That's what Mommy says, anyway.)

School is only five minutes away from Mommy's work, so she usually comes over to feed me lunch or play with me. But I'm always really ready to go home when she comes to pick me up. I miss her a lot. I feel anxious when I'm away from her right now (Mommy calls it separation anxiety). I don't even like it if she goes to the bathroom without me when we're home!

I must be adjusting to the move because it hasn't slowed down my development. I can pull myself to standing now. Here's a picture of the first time I did it (Jacob061205d). I was supposed to be napping but Mommy peeked in and saw me standing up. I started to fall down when she took the picture, but you get the idea. Here's a better picture of me standing up like a big boy. (Jacob060805) Of course, it's not really the first time -- Mommy was so excited that I didn't
stand for the first time at daycare. She mentioned that to Miss Kelly and Miss Kelly said that I had done it on Friday! Poor Mommy, she was upset that she missed it. I'm under strict orders not to take my first step or say my first real word when I'm at school.

Meanwhile, I'm standing every chance I get. I like to use Mommy as my personal jungle gym. She sits on the floor and bends her legs so her knees are in the air. I grab them and pull myself up. Then I reach over and grab her neck so I can give her a big hug. I laugh like crazy, because I'm so darned proud of myself!

Mommy laughs too; in fact, I make Mommy laugh all of the time. She loves to leave the door open a crack when I go down for my nap. Most of the time I fall right to sleep, but sometimes I'll play in my crib. I sit in front of my mirror and talk to the other baby (he's such a copycat) and I sing to my stuffed Elmo. It's so adorable, Mommy's heart just melts.

I do other cute things, too. When Mommy gives me my bottle at night, I like to reach up and lay my hand on her cheek. I really like to hold her hand when I can if we're out strolling. And because I really, really love her, I will try to give her my pacifier, my most prized possession.

Of course, sometimes I do it when she's singing me my bedtime song. She thinks I'm being sweet, but really, it's just in hope that she'll take it and stop singing...she's MeMe's daughter, so she can't carry a tune in a bucket.

Let's see, what else? Oh, I'm eating all kinds of stage two foods now. I get to eat wheat again and so far, so good. Here I am devouring a Biter Biscuit. They're messy but great for gnawing! (Jacob061205f).

I think that's enough for now! This is a long update, but I'm really growing by leaps and bounds now. Next stop, cruising and walking!

Love and messy Biter Biscuit kisses,

Jacob