Birthday Boy

Jakob is turning three next weekend. I cannot believe that he is three already. We have his party planned at Build-a-Bear. It is going to be so fun. All the children will get to make an animal of their choice, bear, dog, monkey, duck, cow, frog, dinosaur, you name it – they have it. After they all get their animals made we will go down to the food court for cake and snacks. I wish that they had a room up in the store to do the cake, but they don’t, so the food court will have to do. I don’t think we will have a problem getting the space on a Sunday afternoon. I just have to figure out how we are going to set up and make in festive. It’s my challenge. Hmmmm… I’ll figure it out. I am really looking forward to making his cake. I don’t want to say what it is quite yet – don’t want to wreck the surprise. And I am going to make cookies (of course) and probably chocolates too. As my friend J blogged, these seem to be the favours of choice these days. I think it is so much nicer than a baggie of dollar store thingys. And it will give me a chance to showcase my wares. Three years old. Where has my little baby gone? He is such a big kid now. He does things that make me sad. He no longer needs help getting undressed (though he has no interest in dressing himself), he can get himself in and out of the bathtub by himself, he helps himself to snacks and drinks from the fridge and shelves, he answers the door, and he answers the phone. The best thing these days is something I didn’t think would happen… he has an imaginary friend. He is following in his Uncle’s footsteps and has created a friend named Goo Goo. Goo Goo showed up a few days ago. He is orange, has two arms and legs, eyes, ears, mouth and nose. And he likes to hang out in the kitchen. Goo Goo has played, read books, and coloured pictures. Jakob doesn’t really talk to him. He just tells me about Goo Goo and the things they have done together. It will be interesting to see if Goo Goo hangs around or if this is a short phase.

Bragging...

I like bragging about my boys. I admit it. I do. They are great boys and I of course think they are the most amazing kids ever. As you can tell from all my posts I like to brag about all the wonderful things they can do. But what parent doesn’t like to talk about how great their kids are? We all do it. I don’t think I am a competitive parent. Maybe others see me as one, but I like to think that my bragging doesn’t make me competitive. I do like to poll my friends on parenting, when did their kids do what, when are they starting their new babies on solids, what size clothes are they wearing, who knows their alphabet when, all the important stuff. Maybe I am competitive?!? I just like to talk about my boys – I am proud of them and their accomplishments. Aiden is just starting his, but starting strong. And maybe it’s not bragging, maybe it’s just lots of love.

The Gymnast

We have a gymnast on our hands. Jakob started gymnastics this week. He and his girlfriend, Natalie, started gymnastics on Monday. It was so cute to see these two toddle off into this huge gym with their classmates. They were on their own. The mommies stayed in the “observation” room while their 3 year olds jumped, balanced, and tumbled for 45 minutes. Jakob had so much fun. I had bought him an outfit for gymnastics. Some super soft basketball shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt that matched. In the morning when I was getting him dressed, he put it on for the first time, ran his hands down his chest and said “ooohhhh…soft”. It was adorable. He loved his new outfit. Back to gymnastics – Jakob was very excited to get going. He was making his way – ok, butting in front of others – to the front of the line. He wanted to do it all, and at a very fast pace. The other students at times just were moving much to slow for him. He did a great job – watching him make his way across the balance beam with such ease made my heart swell with pride. I am so glad that we found something that he enjoys and is good at. I think his favourite part was the foam block pit. As all the other kids were easing themselves into the pit, Jake jumped off the ledge with no fear. It was super, and then he didn’t want to get out. I love it. He is such a super kid.

Time flies.....

I feel bad that it has been almost a full month since I have blogged. So much has been going on and I really have had the time, just not devoted it to blogging. I think I need to be like my other blogging friends and just find a time, the same time, everyday and write. I have a friend that is blogging with pictures… and I think it is awesome. I think she will find that she will have many more pictures this way. I also need to get out the camera more. There needs to be many more pictures of all of our kids. I cannot believe that Aiden is going to be three months old tomorrow. He is such a big boy. I have said that before, but this kid amazes me. He is super strong and has such control of his head and neck. He looks around and watches everything that goes on around him. He loves his mobiles, and the lights on his swing, and his dancing cow above him on his play mat. The cow dances to “old macdonald” and his big brother Jakob sings along to it. It is quite adorable – he says he wants to teach Aiden about the animals on the farm. I love hearing that Jakob wants to teach his little brother all the things he knows. I can remember my big brother teaching me things growing up. My mother tells me that I was a little late talking because Tim was always answering for me. Jakob is often showing Aiden things that he has, toys, books, etc. I have high hopes that these two are going to be quite good friends.

Me, three!

Jakob never ceases to amaze me. The way that his little mind works is spectacular to watch grow and grow. Jason pointed it out to me about a week ago but I hadn’t witnessed it myself until today. Our conversation today while cuddling post-nap went like this: Me: Are you happy? Jakob: Yup Me: Me, too! Jakob: Me, three! Too funny. And too cute. Apparently he has done this many times with Jason and Jakob’s Nana. I think it is quite creative of him and reasonable. Reasonable to think that if Mama is happy too/two that I could be happy three. My smart little man.He has grown up so much in the past few months. He is talking like a real person! I think that his time at daycare/”school” has increased his vocabulary and made him quite chatty. There are times that I miss my quite boy, but then I wouldn’t give up conversations like the one above for the wor1d. He can chat and chat to me all the time. And I will love every minute of it.

A long update....

It has been so long since I have been able to find the time to type out my feelings and what has been going on in our crazy little life. Life has been good to us. Everyone is healthy and happy. I haven’t had too many days where Jakob has pushed every button he could find! And now that Aiden is a little older (a whole two months now!) he is falling into a little bit of a routine and that always makes life easier. Aiden had his 2 month appointment with the pediatrician today. He sure is growing quickly. He is up to a whopping 13 lbs and has grown 5 inches and is now 24 inches long! They are happy with his progress and think he is a cutie patootie. The only thing that Dr. C mentioned that we will be watching for the next couple of months are the ridges on the side of his head. They “should” have rounded out a little more by now and not be so pronounced. I hadn’t really thought about it. With Jakob we were so concerned about the roundness of his head and the flat spot that was developing. With Aiden we have been so focused on making sure that he didn’t develop a flat spot like his big brother. Aiden has a nice round head. So hopefully that wont change and there wont be a helmet in his future. Today has been a very sleepy day for Aiden. The shots have made him groggy and sleepy. He really hasn’t been awake much today. I haven’t had to give him any Tylenol yet, and would rather not unless he really needs it. Right now he is curled up squeaking in the crook of Jason’s arm with his head on Jason’s chest. Just adorable. My mother was asking me some questions the other day about my family. She asked me if I liked being the mother of two boys, and if I was still enjoying being a stay at home mother. I didn’t hesitate to say that I love being the mother to two boys. I couldn’t imagine it being any different. I know she was asking out of curiosity. And even though we talked about my missing work sometimes, I told her that I am happy that I am doing the most important job of my life. I wouldn’t give up a day for anything. As any stay at home mom will tell you there are days that you wish you could be anywhere else but at home with your kids. I do miss my job at the nursing home, I miss teaching in Korea, and I miss working in the aromatherapy store. But I know in my heart that I would miss my boys more. The longer I can spend at home raising them and being there for them is a) what we will do, and b) the best thing I can do for them. A part of me hopes that Jason may continue to stay in the Army past his retirement date so that we might be able to rely on the paycheck, the health insurance and the stability. I want us to have the time that we both need to finish our education so that we can support our family. My obsession with cupcakes is kind of out of control. I have been doing so much research and thinking about recipes and combinations and decorations, etc..etc…etc. And I recently ordered a custom made stamp with the logo that Jason drew for me. I am dreaming about the cakes that I have coming up, the cookies that I have been asked to make for my friend Janine. Doing Natalie’s and Jakob’s cakes this month are going to be SO much fun. I get to do a girlie cake for Nat. The little princess. All pink and glittery. Its going to be super fun. And I love that Janine and Steve trust me enough to make their little girl’s cake pretty and memorable. That means a lot to me. Ok – that is the catch up for now. No – wait! I am enrolling Jakob in gymnastics. But I will write about that soon. The classes don’t start til the 17th. Can’t wait. Hope all is well with everyone – take care, be healthy and show love.

What to do, what to do...

I am excited about the spring season coming soon. I know that the groundhog says that we have six more weeks of winter, but I am an optimist. I am looking forward to days out in the fresh air and watching Jakob run around outside again. He has so much energy and it isn’t fun to watch it be bottled up during the winter months. I am finding more programs that he can participate in. Actually, I am a little overwhelmed with options. Once he turns three (March 29th) he will be able to participate in all kinds of things. He can go to daycare two days a week, recreation programs at the community center, Soccer Tots, art classes, music classes. Some are cheap, some are reasonable, and some are expensive. So how do you decide what your child will benefit from the most. I will be making some decisions based on what his friends will participate in. Taking the Movement Exploration class with his “girlfriend” at the community center for example. But then what other venue do we explore. Do I help encourage his artistic side? Do I get him involved in the sports that I know he will love? Unfortunately we have to choose. The budget does not allow for us to do it all, I wish it did, but that just isn’t the case. Jakob isn’t quite at the age and understanding that if asked he would tell me what he wants to do more. I wish he was, that way he could make the decision. So maybe the answer is to rotate. Do one session of art, then soccer, then cooking, etc, etc. I also hope that there are these options available to us wherever we move in November. It would be very sad to get him involved in something that he wouldn’t be able to continue.