Fun in the Backyard

Sadly, there is a very short window of time when our backyard is truly enjoyable. In the hot summer months, the bugs are too oppressive, and in the winter everything is dead, dead, dead. But in the fall and the spring, it is a true joy and haven. Below, Jacob enjoying his first day in his Osh Kosh(b'gosh) overalls:

And, a view of the terrifying beasts that one might encounter in the backyard.

The Baby in the Bathroom

Jacob is getting REALLY GOOD at high-fiving his new friend. He's also been terrorist-fist-jabbing the baby in the hallway.

Links

You'll notice that on the right hand side of the Blog, we've added in two frequently requested links. One is a direct link to all our online photo albums. Another is for Jacob's Christmas Wish List. This is not any sort of hint that we are expecting you to get our most spoiled little child anything at all, it is simply a resource for those aunties, uncles, and grandparents (you know who you are) who want to make sure that his every desire is met. Right now he's pretty indiscriminate about his desires - my shoulder or a good couch pillow work just as well as a teething toy - but I've done my best to try and guess what he might want a couple months from now.

Festive

We went to the Botanic Gardens for their costume festival today. We were joined by Adam and his lovely parents, and it was an unexpectedly beautiful and fun afternoon. The boys were ADORABLE in their costumes, and we had a great time walking around, catching up, and generally enjoying the Park-Slopiness of it all.

Jacob is the cutest little moose on the loose you could ever find. His eyes have gone back to looking a brilliant blue in the fall light we caught for these pictures. He is such an agreeable and game little guy - he absolutely loves going out for walks and even when he gets sleepy is totally happy to cuddle up in his stroller and take a snooze instead of grousing at us. How long can the perfection last? Seems like it could be indefinite!

Hmmm...

The cats are usually pretty good about keeping their paws off of Jacob's toys, even the rattly ones. But his activity mat...that is a hotly contested item. I wouldn't mind the occasional cat nap if they didn't leave all sorts of fuzz and dirt in their wake. But, as Stella's glare suggests, they haven't been taking my hints about moving on and finding a better napping spot.

5 months old!

Jacob, believe it or not, is 5 months old! Here are some of his favorite things:

• He loves to sit and stand with a little support from Mommy and Daddy.
• He is no longer angered by tummy-time, in fact he kinda likes it!
• He is now eating cereal twice a day, and in a couple weeks will start on pureed fruits.
• Naps in the stroller are a thing of the past - this kid wants to see everything!
• Jacob's mouth is his primary investigatory tool. Everything within reach goes straight into his mouth, which is frequently gushing drool.
• Stella! But he knows enough to stay away from Hank.
• Daddy is always good for endless giggles. Always.
• Blowing bubbles is the highest form of art-making, and Mommy's fake sneezes are the funniest jokes in the world.

Some accomplishments that make Mommy and Daddy very happy and proud:

• His tummy-troubles seem to have eased up for the time being. I still don't eat dairy or soy, but the constipation and resulting colicky moodiness have disappeared.
• Jacob has finally established a nice sleep routine which have let him start falling asleep for naps and at bedtime without crying and needing to be rocked. We did some sleep-training that involved a lot of routine-building and a little fussing-it-out, and after a couple days of wondering if we would ever have peace again, he suddenly started going down without a fuss. FOR NOW. For we have learned, painfully, that all phases are temporary, even the good ones. This week we are working on sleeping through the night - he's done very well the last couple nights and we (so-far) haven't had any of the horrifying scenes that one hears about.
• Jacob is still on the low end of the growth charts for his age, but his rate of growth is perfect, so his doctors are well-pleased. He is a perfectly happy, healthy and growing little boy.
• Miles of smiles, morning noon and night. Frequently I go in to get him at the end of a nap and am greeted with smiles and bubbles.
• Jacob is a very quiet young man. He giggles and grouses, but not a lot in between. But for someone so quiet, he is very, very social. He has smiles and cuddles for everyone!
• His eyes are starting to change colors - they are still blue, but much more toward the gray end of the scale, more than even two weeks ago. I predict they will either be green like Mommy's or gray like Grandma's.
• Jacob loves books. We read several times a day and he loves to help turn the pages.
• He is just flat-out beautiful.

Here are some pictures from his 5-month birthday:

Play Date

We hosted our first play-date for our neighborhood friends the other day. Claire, Liam, Adam, and Quinn came over to play! Jacob is the youngest of the group by a couple months, so he was pretty much enthralled by the bigger kids but not really able to keep up with them...or escape from them when they rolled/crawled/scrunched their way over to him to grab a toy or his eyes. These are a lot of the moms I went to prenatal yoga with and it is so much fun to now all have babies that are rolly-polly puddles of fun.

Jacob and Adam dog-pile on the floor.
Claire, Liam, and Adam:
Pandemonium:
Having the older babies in the apartment with us really made me realize that the mobile days are very quickly approaching, and we need to start baby-proofing the house. Things are about to get crazy...