19 months old

first of all....look at that handsome boy. i just love him in blue jeans!!! it's hard to believe that in 5 months i will have a TWO year old! seriously? where has the time gone? jake weighs about 27 1/2 lbs. and is almost 36 inches tall. he is still wearing 18-24 month clothes and a size 4 diaper. his eczema is acting up due to all the temperature changes. but he doesn't seem to let it bother him. jake is very active. he loves his balls, trucks, and books. i love to watch him sit down and "read" a book. of course it's all jibber jabber, but i love the fact that he's trying to read. speaking of jibber jabber, he's beginning to say even more words.

"ah-ple" - apple

"bam-a" - banana

"go - cah" - go gamecocks!

"mom-eee" - mommy

"da-deee" - daddy

"off" - off

"push" - push

"mam-ma" - grandma

we've also taught him "please and thank you" in sign language. his "please" is super cute. instead of rubbing the middle of his chest, he rubs his tummy. i love when he signs "more please."

he also has the most adorable smile....it melts your heart! i love to hear jake laugh too. i am so lucky to have one of the happiest little boys in the world. now don't get me wrong. he has his little meltdowns when he doesn't get his way. but those are few and far between. even though he's a really happy boy, he's very shy. and he's not one that takes just a few minutes to warm up to you either. if he doesn't see you on a regular basis, he won't have anything to do with you.

this little boy LOVES to eat! mexican food is his absolute favorite food. he will eat the whole bowl of salsa all by himself. he uses the chip as a spoon. when the chip gets soggy, he puts it down and gets another chip. then he will eat one enchilada all by himself too. oh, and let's not forget about the cheese dip! he also loves corn dogs, hot dogs, green beans, corn on the cob, fruit snacks, peanut butter milkshakes, brownies, veggie sticks, pizza, cantaloupe, bananas, apples, pears, chicken nuggets, frosted mini-wheats, pancakes, popcorn, jell-o, and pudding. those are just a few of his favorites.

i'm so glad that fall is here. i can't wait to take jake to the pumpkin patch, go on hay rides, watch him eat his first s'more. even though he's growing up....there are still plenty of firsts to come!!

special weekend

last week i posted about my birthday weekend. well, jake was with my parents so josh and i could enjoy some time together. so here are some of the things jake enjoyed while spending his special weekend with "pa-pa" and "grand-ma":

jake really loves to ride the tractor with pa-pa. he especially loves the steering wheel.

jake playing in pa-pa's shop. he usually sits on that little green box behind him.

in case you didn't know....leaves are really meant to be hats!

and cats are supposed to wear the hats too!

looking rather cute in grandma's reading glasses.

birthday weekend

my birthday was this past thursday. i received lots of hugs and home-made cards from my sweet students. one of my students is a big clemson fan, but for my birthday she wore a gamecock shirt just for me! that, my friends, is true love. "my girls" as i call them (my fellow first grade teachers) threw me a little party after school. they also got me a vera bradley notebook and pen. it's really pretty! i also received lots of cards and phone calls from my family and friends. barbara (jake's babysitter) even made me her famous orange pound cake! yummmy.....i won't be sharing that!!! josh got me a new hair dryer. you might laugh, but that thing is A-MAZ-ING!!!! i couldn't wait to use it the next day. it normally takes me 25-30 minutes to dry my hair. (my hair is super thick and retains water really well...lol) so when i dried my hair the next morning...i was amazed that FIVE minutes later it was dry....AND.....straight too!!!! i couldn't believe it. that hair dryer (BaByliss) is the BEST present ever....besides my very first car (the honda).

anyway, josh had asked my momma to take care of jake so he and i could have a date night for my birthday. we went to the olive garden and then to old navy (they were having a $5 baby sale). so we got some long sleeve shirts for jake. we stopped by dunkin' donuts on the way home and josh got me some white hot chocolate. it was perfect for the rather chilly night. we talked and laughed the whole night long. we both fell asleep on the couch.

now, it's 8:30 on saturday morning. i've already cleaned up the kitchen, washed jake's new clothes, and we're getting ready to go pick up jake from momma's house. josh is going to the carolina game today. he's gonna tailgate with some of our friends. me, momma, and jake are going shopping, of course. and tomorrow, the birthday weekend continues.....birthday dinner at momma's house with the family. (she's making one of my favorites....cube steak, rice and gravy) i just love celebrating my birthday!!!

latest sayings

first of all....doesn't this picture just melt your heart?!? it does mine!!! anyway, i figured i should post these before i forget. here are some of jake's latest sayings ::

(points to the sky) - "birs" - birds

(points across the street) - "hos" - horse

"fi" - five

"josh" - josh (yeah, i know....i've got to start calling josh "da da)

"hat" - hat

"ot" - hot

"bih-bur" - big bird

"now" - now

(puts finger over mouth) "shhh" - shhh

(sees a kitty) - "ma-oww" - meow

(sees a puppy) - he pants with his tongue out (it's cute)

"maaaah" - maggie (momma and daddy's cat)

"choooooo" - achoo! (he pretends to sneeze)

and there's tons of jibber-jabber that still makes no sense but his vocabulary is expanding day by day.

craziness

so here's how the random conversation (with our checkout lady at wal-mart) went today::

walmart lady: wow, you've got a big boy there. he's almost as big as my 4 year old boy. how old is he?

me: he's 18 months. he's just a big boy!

walmart lady: wow...he IS a big boy for his age.

gee-whiz. i mean she wasn't being mean. she was just doing her job and being sociable with her customers. i know jake is often mistaken for a two year old, but a FOUR year old? come on lady....give me a break! you must have a teeny tiny four year old!!! what craziness!!!!

first phone conversation

i've said it before....jake is very observant. he has seen josh and i talking on the phone and he obviously knows how to dial, wait for someone to answer, and talk. watch this :: (don't forget to scroll to the bottom of this page and pause the music)