22 months old

jake is 22 months old today. i am thoroughly enjoying staying home with him during christmas break. he is really becoming more independent. i remember back in the summer when i couldn't leave the room without him crying. he just had to have someone in the room with him at all times. now he plays independently with all this toys while i get house work done. he really is growing up!

jake loves to help cook in the kitchen. sometimes it's really hard to cook with all the pots and pans in the floor, but i have to remember that he won't want to "hep" for long! he loves to help sweep, dust, clean the toilets, and put things in the trash. and the funny thing is that he actually cleans very well.

jake has quite the imagination. i mentioned above that he loves to help me cook. well, just imagine all the sounds that go with this picture. he's pouring his mixture into the cupcake pan and then he turned up the "bowl" and "drank" some. he said "mmmm" so it must have been good! he lines all his trucks up and says "weady, set, go!!!" and he pushes them all across the floor. jake got his first wiggles dvd from brian and he loves it. we pretend that we are all the animals. jake runs to the bedroom and gets one of my sweaters and puts it on so he can flap his wings like a bird! i told you....quite the imagination!

let's not forget movie night! we started off watching a movie together every friday night. toy story, finding nemo, etc. and since jake loves "choo-choos" i thought he might like the polar express. it was a HUGE hit! no lie......i'm pretty sure we've watched it 30, maybe more times since the beginning of december. and that's just with me and josh. barbara says he watched it numerous times during the day while josh and i are at work. so really, that number might be a little higher! good thing that the polar express is a movie that you just cannot get tired of. i'm glad he loves to watch it! (we're watching it now!)

i leave you with 22 things that i love about jake

1. his smile

2. his contagious laugh

3. his willingness to help

4. his tender-heart

5. his love for food (just like mommy)

6. his vivid imagination

7. his hugs

8. the fact that he wants "ma-ma" and no one else

9. how he follows directions (which i think he does very well to be so young)

10. his love for books

11. watching him color

12. his shyness

13. his big blue eyes

14. his wet kisses

15. his compassion (he kisses our "boo-boos")

16. listening to him "ting" (sing)

17. listening to him try to count

18. watching him splish and splash in the bath tub

19. listening to him say "cookie" (he says it like the cookie monster)

20. his independence

21. his love of "shakes" (milkshakes)

22. how he says "pees" (please) - hard to resist