16 month update & Family pictures

Not much of an update this month since I just posted a few weeks ago. But Jacob has learned a couple of new things that I wanted to document. He now knows where his nose is. He also will stick out his tongue if asked where his tongue is. We are working on eyes now. He learned how to say "papa" and "wow" and he knows what a sheep says. In fact he loves to yell "BAAAAA! BAAAAA!" It's sooo funny!! He also mastered drinking through a straw. I tried to play a trick on him by putting pop in the cup after he learned but the joke is on me. He loves it! It's a good way to get me to stop drinking pop though - since I don't want him to drink it and I can't drink it in his presence anymore with him throwing a fit!

He is still just as naughty as ever too! Climbing on everything and getting into everything in sight. His favorite is emptying the dog's food bowl and playing in the water bowl.

He is working on tooth #13. It is right below the surface so it should pop through any day now.

This past weekend we had some pictures of Jacob and some family pictures taken by a girl that Matt went to high school with. Here are a few below.

15 month update

Okay, okay, I need to update this. I am getting really bad at remembering to do it. So now that we're almost 16 months, it's time for the 15 month update.

Doctor Appt: Jake went to the doctor for his 15 month check up on Wednesday, March 17th. He weighed 27 lbs 10 oz and was 31 inches long. His head circumference was I think 47.5 cm. He checked out perfectly healthy and normal and received 3 shots (HIB, DTaP, H1N1) He doesn't go back to the doctor until he is 2 years old.

Activity: He is walking up a storm and even running now. He enjoys climbing on everything. In fact, just today he climbed up on a kitchen chair and then up on the kitchen table!!! He's sure a troublemaker!!! We bought him a climber with a slide and he loves it. He still falls a lot, especially when he's running, but it's quite entertaining to just let him go and watch what he does.

Food: He's been completely off of baby food for awhile now which we realize now how much we miss! It was much more convenient! He eats pretty much anything now. His very favorite foods are bananas, yogurt, and cheese sticks. He also really enjoys frozen peas, graham crackers, and apples. He's been fussy lately with food and refuses some of his favorites sometimes. It's frustrating, but totally normal behavior.

Body Parts: We started working on naming body parts a few months ago (starting with nose, which is STILL can't get haha) He can point to the following body parts: head, ears, mouth, belly, feet.

Animal Sounds: We've also been working on animal sounds and he can say the following animal sounds, in his own version of course: dog, cat, cow, lion, sheep, duck.

Talking: He's really not talking yet but he babbles constantly. He does say "yeah" almost any time you ask him a question (so agreeable!) He also says "Mom" "Dada" and "Daddy" but not really in context. He can point to a picture of Matt and label it as "Dada" but he's clueless about who Mom is :-) He mostly makes "tt" and "ch" sounds and points to everything. He is absolutely in love with his dog and his cat. We think that's where the "ch" sound came from, in reference to Charlie.

Toys: His favorite toys right now are phones (we gave him Matt's old working but no longer activated cell phone to play with), blocks (mega blocks), books (though he can't usually sit still long enough to listen to a full story), and containers (tupperware, etc) He also loves listening to music and dancing. And of course loves it when we, on rare occasion, turn on the TV or Wii. He's also been real into his old teething toys lately -- the big thick rings, the bracelets he gets from his doctor's visits, and his two little teething fish. We've been enjoying trips to the park lately too now that the weather is getting nicer. He loves the swings and climbing up and going down the slides.

Bath: Jacob loves taking baths now. His eyes light up every night when we say "do you want to take a bath?" and you've never seen a kid run so fast as he does to get in there. He plays with his fish and ducks and stacking cups in the tub and I think he'd be content in there until his whole body was a prune. He never wants to get out.

Sleep: We went through a long phase where sleeping suddenly became a problem and we made some mistakes during this time to perpetuate the problem (brining him into bed with us, sleeping on the floor of his nursery with him, etc) He is finally back to sleeping all night most nights and going to bed without a problem. We are so thankful for that!

Teeth: As of 15 months, Jake has 12 teeth. He has his four top, four bottom, and four molars. He appears to be teething again but it seems too soon for any others to come in so who knows.

Haircut: Jacob had his first haircut in February. He went from looking like a baby to looking like a toddler. I guess it's official now!

Well I suppose that's all the update we have this time. I will post a few of my favorite pictures from his birthday until now below.

Naughty boy climbing up on the coffee table!

Dr. Jake in his scrubs, so cute!

This is when he was just figuring out how to use this.

First haircut

Right after his first haircut

precious boy all snuggled up to his lovies

at the park

at the park

Little Walker

Well, we are now walking!!

For awhile now he has been walking while holding our hand and even taking a few steps on his own when he didn't realize he was doing so. Finally our little chicken got over his fears and took off. And he's been walking EVERYWHERE since. It is sooooo cute!!

It started on Monday, January 11th. I set him down by the chair in the living room where I give him his morning bottle. I walked into the bathroom to heat up the bottle in the sink and the next thing I know Jacob comes toddling in. He now follows us all over the house on his two little legs and feet. ADORABLE!!!!

Below is a video from Monday night. He looks a little shaky in the video but we must have just caught him at an off moment. He's been doing much better than he looks in here. I'll try to get a better one soon.

12 Month Update & Dr. Appt

Jacob is now a year old! Unbelievable! To be quite honest though, I don't think that much has changed since his 11 month update. His home measurements on his birthday were 22.6 lbs and 28 1/4 inches. Shortly after his birthday we let him have juice for the first time. He tried apple juice (low sugar!) and he LOVED it! He quickly learned how to drink from his sippy cup after that! Stinker. He's also been standing up for longer periods of time now, especially when he's wearing his new shoes. He still is a bit too timid to walk though and I am okay with that!

Yesterday (12/16/09) I took Jacob to his 12 month check up. We had to reschedule from the week before due to the weather. He weighed 24 lbs, was 29 1/4 inches long, and had a head circumference of 18 1/2 inches. This puts him in the 70th percentile for both weight and head circumference and the 25th percentile for length (shorty!) Dr. Wynalda said he is perfect again. He will need to have his blood drawn sometime this month to check for lead and anemia. This is a standard testing and he said he can't remember the last time either of those came back positive on a child. I will probably take him in this weekend so that I don't forget to do it! He said, based on what I have told him he does and does not do, he will be walking within a month. I said no. I think I am in denial a little bit. We'll see if he does or not.

Now here's the bad part of his dr visit. When we first got there the nurse took me back and did the measurements then left. I was waiting for the doctor when the nurse came back in to do his shots. I thought it was a little strange because we always do them after the appointment but I didn't really think anything of it. He got four shots total - two in each arm. He did really well. The first two he didn't really react at all. The second two he poked out his bottom lip and whined just for a split second and then was happy again. Then the doctor came in and asked me why he had bandaids on his arms. I said it was from his shots. He asked me what shots he got and I said I was just going to ask him (usually they tell me and for WHATEVER reason I still don't know, I didn't ask. I always ask!!) He asked if they were from the health department. I said "No, he just got them" Dr. Wynalda got this look on his face and said "Oh.... I'll be right back." My heart sank. As it turns out he received the wrong shots. He received the shots that were supposed to be for the kid next door. LUCKILY that kid was also a 12 month old so they were mostly shots he was going to get anyway. He received two of the vaccines he was supposed to get (prevnar and MMR) and he also received the H1N1 vaccine which I probably would have agreed to give him anyway and then the seasonal flu shot. He has already had the seasonal flu shot but the extra dose won't hurt him other than an unnecessary poke. BUT he was missing two of the vaccines he should have had (chicken pox and hepatitis A) that the people next door decided to delay. So he had to be poked again. I could tell the nurse had been crying when she came back in. She felt terrible and apologized to me a million times. Luckily no harm came from it and I told her so. She still felt bad. He got his next two shots again in the arm and this time he had had it. He was screaming!! He was actually quite inconsolable for awhile. My poor little buddy :-( So anyway, what could have been a disaster was actually okay. The dr popped back in and thanked me for being so nice to her. But, you know, I am a nurse and I know mistakes happen. And like I said, no harm came from it. Otherwise, I may not have been so nice!!

He goes back to the doctor in March for a 15 month check up.

Ten & Eleven Month Update

Wow, it's been awhile! Ten months just sort of blew past me and here we are at eleven months already!

So at 10 months Jacob weighed about 20.6lbs and was about 27.5 inches long. He started clapping his hands and he, unfortunately, learned how to unroll the toilet paper rolls. We now keep the bathroom doors closed! We took him to his first apple orchard and he loved looking at all the animals, riding the hay ride, and sampling the apples we picked. We also celebrated his first Halloween. He dressed up as a lion and we visited both sets of grandparents.

At just shy of 11 months I had to stop nursing Jacob. I continued to pump for awhile while we mixed in whole milk - per our doctor's permission. He didn't even seem to notice the transition. Yesterday he had his first all whole milk bottle. He's been doing great with it!

He now weighs 22.7 lbs and is 27 inches long with a head circumference of 46 cm. As usual, we took this measurements at home so we are not sure how accurate they really are.

He continues to grow and amaze us. He is growing up too fast for my liking!

He can recognize objects by name now. If we say certain names he will either look at the object or point to the object. Sometimes he says "da!" or "de!" when he points too. I think it's his way of saying "there it is!" Things he can recognize by name are: tick tock clock, turkey, pumpkin, pilgrims (all my fall decorations hehe), baby jakey (his baby picture on the wall), charlie, and kitty. He is dying to start talking and has his own words for different things too. Kitty = tee; Pumpkin = PA-ba; Truck = ta; etc.

He is also dying to start walking, which I am not ready for! He likes to practice with his push toys going back and forth over and over throughout the house. He still isn't brave enough to try to stand up on his own without holding on to something so I think that will buy us some time before the madness really begins! He is crawling up a storm and is so fast now sometimes he's hard to catch! He has also figured out how to crawl backwards to get off my lap. Boo!

I haven't witnessed this but Lolo (my mom) says that he has switched the lights on and off a few times from his crib. He hasn't made the connection yet and looks around, confused, when they go on and off. Luckily he doesn't do this often! Haha. What he does do often is throw everything out of his crib.... pacifier, cross, blanket, elephant, etc. When he's really being a stinker, he'll throw it all out and then cry until you give it back to him.

He has been trying more and more table foods. One of his favorites is bananas. He makes a huge mess mashing it up in his hands before eating it but he loves it! He's also tried sweet potato fries, nilla wafers, chicken, peas, apples, and that's all I can think of right now.

He is really starting to develop a personality and we're in for it because he is going to be a troublemaker. But he's also a lot of fun so we're up for the challenge!

9 Month Dr. Appointment

Jacob went for his 9 month check-up on 09/09/09 (which I thought was kind of funny!) He did really well.

The nurse took us back and asked us the usual questions about milestones and nutrition. Then she took his measurements. He weighed 19 lbs 8 oz and was 27 1/4 inches long. His head measured at 17 3/4 inches. This puts him in the 20th percentile for length, 30th percentile for weight, and 50th percentile for head circumference. So it seems he is just about average or maybe a little small for his age (hard to believe! since everyone always says he is a huge kid or a tank, haha)





Then Dr. Wynalda came back to check him out. He asked me the same questions about milestones. The only thing they think he should be doing that he isn't is when he pulls up on furniture, he should be walking along it. He said he should start that very soon. He asked me about how he grasps things, to which I answered with his whole hand versus with his index finger and thumb. He thought he should be doing that as well. Then Jacob dropped the keys he was playing with so the doctor had me let him pick them up. Apparently, he did it in the right way! Dr. Wynalda says I underestimate him. Haha. :-)

He told me we could start giving him finger foods (oops, we've already been doing that!) And that he could start on dairy as well as table foods. He should still be eating 3 meals a day. He said we should avoid giving him citrus, seafood, peanuts, and eggs (although cooking with eggs and giving that to him is okay, just not the whole egg) because early exposure to these foods can cause children to have allergies they wouldn't have otherwise had. I never knew that. It makes me wonder, though, how they would have set up studies to prove this. In any case, we've already given him baby food that contained oranges as well as tuna. I went through all his jars when we got home and pulled out the offending ones. Once he turns a year old, everything is fair game.

Then Dr. Wynalda looked him over. I got to hold him in my lap the entire time instead of putting him on the table. That seemed to work really well. I couldn't help but laugh when Dr. Wynalda was listening to his lungs and heart though. The look on Jacob's face was priceless -- wondering what that stethoscope was. He, of course, grabbed it away from him too. I suppose I should get mine out (NOT my nasty work one!) at home and let him play with it from time to time.

I asked him my three questions and he laughed at me and said I am so laid back. He said I should see the lists people come in with. It's funny because he's usually laughing at me for being so crazy! I guess time has done me good! I asked him about the amount of food I should be feeding him. I am so afraid to overfeed him that I am worried I am now underfeeding him. He said the amount of food didn't matter, it's the amount of milk. He should be getting between 20-30 oz of milk in a day. I have no way to know how much he is getting but since he is growing as he should be, I have to assume it's enough. He said I could give him as much solids as I wanted -- but that the 6-8 oz per feeding I am doing was probably perfect. The more he eats per feeding, the more likely he will be "really fat." So I guess we'll stick to what has been working. I also asked him if it was okay to wash his face with soap now, which it is. And if I should be cleaning his teeth now that he has them. He laughed at me again (I asked this when he was about 4 months old as well) and said "If you really want to!" In other words, I definitely don't have to yet but it won't hurt anything if I want to do it and get him used to it. Part of me wants to. However, I have yet to do it.

Then the nurse came back in and gave Jacob his flu shot. Since he's a baby, he will have to have another one in a month before he has the immunity. He did amazing! In fact, he didn't even flinch at all. Just smiled at me the whole time. What a trooper!!!

We go back in exactly three months later, on December 9, 2009. He will be a year old then. I can't even believe it!

Nine Months

Jacob is now nine months old. Even as I write it, I can't believe it. Time is going by so quickly. He is already 3/4 of a year old!

Stats: Matt weighed and measured Jacob on September 5th and he weighed in at 20lbs and measured 26.5 inches long. We did not get a head measurement this month. He goes in for his 9 month check-up tomorrow on 09/09/09. (Kinda funny, if you ask me!)

Teeth: Jacob is now the proud owner of THREE teeth. His first broke through mid-August. He has both of his front top teeth and the right bottom tooth. The left bottom tooth is working its way in currently but has yet to break through the gums.

Movements: Jacob has been sitting for a few months now but has gotten very stable now. He no longer topples over to the side when he is sitting up. He has also been putting himself in the sitting position by pulling up on things. Once or twice he has done it from laying down as well. He continues to mostly Army Crawl but did start regular crawling this month as well. He mostly army crawls on the carpet and gets up on his knees when he's on tile or hard wood. He also does what I call "the monkey walk" on tile and hard wood floors. What he does is stick his butt way up in the air and walk on his hands and feet. It's pretty funny to watch and I should try to get a video of it sometime. He has also been pulling himself up on things. Mostly just me at the moment but also his bookshelf, his activity center toy, and lower tables. It is amazing how well he moves now.

Food: Jacob continues to eat a variety of stage 2 baby food. He also continues to be an excellent nurser. This month, once his teeth broke through, we also introduced him to puffs. They are like flavored, very airy cheerios. He loves them! He also enjoys feeding himself for a change. At first it was pretty funny to watch him attempt to get the puffs into his mouth but he now seems to have mastered it.

New Activities: This month we took both Jacob and Charlie to the beach for the first time. It actually went well. It was a beautiful day and the water in Lake Michigan was actually warm! Hard to believe! Jacob enjoyed sitting in the sand (and trying to eat the sand!) and also wading out in the water with Mama. Charlie also enjoyed the beach. He swam, chased other dogs, and even peed on this poor guy's chair! We were so embarrassed but luckily we were at a dog beach so everyone there was a dog lover :-)

Words: Jacob continues to explore new sounds. He still mostly says "bababa" and "dadada." He also says "ah-ba," "fffff," "blah," and various sounds with his tongue and mouth that I can't possibly recreate with letters/words. He enjoys imitating sounds that we do.

The End: I suppose that is all the update I have for this month. Like I said earlier, we see the doctor tomorrow so I will likely update again soon! Enjoy a few pictures from this month.


08.12.09

first trip to the beach 08.15.09

08.29.09

08.30.09

09.04.09