Just Some Random Pictures From December

Despite my intentions, I haven't been very good about blogging lately. So here are a bunch of random pictures from December in no particular order.

Zach and Drew have their own "spots" when they watch TV. Jake is catching on to this, and has decided that when those two are watching something on the loveseat, he should sit in the middle.

He doesn't sit still very well, though, so he usually ends up just annoying his big brothers. But that's a little brother's job, right?

Jake can be a very silly baby. One night while we were reading before bed, he decided he should read with his little blanket on his head. He just sat there as I read the books just like this, so I had to get a picture.

Another night before bed, Jake was too quick for me to get him dressed, and he crawled off and started playing with his pillow pet.

One afternoon recently, Jake just had a terrible nap. He couldn't breathe because he was totally stuffed up, so he was just very upset. Mike ended up going up to his room and holding him so he could sleep. It was sweet. Jake hasn't slept in our arms for months, so this was pretty sweet.

Way back towards the beginning of December, we went and visited Santa. We've gone to the same mall with the same Santa since Zach was about 18 months old. Last year Zach brought Santa a special rock he had painted, and Santa seemed to like it. So this year, when it was our turn, Zach right away said, "I'm Zach. I'm the one who brought you a rock I painted last year." Oh, please, play along, Santa, I thought. This first picture is when Zach was saying that to Santa.

Santa said, "Oh, yes, I remember. I still have that rock!" Whew! I was glad Santa said that, though I figured he didn't really remember or still have the rock.

This picture totally shows the comfort level of each kid as far as Santa goes. Zach is totally comfortable, Drew is mostly comfortable, but was ok having Zach be closer to Santa, and Jake was pretty content to watch from my arms.

We did decide to try to get a picture of all 3 boys with Santa. Here's how well that went.

I just love how Zach is holding Jake's hand and trying to talk to him. Such a sweet big brother (to Jake, anyway).

As we turned to leave, Santa looked right at me and made eye contact. I could tell he was going to say something, but I had no idea what. He leaned in a little closer so just I could hear, and he said, "I want you to know, I really do still have that rock. It meant so much to me that he brought me something." Awww, that was sweet. Zach had wanted to take something to Santa this year, but we sort of sprung the visit on him one afternoon when he got home from school (so we could avoid a line), so he didn't have time to prepare anything. I definitely think the boys will take something next year, though!

After visiting Santa, we went to the play area. Jake was much, much happier there.

Here's a cute picture of Mike and Jake some morning after Jake woke up.

The force is strong with these three.

Normally they're not dressed so similarly, but it was a rainy Saturday and these seemed like the perfect comfy outfits.

Here's Jake enjoying the tunnel Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Dick gave him for his birthday.

Jake was on an important call on my phone,

which is probably why he was so upset when I took the phone away. He sure lets you know when he is unhappy!

Here is Drew showing me his bowling ball face. He also does a great shark face, but I don't think I have a picture of that.

Just a cute one of Jake before Drew's preschool program. The next day Jake had his 12 month check-up. Turns out he is 20 pounds exactly, which bumped him up from the 8th percentile to the 12th percentile. And to compare, at 12 months, Zach weighed 21 pounds exactly, and Drew weighed 22 pounds exactly. So Jake is the lightest still, but also the tallest. He is 31 inches tall, which is the 83rd percentile. At 12 months, Zach was 29.3 inches tall, and Drew was 29.8 inches tall.

Jake is walking more and more now, but still mostly crawls. I think he is getting braver, though, and is trying to walk more often. He can get 6-10 steps before he falls over, but often it's more like 4-5. He still has just 1 little tooth, which he loves to have me brush (Santa put a toothbrush in his stocking).

Jake is great at going both up and down stairs. He loves to pretend to talk on the phone, and he's trying to figure out the remotes. He knows they somehow make sound come out of the TV area, but he hasn't quite figured out which buttons to push exactly. He has his own signs for help (hand over mouth, going "bah bah bah bah") and I think he tries to sign for the dogs. He says mama and uh-oh. He likes to put on shoes, both his own and other people's. Here he's trying on Drew's shoes and having lots of fun.

Jake also is getting better at using a spoon. He loves to try using a spoon whenever possible, so I try to give him lots of opportunities. Basically, if it's something I'd feed to him with a spoon, he and I both use a spoon and we trade off putting bites in his mouth. He loves pudding!

Jake really loves playing with his brothers' stuff and playing with his brothers in general. They find some creative stuff to play, that's for sure.

With the nice weather we've had, we've been able to get outside for quite a few walks with the dogs and even some swinging and sandbox playing. Jake loves to swing!

The nice weather has been great, but I worry we'll be paying for it come April. I am ready for a little snow, too.

Next up- Christmas pictures. Maybe I'll get them posted by Valentine's Day...

Drew's Preschool Program

Catch-up time again. Drew's preschool program was a couple of weeks ago. It was great, and he did such a good job. It was interesting to watch him singing and doing movements compared to Zach, who had his own music program at school earlier in December. Drew seems to be our little performer. He does a much better job at age 3 and a half of staying with everybody and doing the right moves at the right times than Zach does at age 6 and a half. Here are some of my favorite pictures from it.

There's Drew, right in front in the navy and white striped sweater. He was happy to see us in the crowd.

This is Drew really getting into We Wish You a Merry Christmas, where the kids would swoosh one arm across their bodies in a movement that Drew told me is the sign (as in sign language) for "We wish you a merry Christmas."

And here's Drew with his favorite girl, Nessa. Nessa is Drew's teacher's daughter, and she is in one of the 4 year-old preschool classes. Drew rides to school with his preschool teacher, Nessa, and Nessa's little sister Landry. Nessa and Drew play together before the rest of the kids get to school, and they sure do seem to be good buddies. I just love this picture. They are so cute! Drew's teacher made a joke when we took this picture that it will be their engagement picture. Too bad Drew has that silly face going on!

One funny side-note- click here to see a picture from Zach's 3 year-old preschool program back in 2008. By pure coincidence, he was wearing the same exact outfit (ok, not the same shoes) that Drew wore this time. I hope it fits Jake for his 3 year-old preschool program in a few years, too!

ONE!

Can you believe it's been a whole year since this freaking adorable picture was taken???

That picture was taken right before we left the hospital, and I love it. I really still am trying to accept the fact that my baby is ONE. Where did the last year go? It's been a great year, and I feel well-adjusted to having 3 kids. One of my good friends just had a baby, and I will admit, I do miss that sweet, snuggly, sleeping all the time (but only while being held) stage. However, on the other hand, Jake is learning so much and changing so much, and that makes him so much fun. It's just amazing to see his brain working and to see things click for him. For example, We have the book Oh, David by David Shannon, and on the page that says only, "P.U.," I always put my fingers on Jake's nose like I'm plugging it. So now when I get that book out to read, Jake immediately puts his hand up to his nasal region (he doesn't always get right on his nose). He also is starting to make animal noises. He likes to do a monkey (which involves a lot of leg-kicking, for some reason) and a cow. He's taken a few steps on a few different occasions, but isn't walking unassisted yet. Mike and I have a bet- I think it will happen by Dec. 27th, and Mike doesn't. We'll see who wins.

Jake's birthday was nice and low-key. He woke up in a happy mood.

He enjoyed feeding Mike some breakfast. One of Jake's latest tricks is getting into the pantry and getting out a small container of applesauce. Then he makes his "help me" noise until I put him in his seat, open the applesauce, and give him his own spoon. So far he's not very successful about actually getting any applesauce in his mouth, but he tries hard. He is definitely getting good at communicating what he wants, that's for sure.

Zach and Drew wanted me to make a candy-cane shaped cake for Jake that could also be a J. I wanted to make a snowman cake because it'd be easy, but I went with what the boys wanted. And I regretted it. It was a pain to frost. And then I realized that if we flipped it around, it'd be a backward J. Great. In the end it turned out ok, though it's not my best cake ever.

I made the shape by using a 9 inch round pan and a 9x13 inch pan and then cutting each in half and "pasting" them together, so there was enough to make a candy cane and a J. Whew! There was also enough batter left over for a few cupcakes. Considering we only had Mike's 2 sets of parents over for Jake's party, we had a lot of cake left over. I threw a huge chunk away today, actually.

Jake enjoyed trying to open a couple of presents, and Zach and Drew were incredibly good. They didn't take over or overstep their boundaries at all.

But he had to take a little break to take an important call on my cell phone.

Then it was cake time. He really loved us singing happy birthday to him, but I had the cake and Mike had the camera, so we didn't get the first rendition on video. Somehow he knew to blow out the candle, though he couldn't really do it. I was nervous he was going to try to grab the flame, so I helped him blow it out pretty quickly.

I gave Jake a big slab of cake. In hindsight, I know I should have done a couple of things differently. First, I would have stripped him down to his diaper, though I think he would have been cold. Second, I would not have used red frosting!

So here he is all nice and clean.

Checking things out...

Big brothers getting in on the action.

I cut the cake into some smaller pieces, and that helped to sort of get Jake more interested.

These next two really kind of crack me up.

Now he's got it figured out!

Want some cake?

All done and sooooooo big!

Somehow I managed to get him out of his high chair and into the bathtub without getting red frosting all over me. And I washed his clothes and don't even see stains! What a fun birthday!

I forgot to take his 12 month picture before giving him the cake, so I had to take it the next day in a different outfit (as opposed to the "Birthday Boy" onesie he was borrowing from cousin Myles).

What a great (and fast!) year it has been!!

Nope

Some of the photos that didn't make the Christmas card this year, even though they're pretty darn cute.

I like this one because it's obvious they are all cracking up. I was making all sorts of crazy noises and faces, really working for those smiles.

First time they all took a bath together. I was giving Jake a bath, and Drew asked if he could get in. Then Zach walked in and said, "Can I get in, too?" It was kind of sweet.

These last 3 might be my favorite, but I guess they just didn't work on the Christmas card I wanted.