A Visit from Aunt Sandy

Memorial Day Weekend brought us Aunt Sandy! She hasn't seen Jacob in ages - OK only since Christmas but he's doing so much more now - so she just had to see him again.

Jacob took less than an hour to get used to her and then he couldn't get enough of her hugs, smooches and squeezes. In fact he would even reach for her while being held by Mommy or Daddy.

Aunt Sandy had great fun changing diapers, walking (he loves walking while holding someone's fingers!), going upside down, feeding, assisting with sippy cups and snacks.

We all, including Steve's parents, had great fun playing together, building towers for Jacob to knock down, helping him down the small step between the "play room" and the living room, turning his push toy so he could push it across the room into the opposite wall, hugging him, and participating in the Great Jacob Love Train. That's where we all stood in a circle and he would start off being held by one person and then want to get passed to each person in turn.

It was a terrific weekend - Jacob was even so excited by all the extra attention that he stayed up an hour later each night and woke up an hour early each day. We'll have to wait to see Aunt Sandy in Colorado later this year when we'll also get to catch up with Uncle Jason and meet the Fritz Trips!!!

Friends are Important

No matter when you meet them in life, friends are invaluable. That's why, when we heard that a friend who is currently living in Italy (Ok, so we're also a little jealous of that fact) was going to be in town we jumped at the chance to see her again.

It was terrific to meet up with Kathleen last Wednesday along with a bunch of Jaycee friends whom we haven't seen in a few months. We got to catch up a little, hear about future plans to visit Kathleen (again, just a little jealous, Val) and let everyone see how much Jacob has grown.

That very same day I learned that a good friend from back in high school had passed away after a long, courageous, and tough battle with Cystic Fibrosis. As an entertainer (on Broadway and international tours of Broadway shows) his lungs were his life and they failed him. He had an absolutely gorgeous and powerful tenor (he truly could have been a soprano if he wanted to) voice, excellent acting ability, decent dancing skills and boundless energy.

Not exactly things you would associate with someone with CF. Of course, the fact that Matt didn't know he had CF (just problems gaining weight and a constant dry cough) was probably near the top of the list as to why he didn't let the illness get him down. His constant optimism and contagious laugh would be at the very top of the list.

Unfortunately I missed my last 2 opportunities to see Matt perform. He returned to Fargo following his diagnosis so he could spend his remaining time with his close-knit family. While back home he participated in an NDSU production of Chorus Line and at last year's Trollwood reunion spectacular. Since Jacob had only just arrived I wasn't able to make it to either which makes me feel like I missed out on saying goodbye to someone who helped make my life in high school a lot better on so many days.

I don't ever want to say I missed my opportunity to let a friend know how much they mean ever again.

Picture Post

Wow! It's been waaay too long since I've posted anything. It's been a bit crazy at our house between trying to put in a new garden (Steve got it all dug out!!!), Jacob (just everything associated with him - play time, finger foods, play time, 7th tooth, etc), installing the window A/C units when it suddenly hit 90 on 4/25, and finishing baby-proofing.

Oh, and Jacob has a new expression - very determined:

Did I mention play time? Notice the motion blurr of his feet in this one

He's getting better at balance so he's not trying to reach for things or turning while standing.

Jacob loves to knock down any tower we build (video coming on that).He also loves to try to tear apart the play mat.
Jacob just looks so cute in shorts! He'a also figured out how to let me know he wants a Cheerio - he picks up then drops their container while looking at me.

Living As If

Now, before you think I've gone all Cher (the one from the movie Clueless for those of you who don't know there's a second Cher out there), let me tell you that I was listening to NPR last night on my way to bell choir. One of their commentors spoke about a Kurt Vonnegut quote discussing living "as if..."

Since it was Earth Day yesterday the NPR commentator discussed living as if everything they did to help the environment would matter. After all, I am only one person and what I do to help the environment will not make much of an impact in and of itself. However, if we all live as if everyone else is reducing, reusing and recycling then together we will, in fact, make a huge impact.

However, as a mother, my thoughts then strayed to other ways in which I live as if.

For example, I now try to live as if Jacob is going to, at some point, repeat every word I say. There are numerous anecdotes of children repeating their parents' words in the most inappropriate ways are at the worst times. Check out the Dennis the Menace cartoons of whenever they have guests for dinner if you don't believe me. Of course I also don't want him to be the class pariah - you know, the kid who swears. I'm now using Jumpin Jehosephat quite often, like last night when I came home to find Weasley accidentally shut up in the spare bedroom.

Now I try to live as if Jacob is watching my every move and will eventually do what I do, like volunteering, driving safely, and weeding. OK, so one day (sooner than teaching him to drive!) I do plan, selfishly, to have him help with weeding. But there are life's lessons in that simple task, too. I'm sure there are. I'm also sure I'll figure out what they are by the time he can help with that task!

I want him to know: friends matter; cleaning up your own messes matters; being active and eating healthfully matter; that being truthful matters; so many other things. The best thing to do is not only to tell him these things matter but to show him they do by the way I live.

Some would say that I should have been living that way anyway as if God were listening and watching. And I would say that you're probably right. But I guess I didn't really, I mean really, think about living as if until Jacob came into our lives. Perspective changes everything.

That's how I live as if. How do you live as if?

Picture Post!

This past weekend we took a lot of photos - here are just a few.

Jacob climbing Mt. Daddy

Pulling out the rest of Daddy's hair

My favorite of the day of my two boys

A Happy Mess

Sitting in the tall grass (moments before the first mow of the season!)

He started off with a hat

Loving the backyard

I also want to take a quick moment and congratulate our friends Kate & Luke on the birth of their daughter Eve! We are so happy for your and can't wait to meet her. Her present should be completed shortly!!!

Happy Easter!

We spent an enjoyable but hectic Easter mostly just re-arranging furniture to give Jacob a play area on our main floor, complete with baby gates and other baby-proofing measures.

We were also able to have some good and relaxing time with Steve's parents at their house. They made a super-delicious leg of lamb with mint jelly. I've never had either before, but I will again! YUM!

Jacob got to play a little piano - literally, a little plastic 5-key piano that Marsha and Al found. The keys light up and at first it scared Jacob but he quickly found out how exciting it can be when you climb all over it making lots of "music". They also got to see many of his new skills, including crawling, pulling himself up to standing, eating a lot of food, etc.

The rest of the long weekend was spend visitng Steve's office (on Friday) and my office on Monday. Jacob definitely has stranger anxiety but is OK as long as he's held by Mommy or Daddy. Shy, but Ok. I can't wait for our little flirt to return.

Photos will have to come later.

Standing Tall - By Himself!

Today we got to drive in to DC to visit Steve at work. We didn't get any photos of Jacob while we were there - too busy trying to keep him from crying. Apparently he's got stranger anxiety pretty badly right now. It's so sad to see Mr. Flirt turn into Mr. Shy even when we're there encouraging him to be his usual self. When we returned home, Jacob decided to work on standing...all by himself! Ever since then he's practically doing it non-stop. He pulls himself up into a standing position using the sofa (as seen in the video below) and the safety gate we put up around the wood stove.


The first couple times he pulled himself up he was so proud of himself that he started laughing. That's when I ran to get the video camera and he did it again with all that same excitement (and speed). Now he just pulls himself up but doesn't get giddy. Additionally, he's now sitting up when he's in his crib when he's not sleeping. Earlier today he faked being tired...a few minutes later I found him sitting up, chattering away to himself and very excited when I returned to his room. Time to lower the crib (if he's sittingin it he'll be standing in it in no time), and to install all those baby gates and other safety equipment. Yay!!!