Week/weekend wrap up

The Sunday after Makinley's party, M and Pa came to Houston for M's doctor appointments. They always spend the night before at our house, and Jacob gets A LOT more attention than normal. He loves it! He and M watched some Yo Gabba Gabba/Elmo/Barney/Who knows what on the ipad.


Thankfully, her test results came back great! Jacob is so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents!

Grandma also made him a shirt with his favorite Yo Gabba Gabba person (Brobee) on it. He loved it so much that he hugged it when Grandma gave it to him. We saved it for a fun playdate, and he looked oh so cute.



One of his favorite things to do (still) is to give kisses. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you WON'T get tongue...



On Saturday night, Randy, Jacob and I went to Katy Mills Mall to play. He had a great time! Here are some pictures of him in a "car" that didn't even work. If you notice, in the 2nd picture, Randy may have been shaking it!









Then, on to the ice cream truck that actually worked and had LOTS of buttons to push.






And, last, onto the carousel that didn't work either. How long until people learn that if it's $0.75, you put in ONE quarter at a time!!



Don't worry...Randy shook that one too.

On Sunday, we headed to a local park. Randy was in charge of pictures here, and Jacob was not cooperating.












Not sure about that last one, but I do see Randy's finger on the left.

Today, Jacob and I hit up another park.







And, here is a random shot I found on Randy's phone. This is Jacob acting like his daddy and practicing to be a vet...



And, here is what happens if you let a 19 month old play with your iphone a lot. When you eventually go look through the pictures, here is what you'll find.













~ Nancy

St. Patty's Day and Makinley's birthday party

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and Jacob celebrated by sporting his Mr. Lucky t-shirt and ignoring me while I was trying to take his picture. These are the best 3 pictures that I got, out of probably 100.









Don't be fooled and think he was 1/2 smiling at me in this picture. Yo Gabba Gabba had just started and he always smiles at that!

Yesterday was also Makinley's 4th birthday, so we headed to Austin to celebrate and party at her gymnastics place. Jacob was an angel in the car. He watched some shows (you guess which one) about half of the way there and just played and chilled the other half of the way. To make the 2 hour (ish) car ride more comfortable, I didn't put his shoes on him. So, as soon as we get there (already a few minutes late), I have the bright idea to put his shoes on him. O.M.G....he had the biggest meltdown we have seen so far. It was just NOT working to put his shoes on while he was in his car seat, so we assumed he had just been in there too long. We decided to get him out and have Randy hold him while I put his shoes on (in hindsight, having him strapped into the car seat, where he could not flail about as much was a better strategy). This didn't go very well either, but I finally got them on. Randy sets him down and he continues the meltdown. Including sitting down in the middle of the parking lot, screaming, flailing about and crying. Juice did not help. More Yo Gabba Gabba did not help. Holding him did not help...nothing. An older couple walked by and just gave us that "We've all been there" look. Once he settled down a little, I was able to wipe his face (tears and snot galore) and we headed into the party. Like I said, we were already a little late, and the absolute first thing we hear is "Take off his shoes and come on in!". Really? Ugh... He was a little shy and red faced for the first 5 minutes or so, but we let everyone know it was just a meltdown and he'll be fine. And he was. He had SO much fun playing in the gym. He was most likely thirsty after the screaming, so Randy decided to teach him how to drink out of the water fountain. I'm not sure how much he drank, but he had a great time getting his face wet...



(He looks so sweet an innocent in this picture like he didn't just lose his mind.)


There were lots of aunts and uncles and cousins there, but I somehow only managed a picture of Logan while playing. This was the first attempt...



So, I had to beg him to stop and smile for me...



Isn't he handsome??? And so grown up!

Jacob also liked to play on the trampolines like the big kids (our gym does not have trampolines).










But his favorite thing in the gym had to be the little car that goes over the ramp that you ride. At first, I commented to Randy that we could/should get one for our backyard. After I put Jacob on it 78 times, I decided that I didn't want one...






He got to enjoy some quality time with M too...while riding, of course.



And this is what he looked like if you didn't push him back and let him go again fast enough...



I got so many pictures of him that were blurry, that I was so excited for every one that wasn't. So, I'm not sure what he is doing here, but he wasn't blurry!!



And right before it was time to go eat, we let him get into the foam pit. The problem is that it's like quicksand. If you don't really know how to get out and just keep squirming, you sink lower and lower.






Daddy had to come to the rescue.



Here's the sweet birthday girl when it was time to eat...



And Jacob, more than approving of the almost endless amounts of juice on the table...



He ate a little bit...



And really enjoyed the part where we sang Happy Birthday. If you remember, it was last year, at Makinley's party, that he first lit up for that song. And one year later, we're still singing it to get him to smile.



After the party, it was back to the hotel for us. He enjoyed looking out the window but he had to stand on the AC to do that. Seems safe, right?



Don't worry...he never fell. But when I changed his diaper, he had a little bit of a rash, so I wanted to let him 'air out'. He choose to get up on our bed to watch MORE Yo Gabba Gabba and even censored himself in this picture.



He had a bit of a rough time falling asleep in the hotel, but we think he was just over tired. It wasn't bad though...not nearly as bad as the crying in the parking lot.

Happy Birthday Makinley! We're so glad we were able to come celebrate with you!! We love you!

~ Nancy

Happy Pi day!

Happy Pi day to all you math nerds out there (like me!). If you're not a math nerd (you don't know what you're missing), but pi is 3.14 (approximately, of course) and today is 3-14. It's a good day to run in circles or eat a lot of pi...whichever you choose.

Jacob is celebrating by wearing his cutie pi shirt. We had a photo shoot here last night to get these pictures. That used to mean propping him up on the couch and singing to him. Now, that means Randy has to chase him, and I have to follow with the camera. Much more of a workout!!








Have a happy pi day!!
~ Nancy

Houston Rodeo and other happenings

We definitely have a new word around here. It's "Nooooooooooooo" and is approximately 4 syllables and 3 seconds long. It's the cutest thing ever. However, I have to re-word every question I ask him since he spent 6 months saying "Yeah". On that note, ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) came out to assess him and his lack of speech. He is not behind enough to qualify for their program (which is great) and is really only a few months behind on speech. As for motor skills, he is scoring at a 30 month old range!

A few weekends ago we went to eat lunch and he was looking especially cute...see for yourself.






His favorite game at a restaurant is to pull the straw out of the cup and put it back. It will keep him entertained for 30 minutes. :0)

Two weekends ago, we headed up to Livingston for our first boat ride at my parents house. We also had a great catfish lunch from what my Dad has caught recently. It was a quick trip, but it was fun!



This past weekend, we went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. We went on the only day we could, even though it had been raining all morning. We were there for a few hours (enough to wear him out) before it started raining again. Jacob had a lot of fun, but not necessarily doing the things we wanted him to do. He had the MOST fun when we let him out of the stroller and let him run around. That left one of us pushing an empty stroller (like a crazy person) and another one chasing a toddler (like a crazy person).

One of the first things we did was the pony ride. I thought for sure he would like it since we ride the mechanical pony at Toys R Us. Well, he didn't like it at all when the guy was strapping him in. I was right there and was going to walk the whole thing with him, but he just wanted his momma. The guy stopped immediately and gave me that look like "What should I do". I was that parent that said "Keep going, he'll love it" while Jacob was crying and throwing a fit. Once again, momma knows best because he LOVED it once it started. Here he is riding Little Red.









Never mind that very concerned face in the last one...I promise, he liked it.

Then, we thought he would enjoy the petting zoo. Boy, were we wrong. He wanted NOTHING to do with the animals.

Here is Dad showing him what to do...









(I don't think he's paying attention.)



Here are some of the goats trying to pet him...



Here he is trying to escape the petting zoo...



"You want me to do what?"



"Fine, I'll pet one."



"Can we leave now?"



"Finally...we're leaving!"



After that fun-filled experience, we had to ride some of the rides. He truly did love this. I rode the flying elephants with him...






Dad rode the carousel with him...






And I rode the bouncing caterpillar with him (in the end, his favorite)...








~ Nancy