Children's Museum of Houston

Today, Jacob and I met Jennifer and Jacqueline at the Children's Museum of Houston. Tuesdays are also the day for Toddler Time at the Fulshear Library. You can read back a few posts to see why we didn't go to that! Jacqueline is 4 months younger than Jacob, and I'm convinced they are going to get married one day. Jennifer would only commit to Jacob being one of Jacqueline's many boyfriends, but I'm still hoping.

The Children's Museum is great for all kids, but they have a special Tot Spot for kids under 3. We headed straight up there and got started. First step is to take off the kiddos shoes and socks, and for the adults to either wear socks or these great booties...



Jacob's favorite place was the little ball pit. He probably climbed in and out of that thing a hundred times. He would throw some of the balls out, then promptly climb out and get them to throw them back in.



Jacqueline even joined him, and I had the brilliant idea to get a picture of them. It was not happening. I either got one of them looking or none of them looking.









Jacob's second favorite thing was the doors. They open and close (score) and have a mirror on the inside when you open it. It also had a light switch, door knocker and door bell. This was right up his alley...



Jacqueline was trying to figure out what was so cool about a door.



One toddler (not naming any names) would actually stop and look at the camera...



The other toddler was way too busy...















There was also a dress up area. Jacqueline found a wizard hat that she wore most of the time we were there. Jacob wore the fireman's hat for 0.25 seconds.






The little firetruck was also quite a hit. However, Jacqueline sat on the bench seat and refused to let anyone else sit down. Jacob ignored her and scooted himself into the small floorboard in front of her...









Finally, she agreed to let him in, so I thought "photo op". No such luck this time either...






Randy always asks if Jacob actually "plays" with other kids. Here is as close as they got (if you don't count the firetruck).



Another cute wizard Jacqueline...



Jacob was not as into this, but there was a tunnel that you could go in and see up to the top of the slide. I thought this picture of Jennifer and Jacqueline was hilarious...



And another one...



And last, the only attempt I made at a picture of both of us...



I really loved this museum. I can't wait to go back and to keep going back when he is older. They have SO much stuff to do!!

~ Nancy

Definitely on the mend...

I'm happy to report that Jacob is definitely doing better. In fact, he was better the same day we went to the doctor as long as I kept up with the Tylenol/Advil every 3 hours. By Saturday, the antibiotics had kicked in and he was better without the Tylenol/Advil.

Saturday morning, I decided to do a workout video on tv. I try to do this every once in a while, but Jacob is usually napping. Since we didn't make it to the gym that morning, I really wanted to do one and he was not going down for a nap soon. So, I tried it with him. You are very fortunate that I did not get any pictures of that, but I made Randy pretend to do some of the moves to show what Jacob does. First, he LOVES when I do jumping jacks (again, be happy there are no pictures). He thinks it is hilarious. But, when I tried to do push ups (the girl ones even), he thought I was making a ride for him and hopped on my back. I'm not strong enough to do many WITHOUT the extra 33 pounds on my back. Here is what he does...



And abs...forgetaboutit. Which I was grateful for...



We also took him for a walk in the neighborhood, which he LOVES. The only problem is that he loves walking down the middle of the street and up random driveways. We were working on walking on the sidewalk...strange concept!


I don't know why he likes this pose, but he did it at the rodeo petting zoo too...








He's even good at helping us check the mail. He loves anything he can open and close...



Then, we gave up on the sidewalks and Randy was chasing him. He loves it when you say "I'm gonna get ya" but usually runs toward you instead of running away.






Whew...all this running is hard work. I think I need a break (at least this was on the sidewalk and not in the middle of the street).



On Sunday, we went to the end of the Katy Crawfish Festival and got to hear some of Robert Earl Keen. Jacob loved it because we let him out of his stroller and he got to run around. It's amazing how many women try to talk to him. I told Randy it's a shame that I was there because Jacob is definitely a chick magnet. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures there because I was busy chasing a toddler/pretending I was back in college just taking in some REK!!

~ Nancy

Sick little boy

This morning started out fine. I thought Jacob's cough and runny nose were both getting better. So, we got dressed and headed to our class at The Little Gym. He was fine for about 15 minutes, and then the crying began. It seemed to come out of nowhere. He was fine one minute and crying the next. Of course, this made the runny nose much worse so we headed to the bathroom to wipe his face and, hopefully, compose himself. This didn't work. So, we went to hang out in the lobby and tried juice. That didn't help either. So, we left early and headed home. He continued to cry and seemed miserable. So, I called the doctor and they could see us in 20 minutes. We jumped in the car, still crying, and called Randy to cancel our lunch plans with him. Come to find out, this sweet little boy



has a horrible ear infection in one ear. And possibly another in the other ear but, by that point, he wouldn't really sit still enough to find out. So, that's really good news to my ears because I HATE hearing "It's just a virus". At least we have medicine and should feel better in 24 - 48 hours. Honestly, the Advil has finally kicked in and he is already feeling better.

It's crazy because all week he hasn't really had a fever and only had like 99 one time. Plus, he never pulls on his ears when he has an infection. I hate that it has to get this bad before I can figure out what's wrong!

And, thinking back, he started the crying at the gym shortly after we carried them around upside down. I'm sure that hurt!

Here's hoping this makes him better soon!

~Nancy

20 months old

Today, our little man is 20 months old. Randy had the morning off, so we were able to capture his official picture before going out to lunch. You'll see a few of them here, but just know that we took nearly 40 pictures in the span of about 5 minutes. Here is the best one...



At 20 months old, Jacob is still doing a lot of his same "tricks" but is getting better and better at mimicking whatever we do. Here are some of the things I want to remember about him at this age...

- As far as taking goes, he talks, non-stop, all day long. However, the only things we really understand are ma ma, da dee, yea, yep, no and uh oh. He has gotten to a point where he sorta understands uh oh. The only problem is that he usually uses it AFTER he has thrown something to the floor. He still does his cute yum and ahhhh sounds. Not a whole lot of new words this month but we're trying!

- He is, finally, allowing me to brush his teeth. And he'll brush/chew on the toothbrush himself. As far as teeth go, he got another one yesterday (the lower, left canine). Other than the second molars (which come later) he is only missing one tooth. It is way behind and out of order! He's missing his lower, left lateral incisor. It doesn't even look like it's in there so I wonder if he has one! I'm sure he does as he has been slow with most of his teeth.

- He is officially on one nap a day. He's having to adjust to this as sometimes he only sleeps for a little over an hour. Days are much better when that one nap lasts for 3 hours. :o)

- I still weigh him each Monday morning, and he's currently in the 33 pound some ounces range. I think last Monday was 33 pounds, 4 ounces. No idea how tall he is. Let's just say tall.

- He is still rear-facing in his car seat. I know most people turn their kids around at 1 year old (since that is the law) but it is recommended that they stay rear facing until 2. I don't know if we'll make it all of the way to 2 years old since he doesn't get much air facing backwards. But who knows...

- Lately, he has been more grumpy than usual. I'm hoping it's due to the tooth that just popped through and the fact that he has a runny nose and cough and NOT just entering the terrible twos early.

Speaking of grumpy, here are some of the funnier, grumpier pics from this morning...






Is it wrong that I find these just as cute as the official picture?

And, last, he has this new "look" that I can't really explain. But Randy and I have both noticed it and noticed how often we see it lately (as in the last 2-3 days). It's a cross between shy and flirting and creepy. He does it when he sees someone new (in grocery stores and a lot to Jennifer yesterday at the library). And sometimes he just does it for fun. The full on "look" has his chin down, his eyes squinted/fluttering and the right side of his mouth smiling. But only the right side. Here are a few examples of the look...but none are the full on "look"...



The one above just shows the example of the right side of his mouth doing it's thing.



Another example of just the right side of his mouth "smiling".

And this last one is the closest we got to the full thing...




~ Nancy

Toddler Time at the Library

This post is really just for me. I want to be able to come back and read it when I get a wild hair to bring Jacob to differnt programs for "toddlers". It won't come with any cute pictures, but it is hilarious to read what my toddler does at toddler time.

First off, he is GREAT at Little Gym. They don't mind, in fact, they encourage the kids to roam around and play instead of sitting on mom's lap. Jacob's favorite part of the gym is the tables that they store in the back under the water fountains. But, oh well, he still is no trouble. A few weeks ago, I took him to a Kindermusik (yes, I spelled that right) program at La Centerra. He had ZERO interest in what we were supposed to be doing because there were 3 steps up to the area that the Kindermusik program was taking place. So, he spent his hour going up and down the steps, with my help (did I mention they were concrete steps) instead of singing and dancing. So, I should have guessed that today may not go well...

I used to take him to the library programs for infants, and we loved it. Did I mention that he could not walk then? And, to top it off, the lady that ran that program didn't appear to like children. So, we stopped going. Since it's been a while since we've gone, and we have friends that go to the one in Fulshear, we decided to join them today. We entered a room that could probably hold 20 toddlers plus parents that had 40 toddlers plus parents in there. Most toddlers were older than Jacob and were sitting on their mom's lap or near their mom. Jacob started by going to the front of the room to be cute. No big deal...he's always cute. The first 2 things are songs and he danced and did the motions...no problems.

Next, was actual story time. The lady that usually runs the program (and according to Jennifer, loves children) was not there today. Today's lady simply tolerated children. She mentioned a few times that the toddlers should be with their moms to keep them safe. She pulled up a stool to sit on and read the story. The only problem was that she NEVER actually sat on the stool. So, Jacob, being Jacob, went to the front to climb on the stool. Tolerates-children-lady bumped into him a few times when he was playing with the stool. I would go get him and drag him back. Needless to say, I could not tell you what the story was about. Then, he saw the tower of audio equipment in the corner (at the front, of course). It's black and has a glass door. She kept it open because she would go over there to turn the music on. Jacob doesn't like doors open, so he closed it for her every time she opened it. At first, he just closed it. The more he did it, the harder he slammed it (yep, glass door). With me going to get him every. single. time. He also pulled every picture off of the felt story board, tried to close other doors to the room, and tried to pull all of the craft material off of the table. Apparently, his behavior was making tolerates-children-lady hot because she turned on a fan, on the floor, that was facing her. Of course, Jacob had to go inspect it and try to put his fingers in it about 97 times. By this time, we were 20 minutes into the program and I was exhausted.

I tried to sit him on my lap, but that only worked as long as we had juice. When that ran out, he was off again. Luckily, this was just in time for more songs, so he did well. The last group activity was the parachute which he usually loves to RIDE ON at Little Gym. When tolerates-children-lady mentioned that the had to hold the handles and walk with the parachute, I decided Jacob could not play. Then she let the children go under the parachute ONLY if they would sit or lie down. Guess who did not participate in that part either.

The very last thing was the craft. I had to go wait in line to pick up his flower to color. While waiting in line, Jacob decided it was time to kiss me. Remember the cute picture yesterday of him kissing me? Imagine that, with tongue, for about 3 minutes. Usually, he just wants one kiss and goes on his way. Well, I was holding him and he proceeded to hold my face and literally make out with me for the entire time we were in line...with tongue. Keep in mind that most parents are already keeping their eye out for the trouble maker kid, only to find him making out with his mom. I was dying laughing at this point, so I'm sure 1/2 of Fulshear thinks I'm insane. He did very well coloring his flower and shared his crayons with Jacqueline (the friend we were there with who behaved poorly too...just not as bad as Jacob).

As we were leaving, Jennifer mentioned that she wanted to bring Jacqueline every week in hopes that she follows the other children's lead and sits in her lap more. I'm not sure I'm up for that challenge yet!

~Nancy

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