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January 2004
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Well, folks, another year has gone by! And I am turning 25 on the 9th! Wow! Christmas was great. We got to visit with some cousins in Indiana the weekend before Christmas, which was wonderful. We stayed with Kimmy and her 3 kids, including newcomer baby Aaron. We also got to visit with baby Cole, who is now over 8 pounds and just precious. It was amazing to see how big he is now when I remember him in the hospital just 2 pounds and so fragile. He's come a long way!!! (Look for links below!) We spent Christmas with Lou's family. It was good to get together with Uncle Roger and Uncle David's families. We've been having fun spending time with my sister Kathy, who will go back to Montana on the 11th. This month Nana Linda will start babysitting a friend from church 3 days a week, so Jake will have a new playmate. Zoe is almost 5 months old, and is very sweet. Jake can show us now where his head, hair, nose, ears, tongue, and tummy are. He's learned to say light, tells us "ha-ha" when he gets his way, and is in the process of giving up his bottle for a sippy-cup. He wants to take a bath every day -- he'll stand by the sink and say "ba? ba? ba?" even if he just got out of the bath. He still really likes playing with his Fisher Price barn and watching Elmo or Big Bird on TV. He's perfected running, and when we go somewhere I hold his hand and he wallks to and from the car on his own. He's almost 16 months old! My baby is gone and he is all little boy now. Jake had his 15 month check-up Jan. 8th (yes, I know, it was 3 weeks late but I've been busy!) He was 33 and 1/4 inches tall (96th %) and 25 pounds, 14 ounces (70th %) The doctor says he looks great. I'm working on fixing a lot of Jake's webpages I made when I was first starting and didn't know what I was doing . . . I also re-arranged the links table so hopefully it'll make more sense. The thing about building webpages is, the more you do it, the more sense it makes, but then you have to go back and bring everything you did before up to par. ;o) I just realized I'm 6 days into February and I haven't updated this section of the page yet! Duh, Jen. ;o) Despite being a smart, loving, sweet little boy, Jake is inching his way toward the terrible two's. We have confrontations daily about tantrums, patience, climbing, and getting into things he knows he shouldn't (and sometimes about climbing to get to the things he shouldn't get!) He's very adventurous and stubborn, but is STARTING to learn that time-out isn't so fun, and that he should listen to Mommy and Nana. Jake is dealing with jealousy issues as Nana takes care of not just him, but also our 6 month old friend Zoe 3 days a week. Jake doesn't like for Zoe to even touch most of his toys or books. We are hoping he will learn soon to share! He gets practice sharing with our friend Elauna (who will be a big sister in 8 months, congrats, Priscilla!), and our friends at church, Ryan and Sadie. Jake has finally outgrown the sink for baths but still asks for them constantly. He's also in 2T (24 month) clothing now. He loves to eat bananas, eggs, yogurt, pizza, spaghetti, pancakes, peanut butter sandwiches, cheeze, and Cheerios, among other things. When he needs a diaper change, he not only voluntarily gets the diaper, he turns around in a circle on the floor and then lays down. We're still obsessed with Sesame Street -- there's a song that says "I got a new way to walk . . " and then Elmo and Zoe pop on the screen and say "Walk! walk!" and Jake says "wa! wa!" if we sing the line. Pretty darn cute. He can recognize and point to 8 different Sesame Street characters on the same page, I think he knows their names better than the people in his family. ;o) No big plans for February, just hangin' out and hopefully the weather will get better soon so we can climb at the park instead of in the living room! Nana and Grandpa may have their house sold by the end of the month, if everything goes well, so I guess in March we'll have a big move for them. Aunt Kathy will be here in May to stay with Nana for a while before grad school. Mommy is working hard building a web-site tutorial for her friends who aren't sure yet how things work. It's a lot of fun, but time-consuming. Well, as you can see, Jake's webpage has a new format and a new address. That's because I ERASED the other one (very accidentally.) I had been planning to start over and make it better, and I guess this was God's way of telling me to get around to that. Most of this past year's links have been restored, but the links for his first year may take a while. We are working hard getting my mom and dad settled into their house. It's going to be a long process, I think. Kathy is starting her job search. Jake's really enjoying playing in their backyard and convincing mom to give him multiple baths a day. We had a safe but stressful trip to Montana April 27th - May 4th, and we are VERY glad to be back home in Tennessee! May 22nd we went to a fish fry with Pa and Nanny at their church. Uncle David and Aunt Lisa were in town, and Julie and Roger and kids came down from M'boro. That afternoon we went to Nana and Grandpa's house -- mommy's sister Sheri and her son, Chris, were in town for the day. What a busy family day! We had so much fun with everyone! June 5th we went out to M'boro to celebrate Lauren's 16th birthday. Jake had a great time swimming, even if he DID try to start the festivities without me (nothing stops your heart like your child jumping into the pool when you're not in it yet. He wasn't in for more than 3 seconds, and I grabbed him out.) I was amazed that not even that scared him. He loves the water and had a great time floating around in the float that Aunt Julie bought him. Mommy's piano students had a recital on the 13th, and all 3 girls did such a good job! I'm glad I only have to do this twice a year, though -- recitals are stressful for teachers! June 26th Jake and I took a trip to Chattanooga to go to the Children's Discovery Museum with my friend, Cara, and her 3 kids. Jake had a blast. It was nice to get out of the house and do something fun, just for Jake. I think I was more tired from playing at the end of the day than he was! Nana and Granddad are still getting settled in their new house -- still painting and unpacking boxes. Jake really likes looking at Aunt Kathy's 5 fish, which he calls "blub blubs." And somehow at Nana's house, Jake will pee in the potty, but he won't do it for mommy! Oh well, we have a while to work on it. He's still playing in Nana's backyard every day and has a great little tan. I will be a GREAT-Aunt soon, as my sister Sheri's son Michael will be a daddy any day now. How exciting! July 2004 Lou's Uncle David's fight with cancer is not going well. Lou and I went to see him and his family in Cleveland, TN on July 2nd and 3rd. We had a good visit -- please keep us ALL in your prayers! We got back in time for a cookout with my parents on the 4th (although we had to stay inside because of the rain.) The rain cleared up in time for Jake to spend some time in his little pool and for Daddy to shoot off some firecrackers (which Jake was very impressed by and not a bit scared.) July 10th we celebrated our friend Ryan's birthday with lots of friends from church. I can't believe our "summer babies" are all turning two this year! Jake's birthday is just 2 months away! I am a GREAT AUNT now. My nephew Michael is the proud papa of a beautiful little boy named Nathan. See above link for a site I built for him. Jake said his first sentance this week: "Where's my bear?" He loves the beanie baby bears that Nana has in her room, was playing with them in the living room and when he came back they had been moved. I wish I could have been there to hear him. He keeps us laughing with his silence then randomly repeating things we say, clear as a bell. Jake is also trying to SING all the time (which you know just thrills me to pieces.) That child can match pitches and sing along with songs (it's more of a hum, though, because he doesn't sing many words.) He still loves to play Nana's piano -- quite the little musician. ;o) August 16, 2004 Yes, I realize it's halfway through August and I have yet to write an update. Things are crazy with school starting again soon (move-in day at Belmont is the 21st.) Campus will no longer be quiet and peaceful, but I guess the students pay our salaries so I shouldn't be *too* annoyed when they're around, eh? Jake is eating breakfast cereal (with milk!) with a spoon, all by himself now. He's fully off of the bottle. We took down his crib and he sleeps in a twin bed now. He's well on the way to being potty-trained. What a big boy! I can't believe his birthday is in a month. We spent the 6th through 8th in Cleveland with the family for David funeral. It was a very sad time for us. We had started the month out with a great trip to Indiana to see our cousins and for Cole's birthday party. This past weekend was Zoe's 1st birthday party, and we've got Sadie's 2nd birthday coming up. What a busy time of year for us! Mommy is starting piano lessons back up, too. Sept. 2004 I am so incredibly sad about Aaron. His family is on my heart day in and day out as they try to deal with this. Jake turned 2 on Sunday the 12th. We had a "toddler" birthday party for him on Saturday, then Lou and I had a cake with him on Sunday. On the 25th we'll get our families together for a party at Nannie's house. (3 parties for 1 birthday! What a deal!) Congrats to our friend, Priscilla, on the birth of her beautiful daughter, Aowyn Joy on September 19th. October 2004 I am in shock -- it's October 1st! This year is going by so fast. Not much planned for October. I can't decide between Winnie the Pooh or Superman for Halloween -- what do you think? We'll probably just go around to the grandparents and then Aunt Julie's house like we have the past 2 years. October 9th my church is having a HUGE yard sale, and I am doing all-day childcare (hey, I'm going to get paid $10 an hour to watch my own child and play with other people's children. it's all good!!!) The 23rd was Lou's 28th bday and Uncle Roger's 43rd bday, so we all got together at Nannie and Pa's house for a birthday dinner -- parmesean chicken and mashed potatoes (which, as usual, we all had to fight Terri Beth over 2nds). Kathy turns 23 on the 27th, my dad will be 71 on the 29th, so we're having a birthday dinner for them on the 28th. No more birthdays, you guys are killing me!!! I know that I am really behind in updating pictures, but I am making it a priority this month to get summer completely caught up and to keep up with the rest as it happens!!! November 2004 Lou hurt his knee on Nov. 7th, so we spent that whole week with him hobbling around on crutches. He's ok now, but still has to wear a brace. Jake is in a booster seat now instead of a carseat because he's so tall, but he keeps unbuckling his seat belt. We're working on that. Jake and I are going to Indiana for Thanksgiving, but Lou has to work so he will have Thanksgiving with Nannie and Pa. I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner -- my piano students are working hard getting ready for a Christmas recital December 12th. Jake is starting to talk in phrases -- he says "with me?" when he wants to be included, and "here you go." He is also saying words very clearly and I don't have to guess what they are -- like DVD, remote, M&M, snack, fruit loops, candy, room, home. He says puc for cup and tat for cat, but whatever. He's making progress. December 2004 December was a busy month. Uncle Roger and Aunt Julie had a surprize anniversary party on Dec. 3rd, which was a lot of fun. My piano students had a recital on the 12th. We had Christmas with Nannie and Pa (and Julie and Roger) on the 18th, then on to Beverly and Mike's Christmas open house. I had the week before Christmas off, and oh it was glorious to just SIT at home with Jake and have fun. Lou was on a 5 day on, 5 day off holiday schedule that worked pretty well for us. We spent Christmas day with Nana and Granddad and Aunt Kathy. Jake's getting better and better at potty training, is starting to wear 4T instead of 3T in shirts (and is finally able to wear 3T pants without dragging too much.) Somewhere around the middle of the month he got to the point where he knows ALL the letters of the alphabet, AND all the numbers and shapes. Colors he knows about half. He's such a smart little booger! He's getting better about his talking, too -- is finally asking for help, says "hold" all the time (as in, "mommy, hold me,") and says "with me" a lot, too (which means "I want to go with you," or "come with me.") He already knows how to operate the new LeapPad Aunt Kathy got him for Christmas, and he can show us where Tennessee and Montana are on a map of the U.S.! Jake is also taking his seatbelt off in the car while I drive a lot, and using his little chair in the kitchen to climb up and reach things on the counters, and has learned to open door knobs despite the baby-proofing on them -- we're working on dealing with these new tricks. January 2005 -- a new year is here! We saw Aunt Lisa briefly on Jan. 2nd for a late Christmas. The girls had already gone home to Cleveland, TN, so we're going to have to try to go see them this spring. It was nice to see Lisa, though. Jenny turns 26 on the 9th. Jake and I are spending the weekend my oldest sister, Sheri, in Atlanta for my birthday. Yay! |