Orlando

On January 22nd, we took the opportunity to visit Orlando since Daddy was there for a conference. Mommy and Jakob flew together on an afternoon flight.  Jakob was very good (albeit very excited) and all of the flight attendants were so nice to him.  On Thursday night, we went to Friendly's for some dinner and ice cream after meeting Daddy at his hotel.  He woke up Friday and was so excited that the first thing he did was pull back the curtains to see where we were.  He was so excited when he looked out the window and discovered we were "on top of a mountain" (so high in the hotel). It was a beautiful day--sunny and 80 degrees which made it a perfect day for a trip to Legoland!  Jakob had a blast but it was a long day.  He slept all the way back to the hotel (an hour).  Saturday morning was rainy and breezy but it turned out to be a beautiful day and we celebrated Jakob's 1/2 birthday (3 1/2) with a trip to Gatorland.  He had been talking about seeing the gators all week.  He had fun but I don't think the gators were as thrilling as he had hoped.  He really enjoyed the shows where they fed the alligators and another one where they wrestled with them.  His favorite adventure was probably the canaries where they flew all around him and sat on his arm and shoulders.  He was very sad to leave Orlando but said he had a great time!  Hopefully we'll be back soon for a trip to Disney!

The "Mountain" View

LEGOLAND!

Driver's Test at Ford Driving School - he got his license!

LEGO Movie character visits

Devouring the yummy blueberry pancakes at the golf clubhouse

Ceramic painting at the resort for a rainy morning

 Enjoying the gators at Gatorland

Viewing the Parrots with Mommy

BIG Turtle!

Feeding the canaries

S'Mores around the campfire at the resort

Waiting for take-off...

So sad to be going home

August Activities

Jakob finished the summer with a lot of fun activities! On August 2nd, we visited his NICU friend, Sophie, and swam in their pool.  Then we went to Thies Farm to buy some peaches and Jakob enjoyed playing on the slide and tire swing!  On August 4th, Jakob started his first day of school in the preschool room.  He loved his new backpack and the transition went smoothly.  He loves the animals in his new room - fish and gerbils!  On August 12th, we attended the International Dinner in his two-year old room to celebrate the end of the International Summer.  We ate yummy food from all the different countries he learned about and watched a video of the summer activities.  

Jakob enjoyed a couple of days with Nana and PaPa on August 14th and 15th.  They had so much fun together!  Then on Saturday, August 16th, Mom brought Jakob to work and he enjoyed sitting in Mama's guest chair in her office and eating his special treat - a donut that he picked out at Dunkin' Donuts!  He was really excited to take a tour of the office and enjoyed coloring on the papers in Mom's office.  So much fun for a rainy Saturday morning!  Other fun activities for the month included dancing in the rain, watching the recycling truck on Wednesday mornings in the driveway before school, playing with the neighbors--Sakhed, Sahasra, Rohan and Navin, and lots of pool time at the condo pool with Mommy!  Jakob has become quite the little fish swimming around on his raft and used his engineer skills to rig the noodle on to his raft so Mom could swim along too.  

Tire Swing at Thies Farm

First Day of School

Watching the Recycling Truck

Dancing in the Rain with Mommy

End of the International Summer Program

International Summer Festival

Riding in the Jeep with the Neighbors--The Three Musketeers

Devouring the Donut with Pink Icing (his choice) in Mommy's office

The newest way to water plants on the deck (when no one is looking)

Learning to drive the car with Daddy

Cool Dude! Enjoying sun bathing time with Mommy

Birthday Festivities

Jakob was very excited about his 3rd birthday, talking about it for a couple of weeks before the actual date. He celebrated on July 24th with cupcakes at school and then presents and an ice cream cone with Mom and Dad. He had another birthday celebration on July 27th with Nana, PaPa and Uncle Joe with a construction zone birthday cake and a trip to the Museum of Transportation where he got to ride the train and look at all of the cars!  He was very intrigued by the water fountain at the museum - his first time seeing and trying one of those. Lots of fun!

Yummy sherbet and vanilla ice cream cone

Opening the Barnyard play set from Noni and Lito

 Thanks Noni and Lito for the cool chair with the umbrella!

Construction Zone Birthday Cake

Happy 3rd Birthday Jakob!

Waiting for the train at the Museum of Transportation

Trying out the water fountain for the first time

July 4th Weekend

Jakob had a big time over July 4th weekend.  We started the celebration on July 3rd with the local fireworks.  We parked in a church parking lot around 7 pm and walked to get ice cream at Fritz' to kill some time.  He enjoyed playing with the neighbors on the playground while we waited for the fireworks to start at 9:15.  He loved the fireworks display, saying "I like those" and "They look like bubbles".   On July 4th we enjoyed playing outside and went to another local church for bounce houses and snow cones.  On Saturday, we went to visit Maddie and Ms. Catrina at the apartment pool where they were staying.  Jakob enjoyed playing with Maddie and found a new love of "swimming" with the raft.  On Sunday, he enjoyed a visit from PaPa, Nana and Uncle Joe.  Mommy made homemade ice cream and peach cobbler and he gobbled it up.  It was an ice cream weekend!  So much fun!

 

 

Mommy and Jakob enjoying ice cream

 

 

Daddy and Jakob

 

Jakob and Mommy enjoying the fireworks

 

 

Enjoying the bounce houses

 

At the pool with Maddie

 

November

 Jakob has become quite the little talker.  He loves to sing songs at bed, in the car, and any other time it suits. The bedtime routine has become quite fun with all of his phrases. On November 1, he and Mom were singing Five Little Monkeys and he said, "I song" and then started to sing it all by himself.  On November 2nd, he requested "Jesus, Bible, Me" for Jesus Loves Me so he and Mom sang it together.  One night, after being put in his crib, Mom went up to check on him and he said, "Mommy, get the boogers out".  He couldn't sleep with a clogged nose!  Another favorite phrase is "Sure" and "Sure thing".  He calls himself "Akob" as you'll hear in the video below. Mom and Dad were also quite impressed when he pulled down his very dirty diaper all by himself and tracked some of it on the carpet while he strutted his stuff!  He made Mom's year on November 27th when he said, "I love you Mommy" when he was tucked into bed.  He also started counting more this month, getting most of the numbers from 1 through 10 in the correct order.  It was the month of the birthday parties since he was invited to three parties of his friends from school.  We also enjoyed a visit with his NICU buddy, Sophie at the Butterfly House.  Thanksgiving was also a lot of fun since PaPa, Nana and Grandma came for a visit.  After Thanksgiving, he enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree.  He only managed to break two ornaments in the process!

 

 

 

Potty Training

 

Enjoying the scarecrow and all of the pumpkins in the neighborhood!

 

Pilgrim hat made at school

 



Mommy and Jakob's Bubble Beards

 



 

Jakob and Sophie at the Butterfly House

 

Adelaide and Jakob at Lizzie's Birthday Party

 

 

Jakob and Grandma at Thanksgiving

Nana and Jakob at Thanksgiving

 



 

Turkey Coma after Thanksgiving Dinner

 

 

Decorating the Christmas Tree

 

Adios Pumpkin!  Time for Christmas!