More Life with a 2 1/2 Year Old

So, just when you think the last few days have been interesting enough with all of Jacob's new discoveries he throws a couple more in for good measure. Here are his two newest budding talents:

1. Driving -- it seems Jacob has learned how to drive. Or at least he thinks he has. He has become an extremely outspoken back seat driver within the last couple of days! He tells us when to go, when to stop, points out the color of the traffic lights, and attempts to tell us where to turn. When we do not follow his directions he can get quite upset! So, now we have the youngest one trying to tell us where to drive and the elder two monitoring our speed and frequently checking to find out, "are you going the speed limit?" There's nothing like having a car full of drivers everywhere you go!

2. Art - Today Jacob demonstrated his new-found artistic talent by drawing a pencil sketch over a 2 X 3 foot area of our living room wall. He apparently had quite a bit of time to hon his skills before Abby discovered his work in progress. She kindly alerted the family by yelling, "Jacob!" in her most exasperated and frenzied tone! When I walked into the room Jacob clearly knew something was wrong since he immediately put his little head down and refused to look directly at me. I hate to think that my reprimand ("Jacob, you may not write on the walls!") may be squashing his creative expression; however, I have determined that I am just not that into creativity at the sake of my living room walls!

Ahhh.... what will tomorrow bring?

Life with a 2 1/2 Year Old

We are at the point in life where every day with Jake brings some sort of unexpected development. Most of it is language related - but not everything. Here are a few of the "newest" surprises we've encountered recently...

1. Jake has learned to drink out of a regular cup -- OK we realize many kids have accomplished this feat by 2 1/2 but we're happy for him! He' sure thinks he's a big boy!


2. Jake has decided he no longer needs to take an afternoon nap. He loves the extra times with his sister(s) but we sure miss the break!

3. Jake has begun to attempt telling Jokes. They go something like this:
Jake: Knock knock
Us: Who's there?
Jake: kitty
Us: Kitty who?
Jake: Kitty who - he he!
Jake: Knock knock
Us: Who's there?
Jake: moo
Us: Moo who?
Jake: moo who - he he!
repeat but insert different animals. I think it's time to teach him how to use a punch line!

4. Jacob has learned to actually play with Abby. In the past he merely tolerated her at best. Now that he is talking more they seem to be able to communicate better and therefore get along better. One of their favorite games to play together involves Abby setting up a laundry basket as Jacob's special seat and then pushing him all around the house in it. She brings him things to color in it, puts him down for "a nap" in it, they watch TV together in it... anything they can think of. It results in hours of entertainment for both of them!

5. Jacob has become obsessed with Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train. He sings Bob the Builder all the time and asks to watch the two shows on TV. They only come on at our house on Saturday which means 6 days a week we have a very disappointed little boy! I guess we know what can go on his Christmas list!

6. And the last surprise came last night -- it's a moment I anxiously wait for with each of our kids. When putting Jake to bed last night I told him, "I love you!" For the first time on his own he replied, "I wuv you". What more could a mother ask for?

Healthy so far...

The kids already had a scheduled short week coming up, due to the annual teacher's convention - Thursday and Friday off. However, after more than a third of the students at Millbrook were sick today, they decided to cancel school Tuesday and Wednesday as well, so Abby was done for the week when she came home at lunch. We're all fine here so far, although most of us have gone through a decent cold (Lisa has probably survived the best, but she thought she could feel it coming on). Abby and Jake got the plain flu shot already, but not the H1N1 version yet, and one Millbrook student was confirmed with having it, so says the reports. There's part of me that thinks we should find someone with it and just cuddle up with them so we can just get it over with. Somehow, it almost feels imminent right now. I haven't heard of any big outbreaks at Ferris yet, so hopefully my classes won't be thrown into disarray sometime soon.

In other news, this past weekend another professor and I took a dozen students to the Michigan Undergraduate Math Conference at Wayne State in Detroit. We stayed overnight at a Red Roof Inn because it was so cheap - fortunately it was better on the inside than on the outside. It was a good time. Next year it won't be so far away, at least.

Desperate Times...

Recently our sweet little boy has undergone a major change in his bedtime routine. For the first 29 months of his life he has always just gone to bed easily without fussing or needing any extra attention. It has been an amazing blessing! Starting last week Jake seems to have decided that he no longer likes going to bed. Now, after reading books, and putting him in his bed he stands back up, jumps up and down, and cries to be taken out of bed. The first night it started with calling for Mama and Daddy. Apparently that didn't work well enough because the next night he called for Mama, Daddy, Akka (Annika), Bebe (Abby). By the third night he was desperate to get out and he changed his cry to: Mama, Daddy, Akka, BeBe, Tate (the cat)! I guess if your parents and siblings let you down you can always hope the cat might come through for you!