17 Months Old!

Today, Jake turns 17 months old. I can't believe he will be a year and a half old next month! Crazy!

As usual, I can't remember all the new things Jake is doing that I wanted to write about. Oh well, I'll try my best:

• He can hum the tune of "Three Blind Mice"
• He imitates a baby by crawling on the floor saying "baby"
• He can tell you when he is about to "doo doo" and then precedes to do so in his diaper
• He can point to all his body parts and names most of them
• He loves things that make loud noises (planes, trains, cars, trucks, lawn mowers, etc) and can identify them when asked to
• He is not at all interested in animals...except dogs and ducks
• He still says at least one new word a day...don't get me wrong, his words aren't always articulated very well, but Tyson and I can understand what he means
• He can tell you when he's ready to go "night night" and heads toward his crib
• He folds his little hands in prayer before bedtime (melts my heart)
• He can open any and every door and has even taken the child safety door thing off two of our doors! He is now attempting to unlock the dead-bolt.

These past 2 weeks have really been a struggle for Jake in terms of sleep. Not only was he recovering from an ear infection, but he is trying to drop a nap and is having a hard time doing so AND he is cutting teeth like crazy! 2 weeks ago he was cutting the rest of his bottom row of teeth AT THE SAME TIME, and this week, he is cutting the whole rest of his top row of teeth AT THE SAME TIME. He is literally going to have his whole set of teeth by the next couple of weeks! Poor baby, though...he doesn't do very well without his sleep! And neither does his mama!

It's amazing to see Jake's little personality blossoming. For instance, take meal time alone, and that says A LOT about the little person he's becoming (I hope). Jake has become more "determined" when using his fork; we've always let him use it during meals, but it just kind of sat there and got used from time to time. Now, though, Jake is determined to pick up every piece of food with his fork and he will sit there until it is all gone. No joke, meals may take 45 minutes or so, but he will sit there quietly and patiently until every little piece has been eaten by fork. Only if he is really starving will he grab food by his hand. I'm just so proud of him for being so patient (because neither Mommy or Daddy are this) and so determined...maybe I'm over-analyzing this, you think?

Jake is such a helper these days; his teachers have said this all along and I definitely agree. For instance, in the mornings, I change his diaper and get him dressed. Jake then takes the diaper into the kitchen and throws it away; he then comes back and puts his dirty clothes in the laundry room. You can't train them too early, right? He is also really good about putting away his toys and such. I'm really trying to take advantage of this time because I know the terrible two's, which experts say begins at 18 months, is right around the corner. Plus, I know his future wife will appreciate the fact that I made him clean up behind himself! :)

As usual, this is all I can think of. Jake and I are exhausted after our trip around Georgia these last couple of days, but I'll try to post more pictures soon!! Happy 17 month birthday, Jake!

Daddy, This is what you are missing....

My first tea party
"Would you like some sugar with that?"

My first lawn mower ride with Granddaddy! Ryleigh Kate and Granddaddy

Sweet kisses from MaMa

My first lawn mower trailer ride

Mommy's first lawn mower ride...as an "adult"

Good ole' South Georgia heat....AND GNATS!

A sweet, sweaty, sleepy boy

Jake and I are visiting my Grandparents for a couple of days in South Georgia while Tyson is hard at work. Apparently, Tyson doesn't know what to do without us. :) I'm glad to know that we're missed, but I think we actually miss him more. We are having so much fun, though, as you can tell between having tea parties, going for lawn mower rides, and just hanging out with the cousins and grandparents. I'm sure they'll be plenty more pictures to come. Have a great week!

My Mean Face

"Bye Da-Da!"

I tried uploading this video earlier in the week to celebrate the end of recruiting, but it didn't work. So here it is, Jake saying "bye Da Da," which is hopefully something that won't be muttered for a long time! Did I mention recruiting is FINALLY over with?...well, at least until the fall. We LOVE having Daddy home!

Warning: Redneck Baby in a Diaper

"Help me...SOMEBODY, ANYBODY!"

"Just wait until the Department of Child Services hears about this!"

"I really want to pop that bubble, but I'm not going out there again!"

I can't believe I am posting these pictures of my child in a diaper, but for a lack of a better excuse, Tyson made me do it. Speaking of Tyson, he thought of this brilliant idea of forcing our child to play in the mud-puddles that now consume the majority of our backyard. You see, it has rained almost EVERY day here for the last 2 weeks forcing us to play inside ALL day EVERY day; I don't know who's cabin fever was worse-mine, Tyson's, or Jake's. Anyways, come Sunday we had had it with the rain...we were taking the party outside. It was right before bath time, so we just stripped Jake down and let him have at it...or so we thought. As you can tell by the pictures above, Jake wasn't too thrilled with playing in the mud-puddles! What kid doesn't love splashing in the mud? Mine I guess! Oh well, it made for some funny pictures!

Memorial Day

"You seriously want me to get into that thing?"
"Do you not see those nasty clouds above my head?"

"I DON'T WANT TO GET MY HAIR WET!"

"This unidentified man will protect me!"

Hot stuff! All the ladies were checkin' him out!

"What is this girly-looking thing and why is it naked?"

Happy Memorial Day! First of all, thank you to all the men and women who have fought and died for our country! Today, we remember you.

Tyson, Jake, and I had a great Memorial Day. We kept it low-key and didn't do much of anything, which was perfect. Between Tyson being out of town for recruiting this last month and me working so much lately, we haven't gotten many opportunities to be together as a family. We did take Jake to the pool for the first time this year, and what an adventure that was!

Jake was a little tearful at first when we first put him in the water, but he eventually came around. By no means was he splashing in the water in the end, though; little man preferred to sit on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water, toys in hand, and watching the other kids splash around. Jake really enjoyed the little water-shooter-things, though. Again, he was kind of skeptical at first, but all I had to do was tell him it was just like his bath, and he was sold. He kept walking around, pointing at the water-shooter-things, and saying "bath?" It was precious! All-in-all, it was a great day at the pool. I can definitely see us being frequent visitors to the pool this summer!

Happy Memorial Day!

Family Fun Before Work

One of my favorite things to do before going to work the night shift is to play outside with my two favorite boys. There's nothing like going to work all hot and sweaty and covered in bubbles!

**After seeing these pictures, we went and got Jake a much-needed haircut! Now, we just need to find some new shirts that cover his belly! :)

Seriously?

Is he seriously flirting with the camera?
Did he seriously just lay that balloon?

What a day! Tyson, Jake, and I had big plans to go to the SEC baseball tournament today, but low and behold, Jake is sick again. Poor baby has had a runny nose for about a week; he is getting four teeth (no joke!) right now, so I just chalked it up to the teeth. I should have known! He woke up this morning wheezing, so I immediately took him in to see the pediatrician. Double ear infections!! Considering Jake NEVER had an ear infection his first 12 months, the poor baby has now had 4 in a 5 month span!! Dr. Dudgeon said we are "flirting" with having to get tubes; one more strike and he is sending us to an ENT. I was in shock...Jake hardly ever presents with classical ear infection symptoms, so I just never know. He usually wheezes, but today, the wheezing was different than it had been before. Dr. Dudgeon seems to think we might be flirting with asthma, too, so we shall see. We got an inhaler and will give it a whirl if he flares up again. Like I said, we shall see. Tyson and I aren't too worried about either at this point.



My other "seriously?" point is this: our friends on UAB's coaching staff just had twin babies today. Y'all aren't gonna believe how big they were....Baby A was 6 lbs 14 oz and 21 in long and Baby B was 7 lbs 8 oz and 20 in long! Isn't that wild? That's a whole lotta baby! I'm so excited for them and so proud of Mama!



My last "seriously?" point: I don't talk about work on here too much, but something really cool happened (not for the patient but for me) the other night. I had to give a patient anti-venom! The patient was bitten by a water moccasin and had to get several vials of Crofab. This might not seem like a big deal, but this isn't an every day occurence for a floor nurse (it usually is given in the ER or in an ICU)...one of the nurses on my floor said she had only given it once in her 18 years. Cool huh? Oh, and the kid was fine by the way.

A Cold Day in May

Is it me or does he just look really grown in these pictures?

"BEE BEE!" (which means "airplane" according to Jake)

Jeans and long sleeve shirts in May in Alabama? Jeez! Didn't I just post about my "sweaty mess?" This morning I found myself digging into Jake's winter clothes as I was trying to get him dressed for Mother's Morning Out. We've only had them put up for a couple of weeks, and he's already outgrown everything! Luckily, my mom was prepared and got us a couple of 2T winter clothes "just in case." Who ever would have thought the weather would be this crazy, but I'm glad she thought ahead.

Luckily, it ended up warming up by mid-afternoon and Jake shed the jeans, long sleeve shirt, and tennis shoes for shorts, a tee shirt, crocs, and sunblock. Unfortunately though, I think this cold weather is about to be replaced by more rain, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts. After all, Jake is awfully adorable in a pair of jeans!

A Sweaty Mess

Sweatability at its finest.

"Hmmm...I wonder if this fan will reduce some of this precipitation on my face?"


One thing for sure the Jake inherited from me- "sweatability." Ok, so maybe that's not a real word, but I don't think there is a word that exists to describe how much, how quickly, and how easily my child and I sweat. Gross, I know, but so true. This summer is going to be lots of fun...especially when it hits the 90's! Oh, I can't wait! Have a great week!