Happy (early) Birthday, Jacob!

Big bro "hides" under the table waiting to surprise lil bro.

The surprised birthday boy!

The candles have been blown out--let's eat!

"Can someone hand me a napkin?"

"What is it?"

loving his new toy from Gramma and Grampa

We had a busy weekend, welcoming Grammy and Pop Pop from Delaware, saying goodbye to Daddy, who is at his conference, and having an early celebration for Jacob who turns two this Sunday! I know it's cliche to say, but I really can't believe the time has passed so quickly. Jacob is just a sweet boy and we have enjoyed these first years with him. Micah refers to Jacob and his best friend on a regular basis, and I'm pretty sure Jacob would agree if he could say so. For now, he'll have to make do with "Bubba!" and a big smile whenever Micah comes into the room. Last night he called him into the bathroom where he was getting a bath to show Micah how he had learned to splash water up on the walls. He is constantly trying to copy M wants to be wherever he is. I hope they always remain close. We had a fun little party at home with cupcakes and balloons. Jacob went right for the "boo" cupcakes, his favorite color, and devoured two before I dunked him in the tub :-)  He is loving all of his new things, especially the parking garage that plays music. In the last video you can see him be-bopping to the tunes.

Stats. J is about 32 pounds now so he's growing fast and furiously. He regularly out-eats his brother. He loves music, reading books, "wrestling," dancing to tunes, climbing, snuggling, and doing anything outside. He knows the color blue, several letters and can already do the bunny hop. He has a understandable vocabulary of a few words and phrases including: "no tut it!" (don't touch it), "wha cauc" (what is it called?), "pwees" (please), "hulp" (help), "mow" (more), "cack" (cracker), "pide" (spider), "dow" (down)-- but the way he talks on and on, it's clear that he thinks everyone understands it all. He loves "reading" books and pointing out all of the things he knows. And he loves faces and photos of people he knows. He still sucks his index and middle fingers of his hand and curls up the other hand in his neck. He never adopted a "lovey" so this is his security blanket. It will be fun to learn more about him in the coming year as his speech become clearer and he learns more about what he is capable of. He might be exiting the "baby" stage and entering the "little boy" stage, but as every parent knows, he will always be my baby.