Jacob's First Steps (assisted)!

Woohoo! I've been trying to post for days, but for some reason it wasn't giving me the right stuff.

The pictures above are when he was playing around with Jason the other night. He loves the remote and phones - like all other babies:)

Today is Jacob's 9 month birthday. Seems like just days ago I was amazed at the 8th month. We took him for his Dr. appt yesterday (no shots this time...yeah!) He weighed in at 20lb, 12 oz (56th %), 29in (75%) and 91% head. So the head is definitely the challenge in the whole crawling thing. We are also very excited that his weight is back in the normal range and praise God for his grace and wisdom in helping us get through 'project Beefcake' and get out little guy right on track.

Anyway, now to the exciting stuff.

Jacob has really taken to walking and standing this week. At church on Sunday when I came into the nursery he turned from his play table he was standing by and took a step towards me, we all did a dive to catch him. Silly guy.

He's really into standing and will push our hands away when we're holding him, then he wobbles for about 5 seconds, sometimes longer, then the large head takes the tower down and we catch him, which he thinks is fun.

On Tuesday night, he took his first assisted steps without us. See the video below. He walked all the way from the living room to the kitchen and acroos the living room a few times. He goes a little too fast for our liking:)

Pictures

After complaits for on last week's post of no pictures, we took some to share. Jacob will turn 9 months on Thursday. Today he was so funny, he learned to roll a ball back and forth with me and was so proud of himself when he pushed it he would laugh and wave his arms around, like he does when he's excited, it was so fun. This week he tried cottage cheese and seemed to like it quite a bit.



Ethan and I had fun playing with Jacob in the tub and soaping him up.




Today he was having so much fun jumping in his little saucer that I thought I'd take a video. He's so funny.

1/2 in 1/2 out

HA! You are most likely going to think we're weird. But most of you know we are anyway.

We realized today is Jacob's 1/2 in and 1/2 out birthday. He's 259 days old today and he was also alive in my tummy for 259 days (if my calculations are correct). So, we've created a new 'hallmark day' called 1/2 in 1/2 out day:) HA! Happy 1/2 Day Jacob.

This weekend was good. Friday night we went to check out campers and RV's at the RV show, pretty cool things there!. We are wanting an RV or camper for our sabbatical (8 weeks paid vacation) this summer. We are trying to determine to rent or buy. Then on Saturday morning, Ethan had his last basket ball game. It was so exciting. Ethan is great at defense, but hasn't scored all year, so the entire team was trying so hard to get him the ball to score. He had some super close moments, but nothing was going in. It was so sad because he wanted it so bad - he was on the ground going after loose balls and causing turnovers and shooting. At the end of the game we were all in tears, but he's recovered and ready for next year. What a fun game.

Saturday afternoon, Jason and Ethan went with a neighbor on his new boat and got the experience of going 75mph in a boat through Downtown Portland. I'm sure the fishermen loved them. They had a great time though.

Jacob is up to 3 meals a day and loving it. He's eating cheese, saltines, cheerios, dried apples and a boat load of cereal and veggies and is pretty much just likes pears for fruit. He's walking all over (while holding onto our fingers) and is starting to let go of us to try standing on his own. He wants to walk so bad, it's really cute. He is absolutely loving Ethan. We are cool, but Ethan is the best ever in his book. He just laughs and looks at him and looks some more and laughs. It is so wonderful to see them bond. Ethan loves it too, of course. He's mentioned getting ready for another little one, I guess it's pretty cool to be some one's hero!

Well, that's all the update, just wanted to mention our new thought! - 1/2 in 1/2 out Day!

Oh, I almost forgot the other big news. Jacob's teeth #3 and #4 made an appearance this weekend. The top front 2 teeth are here. He's doing much better with these than the first, so that is good. He is going to look so different with his new teeth. I still haven't gotten over how cute the bottom ones are, and now he's changing again. How amazing.

The Basketball Question

I am passionate about basketball....although I am not great, I have very inconsistent streaks, hitting 3-5 NBA 3 pointers in a row and always delivering a heavy defense (I usually foul out).

I didnt start playing until I was 28 yrs old, at Fujistu when I was a process engineer. We used to play during lunch...it was great. When I was 30yrs old, I tore my ACL playing basketball.....and it all went downhill since....4 knee surgeries later (I am now 38, so ~ average 2 years apart)...my knee is strong...but my body is starting to feel old....longer recoveries...

Before Jacob was born, I had back surgery for a L5/S1 herniated disc...which after surgery...pain was gone, but I had a pinched nerve. This nerve is still prevalent, and epidural steroid injections havent really helped.....alas....surgery may be in the horizon.....it certainly hurts sometimes playing basketball when I extend myself.

Well, today, playing basketball, I rolled my ankle....it is swollen up and the top of my foot is in lots of pain. I was wearing cruddy running shoes/cross trainers...and the ankle just rolled. I was in so much pain at the time...havent been able to walk since. (9 hrs ago).

In reflection...I think I play football when playing basketball. I use my body and sprint to intercept balls ( like today when I hurt my foot). I think that at 38, I need to tone it down some. I need to get the right shoes and equipment when doing sports. Am I getting clumsy since I was 30?

So, basically in a nutshell...I need to stop playing basketball, and if I do play, I need the appropriate gear.

My wife isnt happy with me! She doesnt want to take care of two babies! Ha!

Big Post

Hey All, I'm going to admit deliquency, before any of you acuse me of it:)

So, now I'm going to post a plethora of cute things.

Jacob turned 8 months old on the 20th - can you believe it? I can't. It really made me start to think, it goes so fast. I've known Ethan since he was 4 and now he's 9. We're already 1/2 way to 18 with him. I feel like when I run or swim and the first lap seems to take forever, then all the sudden I'm 1/2 way there, then 3/4 then 7/8 and it's over so quickly. I know that's how the next 18 years will go. The pic from Jacob's 8 month B-day is posted at the top.

Jacob is also into clapping. Ethan and I were playing with him and his train the other day, and we got some cute claps.

And last but not least. We had a great day last Sunday. Jacob got dedicated at church. It was a great day, we went to church and had 20 visitors with us - woohoo! Then went to our friend Brandon and Tege who are Katavia's parents. Jacob is 10 days older than Katavia and she was dedicated as well. Tege and I are in our Thursday morning MOMs group and we do our couples bible study together. Tege and I put on a brunch for about 65 people, it turned out great. My 10 quiches and 20 lbs of potatoes got done and were yummy. Tege did an awesome job on decorating and the other yummies.

We are so happy that so many people could share the dedication with us and help us to raise Jacob in the way God would have us do it. Thank you to all that could come. What a wonderful day.