seaside lagoon

we took jake to seaside lagoon along with the twins, morggan, tai and tafa.  it was 82 degrees in lakewood with bright sun but only 71 in redondo beach with major overcast.  i was so disappointed thinking he wouldn't be interested and the water would be too cold for him.  wrong!  cold and all, he took his shivering butt in with everybody and had a blast.  

tasting the salt water

playing with auntie nava and morggan

with cousin tafa

being a daredevil with daddy

you were unsure about the spraying water

who's the lurker behind you?  it's cousin tai.

lovin some oreos

playing the uke with auntie lima

brush, brush, brush

mommy is obsessed with teeth so every morning jake gets his toothbrush and brushes his teeth sucks his elmo toothpaste off while mommy brushes hers.  matt thinks i'm nuts but hey, you gotta start the habit early.  when i was little my mom would wake my brother and i out of bed if our toothbrush was dry after we went to sleep.  she didn't play when it came to teeth and neither will i.  shoot, i'd wake my husband up if he wouldn't kill me didn't have to get up so early for work.

yum!

look at me brush

um...the toothpaste is gone

am i done yet?

really mom?!?!...i only have 9 teeth.

helping daddy...

as soon as matt started hanging re-hanging the curtains, jake climbed himself up on the crate to stand next to his dad and help him out be nosy. of course jake has a bunch of the toddler tools so he can pretend he's doing what matt is.  

and matt loves it.  

like father, like son

18 months old

jake had his 18 month check up today. the nurse was amazed at his size and asked my husband what nationality he was.  once he said samoan, she just shook her head like "oh, that explains it."  34 inches. 30 lbs. 95th and 90th percentile.  once again, a high five from the hubby.  jake says "daddy" with out the second "d" sound,  "ruff ruff" and "go".  he points at everything and says something that sounds like "what is that?" but we're not sure.  the minute you let him go, he runs after and towards anything and away from us.  he is super affectionate and hugs people and toys. he's still a wonderful sleeper. he loves fruit, popsicles, saimin, grilled cheese, and cheerios.  he loves to bang things and always wants a drumstick or hammer in his hand.  he laughs all of the time  really loudly so people can hear him. he loves books and sits down with one in his lap and pretends he's reading. he loves going up and down stairs by himself (while mommy holds her breath). he is into the cartoon "go, diego, go" and "mickey mouse". 

he's perfect.

road trip to san diego...

we drove to san diego to see my best friend, natalie.  she just moved to so cal from texas where she's been for the last 8 years. before that she was in san jose so we haven't lived this close to each other since i left sj in 1992.  and i hadn't see her since my baby shower so this was her first time meeting jake.  she couldn't believe how big and full of personality he is.  

natalie and jaxon

jake and leela

who would have thought, at 12 and 13 years old, that 26 years later, we'd be together with our kids and still best friends.  jake, i hope that you have a friendship like this one day.

day at the fair...

we went to the orange county fair for a few hours.  i was so excited thinking jake could go on the kiddie rides i saw when we were there last year.  nope!  he's still too young short to ride.  so we took him to the fair's petting zoo.  he loved it.  the minute we opened the gate, he took off running and went up to every animal to either stare it down or slap it's tail.  he has no fear which sometimes worries me but on the other hand i love his willingness to explore everything.  it's so different from matt's and my personality, that maybe that's why we admire it so much in him. 

this was the only animal he was leery of.  but i was too.  he was eye level and just staring us down the closer we got.  evidently, he's a great photo opp. and super friendly.  

trying cotton candy for the first time.  not feeling it.

movies on the beach...

the whole family gets together every tuesday in the summer to go to "movies on the beach".  usually jake plays for an hour in the sand, rolling around and falling everywhere, and then by the time the movie starts he's asleep about 30 minutes in.  not this night.  he stayed up for the ENTIRE movie which was Toy Story.  it was the first time he'd seen it and he was so into it, even laughing along with everyone else at the funny parts.

not sure who enjoyed auntie mita's chicken dish more...jake or matt.  jake kept saying, "mmmm" every time he took a bite but daddy went for seconds saying jake wanted more.

i love my boys.

dear jake...

i'm sitting here thinking about you while you sleep.  i love you more than i knew was possible.  you're always smiling, laughing and doing silly things to grab daddy's and my attention.  the sound of your laugh makes daddy and i do WHATEVER it takes to keep hearing it.  we love to be with you!  tonight when i put you down to sleep, after we read thomas the train, you handed me your sippy cup, turned on your side, grabbed my neck and pulled it close to touch your cheek.  every time i pulled back to give you air, you pulled it close again.  i wish you knew how much that means to me.  you love to be with me as much as i do you! you're growing up so fast and i don't want you to.  i have so many hopes and dreams for you but most of all i just want you to feel loved, secure and happy every day of your life.  thanks for making me wake up every day with a smile on my face because i'm your mommy and you're the best son i could ever have.

that's all.

feeding the ducks

we took jake to feed the ducks and i have to say that matt and i was more into it than he was.  granted...his nap time was interrupted but i was still sure that he would be excited to terrorize feed and run after them.  um...not so much.  oh well, a great photo opportunity for me!

pretending he's a duck and eating bread of the ground like they do

he was more interested in pushing his toy bike

waving bye to the ducks

crying because we're leaving...go figure

kayaking at mother's beach

we met the family out at mother's beach to try out tim and carm's new tandem kayak.  what a fun day!  jake had a blast playing in the sand with cousin tai and matt who has been watching way too many episodes of "Sandmasters".  matt took him out in the water and it was too cold at first.  after about 10 minutes in, he was over it and wanted to run around in the sand and chase anyone who had a ball.  after matt and i kayaked around/in the canals, him and carm put jake on the kayak.  i held it together but i was a split second away from swimming out to get him.

tasting salt water

playing ball with auntie carma

taking a cookie break

with cousins sammy and reka