happy 2nd birthday jake!

dear jake,

two years ago today at 6:51 p.m., i gave birth to you.  i'm teary as i'm typing this thinking about so many things, beginning with that first moment you entered my life.  i'm not going to get into the whole birth story here because it's in your baby book but just know that daddy and grandma jeanene were with me every step of the way and there to welcome you into the world.  

you are the most wonderful boy i could ever have wished for.  you are loving, independent, funny, determined, stubborn, friendly, smart and the most gorgeous child.  everyone we encounter whether it be strangers or people we know, comments on what a beautiful/gorgeous/handsome boy you are.  the two things they always say something about is your hair and your smile.  son, your smile makes daddy and me melt.  your laugh makes us laugh.  you are the happiest kid, always full of energy and excited about everything.

here are some of your favorite things right now.  

• food: popsicles, milk, rice, bacon and eggs, juice (mommy gives you too much), noodles, chocolate chip cookies, fruit (especially watermelon, apples and strawberries), olives, smoothies, french fries, ice cream
• tv shows: diego the explorer, jake and the neverland pirates, bubble guppies, team umizoomi, mickey mouse, yo gabba gabba
• movie: THE LION KING- you are obsessed with it
• things to do:  be in the backyard/garage with daddy; go to the park; walks in the stroller anywhere; play with your cousins;  pretend play with your zoo animals; wrestle with daddy; hide in mommy and daddy's closet behind daddy's clothes thinking we can't see you, waiting for us to find you; being read to, especially at night; go to grandma jeanene's house; lay in bed with mommy on saturday mornings while you drink your milk and watch cartoons.

jake, mommy and daddy love you so much.  we work hard every day to make sure that you're happy and that you feel safe and loved.  we always talk about how much we love you and how lucky we are to have you.  daddy always tells mommy that he can't live without you and that you're his favorite part of life.  you two are buddies and i call you his little magnet.  you love to be with daddy and he loves to be with you.  i know that you two will always be close.  mommy and you will always have our own special relationship, too, but i know that daddy really needs you as much as you need him.  you've changed our lives for the better and given us the best two years we've ever had.  we can't wait to see what new adventures this next year holds for you.  just know that our love for you is bigger than words, son. 

i'll post more tomorrow about what we did today for your birthday today.

jake goes to the zoo

jake has been OBSESSED over the last several months with zoo animals.  it all started with the figurines from the dollar section at target and now he collects them from wherever we see them.  nothing fancy, nothing expensive, just animals you might see at the zoo.  his all time favorite is the lion and the lion king movie is something he can watch every day over and over.  so...what better place to take him? 

napping with his lions

the first time we took him was jan. 2011 when he was 11 months but he fell asleep mid-trip. 

this time he was so aware of the animals and recognized most of them.  unfortunately the male lion was gone and the female lion was asleep but he loved the zebras, gorillas and giraffes.  

but the highlight of the trip... the ice cream cone as we were leaving.  hey...he is only 23 months.  

  

another er visit...

everyone says having a boy = er visits.  well, we've had our first accident that mommy felt required a visit.  it was about 7:30 am.  matt was at work.  jake had just woken up.  we were doing our saturday morning routine where he goes from his crib to our bed for snuggle/cartoon time before we get our day started.  there were giggles, tosses on the bed, pillow fights and lots of mommy and son fun.  then it happened.  he's on the floor and i hear him scream.  i think for a second that he hit his forehead while trying to hide from me so i grab him and pull him close examining his head.  within 5 seconds he's crying where he's not breathing. as i'm examining his forehead, the area of his nose between his eyes starts to turn purple and swell so big, i started to hyperventilate.  he settled down but the swelling didn't.  although he was "feeling" better after about 10 minutes and started jumping around some more, i wasn't taking any chances for permanent damage.  off to the er he, my mom and i went while matt stressed at work and constantly texted for updates. final diagnosis after 4 hour wait: he's going to be fine.  follow up with his pediatrician and possibly a nose, ear and throat doctor.  i don't care if i have to wait 24 hours...as long as they tell me my kid is going to be ok!

first visit to knott's

my whole family went to knott's on the last week of christmas break.  it wasn't something on matt's and my radar for jake as of yet, thinking he was too young.  but my brother got a crazy cheap price for everyone because of law enforcement day so we couldn't pass it up.  so glad we didn't!  jake LOVED it!  granted, the main 4 or 5 rides for his age were all in camp snoopy but he could have ridden those over and over again.  he loved all of them but mostly the snoopy bus that daddy barely fit in and the very slow double decker cars/train that went around the track.  he wasn't scared to get on anything and had a blast.  before jake, i HATED amusement parks and always said that i'd pawn my kids off on my brother when he took his.  insert foot in mouth.  i got more joy out of seeing him ride the rides than he did riding them.  matt and i were smiles all day seeing him have fun.  even if that meant buying him overpriced food and a very overpriced sword that he played with once when we got home.  anything for you son!

log ride

even while waiting in line, he has to climb something

this was the cutest ride.  in order for the cars to move, they had to pull the lever back and forth.  jake BARELY made the height requirement (they counted his hair) but our boy was moving.  he was pumping that lever and his car was moving the whole train.  he made daddy proud.  we must have let him ride this over and over again just so daddy could show everyone that was his boy!

the gang