Jacob is One!!!

From so little




to so big


in just one short year!

Yes, our sweet boy is one already, it seems so hard to believe. The time has gone so quickly, yet at the same time, it seems as if he has always been part of our lives. It seems that I can hardly remember a time that he wasn't part of our family. Of course, that might be due to sleep deprivation...since I get up several times per night between Samantha's nightmares and Jacob's nursing one or two times per night...either way, I can't imagine our family without this sweet boy.

Jacob now weighs 23.8 lbs and wears mostly 18 month clothes. He wears some 12 month pants and he wears 24 month PJs. I expect him to start wearing some more 24 month tops and one piece outfits pretty son, though, because his body is just so long!

He is a great eater and eats more and more regular food. He still eats 2.5 to 4 jars of baby food at a meal, though. I just keep looking at him and wonder where on earth he puts it all, because he is still getting slimmer in spite of how much he eats. It makes the thought of the teenage years a little frightening! He nurses 4-5 times per day and is getting fairly proficient at drinking from a cup. In fact he generally drinks 4-6 ounces of water a day...and most days all that water does actually end up inside him rather than all over his clothes.

He crawls all over, faster than one would think is humanly possible, and cruises along furniture and walls almost as fast as he crawls. He has stood on his own a few times, but it is generally not his idea, or he just isn't thinking about it when he does this. As soon as he realizes that he is standing alone, he slowly lowers himself back to the ground. It's really quite funny to think about, because he would be walking all over, which I am sure he would be very happy about, if he just tried a little bit. I'm sure it will happen before too much longer and then I will have to run even faster to keep up with him and keep him out of things.

Jacob's favorite things are stuffed animals and pillows, so the pillow pet that Benjamin gave him a few months ago is definitely the most in favor toy. He also loves toys that make music when he pushes buttons.

He is still a very happy and smiley baby...as long as he is getting what he wants. If he doesn't, he throws some pretty impressive screaming fits. And the rest of us are getting pretty good at ignoring those fits. I am hoping that as his communication skills develop, those fits will decrease...but I am also remembering his older sister just a few months ago and not holding my breath.

Jacob now has 7 teeth, the 7th one popped through on Thanksgiving day. He says "Mama" and "ball" (ball was said for the first time on 12/10) and he signs "more" and "eat" (he signed eat for the first time on 12/10)

He loves his sister and he loves to dance. He also enjoys watching other people dance and giggles like crazy when Mommy or Samantha are dancing around the room. Although he smiles a lot, he doesn't laugh a lot...but when he does, it is the sweetest sound you can imagine.

It's hard to get a picture of him looking at the camera, because as soon as he looks toward it, he starts crawling to the picture taker for some hugs.

He is a sweet, adorable boy and we are so grateful for another month, a whole year of months of him in our lives. We look forward to watching him continue to grow and learn in the time to come.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!