Growing UP

It seems that lately, more and more, I'm looking at Pat and pointing out something Jacob can do on his own.  As if I never thought our little boy would reach the day he would not need us to so something for him.  And he's only 2 1/2, he hasn't mastered hardly anything in the grand scheme of things... but it sure seems like a lot has happened lately.

A few days ago, he grabbed the Wii remotes, and put them both around his wrist and then tightened the straps around his tiny arms.  We haven't even had the Wii out to play with in months... and he just did it. Then proceeded to stand in front of the TV and pretend to play Wii games. We're still not sure what he was pretending to play, because the Sing-Off was on when he did this.  Maybe he was going to Dance Party.

Last night we turned off the TV and headed up stairs for bath time and Jacob was the first one to hit the stairs.  Pat, Raven and I all stayed at the bottom of the stairs as we watched Jacob climb the stairs, with perfect balance, not holding on to the wall to brace himself.  All the way up the stairs he went.  All by himself with out a wobble or a tumble.  Pat and I just looked at each other and smiled.  When Jacob got to the top he turned around with his classic "mo mon" wondering why we were still at the bottom of the stairs.  He didn't think it was any big deal that he climbed the stairs by himself, but we sure did.

He talks all the time now. Remember the kid that had to go to speech therapy? That kid is long gone. The new Jacob has arrived.  The Jacob that likes Lightning McQueen and Pauly D.

Wordless Wednesday

2 1/2 Years

It took almost 2 1/2 years for it to happen. And it happened today.
I have such a big boy now.
Jacob has attended the same day care every day since he was 13 weeks old. He knows the building, he knows the kids, he knows the teachers and directors. He is comfortable there. But every day he screams and cries when I leave him there. He grabs my leg and holds on for dear life. Other kids have no problem with drop off.  Not Jacob. He doesn't want anything to do with his friends or teachers at 8:30 in the morning. He walks into the building fine, but as soon as he sees the door to his room, he turns around. On the days I carry him in, he clings tighter to me. The teachers pry him out of my arms and assure me every day that when I leave he is fine.  He's normally happily playing when I pick him up and sometimes doesn't want to leave in the afternoons.

Today, he walked right into his room.  He held my hand all the way to the play area, where he saw a teacher from his last classroom subbing for a few minutes while his teacher ran an errand. He walked right up to Ms. Ashley, handed her his cheese wrapper {we must have snacks in the car on the way to school, don't you?} and started to take off his coat.
She handed me the coat to take to his cubby.
Normally, Jacob follows me crying as I put his items in his cubby.
Not today. Not this morning.
He stayed with his friends.
I walked back to his play area to tell him goodbye for the day, give him a kiss... he walked right up to me and waived at me. With a big smile on his face. And then, walked away before I could bend down to hug him.
I smiled too.
The biggest smile I've ever had when I've dropped him off at "school".
Today was a big day.
Today Jacob was a big boy and decided it was okay for me to leave and he would have fun - and be just fine :)

It only took almost 2 1/2 years for it to happen.

Like a Kid on Christmas Morning

One of my FAVORITE days of the year has arrived. BIG BLUE MADNESS!! {Once called Midnight Madness and I often still refer to it as such}
I am SO excited for the start of college basketball season. I might poke fun of my husband's loyalty to his precious Baltimore Ravens football team, and Ray Lewis but only because I understand.
I. LOVE. KENTUCKY. BASKETBALL!

When we moved to Baltimore, I only agreed to move once I found out there was a college basketball cable package I could purchase to watch the Cats play every game.
HA!
Not really, but almost.

It's been a long football season here in KY and we're ready for some excitement and the thoughts of a W!
To get everyone excited for tonight watch below!! "The Pursuit for #8 Continues"



ukcat88fan has the BEST videos! If you're a UK fan, you should follow him.

Also, for some additional entertainment...Teach Me Bout Kentucky



Jacob is ready! He has his blue and white shaker, his car flag that he waives proudly and several blue and white outfits. We've taught him when ever he sees the Wildcat, UK or CATS to just say "Go Cats!" and he does it well.  He keeps asking to watch "biddy biddyball" and recently was seen practicing his free throws from the hardwood {of our living room of course}



GO CATS!

Back Away from the Deco Mesh

I decorated the pot rack to coordinate with my front door wreath

I added in some green and some black garland with little green spiders on it.

I have put the deco mesh away, {although I desperately wanted to do the banister}

Until Christmas.

Change of Plans

Until 1:00 on Friday afternoon, we were planning on going to Bowling Green this weekend to visit our new friend Lynleigh.  A lengthy trip to the pediatrician changed our plans quickly to keep us at home.
I will be posting an eviction notice to strep shortly.  Jacob has had it twice in 2 1/2 weeks (really, it probably never left) so I'm ready to kick this! Plus, we want to visit with Lynleigh!

Anyway, our change in plans allowed us to begin to decorate for Pat's favorite holiday - Halloween.  I got a crafty whim Friday night when I stumbled upon the deco mesh ribbon at Hobby Lobby.  50% off deco mesh and a few youtube videos later I had this:

I found some more inspiration and ended up with this:

Not too shabby for my first try, if I do say so myself.

Tonight we wrapped up with a visit from Bob Bob and Nicole.  Jacob enjoyed getting to hang out with someone other than Pat and I.

Happy to have them!

iPhone pictures

Shortly after Jacob was born we {I} got a new camera. It is a beautiful black Sony that can take pictures and record HD video. I loved it, drooled over it and used it endlessly. And then, Jacob learned to walk...and it became a little harder to lug the camera with me everywhere, chase him and snap pictures.  I love pictures. I love photography - but it has completely taken a back seat lately.  My Sony has taken a back seat to my iPhone.
So... to document the things that have happened in Jacob's life this summer, this is all I've got.

Sharing

Since going MIA a lot has happened in the McKew house.

I have taken a firm stance in our house - no dog. I've been successful holding this position for 5 years... and recently Pat has urged me to reconsider this position.

I had rules as we began to consider a "friend for Jacob" because this was completely about Jacob and not about his Daddy wanting a dog :
1 - I wanted an older dog, NOT a puppy
2 - I wanted a dog that would be house trained
3 - I wanted a hypoallergenic dog
4 - I wanted a dog that could be left alone all day while we were at work
5 - I wanted a dog that Jacob fell in love with

Secretly I've known we would never find a dog like this at the humane society and we would not justify the expense of buying a dog from a breeder that met all my qualifications. So, we would remain a no dog family for quite a while longer.

We began to visit the humane society to "walk" dogs. We did this for several weeks and Jacob never made a connection with any dog. One Friday night when we went in there was an older boxer. She had just had surgery but Pat and Jacob were immediately drawn to her. So we took her out for a walk. She calmly walked to the back door, never jumping to get our attention, never barking and never pulling on the leash. When we got outside she let Jacob walk her around.

She waited to go to the bathroom until we were outside and then walked around at Jacob's pace. When Jacob sat down, so did she. We returned her to her cage since it was late in the day and Jacob threw a 2 year old FIT! But I stood firm, no dog, doesn't meet the requirements.

Pat and I called to get more information on her the next day.

Sunday we went back to see her again and see if she was still there. She was. We got her out again and as she and Jacob played they mimicked one another. I was leering that this was a good dog to keep "walking"... she was BIG - 50 lbs and she slobbered a lot. I made a mental note to make a 6th requirement on the list... no slobbery dogs, only neat and tidy ones. She had been a stray and only at the shelter a few days so no one knew how she would really be with kids and so we put her back. Plus she still did not meet my requirements... she was not hypoallergenic.

When we took her to her cage I found a smaller dog I liked... what about this one I asked the boys? They humored me and took him to the "get to know you room" where Jacob would only say "back" and not even interact with the smaller dog. I asked,

"Do you want me to put him back?"

"shoes" {Jacob’s word for yes}

He shook his head yes and went straight to the door, pulled the handle to open the door and let the dog run out... Pat and I chased the dog and Jacob down the halls of the humane society to put the dog back. Jacob walked through the rows of cages and back to the boxer. Where he stood in front of her cage and waived his hand at her.

"Mo mon" {His version of come on}

Pat smirked and asked me how I was going to say no, now?

We have a dog. Her name is Raven. She has a purple collar and we are in search of a Ravens collar.

Olive Oil

When J went in for his 2 year check up, I was armed with a list of questions and had my eyes glued to the scale when Jacob stepped on it.  We had been to the doctor 2 times in the previous two weeks and Jacob kept loosing weight from even the time before he had been.  I also had had to just stare at his great summer wardrobe of Kelly's Kids clothes untouched in his closet, because they do not fit. His waist is too small (even though I only ordered a size 2, after he wore, and outgrew 18m clothes last summer and this winter). I not only was having trouble with the Kelly's Kids clothes, but with all his clothes. I even resorted in asking Pat to pull down the clothes from the attic that he wore last summer to find some shorts that would fit.
Sure enough, he had dropped in weight again...
So when the pediatrician asked me,
"So, do you think he's growing well"
my response was
"Yes, but I'm concerned about his weight."
"Good. Me, too" she said.

Mr. I like to run 90 miles an hour ALL. DAY. LONG. is probably just having a ball everyday and needs more calories. Wouldn't that be great if I had this problem?  So do you know what the doc recommended? Olive Oil.
1/2 tsp in his milk 2 times a day.  We're going to work up to 3 times a day eventually.

Who knew?

Stats:
height: 34 inches - 40 percentile
weight: 25 lbs - 16 percentile

Everything else looked good, and all my questions were answered with..."yep, that's normal."  So, hopefully we can bulk up our skinny mini, and be good to go.  He also got his toe pricked to check for anemia, and one shot in his thigh.  He was MAD that he got that shot, and screamed when I picked him up afterward, all while he got dressed and then down the hall to check out.  One look at the sucker basket, though, and he was magically healed. Dum-dums have magic healing powers. He did proceeded to inform us of his "owie" on his thigh for the next 2 days.

Our Ham

Jacob LOVES to watch himself on the iPhone in our videos or in pictures.  He just loves to watch. I could entertain him for at least 15 minutes with the same 30 second video of himself.
His current favorite is him riding a horse.  This was his first horse ride. I missed it!

He's obsessed with horses, and was VERY proud of himself when it was all over. Pat wants me to research pony rides/riding lessons now...

Also, part of enjoying watching himself on the video after the fact now includes watching himself during his performances.  Monday night (the night before he played hookey - I'll explain in a second) he enjoyed singing along with his favorite Steven Tyler song :)

Tuesday I'm convinced J played hookey! Monday I missed a phone call from daycare saying Jacob had a fever.  I walked in right as they hung up the phone, and was informed he couldn't come to school the next day - you know the 24 hour fever rule.  I was slightly miffed that after bringing him inside from playing TWICE in the 95 degree sun that they took his temp so late in the day.  My thoughts fell on deaf ears and J stayed away from school Tuesday. 
J never had a "fever" again, and spent all morning running around my office and preforming for me at home in the afternoon. I caught this around 3:00.

Yep, Hookey for SURE!

Tests and Measurement

I was a psychology major in college. While I haven't directly used my degree to obtain a job in the last 5 years I have used several components of my degree in all my previous and current positions.  Most recently, in being a mom.  There was a class, PSY 361 - Test and Measurements - this class was supposed to teach us how to make effective judgements in our own lives, and be able to better deal with tests we will face in our own lives (and how to apply psychological testing to real life situations). I have felt like my degree has led me to over analyze things... so recently I've attempted to take a more laid back, wait and see approach with many things. Most recently ear wax.

Or, what I thought was ear wax.

A few weeks back J got a cold.  It crept up right before his birthday, and earned him a few days at home with Mommy.  We got back to good health and had some fun at school, a busy weekend and were enjoying planning for Memorial Day weekend when I began to notice that Jacob had some serious ear wax all of a sudden.  I didn't think much of it, grabbed a baby Q-tip to clean up the outside of his ear canal, and moved right along. My new laid back approach allowed me 72 hours of cleaning one ear 3 times a day before I began to google toddler ear wax followed by toddler, lots of ear wax.  Google told this Mommy that some kids just have lots of ear wax, and while you might not like it, just clean it up at bath time and move along.  Another 36 hours of ear wax and  I called the nurse at the pediatrician's office and began our conversation with...

"Should I be concerned..."

She decided since it was a holiday weekend coming up, that J should be seen, just to make sure all was well.  That afternoon I picked him up early from daycare and hoped right over to the pediatrician for a quick check of the ears.

The pediatrician checked Jacob's first ear and said everything looked good, tube is still in and clear.  And then she checked the ear wax ear...

*gross moment ahead*

Let me tell you, I was nothing short of surprised when she said

"Oh honey, that's not ear wax... that's puss."

EEEEWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Jacob had his first real ear infection since getting tubes over a year ago.  The tubes were doing their job, draining the infection away, not causing Jacob to have any pain... but super mom over here thought she was dealing with ear wax.

You can go ahead and ship me my mom of the year award. I will accept it graciously! 4 1/2 documented days of draining ear infection, which means it had been there a little before that, is a great recomendation for that mom of the year award.

SERIOUSLY?!? What mom does this?

I think I'll take my psychology degree and put it back in force. Laid back, wait and see Mommy is not good for this little guy!



Had to toss in this picture from Chuck E. Cheese too.

To, Too, TWO!

Our own little man turned 2 yesterday. TWO!!!

He's such a happy little guy.  We'll get his stats this afternoon, but he's been growing!
He wears size 4 diapers, 24 month - 2T shirts and pants (as long as the pants have an adjustable waist), 18-24 month shorts, size 7 tennis shoes.  I swear he's getting skinnier.  We've had to break out the shorts from last summer his waist is so small. He is go-go-go all day long, so I'm sure this contributes to the little waist.

He's been progressing really well in his speech therapy and we're starting to hear him try and string together a few words here and there.  His favorite now is, "Mommy (or Daddy) mo mon" which is: Mommy, come on.  He waives his hand in the direction he wants us to go with him, or he'll come grab our finger and take us to his desired destination. It's very sweet (and sometimes demaning) but always fun! He's also very good about adding "peas" to his requests. "Milk, peas" , "Nakin, peas", "More, peas". Of course, he just ate his first peas willingly this past weekend, his "peas" is really please.  It's the easiest way for us to get him to use two words in rapid succession. He's very polite :) most of the time.  He's a stickler for his napkin in his lap at meal time too. If you are sitting at the table with him, be prepared to show him that you have your napkin in your lap - or you'll be putting it there ASAP! What a little gentleman. He's also not shy about his "wuv you"s and gives big hugs and kisses to go with them.

He loves music, as I've posted here.  And continues to sing and dance when he hears something he likes.  He can entertain any group of people with his head bobbing, stomping, jumping and swinging hips.

Everynight he reads with Daddy before bedtime, and his two favorite books right now are his Bible and The Very Hungry Catipilar.  We can't get through too many nights without reading both along with his other books.  And then... they say their prayers together. I caught them the other night on the monitor, hope you can see just a bit and hear Jacob's little voice. **turn your volume up to hear it, it's pretty quiet.**  Jacob knows the end is comming and starts trying to say amen during the last few lines.



For Birthday weekend, yes...weekend, we went to a friend's birthday party at Monkey Joes,

hung out with Nannie a little bit, did some shopping, had some friends over for a cook out, ate cake,

played in Jacob's new play house,

watched Daddy spend ALL DAY building a swing set, played on the swing set,

ate his first meatloaf with GiGi, Sissy and Nannie, had some cupcakes at school and then topped it all off with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

It was quite the weekend. The celebrating continues tonight, and tomorrow...birthday week isn't over in our house, it continues tongiht with a pool side dinner with Pappy, MiMi and Gracie and Thursday Night Live on Thursday! WHEW. It's been a fusy few days... and keeps going. But SO FUN!

Mean

Jacob has two new songs these days.
his FAVORITE is Taylor Swift's Mean. He will request this song be replayed over and over again. And he knows the words! Well, three words. "mean" and "I'll be".  I caught him while we were at a stop light this morning. The chorus is his favorite part. You can't quite hear him, but you can see him singing along.





his second favorite is Steven Tyler's new single It Feels So Good.  He enjoys playing his air guitar along with the music :)

Stolen Wordless Wednesday–>Why Boys Need Parents!

I've seen this a few times, and it cracks me up every time... so I have borrowed it to share with others.  My son is already pretty good at the refridgerator one.


full blog here
http://obnurse35yrs.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/wordless-wednesday-why-boys-need-parents/


Why Boys Need Parents!

Egg Free Sweet Tooth

I love cakes...and cookies... and things with sugar. LOTS of sugar! And I love to bake them myself or have a reason to buy one that is beautifully decorated and I didn't have to take the time to make :)

Living in Baltimore we were quite spoiled with Charm City Cakes.  Chef Duff was just getting started in his cake world when we lived there.  The company I worked for was celebrating their 10 year anniversary and Anitra and I were in charge of the celebration - we immediately called and spent a Saturday afternoon on Remington Avenue with Chef Duff and ordered a masterpiece.  While our experience wasn't quite what you see on TV, I was still in awe of the other cakes they make.

When we moved back to Lexington, I found a neat little bakery that ladies I worked with told me about, and I picked up a few cupcakes and ordered our house warming cake and one of Pat's birthday cakes from there. Their cakes were pretty, but not different enough, like a Charm City Cakes. 

And THEN, I was introduced to Confused Confections.

It started out so innocently.  Jennifer was hosting a baby shower for me, and saw a picture of a baby carriage cake.  She went to the creator and asked them to make one for my shower in Bowling Green.
We indulged.

AND THEN, we just had to have one again.  So for Father's Day we ordered this popcorn cake.  My dad is obsessed with popcorn, and so it was very fitting for the occasion.

AND THEN it was time for Jacob's baptism at church. and I needed a cake. So I took in some pictures and brought home this beautiful creation!

And next thing you knew, it was time for Jacob's birthday.  A few weeks before he was turning one we found out about Jacob's egg allergy, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to tackle cakes for him - maybe cupcakes, but not big cakes. I called up Confused Confections, and wouldn't you know - it was no big deal to make an egg free cake! They had three flavors to choose from, and had NO PROBLEMS accommodating Jacob's food allergy. Other bakeries in town either couldn't accommodate it or acted as if it was a huge problem and would need to charge me an arm and a leg to make an egg free cake - as if I needed any reason to never go to another bakery - we were hooked! And they've been WONDERFUL to work with ever since!!

Jacob needed several "smash" cakes for his birthday. One for his one year pictures...

And then one to match his big cake at his party.  His party was a week after his actual birthday, so he also had a small cake on his actual birthDAY.  Confused Confections made three smash cakes, a big cake and the cupcakes we took to school to celebrate.

Two days later, my parents were not ones to leave out a birthday celebration, so I got a seahorse cake.

For Pat's birthday we wanted something fun! It was the big 3-0.  So, what do you get the man who has a bar instead of a coat closet in his living room? A bucket of beer of course! If you look close you'll notice they changed some of the beer labeling around to say Patrick, and 30 years :)

Jennifer wanted her own cake too. I forgot to take a picture - she picked out a keylime cake.  Hers looked just like the one below, only with green zebra instead of black.

And often when I do my first Kelly's Kids open house of the season I stop by to get cupcakes that coordinate with one of the clothing patterns.  This spring they made some great cupcakes to go with the Tropical Turq line.

We've used them for multiple events and can not say enough wonderful things about this bakery! They have been so accommodating to the food allergy we have in our home - and I am quite thankful! 

I've already ordered Jacob's 2nd birthday cake and cupcakes for his class - I CAN NOT WAIT! It's going to be a Thomas the Train topsy turvy cake.  SO EXCITED!!