"Firsts"

I know I know.....it was been a really long time!!!! Jacob has been doing so much lately I am not sure where to begin.... Well first things first he is walking! He started to take a couple steps 2 weeks ago, then each day he seemed to take more and more steps. Now he is all over the place. He thinks he is way too cool... it is fun.
This post is titled "firsts" because Jacob has had a lot of firsts these past couple of weeks. I took him on a plane ride up to Northern Michigan and he did really well. The first flight to Detroit he slept and I am telling you what - there really are some nice people left in this world. The man I sat next to was on his way to Thailand (worked for P & G) and he was so nice. I know when some people get on a plane and sit next to a person with a baby they are like ohhh great ( I know I used to be that way to be perfectly honest). But he immediately started talking to Jacob until he fell asleep and then he helped me when we landed with the stroller, car seat, all my bags... What a great guy! Then we got on a flight to Pellston and he just sat in my lap the whole time and ate his puffs. I was really super lucky. Gigi picked us up from the airport and our vacation began. The next day he had his "first" boat ride up to Mackinaw Island. He did really well but I really don't think he knew what was going on. Once we got to Mackinaw my mom and I rented bikes and a burley for him to ride in. I rode around with him on the back for almost 9 miles and he did great - so yes, he had his "first" bike ride.
Daddy drove up that next week as well as my brother, sister-in-law and their twin boys. We had a really great week and created a lot of memories for sure! Jacob wanted to be right with his cousins the entire week. They are a mile a minute and he did not want to miss a beat.
(Geezzz, just a side note while I am typing this - Winston my dog ate an entire plate of macaroni and cheese while I was giving Jacob a bath tonight and he has the worst gas right now).

So, I learned from vacation (after watching my nephews go right to bed so easily) that Jacob and I have a little work to do! I have been rocking him to sleep every single night of his life since the day he was born. The doctors tell me every time that I go in that I need to stop - he must learn how to fall asleep on his own. I continued to roll my eyes and say I will rock my baby to sleep if I want! Well, now I know what they were talking about. If I ever want to leave town with my husband or have an entire night out I need to get this kid to fall asleep on his own. So, we have been working on it the past few nights and all I can say is "this sucks"! I feel like a terrible mom letting him cry but I know it is for the best. I keep telling Chad that we need "The Nanny" to come in and guide us through this but I think I can do it on my own... The past two nights I got him to sleep with rubbing his head while he is laying in the crib (nap time is an entirely different ball game). So I think I will gradually get there. I know this takes time and I have to have some patience. I just feel awful because all he know is me rocking him and now he looks at me from the crib like "Mommy - what is going on???"
Another first (and this is the last) is I started him on the sippy cup. Of course I have bought every sippy cup on the planet to be ready and he took the second cup I tried. He likes the softer ones to sip from - sort of like a rubber spout. Anyways he is doing pretty good. I cannot wait to be finished with this formula! 5 more weeks! Can you believe he will be one?!? The birthday party is soon - he is growing up way too fast:)

Well, Jacob is just getting over being sick! It could be his two top teeth coming in, but he had some bad diarrhea for about 5 days:( Poor little guy was miserable. He seems to be doing a lot better. We are all ready for Fathers Day (daddy's gift is being set up today, so he will have it when he comes home from work). We hope he likes it.....
Jacobs cousins, Parker & Ethan, turned 2 last weekend and finally Jake loved the pool at Gigi's. It was warmer this time so I think that is the key. The boys got a lot of nice gifts and Jacob was in aw of all the running around from his cousins, they are non stop and I know all he is thinking is pretty soon that will be me:)
Mommy had a nice day out yesterday. Gigi knew mommy was having a rough week cleaning up messy diapers 5 times a day, so she came over to watch Jake while I went to get a much needed pedicure. Jake and Gigi had a nice day together and I think she wore him out because he went to bed early and we did not hear a peep all night long. So Chad and I decided to master crab legs for the first time ever and they were AMAZING! Chad found a recipe from Emeril online and they were so good we were so excited. We even had to buy a special pot to cook them in, but I am glad we did! We ate dinner after Jacob went to bed last night and it was really nice, I think we will be doing that from now on - Steve and Erin have always told us thats the way to actually enjoy what you cook in peace and they are right!

Well, Jacob was finally baptized on Sunday! We had a great day with the family and his godparents, Uncle Steve and Aunt Erin, were awesome. My grandparents came in from St. Louis and they look better than ever! It was nice to celebrate with them and this was the first time my Grandpa met little Jacob.
He was good during the LONG service until they called his name and we had to take his toy away from him - never take a toy away from prince Jacob....................! All in all he did great and the day was a great success.

Jacob has 2 teeth coming in! He is in a lot of pain I can tell.... Poor little guy. They are his 2 bottom ones and he keeps crawling around with his tongue going in and out because he can feel the teeth - too funny. He is getting baptized this weekend, we are excited! He finally gets to meet his great grandpa G.

Jacob is crawling! He started crawling on April 18th, so I can officially say he started to crawl at 6 months! He is all over the place....his poor little knees are all red but he just keeps going and going. Just the other day he started to pull up, so I think walking is not far away.
We took him to his first Reds game on Sunday. He was a little afraid of all the cheering (especially the man behind us who yelled at every player). But all in all he did great. The weather was warm so Chad and I made sure we put a ton of sunscreen on him!
He still hates all food. This child will not eat for me, it is such a struggle at each and every meal time! I am not sure what else to do at this point. All he wants to do is crawl around and as soon as I put him in the high chair he screams because he knows food is coming:) Everyone says it will get better, but he has been like this since he was born - just not a huge fan of eating!

Happy Easter Eve!! Jacob is upstairs sleeping away this afternoon.... He had a really big day! We woke up this morning and went to the club with Gigi, Gpa, Aunt Erin, Uncle Steve, Parker and Ethan for an early breakfast then off to an Easter egg hunt and a little petting zoo. Then we went to the Cincinnati Zoo for more Easter fun. Jacob saw an elephant, snakes, manatee and a couple of lions... then he fell alseep in the stroller. He was SOOOO good today I can hardly stand it. We are off to Madison tomorrw afternoon after the Easter bunny visits our house. He has already received a ton of gifts from everyone:)

Sometimes people really make me wonder...... I was in the mall a couple weeks ago with Jacob (in Express actually) and I heard these people whispering next to me "you ask her......no you ask her...!" Finally I looked over at them after figuring out they were talking about me and the guy says - "Mam, can we ask you a question? Did you shave your baby's head to look like a mohawk???" I was like are you kidding me?? NO!!!!!!!! I know his hair is growing in really funny and he looks like he has a mohawk, but come on!! People really have a lot of nerve! Look at the picture above and you can see it really well:)