First Christmas

Jake really enjoyed his first Christmas! He wasn't expecting all those new toys- and he really showed interest in each one he opened! Here are some cute pictures of him playing with his toys:






And we couldn't resist letting him open one the night before (and the night before that)!!



Jake's first Christmas was such a special time for Jason and me! It was fun to prepare for and to watch Jake enjoy! The only unfortunate thing was our trip to Kentucky, which started the day after Christmas, got cut short because Jake got really sick with a sinus/ear infection. Jake got to enjoy more presents from Santa while we were there, but missed out on the birthday party his Nanny was planning for him :( I did remember to bring the camera this time, but didn't get any pictures since Jake was so sick. Good news is, Jake is starting to feel better- just trying to keep him well rested and making sure he gets all of his medicine! We hope you all have been having a wonderful holiday season.....and we wish you all a Happy New Year!! 2009 brought us so much Joy............JAKE

Twas the Night before Christmas

......and somehow I found time to blog! Just wanted to share some holiday pictures taken over the past three weeks, while we have been eagerly awaiting Jake's first Christmas!









Happy Holidays from our family to yours!!

First Snow

We had our first snow of the winter season this past weekend, well I guess it wasn't officially winter yet on Friday and Saturday when it came.....but close enough. And it wasn't really snow, more of an icy slush.....but still neat to see! Above are some pictures of us enjoying it- and I swear I had Jake dressed in pants, but they seem to look like shorts in all these pictures (poor kid) ......I guess we have hit another growth spurt! Below are some pictures of Jake afterward- I can't tell if he was having more fun enjoying the snow or playing in his crib!!

On the Move

One would rarely find Jake sitting still these days......instead you would see him in a place or position like this:



He is on the move and loving it! He can't wait to be able to walk on his own- every day he gets closer. He loves for us to hold his hands and walk him around the house. He is doing great at cruising along the furniture- and can get from one end of the couch to the other pretty much on his own! The past couple of weeks (this is so cute), he has started holding up the "phone" to his ear - and not just one of our cell phones or his play cell phone, but pretty much any object in front of him (I even caught him doing this with a Cheerio the other day) and once he has it up to his ear he will say "eh-lo". I guess he has been secretly observing us talking on the phone these past 11 1/2 months- too cute! Here are a few pictures of him in the act (in the first one he is holding an animal cookie):

Happy Birthday Daddy

It is Jason's birthday today! Jake made him some delicious brownies- his favorite! Here they are enjoying them together (one of them might be enjoying them more than the other)!! I guess Jake is practicing for his upcoming birthday :)

Meeting Reace

In November, our friends Randy and Robin had their second daughter, Reace. We took Jake to meet her this past weekend- he has never been around a baby younger than he is, so he had fun looking at her (and also playing with her big sis Reagan)! It is hard to believe Jake was once that little- oh how you have grown my little man!

Crawling!!

Jake started crawling a couple of days ago (on December 6th) !! He starts out in a sitting position and falls forward on his hands and swings one of his legs around to a crawling position, then he pulls himself forward. He loves being able to get around on his own :) Way to go Jake- we knew you could do it! We're so proud of you little guy!!

One More Month

Jake turned 11 months old today! I can't believe there is only one more month until he turns 1 year old. Here he is at 11 months (right before we put the Christmas tree up) :



So much has happened in the last month. Some of the new skills Jake has developed since he turned 10 months old have been:

November 9th: pulled up for the first time
November 23rd: cruised along furniture for the first time
December 3rd: went from a lying down position to sitting up

He also started handing us objects right before Thanksgiving- he will hold a toy out and then snatch it back before we can take it, but sometimes he decides to part with it and will hand it over! He pulls himself up to a standing position quite frequently now and has even begun learning to balance himself standing up without holding on to anything.

Jake- you continue to amaze us each and every day, we are so proud of you little guy! Can't wait to see what the next month has in store for us!

Texas

Just wanted to add a couple more pictures from our Texas trip. Here is Jake when we went out to eat for his Nana's birthday. He had fun sitting with his Papa and was very interested in his cousin Jackson's hat:


Here he is with his cousin Sydney back at the house. A little blurry- but still cute!

Thanksgiving Trip

We recently got back from our trip to Texas for Thanksgiving- we had such a great time! It was so nice for Jake to get a long visit with his Nana and Papa! He was also happy to see his Aunts/Uncles, Cousins, and Great Grandmothers! And of course, I forgot my camera again-bummer. But thankfully, I was able to get some that my mom and sister took. Jake had so much fun swinging and going down the slide at the park near my parents' house. Here are some cute ones of him on the swing:



And he really enjoyed listening to his Uncle Madhu read to him while he sat with his cousins. He also had fun playing on the rug with Nana and Papa's toys because they were different than the ones he sees all the time at home!


Jake was so so so close to crawling while we were there. I keep thinking he is going to skip crawling all together, but then he makes some move that gets him closer to it. On this trip he started picking up his front hand and placing it back on the ground when he was up on all fours. Since we have been back though, his focus has been on standing up and learning to walk. He has gotten really good at getting himself to a standing position while pushing against me. He has even balanced himself for a few seconds in a standing position with out any assistance. So who knows, maybe he will go straight to walking. Whichever method it is, there is one thing for sure- he can't wait to be able to get around on his own!

It was another great Thanksgiving- so good to see everyone!! Love you all