Success on the Potty!

I know Jake will be completely embarrased that we blogged about this someday, but he pooped and peed on the potty today! We're still in the timed, sit, and wait stage of potty training, nothing independent yet, but this is a great step. He received much praise, candy, and some time flying his Chinook. He also seemed genuinely pleased with himself, as well. Our goal is to have him trained by the time Baby Brother arrives. This gives me hope that it may actually happen!

8 Weeks and counting

Jake is used to being the center of attention around the house. So in 8 weeks I figure he has a pretty big shock coming. He seems to understand that someone new is going to be joining us. He sometimes says "wake up baby brother" to Mandy's Belly. He even tried to share his sandwich with her belly button. I wish I could have gotten tha on video. He also is really into jumping as well so i included a quick video of him showing off for the camera.




We also have some new ultrasound pictures of "baby brother"

Vacation without the Keiki

Scott and I, thanks to my mom, dad, and Heather, were able to take a vacation to Hawaii sans Jake. We missed him, obviously, but enjoyed some alone time together and time catching up with friends and neighbors. We met them at Adam's house just north of Nashville so we got to see his nice house. Then Scott and I flew to Maui from there. We spent 2 days in beautiful, secluded Hana, where we hiked Oheo Gulch (the Seven Sacred Pools), ate good food, relaxed in their spa, and just relaxed. We then flew to Oahu and stayed in our previous neighbor, Anne, sister's cottage about 200 yards from our old house in Kailua. It was also very relaxing. We caught up with our neighbors. Caren and Brad say hello to Kate and James, especially. We also visited with friends from Tripler and from church. Thanks to Addie for taking some time off work to hang out with us. We ate at Haleiwa Joe's and Zia's. The food is just as good as it ever was! Meanwhile, Jake spent the week in Indianapolis. He loved it! He returned to us well fed, well behaved, and speaking like 10 times better than when he left. Guess that's what happens when Grammie, Tom-Tom, and Auntie Heather have him as a captive audience. Here are a few pictures from our trip. I need to get some pictures from Tom-Tom of their time with Jake.

Happy Easter

We took some pictures over the Easter weekend....
Here is our family pic. Not a great angle. Where is Meg when you really need her?

Jake is two and has hit the phase of regularly need redirection, training, and discipline. Some days are great...

And some days are a little tough...

No matter what day it is, we love him!

Worlds greatest toy

Jakes new favorite thing lately has been helicopters. Several news and traffic helicopters can be seen in the evening and when we go out he gets excited every time we see one. He also asked me to draw him a helicopter several weeks ago. Since the helicopters I am most familiar with are military I started to draw him several models. He now can recognize Chinook, Kiowa, and Apache helicopters if you show it to him. We all went to target over the weekend to get a new wagon for Jake since someone stole it off the front porch. While there I came across a battery powered remote control helicopter. Mandy and the nanny don't fly it so Jake has to wait for me to come home to play with it and now his first words to me every night are helicopter and play. We both benefit since I still get to fly it most of the time while he chases after it. This video is actually the first time that Jake has shown any interest in flying it so maybe my days of piloting are over just when I was getting good at it.

Missing Mommy

Mandy has been gone at a conference in New Orleans since Sunday. So we are down to Jake Grandma Barb and Me. Overall Jake has done well but I can tell he is missing her. He has done several cute things to let me know that he missing her. Most mornings he has been climbing in bed with me around 5 AM and then falling asleep next to me. The picture above from this morning was pretty cute. Today my mom found him lying down on the futon in the office where Mandy likes to take naps with his Binky and blue blanket. She asked him what he is doing and he said " mommy takes nap here". He even took the phone from me tonight and told Mandy that he loved her. What can I say? Mandy is a wonderful mommy and wife and she is definitely missed when gone.

More Snowy pictures

I couldn't resist opsting a few more pictures of Jake in the snow from last weekend especially given how rare 3-4 inches of snow is in Atlanta. Jake woke up from his nap today with the eye gunk and cough. I hope this is just a minor cold. Grandma Barb is coming in tomorrow before Mandy leaves for New Orleans. I'll feel bad if he gets sick right before she gets here.