More cute sayings by Jake

Additional quotes by Jake:
"Pickles make me happy."
"One minute, Cat!" In reference to putting the scary cat toy that Henry left at our house in time out. When asked why the cat was in time out, he could not say.
"Hit the road squirrels!" What Jake yells out the window at the squirrels that insist on eating all the bird seed from our bird feeder.

Bowling and sleeping

Last night, Sam slept for 8 hours straight! I am so thankful as I am going back to work in 5 days and getting regular sleep will really help. We have been Babywise adherents with both boys and both have been sleeping for 7-8 hours by 8-9 weeks. I know they were probably predisposed to sleep, but I feel confident that Babywise helped me get them there. I just hope it continues...sleep is so wonderful!

Jake has been progressing well through potty training. Today he was discussing bowling with Elizabeth, our Nanny, and decided he really wanted to try bowling. Scott made a deal with him. Poop in potty for bowling. Sure enough, he went, so we went bowling! We tried out a bowling alley that is in a somewhat sketchy area, surrounded by interesting clubs and "spas", but it was a great bowling alley! We'll definitely go back! Here is a video of Jake in action:

Jake says the funniest things

As Jake develops his vocabulary and speech patterns, I realized I better write down some of the funny observations and spontaneous things he has said recently.

"Coffee makes Mommy happy."

Jake and Scott walk into nursery at church. Jake says, "Hi. I'm Jake. This is Scott."
Jake and Mandy walk into sunday school at church 2 days later. Jake says, "Hi. I'm Jake. This is Mandy."

"I love the sting ray." In reference to new stuffed animal from GA Aquarium.

"It's ok, Sam." Stated whenever Sam is crying.

"It's a mix of flavors." Describing eggs, cheese, and broccoli. From his recent daily exposure to Ratatouille, his current favorite movie. I'm hoping this is the beginning of a long career in the culinary arts.

I'll write some more later when I can think of more.

The summer is ending...

Yes, the above is a picture of Sam, not Jake. They look a lot alike, don't they?

Jake is a great big brother. Here he is helping me with Sam's stroller.

Jake becoming cultured at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

One of my favorite pictures from our family reunion. We just finished playing in the river and are waiting for Tom-Tom and the RV.

We've enjoyed a pseudo summer vacation this year as my maternity leave has coincided with typical summer vacation dates. July 4th through Labor Day weekend. We've had many adventures, including adding Sam to our family. I go back to work in a week and I think I'm ready. Here are a couple of favorite shots from our summer adventures as well as recent pictures of Sam and Jake.

More cute pictures

Caught Jake on camera holding his brother for the first time, and he didn't even drop him. not much else to report around here, Sma is eating and sleeping and we are sleeping whenever he lets us at night.

Play Ball

Grandpa Tom Tom and I bought Jake a few new toys to play with after we brought Sam home. One of his favorite is the whiffle ball bat and accompanying tee. At first he seemed to get mostly the tee instead of the ball but from the video here you can see he has already improved his game. Usually when I get home in the evenings we trade off between using the tee and slow pitching the balls to him. We also got a miniature basketball hoop at the same time but haven't used it yet since he is still so excited to "play baseball"

Balance

I just read Kate's entry on James' blog and have been thinking about balance while I am a brief stay at home mom. First of all, I am still in the midst of the first 4 weeks of Sam's life so I know that my current life is not about balance, but about schedule. Scheduled feeding, sleeping, playing with Jake. I am hoping for the balance between my two kids now and am not even thinking about balance at work. It does make me nervous to go back to work, but I have some more weeks to figure things out.