A Visit With Christine and Frank

Mandy and I went to the AAP together for CME and education this year. We brought Jake with us and stayed with Christine and Frank and Parker. It was a good time and we wish we had more time to spend with them and vistiting other old friends we have not seen in a while. It was a great time for Jake who not only has an old playmate about the same age as him but tons of new toys to play with. I think he might have at least learned what sharing is. Next step is to get him to share with other kids. Both Parker and Jake love cars but fortunately there was enough to go around most of the time. I am also pretty sure Parker influenced Jake to start using many more words. Jake is now counting to 3 with prompting and learned to say "no" among many other new words this weekend. I took some pictures and video of them together for our families and for Addie who I know would like to see them. Bobby and Bob got to meet Jake for the first time as well and we have several good pictures from dinner ar their house.

The videos are from today when Jasmine (the nanny) and I took the boys to the park and hen after lunch. I am not sure if Jake was trying to hug Parker or wrestle but it was pretty funny.

Oktoberfest....In Las Vegas

Our first vacation of the year drastically changed as soon as we left for the airport. Everyone tries to maximize their vacations and we are no different. We had plans to fly to Las Vegas on Friday night to meet up with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Kris. Unfortunately Mandy was running late at the clinic. No big deal, I went to go pick up Jake from daycare had him ready to go in the seat and unfortunately the Xterra wouldn't start. Our flight was scheduled to leave in just under 2 hours and Mandy quickly rearranged my flight until Saturday morning so I could stay back and get the car towed. I was able to get her and Jake to the airport just in time to make the flight and had already talked to the dealership about dropping the car off before they closed at 2000 but so far no tow truck. USAA covers an 11 mile tow radius and the dealership was about 14, no big deal I thought. I told the dispatcher that I could pay the 10 dollar overage fee in cash. Instead of sending the tow truck she had sent another few people in a ford explorer to get the cash first. I still could have made it to the dealership on time however the people in the Ford explorer decided to give the gate guards on base a hard time and were in the process of being kicked out. It took me a while to figure out that the tow truck wouldnt come until I payed the fee upfront becuase drivers for this company were not allowed to handle cash. Long story short I can't drop the car off becuase it is now too late, and eventually get the car towed back to our house that is in fact within the 11 mile radius late at night. At this point after meeting the drivers I am just happy to have the car back at home in one piece. I didn't find this out later but Mandy did an amazing job getting herself and Jake from the airport in Vegas to the hotel with all the luggage and baby gear. Thankfully Jake was a good sport and random people were willling to help her out.

After I arrived the next morning I found out that her Grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer on Friday. This caused another change of plans. We decided to all go to Iowa instead and spend time with the family instead of driving south. With the help of Orbitz and my laptop I arranged tickets to Iowa and another return flight to Phoenix (our return flight to Atlanta is from Phoenix). Jake got to fly to Indianapolis with Tom and Kris and then drive to Iowa while Mandy and I stayed in Vegas for one more night. Before we left everyone went out to the Hofbräuhaus in Vegas. Jake has grown into his Lederhosen from Wolfgang and Ellie and was an immediate hit with the servers.

Happy 22 months, Jake!

Jake is now 22 months old. Amazing. I say that every month as he adds to his experiences and skills. As we are well entrenched in our routine of work, home, and weekend activites here in Atlanta, the weeks just fly by! He has really added to his vocabulary this month. He has been caught saying phrases now: "Where is Daddy?"and "Please, more". He says random things that we've never taught or reinforced with him like: "MARTA" (the mass transit system here in Atlanta) or "Choo-Choo" in reference to trains. He says "Daddy", "Mama", "Jakie","doggy", "kitty" pretty accurately and appropriately. He's begun keeping an entourage of friends, which grows every day, but currently includes: 3 plastic bathtub frogs, 2 hot wheel Lightening McQueens, 1 beenie baby praying teddy bear, and 1 talking Junior Asparagus of Veggie Tales fame. This is all, in addition to his 2 blankies and 1 binky ("bee-bee" in his vocabulary). He keeps this entourage only for naps, bedtime, and car trips. The frogs he lines up around him in perfect order. Scott blames me for this OCD seeming trait. I just call it attention to detail! We are doing well and have enjoyed visits from Uncle Adam (x2 already) and Grammy Kris and Grandpa Tom-Tom this month. We are looking forward to a visit from Grammy Barb soon, as well. We're settled into a church, which is our only outside of home and work activity right now, but it's ok. Life is fairly simple right now. Sort of. Especially now that the last few boxes have been unpacked! I've been taking a few pictures with my new Blackberry and posting them on Facebook and Flickr. Take a look for more frequent picture updates!

Happy 21 months, Jake!

Here is a picture of Jake, Finn, Henry, and Milo. It is the first time we met Milo on our trip to Indianapolis to see everyone. Scott wasn't able to go because he was on call, but it was ok. Jake is closer to 20 months here, but close enough.

Here is a picture of Jake and I that is one of my recent favorites. He's really a great kid, this picture really shows his happy side, which is almost all the time. I'm grateful we only have occasional tantrums!

Amidst the busyness of working and unpacking our house, I've neglected the blog for too long. I don't know if we have any faithful followers anymore, but even if not, this is a good way to chronicle Jake's first years.

The Amazing things Jake does

Scott and I were making a list of the amazing things that Jake has learned to do in the last 3 months since I returned from Afghanistan. Some days, it feels like he is growing up right before our eyes. Here's the list we came up with:
1. He can hold a carton of milk, drink from the straw or straight from the carton. Along those lines, he drinks really well out of a cup.
2. He can say so many words. They all require great encouragement and repeating what we say, but he's adding new ones to his vocabulary every day. Today he said cucumber, which was a little garbled, but definitely understandable. He says hi, bye-bye, mommy, daddy, Jakie, kitty, doggie, please, down, up, meow, and other words that I can't think of right now.
3. He can climb anything. I mean anything. All the climbing ladders at the park are his favorite. He hasn't figured out that chairs help him climb at home. Or it might be that we only have 2 chairs in the entire house right now...
4. He spontaneously hugs and kisses Scott and I. Awesome!
5. He waves, hi and good-bye. He gives high fives and knuckles, which I figure Uncle James would appreciate.
6. He runs, jumps, walks backward, and gallops. I can't keep up with him!
7. He throws his trash away, puts his clothes in the hamper, and puts his shoes by the door. None of this happens without encouragement, but he still does it.

I know these are all things that a kid should be doing, but to watch Jake learn how to do everything for the first time is amazing!

Moving Day

We are finally going to move into our new home in Atlanta! As a result, we may not have great internet service for a few days. The place is pretty empty since our furniture won't arrive until August. Thankfully it is an older home with quite a bit of character so it will be ok. We are the first renters that this owner has had. She has lived in the house for 20 years and she's very attached to the house, understandably. Kate and I have discussed that renting is difficult for "nesters" like us because you can't ever feel really good about making significant changes because you worry about what the owner might think. For example, the walls throughout the downstairs living area are all very goldenrod yellow. Not a bad color, but too much for the whole house. I REALLY want to paint at least one of the rooms. I'm going to talk with her tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. Either way, we are going to be in a house starting tomorrow! Yay...no more hotel!

It's no Hotel Hana!

Daddy and Jake in a new park we discovered.

Mr. Blue Eyes playing on the bouncing bridge.

Mommy and Jake watching Cars for the 30th time in the hotel room.

It's no Hotel Hana, but our home away from home, The University Inn at Emory, has been really nice. Very homey, friendly staff, and great breakfast, coffee, and snacks. We've found and signed for a rental home in Virginia Highlands that we're pretty excited about. We don't move in until July 10th, though! We moved the cats into a kennel called Kamp Kitty. They are the only guests currently so are very happily the center of the owner's attention. At first I felt guilty about putting them there, but they are on Kitty Vacation, especially Hobbes from Jake. Scott has already started work. Long days, but off on most weekends, and no home call!!! What a huge improvement to residency life! I start this Tuesday and Jake starts in his new daycare, which is on post. This is the first time we've decided to go with the post day care option and we'll see how it goes, but they seem very nice and professional. I think it will be ok for now. We've been enjoying the nice weather in Atlanta. It was hot initially, but now much better. We're very grateful for the birth of our most recent nephew, Milo Patrick. Congrats Meg and Mike! We'll post some pictures when we have them of the new house. Our furniture won't arrive until August so we'll be in an empty house for a little while, but no worries, we can still take visitors!