There's No Crying in Bubble Blowing

On Sunday, Jacob experienced Gymboree for the first time at 11 months old. When Matthew was about that age we took him. Matthew LOVED Gymboree.. Jacob... not so much. Jacob would cry every time I put him on the floor to play with a toy. The only time I could put him down was during the bubbles.

Matt & Jake's Visit to Grandma and Grandpa's House

This past Saturday Matthew, Jacob, and I went to visit my parents in The Woodlands. We spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa. First we took Grandpa out for a belated birthday lunch. Both boys were very well behaved even though we were slightly worried Matthew was going to throw Bongo at other patrons when he started to get restless.


We then went to the BIG PLAYGROUND at Lake Shore park. Matthew insisted that we go.





They also tried there hardest to get the "babyproofed treadmill" going with no success. I should have gotten some photos with Grandma too.. oh well next time.

Jacob is into EVERYTHING

Our 11 month old Jacob is walking all over the house and as family and friends like to comment, "He is into EVERYTHING". Here are just a few places he was caught.
In the bathroom under sink cabinet.

In the "coffee" kitchen cabinet. Time for him to munch on some K-cups.


Into Matthew's underwear drawer. I cannot wait to show this to Jacob when he is a teenager fighting with his older brother :)

This is something Jacob likes to do.. put his head on the ground and look at the world from a new perspective. He does this a lot.. especially when he gets frustrated about something. It appears that for this photo it was just for fun though.

A Visit from Great Aunt Neda from Croatia

On Wednesday March 23, Aunt Neda visited us with Tony's Father.. Deda and Teta Neda. Neda came to Texas to visit from Croatia and we were delighted to have her meet the boys for the first time. She has grandsons in Croatia who look a lot like older versions of Matthew and Jacob. Both boys took to Great Aunt Neda right away.


Jacob even got a hold of Matthew's drumsticks to show to Aunt Neda.


Of course no visit from Deda would be complete without some swinging in the swing set.

jacob is officially walking around

Dad here. Jacob has been attempting to walk for last few weeks. Even though his poor little ears were full of liquid, which no doubt disrupted his balance, we has determined to do it.

He has been taking a step here and there. So quick that we could not start the video camera quickly enough to capture the moment. And when we are ready to footage, he stops. You know, the usual shyness when on camera...

On Tuesday, the day before his successfull ear tube surgery, we finally got something on video. As you will see, he has incredible balance, even before the ear tube surgery.



Now, Jacob can walk over ten feet with out falling down. He just takes a few steps, regains his balance, and continues the walking. Also, he can remain on his feet for minutes at a time.

Double Surgery Spring "Break"

Matthew and Jacob were scheduled for ear tube surgery on Monday of this week. It is Spring Break week and we were planning on going to Sea World later in the week. However, the boys changed the plans. When we arrived at the hospital at 6AM Monday morning Matthew had a 104 fever and Jacob had a 102 fever. The boys' ENT Dr. Johnson rescheduled. After staying home all day Monday and Tuesday and canceling the trip to Sea World we went back to try again at 5:30AM today (Wednesday). The boys temperatures were much closer to normal so the doctor went through with the surgery. All went well. They are home recovering and Tony is already taking his nap. We had to wake up at 3:30AM to get to the hospital in time.

This photo was taken on Monday morning after their surgeries were rescheduled. They don't look like they have a 101+ fever.

Wednesday morning before surgery.

After surgery. What a little trooper.

Jacob came out of surgery a little fussy but overall did very well.


He felt even better after his feeding.

Wedding in New Orleans

On February 20th Jacob, Matthew, and I went to New Orleans with Grandma, Grandpa, and Unkie Jude for the wedding of a cousin Kristi Doot. We gave Daddy a much needed weekend to himself. Jacob didn't make it easy for me to pack one of the 5 suitcases needed for a 3 day trip. It seems like the smaller the traveler the more suitcases (pack and plays, strollers, etc) are needed. We did have an ideal situation. Grandma rented a big van to travel to New Orleans for the 6 1/2 hour trip. This allowed me to sit next to Jacob and entertain him reducing the crying by 75%.

It isn't hard to entertain a 3 year old and a baby in a hotel room. All it takes is a bell hop cart.

Jacob rarely sleeps in someone's arms. Unkie Jude seems to have the magic touch.

Okay, this is Jacob right before the wedding ceremony. It was a relief to have him sleeping instead of crying or babbling during the wedding vows. Luck was on our side and Matthew fell asleep during the ceremony too.

In between the wedding ceremony and the reception we found this playground to entertain Matthew before taking him to the babysitter. He loved playing with his Unkie Jude and Grandpa.





Jacob had a blast at the reception. He heard authentic New Orleans music for the first time and he seemed to perk up immediately and bounce up and down. Our cousin Aimee enjoyed dancing with him.



We also got to see our Aunt Jo and Uncle Ray. We visited them in 2008 and had a great time in Cape Cod.


Of course we can not leave New Orleans without some Mardi Gras beads. Not quite enough to make everything pleasant for the 6 1/2 hour ride home.

Matthewisms and Jacob doings

This past weekend Matthew wacked his daddy in the kneecap with the plastic golf club shown here and said, "Daddy is a xylophone". I told Tony that he is lucky Matthew wasn't trying to hit the high notes.


Matthew and Jacob love bath time. This is Jacob munching Matthew's bath letters while Matthew bathes close by.

Recently, Jacob graduated to being able to take a bath without his baby tub. He enjoyed splash time with his brother.


We later discovered that it is easier to clean him in the dishwasher...

They also enjoy spending time together in the ball pit.


This is what we get for leaving Kleenex within Jacob's reach. He pulled out every single tissue.


The "Cone of Silence": We discovered that Jacob loves to chew on ice creamless ice cream cones. Since this usually stops his crying we have dubbed them the cone of silence.

Sorry, no explanation for this photo