A Little Perspective

Sometimes my baby seems so big! Other times, he seems like my little sweet baby. Time goes by so quickly. I know it sounds cliche, but it's so true.

I realized this recently when Jacob discovered one of his old baby toys stored in his closet. For some strange reason, he likes to get it out & play with it. It doesn't hold his attention like it used to, but he still kind of likes it. So weird!

Here's my baby playing on his activity mat:
(For whatever reason, he insisted on putting it on my bed?) I totally laughed because he looked HUGE on it.



See how tiny he was when he first played with it?

St. Patrick's Day

After Christmas, my birthday, Valentine's Day, and his birthday - Jacob is always in the mood to celebrate! I had a training class in Newport Beach, so I stopped at Sprinkles during my lunch hour to pick up some cupcakes. Nothing adds to a celebration like cupcakes! We celebrated just how Jacob would like ....


Playing Thomas trains:


Notice the shamrock sticker? He was so sad when it was "lost" the next day.



With balloons .... (we needed an excuse to get rid of the Thomas ones from his b-day)

And playing!

Not very traditional, but we had fun. I even made mashed potatoes. That's Irish, right?

Disneyland Meltdown

So mommy learned her lesson this week. As much fun as a weekend may sound there is only so much Little J can handle. Yesterday we went to the zoo, today Disneyland. I think it was just too much for him.

Anyway, the day started off fine. My friend Cyndi, her husband Chris & their super sweet little girl Samantha were in town. Here's Jacob doing his "I shoulda had a V-8" impression. LOL!



Actually, we were parked outside the carousel wondering what to do next. It was SO FLIPPIN' crowded at Disneyland. There were long waits for everything! I didn't think a Sunday in March would be so bad, but apparently it was the first weekend of Spring Break for some people? Anyway, we didn't even get to go on Dumbo because the wait was over an hour! Every line was so long Jacob had me hold him. My feet & back really started to give after a while.

This was actually Jacob's first ride on the Storybook Land boats. I thought he might be kind of scared because you first travel into the whale's mouth, but he called it a whale "tunnel."

Later over at California Adventure is where things went south. Quickly. He wanted to ride the Tuck & Roll's Drive Em' Buggies (they're bumper cars that look like bugs.) so we waited in line for that. He was impatient & acting badly, but I knew he was tired. When we got in our bug, he insisted on steering. (Fortunately there was a foot pedal on my side too or we would have been going nowhere!) The problem was ... Jacob can't steer! Worse, he wouldn't even let me touch the steering wheel. So we kept driving into a wall & getting stuck instead of driving around the track. Pretty soon the ride was over & it was time to get out of the bug. Jacob FREAKED! To him, the ride was NOT over because we hadn't gone all the way around the track. (Hello!? We were stuck on the wall the whole time!) The new batch of riders were in their bugs except the people waiting for ours. Jacob had run back, jumped in and pulled down the safety bar!!! Seeing as I was by myself, I couldn't lift the safety bar & pull him out by myself. So I had to enlist the waiting dad's help. He looked at me weird, but I was like, "This is the only way! You pull up the bar & I'll grab him."

I finally got him calmed down when I agreed to take him on the "Lady Bug Boogie" if he'd stop crying & settle down. He did, but insisted I hold him in line. My back was aching so much, I had to put him down. No go ... he slapped me. In the face. In line. When I told him, "No hitting!" He did it again. So, I fireman carried him out of there & the meltdown of all meltdowns ensued. He wouldn't settle down. Wouldn't get in the stroller. Nothing. After sitting with him SCREAMING for at least 20 minutes (which got us stares from everyone & 3 moms actually stopped to offer help - so embarrassing!) I finally had to fireman carry him clean out to the car. Not an easy task since he was kicking the whole time & I had to push the stroller with the other hand.

Needless to say, we haven't been back to Disneyland & won't be returning until summer is over. And when Daddy can come with us!!

Zoo Trip!

I can't believe it took me 3 years to get Jacob to the "World Famous" San Diego Zoo. Pretty sad. One Saturday in March Jason was out of town, Jacob & I needed something to do. So we headed south and went to the zoo with Papa & Emilie. After spending an eternity looking for a place to park (UGH!) we headed inside ...

He's totally into animals, but for some weird reason, he's usually overwhelmed when we go new places. Even Disneyland. He doesn't act excited. He's just quiet. So can I say he really liked it? I don't know! Anyway, he did like recognizing the animals.

We saw the giraffes first.



He liked being on Papa's shoulder so he could see better.


This was in the Children's Petting Zoo. There were only a few animals out available to pet. Over half of them were in their "safe" place behind the ropes. I guess they can only take so much petting!

He wasn't so sure ...

But eventually thought it was okay ...

But kept petting the butt area?

Since we adults weren't being wheeled around in a stroller, we started to get tired. It only made sense to hop on a bus for a tour. Jacob thought riding on the top of a double-decker bus was fun. Too bad it circled us around the same area we had just walked!

Overall I deem our zoo visit - average. I feel badly saying this, but I don't like the zoo that much. (shhh! I know - it's awful.) It's kind of boring and the SD Zoo, as fabulous as it is, is SO huge that it's just exhausting. Walk, walk, walk - "Ooh, a hippo. Wow. Okay." Walk, walk, walk. "What is that thing? Huh. Okay." Walk, walk, walk. hehehe.

They Call Me the Fireman ...

This is just kind of random & funny. The local firemen shop at the Albertson's (they also live closer to Pavillions but must have banned it like me!) and we saw their truck parked in the parking lot when we went to shop. Jacob was VERY excited and wanted to go check it out. So we circled the truck a few times checking everything out. He asked where the firemen were, and I told him they were inside shopping - so let's go! Nope. He insisted on waiting for them to come out. So we waited.

When they finally came back to their truck, Jacob got a serious case of stage fright & wouldn't talk to them at all! He did whisper his name when they asked. But - they were really nice & gave Jacob this cool hat. Jacob then insisted on "posing" by the truck. LOL! Good thing I happened to have my camera in my purse!

Ok, so maybe this was the funniest thing. When we were walking away & into Albertson's, some random guy came running up to me & then stopped to a halt with a funny look on his face. Then he said, "Oh, sorry. You just look exactly like my wife & I was wondering what you were doing." LOL!!! He was probably thinking, "What is my wife doing talking to those firemen?!?"

Jacob's 3rd Birthday

Jacob had an AWESOME 3rd birthday! We spent weeks planning it (well, me planning - Jacob talking about it). I gave him a few options for a party theme & he chose Thomas, naturally. Personally, I was pushing for "Kung Fu Panda" because they had a lot of cool things to go with that theme, AND I could serve PF Chang's. YUM. Alas, Thomas it is ....


He was most excited about presents. He talked early & often about what he wanted for his birthday. After Christmas was over, anything he wanted, I would respond, "You should put that on your birthday list." So then, everything went like this, "I want the Suspension Bridge for my birthday." Or, "I want Knapford Station for my birthday." His list was growing like crazy!

Birthday morning - opening presents:


Ooh, it's a golf set! (Not on "his" list, but I thought he would like it anyway!)

The best gift of all ... a finished train table made by Papa. Jason & I were way more excited about it than Jacob. Jacob acted like it was a given or something. Just another place to play. Little does he realize just how cool it is! (Notice Knapford Station? A gift from Aunt Soccorro & Uncle Ron, and cousin Charlotte!)

Party time! After all the time I spent scouring for all the theme decorations, games, etc. I did a horrible job taking pictures. We had TONS of balloons (a 20 ft. balloon arch, 6 dozen colored balloons, plus numerous Thomas mylar balloons), and I forgot to take pictures of the decorated room. Boo to you, mommy!

Here is Jacob & his cousin Hudson playing "Pin the #1 on Thomas." I didn't blindfold the kids because I didn't want to scare anyone, so they all just kind of slapped the #1's on there. Jacob was shy so he didn't go first. When I encouraged him to put his #1 on Thomas, he started crying because someone else's #1 was already in the correct spot :(

Here he is sticking his #1 on:

Pinata time! This pinata was not one you hit with a stick. (My kid whacking something with a stick? No thanks! It would probably end up being me.) There were a bunch of strings hanging from the bottom, but one was the "magic string" that opened it up.

Not sure why this picture is so bad?

Pulling strings ... Matthew looks confused because he actually pulled the magic string but the goodies didn't fall out. That took some shaking.

More pulling ...

Birthday cake. YUM!

Jacob stuck Thomas on there parallel to the tracks. I started to freak-out since it wasn't "right" but heck, it's his b-day & cake!

Side view:

Oops. I guess I deleted the pic of Jacob with the cake. Will have to add it later.

Present time! I did NOT want to open presents at the party because I thought it would take too long (it DID!!!) and I think it's just better to do at home. Other children may not understand. I know Jacob doesn't .... Anyway, Jacob INSISTED, and since it was his birthday, I relented. (I'll work something out in advance next year. We're not doing this again!)

Cousin Hudson helping Jacob open a gift:

Jacob checking out said gift. A talking police gear set from one of Jason's work friends. (He insists on literally trying to find the most annoying gifts for Jacob. Annoying to US that is - not for Jacob.) But this one was kind of funny. All of the pieces of gear talk. The night stick says things like, "I need to maintain order!"

The other annoying gift from Jason's work friend - a talking Caterpillar truck. It screams (it feels like it to me, anyway) "Caterpillar!" and honks. UGH.

Opening one of many Thomas gifts:

This was from us - a Birthday Thomas. Not sure why he looks unhappy?

Overall, I think the party went well. It was long & could have run more smoothly, but I'll work on that for next year. Trying to get everything home? That was a challenge! (The party was at a nearby clubhouse.)

Once I did get home, I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of the balloons, etc.

These are not great photos, but at least I took some! Until next year .... Happy Birthday Little J!