Backfloat Ribbon

 
 
These pictures were taken two months ago when Jake got his backfloat ribbon at Hubbard's! This is his coach Doug whom he LOVES swimming with! Being a swim teacher I am obviously passionate about children being safe in the water, so to see my own son floating all by himself for several seconds is paramount! And I love that he's so comfortable he goes ahead and crosses his legs too!

 

Free Child Labor

 

Jake was so excited about decorating the tree for the first year, it was great! Matt and I just sat back and watched as he took out all the ornaments and hung them one by one, often saying under his breath, "I didn't think I could do but I DID it!" Notice the "grouping" of similar ornaments in the same spots and that they're all in the center third of the tree on the front only! I didn't have the heart to guide him, I just thought it was so cute that he was so into it!

Thanksgiving Day

 

This is Jake's "flagstaff cousin" Gavin who is three weeks older than Jake. They played miniature golf and soccer together (kind of) on Thanksgiving Day at the Downings. It's fun to watch the boys growing up and communicating when they think no one is watching!

Cool Whip Hair

 

I was making the cool whip/cream cheese layer for the pumpkin pie I made on Thanksgiving and somehow Jake made it out of the kitchen with my spatula. I look across the room into the quiet living room to find Sam licking off the spatula Jake is holding to his tongue. Next he rubbed the spatula in swirls on the top of his hair as if to "stir" the white creamy mess. It's hard to say "Jake, stop doing that, and bring me the spatula" with a straight face. So I took a picture of the unphased and sugared up Sam instead.

Three weeks later and the candy hilarity continues!

Tonight at bedtime I said, "let's pray" and Jake said, "I already talked to Jesus, the candy is gone....Yord, the candy is gone, can you find it?" As I was silently cracking up, he saw me laughing and joined in the laughter. For like 5 minutes straight we just cracked up together. If you haven't laughed with your kid lately I highly recommend it. It lightened my mood, that's for sure!

The Meaningful Prayertime of a Two Year Old

Last night I went into bed with Jake to say prayers-as usual, but this time I asked him if he wanted to pray. He said yeah, but then it was silent. I said "do you want me to start?" He did so I said "Dear Jesus..." Jake said "I don't know what to say to Jesus". I said "just tell Him what's on your heart." He said " I need candy".

Snapfish:Photo:Shared

Snapfish:Photo:Shared
I absolutely love this picture of Jake and Mia. They are at the Great Pumpkin Festival at Desert Botanical Gardens this October.

Out of the Mouth the Heart Speaks

So I know I'm not alone in the battle of the candy obsession after Halloween. Every day Jake asks if he can hold his candy (bag). This leads to sorting his candy by category (he is so his father) and even showing me a lolly pop bouquet he arranged in his hand. Eventually a melt down occurs because he doesn't get to eat the candy (either he already had some and is petitioning for more or it's 7 am). Last night Matt and I laughed when Jake's true heart was revealed. Matt took him into bed and was saying prayers. Matt ended with "bless mommy and daddy and Jake and baby Sam" at which point Jake adds "and the candy".

Halloween 2008

The boys enjoy a pumpkin cupcake and fruit at the Hubbard Halloween Party

Jacquie takes care of all these boys: Frank the zebra, Jake-Mickey Mouse, baby Tommy-the monkey, Tommy-Spiderman, Sam the Turtle and Drew is Elmo.

Our little Turtle

I wanted to get Sam crawling in his Turtle costume on video because it just totally makes the outfit (and him) so much cuter than a picture!