Springtime

The weather has been very spring-like here which is a bit unusual. It seems to me that it usually goes from "winter" to summer in a matter of hours and we never look back. This year we've had chilly evenings and even some chilly days with a few teases of 80 degree weather. It's been nice, minus the terrible pollen.

We have ferns hanging on our front porch and for the past few years a family of wrens has built nests and laid eggs there. This year we have 5 eggs that should be hatching any day now. Jacob loves going out and looking at the eggs. We did this with him for the first time about a week ago. Then we waited a few days before bringing it up again. One evening this week I asked Jacob is he wanted to go out and look at the bird nest and asked him what was in it, to which he promptly replied "EGGS". He's quite excited about them.

Last weekend Jim and Diane (Mark's Uncle and Aunt) came to visit on their way home from Orlando. We had a great time visiting with them. Mark and Jim golfed(even though it was chilly and rainy), we took them to our favorite restaurant( Satchel's of course), on a tour of UF's campus, and to the Natural History Museum and Butterfly rainforest. Jacob was spoiled with lots of new books and stuffed animals and poor Bailey has now been in withdrawal from all of the attention.

We've been spending a lot of time outside recently( I know that's not surprising given Jacob's affinity for the outdoors) but we're trying to take advantage of the nice weather while we can, it will be hot and humid soon!

Jacob's school was hit badly with the norovirus this year. Last week 2/3 of the school was out sick. Somehow, Jacob was only one of 2 in his class including the teachers to not get it. He had pink eye last week and has been on antibiotics for that, maybe that helped? We kept him home Thursday and Friday to avoid any more exposure, they were also doing a mass cleaning to try to get rid of any remaining germs.

This morning we took Jacob for his first haircut. I was a bit apprehensive because I love his curls but the sides were getting way too long. Mark needed a haircut too so they got them done at the same time. Jacob wasn't keen on it to begin with but warmed up quickly and kept taking about it after we were done. He looks like quite the little boy now! (And for those of you worrying, after we washed it his hair started waving and curling again :-))

Tomorrow we're planning on a quiet Easter. Hopefully church in the morning and then an egg hunt in the backyard for Jacob and Bailey in the afternoon. I'm just starting to get over bronchitis I've had for a month so resting this weekend is our first plan. (As much as you can rest with a busy toddler).

I'll leave you with one cute Jacob story and a few pictures. Thursday when I was home with him I told him we needed to go the grocery story. He immediately started spouting off a grocery list: yogurt, applesauce, orange juice. It confused me a bit at first until I realized that was the grocery list I told him we needed a week ago when we were going to the store! This kids memory amazes me everyday!

19 months

This might be my favorite picture from recent weeks.  Bailey and Jacob waiting for Daddy to come home.

As usual, where does the time go?  Jacob is already 19.5 months old.  He went through a growth spurt in the last 3 weeks and we can now only squeeze him into a few of is 18 month clothes.  We did a major closet clean out last weekend and it made me sad to see the huge pile of clothes he no longer fits into.  Jacob was quite the helper though and put all of the clothes into the box for me as I took them out of his closet and dresser.  By the end of the clean out he had one pair of shorts that still fit him!  Fortunately there was a big consignment sale in Gainesville this week and I was able to get some new 24 month, 2T and even a few 3T outfits for him.  Ahhh, where is my baby going?

 

There have been so many things in the past few weeks I've wanted to blog about but of course by the time I get around to writing a post I've forgotten most of them.  Maybe a few will come back to me as I write.  

Today we went to Family Day at the UF Dairy.  It's a day when they open up the farm to the public and provide tours and education about how the dairy works.  Jacob wasn't feeling his best (because of teething we think) but he still loved seeing the cows and being outside of course.  He also liked the free cheese and milk they gave him at the end of the tour.  

Checking out all the cows

"PhD Moms at the Dairy"

He loved it!

Mooo

Saying "hi" to one of the cows

More cows, more cows!

Got milk?

Big cow

The biggest cow

Oooo, milk!

Snack

Checking out the cows . . . he kind of looked like he worked there. 

Petting the calf.  He really liked the babies.

Last weekend we went to St. Pete for the weekend to visit our friends Devon and Nolan.  As always it was a fun trip.  We left Friday morning so we could take Jacob to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa for the afternoon.  The weather was great and he LOVED IT!  Fortunately we purchased annual passes and it's an easy day trip so I see many more trips to the zoo in the near future.  He's been talking about it all week.  Evidently the birds made the biggest impact because when everyone at school asked him what he saw at the zoo he told them birds.  He also enjoyed the chimpanzees, the giraffes, zebra and the manatees.  Mommy liked the elephants because there was a "tiny" baby.   He seems to know quite a few more animals now that he saw them there and will point them out when we're reading books.  Since coming home from the zoo he's rediscovered the book Aunt Jessie gave him "Goodnight Zoo", we've probably read it at least 5 times a day since and it's a new addition to our bedtime routine as well.  After the zoo we drove to St. Pete.  Saturday morning we went to the wonderful Farmer's Market downtown and then in the evening Mark and Nolan went to the Lightening hockey game while Devon and I watched the Lorax at home.  Sunday we experienced Costco for the first time before heading back to Gainesville.  

Sitting down and posing for a picture, little ham!

Manatee exhibit

And another, this was all him!

Watching the chimpanzees

One came right up to see him

Reading books with Devon, waiting for the boys to get home and unlock the door

Downtown St. Pete, next to the tires in preparation for race day

Reading on Devon and Nolan's porch. 

Crazy boy after nap.  He throws everything out of his crib.

Then he was playing peel-a-book with me

And pretending like he didn't want to get out.

Watching Daddy pack the car from the porch.

Trying to escape.  This is what I found him doing before we left for St. Pete.  I have to commend him on his though process.  He's tall enough to reach the door handle now so if the door's not locked he can open it.  He must have thought he couldn't get it open because he was too short so we went into the kitchen, got a tupperware from the cabinet, took it back to the door, turned it over and stood on it.  Too bad the door was still locked :-)

This blog is completely backwards but I thought writing it this way may help me remember everything I wanted to include.  Two week ago my parents came to visit.  Henry ran in the Mt. Cheaha 50K in Alabama again and then they came to visit after his race.  We had a wonderful week with them even with our busy work schedules, terrible allergies, and what I later found out was bronchitis.  We celebrated my Mom's birthday the evening they arrived with a dinner at home and pink birthday cake.  Jacob thoroughly enjoyed the birthday celebration.  He loved watching me make the cake, the singing and the candles.  He didn't eat any of the cake, which he now refers to as "happy", but he still talks about it daily.  It was rainy for the first part of the week which kept us on our toes because of Jacob's love for the outdoors.  By the end of the week it was beautiful but chilly and we could play in the yard again.  We went to meet Mark at his work for a picnic lunch one day, went to the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens and to the Natural History Museum,  Baby Gator Field Day, and on an outing to my work so I could test everyone's hearing.  Jacob's kept everyone on their toes and was quite busy trying to keep Beep, Pops, Piper, JJ, Bailey, Mommy and Daddy in line!

With Beep and Pops at Daddy's work for a picnic

Picnic time

The camellia's were in full bloom

Playing with Piper and Bailey

Trying to keep to keep tabs on everyone

He was a total mess with the yogurt one night

Pizza!

Playing in his house

So proud of himself for eating pizza

Throwing acorns in the fishpond with Pops

First time in the car shopping cart at Publix.  So fun!

Hanging out with Pops while Beep had her hearing tested.

Walking around the botanical gardens

Doing some cooking in his kitchen with Beep

"You gotta have a dream!"  This is what Jacob did every time we sang that line in the song "Happy Talk" from South Pacific.

All smiles

Eating his broccoli.  He refused the mac and cheese and only ate broccoli for dinner, guess I can't complain.

Hitching a ride around the gardens.  Think he's teething?

Home Depot Kids Workshop . . . build a race car

Running around with his friend Owen

Jacob and Owen

Sack race

Having so much fun!

Matching shirts called for a picture

I have no idea what was going on here :-)

Kisses for Beep

 Well, that's it for now.  I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot.  I hope you enjoyed the recent updates from our outdoor loving, acorn collecting, book reading, non-stop talking, happy little teething toddler.  Maybe if I blogged more often I'd remember it all.  Oh well, it's time for bed.  We have a St. Patrick's Day picnic tomorrow and the weather's supposed to be beautiful!