Jacob Month 5

It has been well over a month since Jacob turned 5 months (4/20 to be exact).  Things were super busy that day because we were trying to re-sod our entire backyard.  Digging up all the old grass and laying down 5 pallets of new sod.  But more on that project in another post coming soon....

I'll be honest, Jacob spends a lot of time doing things his sister wants to do...and just kind of tagging along.  Like going to see Sid the Science Kid at the Perot Museum, or watching her get her face painted at the Arboretum, or going to a Laurie Berkner Band concert, or dyeing Easter eggs, or just hanging out in the backyard.

It's a good thing he is a pretty laid back kid, and easy to take along everywhere we go.

He's really not on any kind of nap schedule, and sometimes that leads to him napping wherever he falls asleep.

We did have a few big events this month:
Easter...

Some requisite bluebonnet photos by my wonderful friend and neighbor, Ashli

And we had some big milestones:
1st time to sit with us at the table in the highchair

1st night in his own bed (a bittersweet experience for me this time around...)

1st time in a hotel room

And 1st baseball game (with Juice the Moose!  - Rebekah wanted nothing to do with this guy)

Blankets and playmats have become basically obsolete as he just rolls anywhere he wants to go.

And bottles have disappeared as well.  I spent 10 weeks working so hard to nurse this boy and wishing each day that he didn't have to take a bottle.  And now, he just won't do it.  It started right at the end of March when I was still working, and it just keeps getting worse.  So, he also tried a straw cup for the first time this month.  (That didn't work either...)

Mama, what is this???

Jacob is really starting to play with toys more and more and loves his toes.

My sister gave me all these toys!

And he has a smile that just takes up his entire face!!

We love this boy so incredibly much!  Hopefully I can get the 6 month update finished tomorrow!

Here is his little album for this month.

2013.04 - Jacob Month 5

And the Raccoon photos have been updated as well.

Jacob and the Raccoon

Rebekah 2 1/2 Part 2

I forgot that I've been doing a few things to help with my blog posts.  I've been keeping a casual "journal" of funny things that happen in our day-to-day life.  I also apparently wrote down a bunch of stuff right around the time she turned 2 1/2 because I knew I would forget what she was like at that exact moment in time.  Apparently I also forgot I had done this until after I did my last post!

Here are the journal posts between her 2nd birthday and 2 1/2:

10/15/2012

• First time rebekah climbed on our bed by herself. I walked in the room and she was just sitting in the middle of the bed!!
• Went to the arboretum. "I had fun music class mom"

10/21/2012

• I think Rebekah has outgrown the phase where she won't kiss me and says "no misses!" She now says "kisses mama happy!"
• She's getting really good with her colors. Seems to be naming them correctly most of the time.
• I looked out the window one day last week and Adam was throwing a ball to her. She caught it and got so excited!

10/24

• rebekah used a big girl cup at dinner tonight!

12/19

• We went to see Santa today and she wanted to tell him that she wants fingernail polish (or fingernails as she says). When I picked her up from Santa's lap she said "fingernails?" Like where is my fingernail polish? My heart just broke!! I explained to her that Santa would come on Christmas and leave fingernail polish for her and she seemed ok with waiting. :)

 
 And my notes from when she turned 2 1/2:

• Some of her favorite things: puzzles, stickers, coloring (she's actually getting pretty good at this!).  Puzzles, puzzles, and more puzzles.

• She loves to watch Sesame Street and Super Why.  It was Sid the Science Kid for awhile, but we seem to be on break from that.  We don't watch a lot of TV, but she often asks "watch tv while momma feeding Jacob?"
• We love playing games.  Zingo and the "Ice game" are her favorites.  We picked up a new one last week (5 Monkeys on the Bed), but haven't played it yet.
• She loves to give Good Morning and Good Night Hugs and Kisses, especially to her baby brother.
• We gave up the paci awhile back.  She was only using it for bedtime and it wasn't really a hard transition.  We talked about it a few days leading up to it, then it was just gone.  She asks for it sometimes then just starts laughing!
• I read this on another blog and laughed because Rebekah is exactly the same way.  "She remembers really specific details of various events but you always references them as happening 'last night.'" (In fact, we brought out the Easter basket the other day and she remembered it was for picking up Easter eggs.  She also recently told me specifically about eating ice pops in her hippo chair outside.  That was last summer sometime.
• Other favorite timing words "maybe later," "morrow," "after lunch/breakfast/dinner" (never the correct meal time)
• She loves her school.  She always talks about "My Park Cities School" and thought it was the greatest thing when Jacob started going to "My Park Cities School."
• She also started gymnastics classes recently and they are a big hit!  I sit and watch her through the window.  I love seeing her follow directions so well and listen to the teacher.  She is such a good girl in this class and I'm so proud of her.  And I am glad she loves it!
• She loves "peanutbutterjellysandwiches" and asks for one for every meal.

Even as I read these I'm sad because so many things have changed in just a couple of short months!  Hope you enjoyed the extra update!
 

Rebekah 2 1/2

Rebekah has been 2 1/2 for almost 3 months now (I guess that makes her almost 2 3/4??).  I just can't seem to make myself sit down and sort through pictures - we just take so many of them!  A fellow mom said to me today, "I feel like with each new kid, someone just hits fast forward on my life."  I'm finding this to be very true.

So what happened between August and February?  Well, other than having a baby, of course.  I just quickly went through all the pictures and I can't believe how much different Rebekah looks.  I did manage to do a blog post last Fall about our trip to the Arboretum and the State Fair.  And we had a wonderful little family photo shoot thanks to Stefani Marcus Photography (that I actually won from the DFW Cloth Diaper Group!).  And I guess I never did a blog about it, I uploaded a HUGE album of Christmas Season photos:

2012.12 - Christmas Season

So, the end of 2012 went by with a blur.  We also had some fun with Grammy and Grampy's birthdays, as well as a Seibold family trip to the Plano Balloon Festival

 
Of course, there was Halloween

We also took our first of many trips to Klyde Warren Park.

So far, 2013 has included many many pajama pics

Trips to the new Perot Museum and other museums with our Kids Club membership

And a new gymnastics class (that Rebekah loves WAY more than ballet we tried last fall)

I usually like to do a little something fun on the half birthdays, but Rebekah's half birthday is also her cousin Cadence's birthday.  Since it fell on a Saturday this year, we were too busy having fun with our cousins to worry about half birthdays.  Next year maybe we'll just have 2 cupcakes.

We also didn't have very much success getting many bee photos for her half birthday.  She just wasn't interested...

Rebekah and the Bee

I realize how hard it is to remember everything that happens.  It all changes so quickly, so I can't even tell you what she was like 3 months ago.  I know she's chatty chatty all the time, loves coloring, school, and puzzles.  She LOVES her little brother.  She's the absolute best big sister - beyond anything I could have imagined.  She's a happy girl (most of the time!).  And she loves her friends that she is making in our new playgroups. Even though I can't remember everything, at least I have pictures to remind me of this 6 months of her life!  So, here's the album of some selected Rebekah highlights from 2 to 2 1/2!

2013.02.23 - Rebekah 2 1/2

Jacob Month 4

Jacob turns 5 months old tomorrow, so I am determined to get this blog post up before then.  (I don't want to talk about how Rebekah turned 2 1/2 Feb 23 and I still haven't posted an update for her!)

It is birthday season for the Seibold side of the family as well as in our own little family.  We started with cousin Cadence's 4th birthday party in February, then 2 weeks later traveled to Lubbock for cousin Landon's 4th birthday!

At Cadence's Pirate Party

 

At Landon's Dino Party

Then we have Adam's birthday and my mom's birthday 1 day apart from each other.   St. Patrick's day is always right around then as well, which is a family favorite in our house.  St. Patrick's Day in Dallas is always celebrated the Saturday before the 17th, and since that Saturday was also my mom's birthday it made for a busy day!  Such a fun weekend.

Adam's Bday

St. Pat's Day

Grandma's Bday

I'm really glad we take lots of pictures, because otherwise I would not remember any milestones.  I'm not very good at updating the baby books, but I'm good at capturing images when new things happen.  Like Jacob playing in the exersaucer

Or Jacob's strength growing so he can hold his head up when he is on his tummy.

 And I can't forget how much Rebekah LOVES her little brother.  I really hope she always loves him as much as she does now.

 

Even now, looking at these photos, I can't believe how different he looks today compared to a month ago.  We are "celebrating" Jacob's being 5 months old by tearing up and resodding our entire backyard tomorrow.  Hopefully we can squeeze in some Raccoon photos as well.  The ones from last month are here.

And here are the rest of the photos from Month 4!  Enjoy!

2013.03 - Jacob Month 4

Jacob 3 Months!

Well, we were actually a day late getting Jacob's 3 months photos done.  Grammy and Grampy came over for dinner that night and we were having too much fun with them - and that was more important!  Now I'm over a week late getting the blog post done, but that's ok too. :)

3 months already.  This little boy has changed so much, just the last couple of weeks.  He is all smiles, and even giggling every now and then!  

 He has the most laid back, happy personality.  And he is trying so hard to be on the move!  He flips over every time we lay him on his back (except when he is swaddled in bed).  And when he is on his belly he just scoots and scoots.   

Here he is rolling over (click to view video)...

He has also started grasping for toys and has even had luck grabbing his wubbanub and sticking it in his own mouth!   

We also tried out the bumbo for the first time.  Rebekah thought it was so cool that her brother was sitting up!

We took him to the doctor on Friday (a little over a week after he turned 3 months) and he is only 12 pounds.  We just have skinny little babies!  He is growing out of his 3 month clothes though, and the 3-6 month stuff doesn't look so huge on him anymore.  So I guess he is growing!

We just love this little boy to pieces, all of us!  Looking forward to seeing what happens in the next month!

Just a few photos from the last month in the album below.  Jacob and the Raccoon photos can be seen here.

2013.02 - Jacob Month 3

Jacob: Month 2

When your 2nd month of life is December 20 - January 20, everything around you is consumed by Christmas celebrations.  In my family, we also have 2 birthdays (my dad and my grandmother) during that time frame.  I already told you about the baptism that happened this month too.  It was a busy month.

Last year, I didn't make it very far in my sorting through and posting about Christmas.  I promised several chapters, and when Chapter 2 didn't happen until the end of February, I just kind of gave up.  (In fact, that was the last time I posted until Rebekah's birthday, and I didn't even ever post about her actual party!)  Anyway, this post is supposed to be about Jacob, and the point is that I knew if I wanted to do a 2 month post on Jacob, I had to get through all the Christmas photos this year!

This is a HUGE album of photos.  We celebrate Christmas big time...setting up the tree, visiting Santa's village in Richardson, checking out the trains at Northpark (usually more than once), making cookies, making gingerbread houses (a new tradition this year), seeing Santa at Northpark, spending lots of time with family, going to Mass, and having some time for our little family to celebrate at our house.




If you can make it through all 237 (literally) photos, please feel free to check it out:

2012.12 - Christmas Season

Here's a couple of Jacob Christmas highlights!








Jacob's 1st Snow!
 
As for Jacob, he was 10lb 4oz at his 2 month appointment (6%).  His length was 22.75" (32%), but I actually think they mis-measured that because he had been in the 77-80% range on height before.  He is starting to smile and definitely likes to hold his head up as long as he can so he can to check out the world.  This sweet little boy is so loved by his sweet big sister, and is a joy to see the two of them together!

We have a few more Jacob photos posted in the album below, and of course, the Jacob and the Raccoon photos have been updated!

2013.01 - Jacob Month 2