Sleeping like a baby

I don't know how Jacob can sleep when he is in a position like this, but he seems quite comfortable.  I'm not sure exactly how long he was like this before I checked on him.  If this had been me, my leg would have been asleep and I would have definitely woken up.  What a silly sleeper. 

Exciting Sign!

Basically since Jacob was born, we have been doing a few sign-language signs to help him be able to communicate before he can say words.  He is fantastic at saying 'all done' when he is finished eating and saying 'bye-bye'.  Yesterday he walked up to me with a very determined look on his face, did the sign for 'eat' then proceeded to walk to the pantry and say "cracker".  He did this a couple of more times after he finished his cracker and again this morning when he was ready for breakfast.  I was really beginning to think that he would be stubborn and not do the signs, but he has made me a very happy mom!  It is so hard not knowing what they need/want.  

Awesome Thanksgiving Weekend!

Over Thanksgiving weekend Tony, Jacob, and I took a trip to Las Vegas to visit the Boyacks (Tony's sister, Lisa, and her family).  We had a weekend full of yummy food and lots of time for Jacob to play with his cousins.  Jacob played really well with both Brooklyn (3) and Owen (almost 5) and loved doing whatever they were doing.  However, Jacob kept stealing poor Ava's (3 months) binky!  We really had to watch the little thief because he would grab the pacifier away from Ava in the blink of an eye!  Ava was a good sport about it, but Jacob will have to watch out when she gets old enough to defend herself a little.

Yummy Thanksgiving food!

Jacob playing with the big kids.  He loved the slinky!

While we were in Las Vegas, we went out to Red Rock to try and get some pictures of our two families.  The kids were really good sports about the whole thing and Jacob was entirely entertained because he kept eating rocks.  I swear that kid probably swallowed a pound of dirt and rock material.  He didn't seem to mind the taste.

I LOVE EATING ROCKS!

If I run fast enough, they can't take any more pictures!

We also went out to the Mini Gran Prix track to celebrate Brooklyn's birthday.  We raced around in the go-carts, went down the giant slide, played some video games, and the adults drove the speed cars.  It was really a lot of fun.  

Our last night there we all went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant.  The kids were great!  Jacob had his first taste of Japanese food and loved it.  He ate everything we put in his mouth including gyoza, tempura vegetables, and udon noodles.  It was really amazing to see how open he was to eating anything. 

We had such a great trip!  Thanks to Lisa and Nate for letting us stay with them and being such great hosts.  

Busy Jacob

It has been a busy few weeks for us and Jacob.  Jacob got his first haircut (middle picture). I think that now he looks like a real little boy instead of just a baby.  Over the past weekend, Jacob decided to start walking pretty much full time.  He crawls only to get himself to something that he can pull himself up on.  Jacob has also discovered how to "pet" Abby and Max and loves to pat them all the time.  Abby is really good with Jacob and lets him crawl all over her.  Max, on the other hand, is constantly trying to avoid Jacob.  Max isn't mean or anything, he just doesn't want to be bothered.  

Here are just a few pictures of our busy guy.

Clean Hands

I took this video a few weeks ago and I couldn't resist showing all of you Jacob's favorite way to clean his hands after a meal.

Walking fool

Jacob started walking.  He has been taking a few steps since early September, but now he can walk pretty well...that is, when he wants to.  He seems to walk the best for his Grandma Peterson and has even walked all the way down her entry way hall (about 82 steps).  He walks the best when he has someone to cheer him on, but I know it won't be long before he is cruising around the house and getting into more mischief than he already does.  I'll post some pictures soon.

Yesterday, we took him to Target and let him walk around (holding our finger).  He thought it was great to try and grab everything off the shelves and be (somewhat) independent.  

What a crazy cute kid.  Also, he is doing really well.  He hasn't had any wheezing for about a week and hasn't shown any other symptoms.  Hopefully, he is over whatever was bugging him. 

We love being home

Many of you know that Jacob was in the hospital again from Sep 22-26.  On Sep 22 he started the day with a slight wheeze and by 5:00 pm he had blue lips and was being transported by ambulance from our pediatrician's office to Primary Children's hospital.  I went in the ambulance with him and was slightly disappointed that they didn't use the sirens to get us there faster.  Jacob was stable, but I still would like the full experience.  Anyway, after a very long night in the ER and in his hospital room, Jacob finally started to improve.  The next few days were just a blur of doctors, nurses, little sleep for anyone and a very tiny room. 

Jacob is improving and his official diagnosis was that he had a virus (could be the same one he had before) that made his lungs go haywire.  We hope that it never happens again or to anyone else.  Needless to say we are very happy to be home.  

What? I am sick?

Poor little Jacob spent 48 hours in the hospital this week.  On Wednesday, his breathing was really labored (thanks to Shannon for calling us and letting us know) and he just wasn't himself so we took him to the ER at Primary Children's Hospital and had him checked out.  They couldn't get his breathing to be much easier right away so he was admitted.  They tested him for all the normal 'bad' viruses, took xrays of his lungs, and constantly monitored him, but were unable to definitively tell us what he had.  Basically, it seems he had some kind of virus that caused his lungs to go haywire and make it difficult for him to breathe.  Happily, we are now at home and he is doing much better.  We still have to give him albuterol treatments every four hours and he's not allowed to leave the house until at least Tuesday, but at least we are at home.

While we were at the hospital, he truly charmed all the doctors and nurses with his happy smile and incredible level of activity despite not breathing well.  If you didn't listen to him breathe, you would have never guessed he was sick.  He moved around in his crib like a little monkey and was constantly getting tangled in his tubes and wires.  He was such a good sport despite all the people poking him and literally vacuuming snot out of his nose.  

Never a dull moment

Since I last posted almost a month ago, Jacob has undergone some major changes.  In less than a month he went from only rolling from his tummy to his back (not the other way) and sitting up supported to crawling like a maniac and pulling himself up on things to stand up.  He is now getting braver every day and actually letting go of our hands or other support objects and trying to walk.  His crawling is hilarious because he has two types of crawls.  The first type is a 'normal' crawl with knees and hands.  He can cruise around really fast with this crawl on carpet and in his crib.  The second type of crawl is the 'one-knee' crawl where he uses one foot, one knee, and two hands.  He uses this crawl on linoleum and hardwood floors so that he can have more leverage and not slip so much.  This crawl is so funny because he gets going so fast he almost tips over head first.  Needless to say he is keeping us super busy.  I think that he will  be walking before he is 9 months!  Crazy kid!

Seattle Trip

My older brother, Josh, got married on July 19 in Tacoma, Washington.  My whole Gatherum family made a trip out of the wedding and spent a week exploring the Puget Sound.  The weather was wonderful (80 degrees, no rain, cool nights) and we had a great time.  

Here are just a few of our adventures. 

Jacob and I checked out the octopus at the Seattle Aquarium

Jacob finally got a chance to just hang out with Grandpa G. at the aquarium.  Who cares about a glass roof room where you can see fish swimming above you when you can play with Grandpa's sunglasses?

My younger sister Channdra and Jacob at the Undersea Naval Museum.  Chann decided that it would be cute to see Jacob sitting on a submarine missle.  

Jacob and me in a park in Gig Harbor, WA.

We went to Twanoh State Park for boating, jetskiing and hanging out with the bride and groom.  I like to call this picture "Our little Ratatouille".  Jacob kept pulling Tony's hair almost like he was trying to tell Tony to do something.  Very funny!

Jacob's first dip in the ocean.  Granted, there were no waves because we were in the Puget Sound, but he didn't seem too disappointed.  In fact, he loved being in the water. 

Jacob with his cousin Carter.   Every time Carter came near Jacob, Jacob would grab Carter's ears and try to bite his nose.  It was hilarious to watch and both Jacob and Carter would bust up laughing.  They say that children Jacob's age can't play with others, but he sure loves to see Carter.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the wedding.  By the day of the wedding, Tony and I were just trying to keep Jacob calm and ended up not getting any pictures.  Jacob was great the whole week, but was starting to get a tooth and was exhausted from all the excitement.  We can't wait to go back and visit Josh and his new wife, Erin.  Tony and I really want to try out kayaking in the sound and do some hiking through the beautiful areas around Seattle.

WARNING!

If you leave vegetable oil in a very hot house for three weeks...it will go rancid.  Just ask Tony who ate some not so tasty brownies made with rancid oil.  Just thought I should share that with everyone.  Also, we finally got our a/c back!  Hooray!

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary!  I just want to say how happy I am that Tony endured everything I put him through during my Ice Princess days and that we got married.  We have had our ups and downs just like everyone, but things have always turned out for the best, and in many cases better than we could have imagined.  

I love you Tony!

The Heat is On!

A few months ago I wrote about how our central air was broken.  Well we got it fixed, but in the middle of the night on July 3/4, the stinky machine broke again...this time for good.   Of course it happened just as the temperatures outside topped 100 F turning our once cool home into a virtual oven.  Anyway, we are in the process of replacing the a/c, but in the mean time we have had to take some drastic measures to try and stay cool. First, we went and bought a window a/c that we literally shoved into our master bath window.  Second, we took Jacob's crib mattress and put it in our master closet.  Third, we have practically confined ourselves to the master bedroom/bathroom in hopes of creating a little oasis in our otherwise hot home.  We have also taken to spending more time with Tony's parents so that we can avoid the heat.

Here is a picture of sweet little Jacob sleeping in the closet.

The temperature reading at 10:30 pm at our house (this is with all the windows open...we live in an oven)

Solid Foods

Our pediatrician gave us the green light on solid foods...I'm not sure this is what he had in mind.  

Jacob absolutely loves to gnaw on his toes, fingers, and whatever else he can put in his mouth.

Frogs with crazy hearts

Since most of you don't know what I do...sometimes I even wonder what I am doing... I thought I would post a quick picture of my frogs.  This is a picture of one normal frog and one frog that I caused to have its heart and gut reversed.  These frogs are five days old. 

 I am studying how the left-right axis is determined and how even though you look symmetrical on the outside (two hands, two eyes, etc) you are not symmetrical on the inside.  Frogs are just easier to study this than humans.  So, what does this have to do with real life?  Well, there are a few human syndromes where the left-right axis is messed up internally.   The biggest one where all the organs are switched is called situs inversus, but you can also have instances where only the heart or gut is reversed.  Sometimes people are fine who have this condition, and other times it is a major cause of congenital heart defects.

High Chair

We finally decided that it was time to put Jacob in the high chair.   He really likes to be either sitting up or standing up so the high chair seemed like a good choice.  Hopefully this will convince him that it is OK to eat solid foods.  He really hasn't taken a liking to the rice cereal yet.  I think it is because he can't get the food in fast enough or he doesn't like the taste.  Have any of you tried rice cereal?  I did...I can't say that I would blame him if he doesn't like it.  I think it is funny that even though this high chair is equipped with about ten straps to hold Jacob in, he still manages to squirm enough to get 90% of the rice cereal somewhere other than his mouth. 

 

Sorry, most of the pictures I take of him are out of focus because he is moving so much.

Why do things always go wrong when Tony's out of town?

Tony has been in California (working...or at least he says he's working) since May 7 and won't be back until May 16.  While he's been gone the following things have happened to me and sweet baby Jacob:

-The air conditioner is broken.  Luckily, the weather hasn't been too hot but because it hasn't been hot, they can't fix it.  

-The power went out during the night and so then I couldn't sleep because I thought that I wouldn't wake up if Jacob did.  Of course, he didn't wake up but there was the possibility.

-Shannon Viner, our wonderful babysitter, was out of town making it hard for me to figure out daycare.  Luckily, my fantastic sister, Channdra, and Grandma Peterson have saved the day so that I can actually go to work.  I would have loved to stay home the whole time, but I also really need to get my research done so that I can eventually stay home.

-Jacob decided that sleep at night is optional.  Monday night our normally great sleeper woke up every two hours screaming.  I tried feeding him, rocking him, singing to him (that only made things worse), and finally just letting him sleep in the bed with me.  You know that as soon as Tony gets back Jacob will be a perfect sleeper again.

-Abby and Max decided that they don't need to sleep on their beds, but instead need to protect me from some unknown danger that is only around when Tony is not.  A few nights this week I have been awakened in the middle of the night to a low tone growl which is actually Max sleeping on the floor by my bed and having a growling dream.

Crazy stuff.  I will be so glad to have Tony Baloney back home!

Some Favorite Treats

My sister-in-law, Lisa, gave me the idea to post some of my favorite things.  Today's post will be about some of my favorite treats.  Keep in mind that these are treats I like to eat when I ignore all common sense about eating healthy.  I don't know if there is anything healthy about any of these treats....I guess that's what makes them treats.

Henry Weinhard makes THE BEST  Vanilla Cream and Orange Cream Sodas.  The Orange Cream tastes just like the orange dreamsicles that are so good.

Mother's Taffy flavored sandwich cookies are some of our favorites.  They are a little more expensive 

than other cookies, but you can often find them on sale.  Be sure not to buy expired cookies though because they taste horrible!

The Girl Scouts introduced a great new cookie flavor this year, Lemon creme.  Very lemony and we think this may be their best cookie yet (well, except for the thin mints).

Other favorites:

Haagen Dazs - Extra Rich Light Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

 M&Ms - Especially the peanut ones

 Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips  

Mountain (Dew) Baby?

The other night Jacob was extremely hungry and went a little crazy (as you can see) trying to drink Tony's Diet Mountain Dew.  Of course we didn't let him drink any, but it was funny to see how he recognizes bottles as food containers.  I wonder if his like for Mtn Dew is genetic.

We also went hiking in Neff's Canyon last weekend and had a great time being outside.  Unfortunately, we ran in to snow less than a mile up the canyon and really couldn't hike very safely any further.  Jacob seemed to enjoy the hike and kept cooing and making happy noises the whole way.  We can't wait to get up there again with our Mountain Baby.

Silver Beaver

We just wanted to congratulate my dad for getting the Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award.  He received this award for his long term service and dedication to the Boy Scouts as well as other youth in Utah.  What a great example he and my mom are of always serving others and having a good time while doing it!  Congratulations Dad!

Singing and Sleeping Baby and Happy Birthday Abby and Max

This morning while I was getting ready for work, I turned on some children's songs in the hopes of entertaining Jacob.  As soon as the music started, Jacob started cooing and making all sorts of noises along with the music.  When the music stopped, he would go completely silent and then start right back up again when the next song came on.  It was very cute.  I will try to get it on video so that I can show all of you.

In other good news, Jacob is consistently sleeping through the night!  We are so happy!  He usually goes to bed around 8 pm and will sleep until 6 or 7 am the next morning.  I can't believe what a good baby he is!

Abby and Max both had birthdays this month.  Abby is now 2 and Max is 8.  I know it is silly to remember a dog's birthday, but I do.  We didn't do anything special, but they didn't seem to mind.  We will celebrate this weekend by going to the dog park.

Mean People Stink!

This is just a random bit of rambling that I would like to get off my chest.  Yesterday, I had a horrible encounter with someone who is supposed to be very intelligent and professional.  This person treated me like someone who has been locked in box in Antarctica for the last twenty years with only a TV that only plays Little House on the Prairie and The Brady Bunch and knows less than nothing about anything and everything.  He kept making sly cutting comments that were very rude, unprofessional, and demeaning.  I did my best to defend myself politely, but by the end of our 45-minute encounter I felt like dirt, began questioning why I am in this profession, wishing I was in that box in Antarctica, and was ready to start bashing in to him.  However, I restrained myself and just vented to poor Tony about it all evening.  

I learned the following four things from this encounter.

1. No matter how smart you are, you look stupid and unprofessional when you demean another person.
2. It is easy to point out other peoples faults when you are looking down your nose at them rather than looking at them in the eye.
3. I NEVER want to make someone feel like I felt after this incident.  I know that I have had my share of making people feel bad, but I don't ever want someone to feel the way I felt again.
4. Mean People Stink!

April Fool's Day Joke

On April Fool's day, I bought a giant cookie that was frosted and had chocolate-looking pieces on the top.  The box said that it was a Pizza cookie.  Tony and I were at his parents' house for dinner and I put the cookie out on a plate.  I broke the cookie into pieces and offered it to Tony's dad.  He tried the cookie and quickly spit it out because it was rock hard.  The fact that it was a rock hard cookie wasn't the joke...it was actually a giant dog treat cookie.  Matt was a good sport about it as Tony, Pauline, and I all laughed at him for trying the cookie.  Part of the reason it was so funny is that we have used that trick before and got Brett (Tony's brother) to eat an entire dog cookie.  

Jacob is 3 Months Old

Jacob is now 3 months old!  We are so happy to have him in our family.  He is a very happy and content baby and loves to smile and coo at Tony and I and especially his Grandma Peterson and Grandma Gatherum.  What a cute kid!

Easter Sunday

We spent Easter Sunday just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather by going on a long walk.  It was so nice to get out and spend some time in the sunshine.  

Here are Matt and Pauline (Tony's parents) taking a break after only one lap around the track.  They were sure tired by the time we got back to their house.  

Matt even fell asleep on the driveway!

Tony and I took a break from our speed-walking to get our picture with the Bountiful Temple in the background.

Jacob was just enjoying being outside. 

While we were walking, Brett noticed that there was a kite stuck in a tree and decided to go rescue the kite!  We kept thinking that we should take a picture of Brett in the tree because it would be the last time we would see him not in a whole-body cast.  Luckily, he returned to the ground safe and sound.  Way to rescue the kite!  It turns out that the kite didn't even belong to the people who he rescued it for.  But, they didn't seem to mind flying it once it was back on the ground! 

Missing Tony

Tony has gone to California for work again, and we are really missing him!  He is such a great Dad!  I usually don't have to worry about bathing Jacob or putting him to bed because Tony does all that for me.  Usually as soon as he gets home from work, Tony takes over as main caretaker for Jacob.  Sometimes I think Tony takes care of Jacob just to get out of doing the dishes or laundry, but mostly I think Tony just wants to hang out with our little man. I can't wait for him to come home, especially since now I am back at work. 

Here is Jacob's response when I told him his Dad is still in California (actually he was just really hungry, but I think he feels the same way about not seeing his dad).

Here's a picture of Tony being a great dad from early in Jacob's life.

Great Weekend

This past weekend we had Jacob's blessing.  Most of the Peterson and Gatherum family members were there and we had a very nice lunch after church.  Here are just a few pics of our happy day.  Jacob was especially good and didn't seem to mind being passed around.  Jacob loves being around people and always looks around very intently like he is studying all of us.  It will be interesting to see his personality develop.

Sleepy

The other day, we wanted to see if the dogs would bother Jacob when he is on the floor.  So we put Jacob down on a blanket and then called the dogs to come in to the room.  After a few minutes Abby, Max, and Jacob were all sleeping peacefully on the floor together! It was really cute.

We're in the digitial age now!

So, I finally decided to join the digital age and create a blog so that all of you can keep up with our exciting, or not so exciting, life.  I would say that things have been a little more exciting since Jacob was born.  I always knew that little babies were capable of amazing things, but I had no idea that so much pressure could be stored in the digestive system of such a small individual.  He has definitely helped us keep our washer and dryer in full use!  

 

Here are just a few pictures of our little guy!