End of May Update

Hello Everyone,

I can't believe only a couple of weeks have gone by since I posted last. We have done so much in the past 2 weeks that I am not even sure where to begin!

Jakob and I flew to LA in early May to stay with my sister (Christi), brother-in-law (Larry), and niece (Autry) as Larry and Christi were shooting their short film. Jakob fell in love with Autry immediately and they were great playmates all week. We were all very lucky to get to go on the set of the film production on Monday (couldn't stay too long as you can't keep a 2 year old quiet during takes). We very much enjoyed taking Autry to / from school, but more importantly, hanging out with her after school! We managed to go to a shopping area called The Grove a couple of times, go to parks, take Jakob to the beach for the first time (which he loved and threw a fit when we left), ate at Santa Monica pier, and enjoyed watching Autry in her pop dance class (which Jakob was also upset because he could not understand why he could see Autry but could not go over right next to her...when we left the class he said, "Autry....dance....shhhhh" as I had to keep telling him to be quiet). Jakob also enjoyed "playing" with their 2 cats, Sweeney and Eve, and I say playing as Jakob has a tendency to grunt and chase them which scared them away most of the time. He is such a boy in that way.

Once Christi and Larry were done shooting the film on Thursday (which went very well according to their reports and those of others working on the set), we enjoyed hanging out with them. We enjoyed riding the train at Travel Town, eating out, going to parks, and Christi and I even got to go to hear her friend, Latina, sing at a club one night while Larry played with Jakob and put him to bed! This was a first for someone to put Jakob to bed without us being in the house and Larry did a great job (he even put himself to sleep at the same time as Jakob's sleepy lamb made such soothing noises)!

The cherry on top of the trip was spending my very first Mother's Day with Jakob and my family! We went to Huntington Gardens and it was just gorgeous. My sister got us there early to beat the crowds and gave us a great tour of the gardens. That evening, Jakob and I returned home to Wayne and the dogs. Jakob really, really loves returning home. He totally enjoys seeing new things and places, but he will say the word, "home" over and over again once he has returned from a trip....it is too sweet. Wayne (and I) both noticed that his vocabulary really increased while in LA, which was great. He is really becoming a little chatter box. I still understand more than everyone else does, but soon enough everyone else will know Jakob-speak.

Two days after we returned, my Aunt Kathy came from Dallas to visit us for about 5 days. Jakob also loved visiting with her very much! He becomes obsessed with people's names, so he was still saying Autry and then it moved to Kathy (with some occasional Autry's in there) once she arrived. While Kathy was here, we finished off Jakob's music class, spent a wonderful morning at Eau Claire in Calgary, went to Jakob's swim class, shopped in Kensington, had a fantastic day at Banff (including a ride up one of the ski lifts at Sunshine Village) and shopped at the Farmer's Market. Kathy showered Jakob with gifts while he was here, but even more so with love and kisses! We were very happy to have her here.

More big news...Jakob just spent his first morning at daycare today (May 20)! I took him in around 8:45 and all the kids were playing on the playground. So, we joined them and then they all went inside for some cereal. Jakob seemed to be doing really well, but I could tell that he was a bit distracted and acting out a little because I was there (more so to get my attention as there were many other kids wondering why I was there and wanting my attention). At 10:00, I finally decided to leave and come back for Jakob around 12 when their lunch was finished. He did totally fine and was not even sure if he wanted to go home. I thought he might want to take a nap there as he kept saying he wanted to stay, but once he laid down and realized what that would mean, he said no and climbed out. I was not going to force things as I was not even expecting him to sleep there, so we came home and he was asleep in his own bed in about 10 min. flat! I think he will really enjoy it there being with the other kids, playing with other toys once he really gets into the routine of it. It was strange for me to come home in the morning and not have him here. I return to work on June 9 and will be trying to figure out what to do with myself while he is at daycare....it is one of those things where there are so many things to do you just don't know where to start!

I am going to sign off for now, but will try to post again next month!
Courtney

Jakob at the Santa Monica Beach for the first time



Jakob putting his feet in the water

Jakob eating the dogs' food (his choice to try it after being told no)

Jakob and Autry on the train at Travel Town

Jakob's first ride on a ski lift (with mom, dad, and aunt kathy)