Jacoby Lee 6

I wish I took the time to write down more of the things that Jacoby does and says, I need to start a memory book for him or something. Lately with his sass and smarts he keeps me laughing... and shaking my head.

He has figured out the traffic lights and what they mean, when we approach a red light he yells "Stop! Stop!" and when it turns green, "turn green!" If we turn right on a red light he goes "Where's the green?". The other day he said that the light was green but we were making a left turn and our arrow was red so I explained that when we turn that the arrow is our light and it has to turn green, the next time we were at a left turn waiting on a light he goes "arrow turned green!" The other day we were driving through town and he was commenting "Stop!" and "Turned Green" as usual when one of the lights turned yellow as we approached it, very perplexed he exclaimed "What on earth?!"

We were leaving my work and he had seen my coworkers so we were talking about them and their names, he was able to say Andrea and Erin but it sounded like he was saying "ham" when I tried to get him to say Pam. So I told him, "It's P-Pam, can you say P-Pam?" he goes "P-Pam..." and then a little sheepishly, "I told you that mama!"

We went to the Paul Bunyan Communications appreciation fish fry and as we were walking over Jacoby saw several children carrying those little helium type balloons on sticks. He very excitedly announced "Baby brother want kite, me want kite!" then added "Really bad!!" Apparently he's already advocating for the little one. ;)

I'm excited to see what he is like with his brother, the other day he started calling him "My baby" and pulled a diaper and wipes out of the changing stand and told me, "Change my baby's diaper when he comes". I had put them away that night and one of the first things he did the next day was to again pull a diaper and wipes out for the baby. I think that he is ready to meet him. :)

He got a post card from auntie Rachael!

He loves haircuts. he begged for one for a long time before I was finally ready for it to be cut again. 

At the park with a big stick... life couldn't be better.

Photobombing my belly pic. 

When you can't have a fire but you wanna roast marshmallows, candles and skewers are a good substitute 

He made icecream cone cupcakes with sprinkles!

Just spending time at Grandma's.

Jacoby Lee 5

     I figure it's about time for an update on this much neglected blog. What better than a post about the crazy wonderful toddler of mine right?! He's ridiculously smart and he drives me crazy! The tantrums are real! We recently moved to a 2 bedroom and he's in his own bedroom now which is surprisingly something I really like. I still have nights I have to check on him 3 or 4 times before I can go to sleep but after 2 years of him only sleeping in my room, I have to admit my own space is nice!

     He loves books, nothing new for him but he will sit through books like Dr Suess, Green Eggs and Ham. Today as I read it to him he was quoting parts with me.
      I've noticed his memory is incredible right now, I'm trying to figure out ways to take advantage of and grow that. I've started playing the memory game with him with cards I made from Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He loves it and actually is really good at it and catching on to the rules.
     He is extremely compassionate. He had the flu for a couple days and threw up quite a few times. I got it a few days after him and the one time I threw up he came to the bathroom and brought me a bucket and put his hand on my back, very concerned for me. He melts my heart!
      He loves art, cutting, pasting, painting, markers, any form.
     He is obsessed with Star Wars, legos and the movie Big Hero 6 and Mickey Mouse.
     He sings a lot, it's so cute! He's started using this deep dramatic voice every now and then to sing and it    cracks me up every time!
      He's learning emotions, his commonly used ones are "sad" and "mad" and "happy. He says "funny joking" "uh-oh sghettios" "no way!!" "Big more!" -about portions of food  "Whole 'tainer"-because Who doesn't like eating out of the container right?! And "Coby do it!" -very independent, this one.
     Oh yeah and he is super excited about his "baby brudder" who will be joining us in May! (He has even saved a package of wipes for him.)
He's recently started to ask "Why?" about most everything I tell him, But simple answers most of the time are answered with "Oh!"
Here are some recent pictures of my punkin.

He loves to help, cooking, laundry, cleaning he goes "big helper!" <3 br="">

His crazy wild hair. He put foot lotion in it. Lotion is his gel. 

This train set was a birthday gift from auntie Mary and one of his favorite toys!

Too tired for food.

He loves his tea parties!

His fashion... mama's clothes, this is a phase he has mostly grown out of!

That smile!

The gender reveal! Coby decided he needed to open the box. :)

Christmas gift from Grandpa Steve Zachow, he was so excited about the legos.

He helped to make this cake and he was so proud!

We finally got a family year pass to the Science Center in town
 and it's very hard to convince him to leave that place!

Waiting patiently for his coffee to brew. 

His winter style <3 td="">

Giving his lion a ride. :)

A reminder to be thankful even for painted carpets

Today I made a terrible mistake that I will never make again. I let Jacoby eat 3 marshmallows when he woke up this morning. He wanted one last night but I told him he had to wait so he did. He didn't even open the bag, he just slept with it all night. It even transferred from his bed to mine when he did early in the morning. So when I opened the bag and he quickly grabbed 3 of them I didn't feel like fighting about it, I just let him enjoy them.
Within an hour he had found my box of paints. Tempra paints that had been sitting in the same place since we moved in the beginning of February, and he had never touched. He had been playing nicely in his room but when it got quiet other than noises I could not distinguish I went to check. A huge blob of red paint on his beautiful little quilt. I calmly sent him out to the table to paint on paper, admonished him soundly to never touch paint without mommy and that we only paint on paper and proceeded to clean up the mess. He then went into my bedroom and locked the door. I panicked. When he let me in there was blue paint on my bed. I put him in the tub to soak and finished cleaning everything. I decided to put the bedding in the wash and asked him to carry the stain remover. 30 seconds later I heard glugging in the hall and found him with a large puddle of stain remover on the floor. He carried the coins after that. 45 minutes later it was all cleaned up, the paint was up and I was exhausted. I called Drew and Jacoby went to play in his room. I assured Drew that there was nothing more that he could get into and heard him playing with legos. As I hung up the phone Jacoby came trotting into the living room, legs coated in red paint and hands all red. I had left the red paint on his toy chest after cleaning up. I put him in the bath and peeked into his room, paint on the wall, on the toy box, on the bed and all over his carpet. I wanted to cry and give up. But as he lay splashing in his pink bath water pretending to be a fishy, I couldn't help thinking how cute and sweet he is.
It's almost all out of the carpet. The sheets are a little stained but they can be replaced and it came off the wall and the child. It was one of the worst days of my parenting but through it all I still felt an overwhelming love for him and marveled at God's design and gift to me as a mother.
People say that twos are terrible and threes are worse but I disagree. Hectic, insane, crazy, overwhelming... yes! 100 times yes! But so so rewarding. I feel so privileged to get to watch this little guy develop to see his mind and body grow. He is so smart and independent and so loving! To get to be the recipient of his "I love you!" and hugs and kisses daily.
I don't feel privileged always at 4 in the morning being woken up and asked for a story or an egg or when I'm cleaning up paint or in the middle of a tantrum. But I know these days won't last forever. In fact in 2 short years I have witnessed how fast they change, how fast they grow up and how quickly he is getting to the point that he will not need me like he does now. And so I will choose to cherish every memory, the good and the bad with him and thank God for blessing me with the incredible joy and gift of being a mom.