Just Jake

 

I haven't done many blogs lately on 'just Jake,' so here we go :)

 

This is so Jake, laying around in his underwear with cars, plains, trucks, and/or trains surrounding him.  He is such a boy!  

 I snapped this one Sunday morning early in football season.  He just doesn't get enough Daddy time during the season.  It's always a struggle for us and somehow we always get through it.  I'm not sure how he is going to feel once he has to share his Daddy with a baby brother.

 I snapped this on the way to school one morning.  Helmet on, microphone up, singing 'God Bless America' at the top of his lungs!  Love these moments!

 One big milestone for Jake was getting his brand new 'Big Boy' seat for the car.  Even though he met the 4 years/40 lbs rule, I was going to keep him in his 5 point harness for another year.  I just felt safer.  However, he was NOT comfortable in his seat anymore.  Getting him in the car each morning became a fight with a 10 minute process of getting him comfortable.  About this time, my baby bump was growing and that just added to the challenge of getting him buckled in.  So, we decided it was time for a change.  Jake went with us to the store and we picked out a booster with a back that we can remove later.  It also has side impact protection for his head and upper body, which made me feel a little better :)  Jake was SO EXCITED!  I was super nervous the first morning we drove to school with him in it, but we are both pro's at it now :)  I know it will be really nice once Cody is here for Jake to be able to get himself in and out of the car. 

 

 He is also a pro at riding his bicycle now.  We bought it for him for his birthday in June, but he needed some time to warm up to it.  Now, he is crazy fast on it!  I seriously have to jog if I want to keep up with him when we go for walks!

 Random picture of this sweet face!  He is looking more and more like a 'big boy' and less and less like a preschool-er.  He is growing up so fast!

 For my birthday, we met up with family at the Babe's Chicken in Frisco.  It was right next to railroad tracks and an old steam engine.  Jake was in heaven!  He and Stephen walked the tracks (which made me crazy nervous) and had to get an up close look at the train.

 Another day, another crazy face from my munchkin!

 Me and Jake on my birthday. 

 This is what happens when your child starts dropping their nap!  This pic was at about 5:00 in the evening.  He hasn't totally given up his nap, mostly because it is football season.  During the week at school, he rarely naps.  I am okay with it because he can still make it to bedtime without becoming grouchy and irritable.  (We could move up his bedtime a little, but it would mean not seeing Stephen at all in the evenings since he gets home around 7:30 from practice each night. )  I try my best to wear him out on Friday morning so that he will nap for me on Friday afternoons before the football games.  There is no way he would make to the end of a game and still be a pleasant person without a nap! He usually takes a pretty good nap on Saturdays too, only because he is tired from being up so late the night before.  Sundays are hit and miss, more often than not, he does not nap.  We are working on a 'rest time' routine when he doesn't nap.  It is nice to have some flexibility though if there are things we want to do in the afternoon.

The other big milestone is trying our best to prepare him for what life will be like with a baby in the house.  He is truly so excited to have a baby brother, but I know he has no clue what's coming :)  One night he was brushing his teeth before bed and informed me that the baby will have to share mine and Stephen's bathroom because his bathroom is just for him.  I told him he and Cody would be sharing and would even get to take baths together once Cody got big enough...his response, "I don't think that's gonna work!"  Oh my!  He has gone through some of his old board books and younger toys that are still out in the playroom.  I was afraid everything would be "mine" for him, but he happily took everything to Cody's room because they were "baby-ish."  He has also started asking questions about how Cody will get here.  It's a little easier for us to explain since he will be a C-section, but he was not happy about learning that Mommy will be in the hospital for several days and Daddy will have to be with her.  I'm still not sure how we are going to work all that out.  I know Grandma and Grandpa will take good care of him, but he will also be missing us, mostly Daddy!  But, I also remember how it was post C-section in the hospital and I will definitely be needing Stephen there.  I know we will get through it and we are doing our best to explain everything to him when he asks.