leenaok

JTK has taken one more step towards independence.  He is holding his own bottle, no help required.

Now, if only he could change his own diapers...

So, I did something a little daring...I cut Jacob’s hair, all by myself! I went to Sally’s beauty supply, bought a ConairPro clipper set ($18) and buzzed Jacob’s entire head with a #4 attachment comb (which was the longest one I had). Jacob’s hair looks REALLY SHORT now. I think I should have gone with a #5 attachment but since it wasn’t included with my set I will probably have to exchange it for another one.

Yes, I know it looks sorta military.

We are BACK from our weekend in New York! Didn’t know we were going? That’s kind of the point. We flew up to celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday with a SURPRISE party at the Cotillion.

Was he surprised?

Well, he knew he was having a party on Saturday, he just thought it was going to be Saturday evening. Hey, I’ll take what I can get. Jim & Tami flew up on Wednesday night and we flew up on Friday night. Sanjay’s parents even flew up from Tampa, on Saturday morning, just for the party! Everything went well but I am glad it’s over. I am done with "surprise" parties! Fortunately we have 2 years to prepare for my mom’s big day, but thankfully she wants to go on a cruise, easy enough!

As part of this surprise, we had to rent a car from JFK and stay at a hotel on Friday night. We stayed at the Melville Marriott which was barely a Marriott by my standards. The WORST part was that the hotel was laid out in such a way that if you had a room at the end of the hallway (which we did, our dumb luck) you had to walk like, a half-mile to get there. I would even opt for a hotel with exterior corridors over that, at least you can get in and out of your room in one shot.

Guess what Jacob mastered while we were in New York? He learned how to crawl down the staircase. So now he’s sporting his newly acquired skills on our stairs at home!

Today I took Jacob to Bananas Salon for his first salon hair-cut. It’s not cheap but I had a coupon and figured I could splurge for his first cut. It was a big day for my baby boy and I’m happy to report that he exceeded my (and the hairstylist’s) expectations. He actually stayed in his seat and didn’t move around too much. The stylist actually said she wished all 1 year olds behaved that well!

Here's Jacob! Before...


...and After! 
 

Way to go, Jacob!

The birthday weekend is OVER and the house is quiet at last. Dirty, but quiet. Alisha & Jacob enjoyed the company of both sets of grandparents this weekend (yes, my dad surprised us on Friday).

Alisha’s party was Saturday afternoon and I wasn’t sure how many kids would show up, being summer vacation and all. However, seven friends from school came (plus 2 siblings) so Alisha was thrilled! The weather was hot and sunny, perfect for playing outdoors, so we inflated the pool and slip ‘n slide and had parents in charge of filling up the water balloons. I turned on Alisha’s bubble machine and handed out water guns while the kids ran around and had a grand ol’ time. Sanjay manned the grill and cooked up hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken.


Even Jacob joined in the outdoor fun (for about 15 minutes)!


For her birthday cake, Alisha picked Barbie Ballerina. 
 

I thought was perfect because of all the dancing she did this year. Alisha got tons of presents, everything she could have hoped for and MORE: Barbie dolls, Littlest Pet Shop toys, books, costume jewelry and arts and craft projects. However, we waited until all of her friends left before she opened our present, a Wii! Alisha had been asking for one for months (you know, since “everyone else has one”), but we kept ignoring her requests. Finally we figured, why not? At least it’s something we all can enjoy. It took Alisha all of 10 seconds to set up her Mii and start bowling! She’s an expert Wii-er from all the times she’s played on Jim & Tami’s Wii. Speaking of Jim & Tami, they started her game collection with “Boogie, Superstar”, a dancing and singing game, and “Cranium Kabooki”, a brain teaser game.

Alisha with Josefina (her American Girl doll)


Unfortunately for Alisha, she left all of her fabulous presents on Sunday to go to Tampa with her grandparents. It’s just for a week though, we’ll be picking her up next weekend. And I suppose absence makes the heart grow fonder :) As for Jacob, he’s too much work for his grandparents so I get to spend even more quality time with him while Alisha is gone. Yay, I tell you. YAY. *me pulling out my hair*

Wish someone would leave the easy kid with me and take the other one for once!!! I can’t even watch TV in peace! Jacob is either stepping on the DVD player (which changes the input to DVD), turning the TV power switch off and on, playing with the remotes, or (this is the best) flipping off the power on the surge protector so I have to flip it back on and watch the cable box boot up all over again. Joy, I tell you. I suppose one way to solve this would be to get a TV console with glass doors, so all the equipment and wires would be out of our face. However, we’ve got a long list of things to buy, and right now a console doesn’t fall under the category of immediate need (of course, this could change depending on Jacob!).

In the meantime, I’ll continue to bang my head against this chair.

Speaking of Jacob, we celebrated his first birthday on Saturday evening with a mini cake that Sanjay bought for him. 


Jacob gets his very own 1st birthday cake! Yum...

Granted, his first birthday is 2 weeks away, but what the heck, might as well do it while all the grandparents are in the same place! Alisha was adamant that she didn't want to share her birthday with him this year, but I think starting next year we'll be celebrating the June birthdays together.  

And in BIG news, as of today Jacob is officially walking! I mean, he’s been taking steps here and there since he turned 11 months, but these past few days he’s been walking more and more. Today he went from the back couches to practically the TV! Unfortunately, every time I go to grab the camera he’s back on the floor.

Alisha’s final swimming lesson was on Saturday morning.

Hooray, Alisha can swim!

She’s still got a lot to learn, in terms of refining her stroke, but at least she’s not afraid of the water, and she can do some of the basic moves. I am so proud of her. I am hoping to register her for summer group lessons, but if that doesn’t pan out (due to our out of town schedule) then I’ll see about re-enrolling her for private lessons in the fall.

So guess who came to visit, my mom! She totally surprised Alisha this afternoon. She’s here until Sunday to spend quality time with her grandkids, and to bug me about how I don’t water the plants often enough. Some things never change...

We went to the dentist today and Alisha was told she has a cavity! Like the glasses, I knew this was going to happen eventually, but not at the age of 7. Unbelievable yet believable. I guess it could have something to do with the fact that she spends like 30 seconds brushing her teeth. Alisha actually gets more toothpaste in and around her sink than into her mouth, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. The hygienist said I should be brushing Alisha’s teeth until she is 10 years old!!!!! That’s a L-O-N-G time. I know for sure I don’t floss her teeth enough, maybe once every month, but it’s a pain flossing someone else’s teeth, especially when that someone is constantly complaining that it hurts, etc.

The dentist also recommended that Alisha have 4 of her molars sealed. First of all, I didn’t even realize she’d gotten her 6-year molars (also known as the first permanent molars). Secondly, I’ve never really heard of sealing teeth. Dental technology has come a long way since I was a kid. From what I learned today, sealing is basically coating your tooth with a melted plastic in order to prevent food from getting trapped in the crevices of the tooth and causing cavities. It goes where no toothbrush bristle can go. I look at it this way: either cough up 200 bucks for a filling later on or 62 dollars for a sealant right now (that should ideally last for years). No, we don’t have dental insurance but that’s because paying for all of this out of pocket is cheaper than the cost of dental insurance premiums (which don’t even cover everything).

So, tomorrow is our sealing appointment and our filling appointment is in 3 weeks. The dentist recommended N2O (laughing gas) for the filling appointment. I don’t recall ever needing N2O for my fillings but then again, my first filling wasn’t at age 7!! I would have LOVED to get everything over with tomorrow (since my mom can watch Jacob while I drive around town) but it’s a pediatric dental practice and all these parents are cramming in appointments before they go on vacation.

The funeral was yesterday, so sad and still unbelievable. Sandy & her family are holding their own. Jacob & I spent last night at their house. It was fun watching Ethan and Jacob together. They are such BOYS!


BFFs Ethan & Jacob

They’re already getting each other into trouble. For example, Sandy’s mom caught them sticking their hands in the VCR. I blame Ethan because he’s older (even if it’s only by 5 months). I didn’t know how Jacob was going to behave during the (4 hour) viewing. Fortunately the basement of the funeral home was pretty spacious so Jacob had lots of room to roam around and plenty of kids to keep him company. He wasn’t as well behaved during the funeral (although more squirmy than anything else). Fortunately Cheerios work wonders to keep tots quiet and occupied!

BTW Sanjay called and told me he pulled out Alisha’s tooth. This will make it number 6 (the lower left lateral incisor). Father & daughter have been enjoying themselves without me. So far they’ve gone shopping, golfing and out for ice cream; I wouldn’t be surprised if Alisha wanted me to stay in New York (although she claims she misses me). In any case, I’m ready to go home. It’s been an exhausting weekend. I’m just thankful that Jacob is in good health, unlike the last time when we were in New York (Christmas time) and he caught a cold.

We said goodbye to another one of Alisha's teeth, the lower right lateral incisor. It was her first tooth to come out since August (before she started 1st grade). It was a close call, because I completely forgot to play "tooth fairy" so the next morning Alisha comes to my room and says that the tooth fairy didn't come last night.  "Crap!" was my first thought. I started working on a plan to make the exchange without getting caught. Outwardly, I kept my cool and told Alisha that, since it was still dark outside, the tooth fairy probably had not gotten to her tooth yet.  Perhaps it was a busy weekend for her? The tooth fairy has until sunrise to collect your tooth, ya know.  Well, that's the way it works in our house! Anyway, Sanjay called Alisha into our room to show her a planet in the sky or something, and I quickly put 3 bucks under her pillow and threw in a dose of "fairy dust" (aka gold glitter) to show her visit was extra special. Alisha, our sweet, innocent child, totally bought it and even took a pinch of glitter to school to show her friends :) 

When do they grow out of this stage, I wonder. 3rd or 4th grade is my guess.   Oh no, only 2 more years to go?? I don't want my baby girl to grow up..... 

BTW I found a couple of links about teeth and the order in which they typically fall out/come in. The first one is aimed at children but good for everyone, “When Will My Teeth Fall Out?” and here’s a 3-D link “The Lifetime of Teeth”.

Jacob stood for the first time today! He actually stood, still and upright, for like 5 full seconds. Alisha and I were there to witness it but Sanjay wasn’t around. Sanjay claims that Jacob has stood on his own before, but not that I’ve seen. We’re all thinking that he could be an early walker, however I remember feeling the same way about Alisha and she walked at the average age of 13 months.

Here’s Jacob’s latest “milestone” which he did today for the first time. He dropped to the floor from a pulled-up-standing position without putting out his hand to cushion the impact (which is what he was doing until today). What this means is he’s getting more independent; the next step will be standing on his own.

Jacob is pulling himself up, and it seems as though he prefers standing to crawling! It also means he grabs for whatever is within reach on the table, which presents a challenge sometimes. He loves crumpling up newspaper so he’ll grab what I’m reading, even if I haven’t finished yet – how rude!

Guess what? Alisha said, "THA THA" today! It was very exciting! She even did it in imitation -I was so impressed. Of course Sanjay is on Cloud 9 since he's convinced she actually said DADA but those of us who have a Masters degree in the field know that is not the case. Alisha is just babbling - and so far she hasn't attached meaning to the word - which means she is just saying THA THA THA THA THA just to say it :) And then she saw us say it too and she kept on repeating it. However, one thing that Alisha does understand (since comprehension precedes production of language) is the word "NO!" Now, she doesn't always listen to us when we say that, but she does hear it enough that when I'm in the kitchen and I see her about to crawl onto the tile, I'll tell her "No" and she'll stop right before she gets to the tile. And if she tries to keep going I'll tell her "Noo" again and she'll start to turn around and move away. Now it doesn't always take 2 times for her to get the point but she is definitely learning!

Well that was today's excitement.... now when will she say MAMA??