A Few of My Favorite Things...

It's time for another edition of "My Favorite Things" in order to help me remember this time in the life of our little guy. In no particular order, here are a few of Jake's favorite things...

1.Climbing---Jake especially loves stairs, but he also tries climbing on plenty of other things. Luckily, he doesn't seem interested in trying to climb out of his crib, so I'm happy as long as he doesn't try that escape act!

2.Hiding/Tackling/Tickling games (preferably with Daddy, but others will also do)----If you want to see Jake really laugh--the kind of deep belly laugh kids get lost in and in which adults cannot feel upset when hearing--just play this kind of game. He loves it, and it's music to my ears every night when Kevin plays with him. Daddy's coming to get Jake...
He's just around the corner...
And he's got him...
Jake also associates his football with this kind of play. He'll get it out of his toy box and immediatlely expects to start a tackling game.

3. Mommy's lotion drawer---When I'm getting ready, I'll bring a few of Jake's toys into our bathroom so he can hang out while waiting for me. He's pretty patient with me as I get ready (must get that from Daddy), but I think that patience also comes from his fascination with my lotion drawer. It's just the right height for him to open and look into. He loves to pull out the lotions, carry them around, or just lay them on the floor... 4. Rocks, sticks, and probably just about anything on the ground--I think all that can be said about this one is he's 100% all BOY...

5. Being with friends---As I've said in previous posts, Jake really likes to be out and about and around people. He loves going to others' houses, and he seems to love having friends come over to our house. It really makes me wonder if we have an extrovert on our hands? Our friend, Ellie, came over to play a few days ago, so here's some pics of them playing "together"

Of course, Jake had to teach Ellie all about "boy" toys...

One of Jake's friends, Brooklynn, celebrated her 2nd birthday last weekend. This is the first time he's sat at the kids' table on his own. Of course, I snapped pictures as quick as I could because I knew it wouldn't last long. Sure enough, within a couple minutes, he'd had enough of the table and was ready to venture off to play. It was cute while it lasted...
6. Plastic cups---For some reason, Jake has a fascination with plastic cups, which are the kind of cups we drink from 99% of the time. He's usually good about not bothering the cups we're currently drinking from, but he definitely wants his hands on one when I'm unloading the dishwasher. He will carry his cup around and of course, act like he's drinking out of his big boy cup...

And some more, but without the fun pictures...

7. Music and Dancing!!!---Jake has loved music since he was a tiny baby, but now, I'm happy to announce his love of music is accompanied with dancing! It's super cute to watch him dance. He will sometimes sway side to side, stomp his feet, bop up and down: wherever the music takes him. He's even become a car dancer. The other morning we were driving and two fun songs came on, "Poker Face" and "I've Got a Feeling." I looked back to see his hands in the air and his head bopping around throughout both songs. That's my boy!

8. Balls and Blocks---It seems that his favorite toys are balls and blocks. I draw this conclusion from the fact that they are the two things he consistently gets out of his toys bins on a DAILY basis. He has two kinds of blocks, soft traditional style and jumbo leggo style. Both are big hits, and he brings them over to us so we can unzip their containers every day.

9. The Outdoors---Again, this is one that is definitely not a new interest, but I have to keep it on the list because it is an important part of our day, and we are so excited for the beautiful SPRING weather!!! The past couple days, Jake has even done a great job playing on his own in the front yard while I'm sweeping some leaves. We bring some balls and his golf clubs out, and he's perfectly content to play with those and the leaves. Most amazingly, he's doing a great job staying in our yard. I talk to him a lot about not going past the sidewalk and staying in front of our house. He's really good about staying away from the street, but walking down the sidewalk is more of a temptation, which can lead to us heading back inside. Overall, he's doing a great job of learning to play appropriately in the front.

10. Talking, or more appropriately, Making Noise--Jake can definitely make some noise. He doesn't just make quiet noises, but really rather loud ones. Most of the time, he makes no sense whatsoever; he's just "singing" or babbling away. These noises are definitely happy noises, but they can also be somewhat embarrassing noises when you're out in public. Nonetheless, I'm happy they are happy noises, and we're trying our best to work on "Shhhh" for some volume control. As far as understandable talking goes, he is just starting to say some mostly understandable words. These are: Daddy, Mommy, this, hi, bye, and dog. He does not say them on command, or always in the right context, so we're working on it, but he's definitely starting somewhere.

Now that I've been able to share a list of 10 top favorites, I'd thought I'd share two of my least favorite things about this time in Jake's life. Of couse, as a Mom, I love every part of Jake unconditionally, but in all honesty, we can have our challenges.

1. Tantrums---Jake has started throwing tantrums. I had no idea this behavior started this early, but apparently it does. These tantrums can be as basic as crying when he doesn't get what he wants or when something is taken away. They can also be as intense as literally throwing himself on the ground crying and screaming. I'm having a really difficult time knowing what to do about this, especially since he just seems so young. I struggle between ignoring it and comforting him. Even when I attempt to ignore it, I struggle to know how long it can/should last. Anyhow, this is definitely the #1 most challenging part of my days.

2. Throwing or Spitting Out Food----Overall, Jake is a pretty good eater. He's not super picky, but he also has definite opinions on what he likes and dislikes. I know his eating habits could be much more challening, so I will not complain about his refusal to eat some foods. I do, however, wish to vent on his choice to spit or throw food he doesn't want. If something enters Jake's mouth he doesn't like, he immediately opens up and spits it right back out. I'm pretty sure this is totally normal for 14 months, but normal or not, it is so frustrating. I can usually handle the spitting pretty well and know how to curb it, but the throwing is much more challening. This usually happens when he refuses to eat something and it's still on his tray or when he's decided he's finished eating. I've now learned how to spot the signs that he's "warming up" his arm for the pitch, so I can intervene before I'm splattered, but there's still moments when he gets past me. To make matters worse, he thinks it's totally funny when he does manage to hit me, so he breaks out into laughter. Again, this is definitely something I struggle with.

OK, it felt good to just let that out. I knew parenting came with challenges; it's definitely quite a ride finding out what those are for your child. Hope everyone out there is enjoying your ride!