Thanksgiving Day Parade

First thing in the morning on Thanksgiving we went to the Philly Parade. We got to hang out with Leah and Shane and their kids, Dad, Bekah, Abby, and John. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of everyone that went. Jacob was completely dumbfounded by all the noise and sights. However by the time Santa came around (he was on the last float) Jacob was starting to like the parade. Later in the day we had a wonderful dinner with family. Hope your turkey day was as wonderful!

Jacob and Baba

Doug, Dad and Leah

Oliver, Peter and Johnny's hands

Marie and Abby

Shane and Walter

Jacob and Mama

Wouldn't you like to do this all day?

Homemade Silly Putty

I got this one from my favorite blog for playtime and learning activities. The consistency is kind of different than real silly putty but it is SO FUN to play with, squeeze, stretch, and hide things in (it's fun for adults too; Doug and I spent an hour mixing/playing with it last night while we were making it for Jacob). The recipe is here. I found the proportions were a bit off though. I used much more liquid starch than the recipe asked for. If the mixture is too runny/sticky add more liquid starch.

Hiding marbles

As you can see when the "silly putty" rests for awhile it gets more runny and when you knead it it becomes more solid. Jacob had a glorious time :) 

Please Touch Museum

Jacob is beyond cute. Today we went to the Please Touch Museum with our good friends Rachel, Jack, Asa, and Zoe. Jacob was beside himself with excitement. Unfortunately I did not get any good photos of the kids because our camera's flash is broken and they wouldn't refrain from running in circles long enough to get a non-blurry shot. This video does give some idea of Jacob's overflowing joyousness (the Please Touch Museum might be his favorite place on earth). I love this kid!

An Ode to Doug

Imagine my glee yesterday upon returning home late in the evening from my internship, exhausted and discouraged, to find dinner ready and a house that had been cleaned stem to stern. I love my Dougie.

Wonderful Boy

I'm starting to realize that positive reinforcement has more than one desirable outcome. I try to tell Jacob often that he is good, smart, handsome and wonderful, that he is doing a good job, and that I am proud of him. Apparently this has made an impression. The other day Jacob said to Doug out of the blue: "Baba, I'm proud of you." Needless to say this made "Baba's" day. 

Exploring and Experiencing

Recently I have been trying to provide Jacob with opportunities to learn through experimenting and exploring with various materials. I have to say these activities are usually the funnest part of the day. Watching Jakey learn and being a part of that is just so energizing. Here are photos of some of the fun.

Experimenting with feathers:

What happens if I blow on the feathers?

Showing Mama a feather.

This is one of Jacob's favorites...I'm talking hours of entertainment. I have a baggie of various dried beans, pasta, popcorn, stones and rice. Mix this with different types of containers and voila!

Charles and Jacob poured, emptied, counted, felt, listened to the different sounds each object made, and carried a conversation throughout the whole process.

Jacob: Mama what's this?

Jacob: Oh the rock is cold.

Charles: I want to scoop it in piles.

Charles: Let's see what happens with the corn.

Later on other toys were integrated into the play.

Fun with pipe cleaners and pompoms:

 Working on shapes, colors and sorting.

The "train" we made with our pipe cleaners.

Rotorfest 2011

We went to Rotorfest 2011 last weekend with Uncle Micah, Aunt Erin, and Cousin Charles. The boys were able to get inside real helicopters, see an airshow, watch people parachuting out of a helicipoter, watch "baby" RC helicopters be flown and see a variety other very exciting things. In fact, it was so exciting Jacob ran around in circles for awhile when first got there. 

Charles' and Jacob's excitement and energy made it hard to get any pictures, and Jacob just wouldn't look at me because there were too many other things to look at. So you'll just have to take my word for it...they had a great time.

Labor Day Weekend

As a last hurrah! for the summer we went on a weekend getaway.

 We spent the first day and night in Strasburg, PA (Lancaster County) exploring Cherry Crest Farms, riding the Strasburg Railroad, eating and relaxing at our hotel.

Jacob loved this slide

Feeding the goats

Mama and Jacob building with the life-size Lincoln logs

Checking out the buggy-I feel like such a tourist in this shot

 

Looking out the window of the train

The other leg of the train trip. Jacob has been talking about it ever since:

"Mama, I like da riding da train!" and "Thank you Baba (Doug) for riding da train!"

The second day of our trip we drove further north and west to the State College area up in the mountains. It was beautiful. We enjoyed napping, reading, hiking and just generally being out in nature and away from the city. Doug also got to see the test wind turbine that Penn State has up.

Here's a picture of the bed and breakfast we stayed at.

We had fun...now it's back to school and work!

My little Picasso

Today after nap time we broke out the paints. Jacob is daily growing more interested in art and more fluid in his expression (sometime I need to post a picture of the precious masterpiece he drew on his bouncy ball). Almost every day he asks me "Mama, draw something?" or says "Draw something da Chelsey" (draw a picture to send to Chelsey). I had planned on getting some art done this afternoon during his nap because I have not had the time to do so for awhile. I didn't get the chance, however, when he woke up he was immediately interested in opening my art box and I followed his lead.

I LOVE his painting! This picture doesn't do it justice because of our horrible camera.

 Our collaborative piece: I drew Jacob while he periodically reached over to embellish his own portrait.

My favorite part about this activity was that I got to make some art WITH Jake. His spontaneity and expressiveness were infectious. It made my day.

R.I.P. Goldfish

We weathered the hurricane well this past weekend, however our two goldfish did not. Three days...is that some kind of a record?

Happy Birthday to the Best Boy in the World!!

Yesterday was Jacob's Birthday! We celebrated in the morning with a trip to the park with cousin Charles. This was probably the best gift Jacob could've gotten. He was crying for Charles in the morning and told me "park da Charles!" when I asked him what he wanted to do.

 After nap we had some messy playtime with tub paints, shaving cream, and Daddy!

Got Daddy right in the eye! :)

Daddy also surprised us with two goldfish for Jacob's present. Jacob loved watching them eating dinner.

We will have cake and ice cream with the fam later on this week...stay tuned for more pictures.

Snake Bubbles

Yesterday I found a great website with a ton of great activity ideas for sensory and experiential learning through play. We tried this one after he got up from his nap...

A string of foamy bubbles comes out when you blow into the end of this contraption.

All you need is a water bottle, rubber band, washcloth, and some dish detergent mixed with water. Click here for the directions.

 Jacob had a bit of a hard time blowing the bubbles by himself so I made most of them and he ran off across the yard after them yelling "there it goes!" or "get him!" ("him" being the bubbles). He also enjoy squishing them with his feet.

Running and jumping in the muddy puddle out front was also a must, of course. We had a blast!

The Beach!!!!!

 Went to the beach yesterday with the Fam....

Cute little backs

 And fronts:)

Charles thinking deep thoughts

Playing in the "cuddle" (Jacob's word for puddle)

The waves were too scary but they didn't want to miss out on the water!

No trip to the beach is complete without ice cream

Jacob with Mama (sadly Doug couldn't make it)

Bekah, Lizzy, Abe

Abby, Jacob, Dad, and Jacob

Erin and Micah were also there but unfortunately I didn't get any pics with them. We had a blast!