Our Birthday Boy

    Jacob turned three this past weekend, marking one of the happiest, most wonderful moments of our lives. Friday he celebrated with his buddies and family with a party at the park. Saturday was his special birthday trip including a hike on the mountain (at his request), bird-watching, a ride on an old-fashioned train, and a visit to cousin Walter's house to attend Walter's birthday party. It was almost too much fun for the little guy to handle! Unfortunately, as we have no working camera of our own at the moment we didn't get any pictures but on the bright side we didn't have to stop every 15 mins to worry about posing to get a good shot  :) Doug and I are so very grateful for our loving, friendly, good, smart little Jacob boy.

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.