10 Months (and a little)

I still need to have the time to sit at one computer so I can write and add pictures...but words will do for now.

My sweet baby is 10 months (and one week) old now.

REALLY?!

He is demanding and wonderful.

Jacob LOVES his big brother...even though Tyler is learning he can be a little rougher with him.

Jacob will sleep from 6:45pm-6am (on occasion)

Jacob is almost done nursing (freedom!)

Jacob has 5 teeth (6th is starting to peek through too!)

Jacob plays peek-a-boo now. Probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Jacob points at everything and says "dat?". Pretty sure he doesn't know what he's saying, but he's consistent and seems pleased when he gets an answer.

One of Jacob's favorite things to point at is a painting of the Oakland temple that Ryan's grandma did. I don't know if it's the colors, the reflection, or he's just spiritually in-tune, but we never mind showing a kid a temple ;)

Jacob has mastered the stairs and still hasn't had a fall! Now we've just got to get him to figure out how to go down them.

Jacob is becoming more cuddly. He prefers to fall asleep up on my shoulder now instead of in my arms. Kinda cute when he nuzzles right in.

Jacob has been waving good-bye for awhile now, but he knows every morning when we head to the garage that it's time to start waving bye-bye to daddy.

Jacob is still a total mama's boy- and I'm still okay with that for now :)

Love him still. Can't believe it's almost been a year!

toys, lunch dates, and cousins

sugar cookies

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! We had Sarah, Ryan, and Alexis over for dinner on Sunday. It was fun to have the three Crooks cousins all together. Alexis and Jacob were a blast to watch. They are only 2 weeks apart in age and they make some of the same noises and seemed to enjoy seeing that there was another person their own size around...well, about the same size ;) Granny came in to town Saturday morning and we got to enjoy her company for a few days. Always fun to have the boys get spoiled by their granny.

A rare picture with all 4 of us. The boys sporting the red and I opted for purple this year. We had a fun day at church and Jacob actually napped on dad for a while. Sundays are always interesting now that I teach nursery!

can you just feel the love?! I love that this is the only picture where both boys are looking. The look on Jacob's face says it all.

Granny and the boys.

Hello there handsome! Tyler and Jacob fight for their camera time. Now I've just got to learn a little more about what I'm doing with my camera and we'll be set.

One of Jacob's favorite toys- the remote. Another favorite- the phone. Of course it has to be the real remote and the real phone, toys just don't cut it.

Brothers causing trouble before 7 a.m. One of Jacob's tricks in the last month or so- he's finally pulling up on things. He gets better at it every day. Tyler gets better at knocking him over ;) We've had an increase in time-outs. I can tell both boys are starting to notice that mom's attention is split. Makes it interesting.

Grandma & Grandpa Denos come visit!

My mom and Dad were able to come out to visit for Heather's birthday. They watched the kids so Heather and Taylor could go enjoy a weekend without the kiddos...before there are 3. I don't think I had mentioned it on the blog yet- but I'm pretty sure it's been long enough to mention. The Waites are adding baby #3 to the mix in late July (which-for Heather- means early July). With my parents in town- of course we had to take the chance to get together.

The whole gang came over to spend Saturday with us after a very eventful Friday. I can't say much- but let's just say it was one of the most frightening afternoons I've had yet. Ryan received a threat at work from a disgruntled customer who, somehow, found out where we lived and said he'd follow Ryan home from work and do....etc, etc to him and his family. Ry called as we were grocery shopping and asked if we were okay, where we were, etc then told me what had happened. We were pretty scared for awhile. The company's security department followed up with the customer and the local police. The mom in me was scared I wouldn't be able to protect my kids if anything were to happen- thankfully it hasn't come to that!

Well, after calming down for a night, the distraction of company was much appreciated. We enjoyed playing, going to the park, hiking the mountain, lunch, "relaxed" watching a show with suckers (see pic) naps, and a yummy dinner at Cafe Rio where we introduced my parents to their first taste of the delicious pork. It was pretty interesting to sit 8 people, but it was fun and we were glad to get to spend the time with family.

Tyler and daddy have been becoming best buds. I love to see Tyler ask for daddy again and miss him. It is so cute to watch Tyler enjoy the attention and he's even been falling asleep on Ryan- that hasn't happened in over a year. Tyler and daddy are a daring duo at church too. With Jacob being more demanding during sacrament meeting now we have to divide and conquer. Tyler is now very willing to sit with daddy and lead music or follow along in the hymn book as we sing. He is also enjoying frequent potty trips during sacrament meeting. This past Sunday he even had an exceptional day in nursery. When Ryan picked him up, the teachers said he was good. Of course Ryan said, "thanks, that's good to hear." Then they came back with, "no, really, he was very good." What a great thing to hear as a parent. We're so proud of our big boy. He even got a small scoop of ice cream to celebrate his great day at nursery.

Lastly...the past 2 mornings I've been waking up with my eye swollen shut! What the?! This pic is mostly for my mom and sister who've had to listen to my nurses questions. So far, still not blind, but my eye was literally swollen shut. I'm sure that was enough to freak out Tyler when he woke up at 5:30am again!? Thankfull, it gets better throughout the day but doesn't go away completely. Oh well.

Check out this handsome boy. We were trying to take some pictures of the boys to put in the frames that my dad helped us hang (thanks Daddy!) but of course the camera ran out of batteries...but I got this one at least. I love this boy (most of the time ;) ).

Moments

I slightly stirred from my sleep this morning around 5:30am and noticed a glaring light coming from outside my door...that can only mean one thing,

Tyler is awake with all the lights on in the house...ALREADY?!

Well, not only was Tyler awake, he had gone in to the extra room where Jacob has been sleeping to try to "cry it out" and Jacob was awake too.

Tyler's "night time underwear" (training pants) were in the hallway and I could be pretty sure he didn't reach the underwear drawer to pull out new ones.

The new twist- there was a package of fruit snacks partially opened on the bed. And, in my still-sleeping head I thought "fruit snacks...those were down stairs?!" Wow, literally all the lights were on. Tyler said he got hungry and needed a snack. Really? Who is this kid?

I'm seriously considering buying a handle with a lock...and putting it on backwards on his room. Any suggestions how to convince my kid to stay in his room and stop waking up his poor little brother?

The funny part is that I find this so funny- but I am so ticked of that it happens at 5:30 am...oh well. Duty calls!

A fun filled Weekend

Sunday night Jacob decided he would finally climb the stiars...and he did! Right to the very top. Now there's no leaving him alone.

We went to the Shark Reef Aquarium while Jen and Nate were in town. It is in Mandalay Bay and the boys all loved it.

This past weekend Jen, Nate, Jack, and Baby Ethan stopped by for a visit. Nate's brother was getting married in the Vegas temple. We were so excited to see our cousins for a quick trip. The last time we saw them Ryan spent the majority of the time in the hospital.

These three boys (Jameson, Tyler, and Jack) are all within 8 months of eachother in age. It was so funny to see them take over Mandalay Bay. Jameson is Nate's Brother's little boy....and they happen to live in Aliso Viejo...we're just a little jealous!

Mom and Jacob- it was fun to have Ryan with us to have a picture to prove that I'm still alive ;) and someone is actually taking care of these boys. Jake was a champ and endured some crazy rides being carried in the stroller up and down broken escalators because the elevators were broken too... fun times.

We got to watch Jack on Saturday during the wedding ceremony. Tyler LOVED having someone to play with. Here they are with the sweet train track they built being tunnels for the train to go through. I loved to see them use their imagination (and tempers) with each other. It really was so fun to have them around!