Jake's First Christmas

Jake had a wonderful Christmas! I am not sure he really understood what all the presents were about, but he loved seeing all sorts of family and friends. We were able to celebrate a little bit early with Grandma and Grandpa Bien, Dan, and Amber. This was Jake's first taste at opening presents. I'll post a video when I get a chance. The camera is in Jake's room and he is sleeping right now =)

Jake received some toys, books, clothes, and a Radio Flyer wagon. I am so excited to be able to use it this spring and summer. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Bien!

On Christmas Eve, we went to Joe's grandparents (on his mom's side). We all scrunched into their new townhouse. It was quite cozy. Jake had a lot of fun playing with his second cousins (maybe first cousins once-removed...) Joseph and Jayden. He had a fun time opening presents, but it got to be a late night. I also forgot to put the formula in the diaper bag, so we could not give him a bottle. Poor guy =(

Here is a picture of Jake with his Great-Grandparents and Joseph and Jayden. Nobody looked at our camera!

We woke up at our house on Christmas morning and Jake was able to see what Santa put into his stocking. He also had a few presents to open up from Mommy and Daddy. We took a video of that, so I'll post that later. We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Knutson's house for breakfast and more presents! Jake had another stocking there and lots of gifts. Many of them make a lot of noise (Thanks!) It was fun to see Paige, Hailey, and Jake playing together. Again, most of this was on the video camera.

Later on in the day, we went over to Joe's aunt and uncle's house to celebrate with the Deters side of the family. Jake had a fun time showing off his walking with Daddy!

He got some really neat animal board books from Ben and Haley, and two stuffed animals from Uncle Dan. We learned that both Joe and his dad have been saying Snuffleupagus wrong for most of their lives. They thought it was Snuffleufagus. Somehow, Dad knew how to say it correctly!

Jake has had so much fun playing with all his new toys. We need a bigger house!

Jake is on the move!

Well, it has been a long time since I added a post. We have been busy around here. We had an exciting Thanksgiving, as Jake crawled for the first time Thanksgiving morning! We knew he would be able to do it by Christmas. Life is way different with a mobile child. I spent the Sunday after Thanksgiving baby-proofing the house. On Thanksgiving, we went to Grandma and Papa Knutson's house. Jake had a fun time with Paige.

Auntie Jamie even tried to color with Jake. He did not really do a good job. Paige was much better! We'll have to work on things before Kindergarten!

We took Jake to his first Wild game at the beginning of December. Joe's mom and step-dad let us use their tickets. We played Vancouver. Unfortunately, it was not a good game for Minnesota. Jake had a fun time. He was tired from a busy day at Cheryl's, so he did end up sleeping through most of the third period. He is a good sport, though!

We put the tree up in the basement this year. Last year, it was in Jake's room, so we had to find a new spot. The ceiling is too low for us to put a star on top. I am on a mission to get it up there! So far, Jake has not seemed too interested in the tree. At daycare, he did rip a little bit of paper off a present. We hope to get to see Santa next weekend!

Busy few weeks

We had a busy end of October and start to November. Halloween went by without too much excitement. I took Jake to have his picture taken at a local studio that took free pictures of kids in their Halloween costumes. As we were leaving, Jake spit up all over his costume. It was a good thing we were not going to be taking him around the neighborhood. Joe ended up working late and Jake went to bed pretty early. We only had a few trick-or-treaters this year, which has been the case every year. Here are some pictures I took of Jake during the week of Halloween. He turned 7 months on the 29th. Getting so old!

The Sunday after Halloween Paige, Jake's cousin, had her baptism. She wasn't very happy during it, but it was super cute. Hailey, Matt, and Katie (Casper, too) stayed at our house for the night. We all went out to eat Saturday night. Hailey wanted to sit next to Jake and play with him. I think she had more fun than he did! When we woke up, Jake had someone to play with. He also experienced what Hailey is like when she is watching cartoons. She can completely tune out everything!

This past weekend, we took Jake to his second Gopher game. He did so much better this time around. He did not get scared when the Gophers scored, which was great since they scored a lot! He was not happy when we put his jacket on at the end of the game. Grandma and Papa bought him a new hat to wear to the games. He looks so cute! He also had his picture taken with Goldie. He wasn't scared when he saw him. He just didn't look at the camera.

Jake loves pickles. I arrived at my mom's house to pick Jake up and this is what I saw! His Auntie Jamie gave him this. Surprise, surprise!

Nick-or-Treat, Birthday Party, and Gopher Game

We had a busy MEA (I know it is not called this anymore, but I will always refer to this weeend as MEA) weekend. Jake had his 6 month appointment. It was a good visit. He did a good job, even when he had his shots. I went into school for a bit on Thursday, so Jake spent some time at Grandma's with his cousin, Paige. I had an eye doctor's appointment on Friday, so Jake went to Cheryl's for a little while. It was nice for him to have some consistency. We gave Jake some meat (Sweet Potatoes and Turkey) on Thursday night. He LOVED it! He is done with the boring rice cereal! On Friday night, we all met my side of the family at the Mall of America. Nickelodeon Universe has an indoors Halloween event for kids. Jake's two cousins were there in their costumes. His aunts and uncles on mom's side were there, along with Grandma and Papa. It was a late night, but he was a good sport. He did not mind his lion costume, either. He was just too cute!

On Saturday, Jake had his first friend birthday party. Kamryn turned 2 last week, but her mom is a teacher, too, so MEA weekend worked out quite well. Jake goes to daycare with Kam and her sister, Jenna. The Allen boys (Jacob and Bryson) were there, too. It was fun for Jake to see familiar faces. We were only able to stay a little while, but Jake loved the inflatable monkeys that Michelle used to decorate.

Later that night, we took Jake to his first, of many, Gopher hockey game. We had him dressed in maroon and gold. We have been working on spelling Minnesota, too. We need some more practice. Jake was a bit, okay VERY scared of the yelling when the Gophers scored. Needless to say, we took turns hanging out on top for the rest of the game. Joe was able to get him to fall asleep in the second period. We brought him back down to the seats in the third period. We were nervous when there was another two goals scored (they took one away, though). Jake slept through both of them. He did wake up when Goldy was close to our seats. We hope to have a picture taken with him next time. It was another late night, but a fun one!

Here was a picture from last weekend at Joe's grandparents' house. Jake is with his dad, his grandpa, and his great grandpa.

Haircut!

On Sunday, we broke down and cut Jake's hair. It was just too crazy to deal with. Plus, people kept asking if he was a girl. Joe held Jake while I did the trimming. I was very nervous as to what it was going to look like. Joe reminded me it was just hair and, yes, it will grow back! We were happy to see the finished product. He looks so different! I miss his long hair, but love that he looks like a boy!!

6 Months Old