Boys, Cars & the Pumpkin Patch

I bought Jake a new toy from someone at work who has 3 boys and was cleaning out some unused toys. This car Jake can either ride or we can convert to a walker. I happened to be working late the night of the purchase and I was so excited to show Jake that I showed him the new toy just before bedtime. BIG MISTAKE! He loved the new toy SO much there was great lamentation when he had to part with it just to go to bed!
I even had to put the toy out of sight in order for him to take his nightly bottle.

The next morning it seemed to me like he was looking for this new toy right away. Now that we've had the car a week - it's lost a little of it's novelty. It's still a favorite toy - just parting from it is not as dramatic as the first night.

I have never seen Jake so attached to a toy before that night last week. Usually common items we allow him to have around the house are just as engaging as his toys. He loves mom's rollers, her pick, lids off propel water bottles, his nose squeegie, pill bottles with child proof lids and his ultimate favorite - the caps off the bolts on the toilet. You know the ones near the floor. Also repeatedly flushing the toilet is a favorite passtime.

And I have found myself cleaning niches and crevices - I never paid detailed attention to before. Just in case my curious explorer happens to end up in that location.

I also took Jake to the pumpkin patch last Saturday. He hated it. It was incredibly cold, windy & rainy. I thought I had bundled Jake in enough layers but his little hands were freezing. He didn't like the pumpkins and every time I set him down to snap a photo he cried. After surviving an entire hour (he did stop crying long enough to pet the sheep and the kittens on the pumpkin patch farm) I packed it in and he took a nap in the warm cozy car.

cousin Jack visits Oct 8-14

This was a fabulous week! Cousins Jack 8 months and Jacob 11 months had the WHOLE week to hang out and become re-acquainted since Jack's blessing in New York 61/2 months ago in April. Jack was 10 weeks old and Jake was 20 weeks old last April.

During their visit, Jake demonstrated the finer arts of being mobile - standing and crawling. While Jack showed the subtlety of being congenial, very smiley and even tempered. Both boys LOVE the bath. Jack loves to splash and Jake likes to stand and throw all toys within arms distance into the bath. Which seems to delight Jack - when he's taking a breather from splashing.

They both have the be coaxed to eat at mealtimes. Jack is more comfortable with solid grown up foods. (Which we noticed and Jake was willing to try eggplant rigatonni cut into very small pieces.) They both have very similar boyish grunting sounds of approval or disapproval. (Hard to tell which at this age.) When I was feeding Jack this morning as Jaime got ready to pack - I almost recognized that, "will ya hurry up?" sigh coming from Jack as I get from Jake when he is close to being done in the high chair.

Both boys also enjoyed digging into the toy chest and enjoyed the same toys. Only twice did Jake take a toy away from Jack. Who was surprised but didn't protest. In the name of chivalry - I gave the toy BACK to Jack. (I worry because Jake is an only child this may be an issue with future cousin visits.)

The highlight of the week was when both boys were playing on the bed (under our supervision) and Jake (who was a little wired after a shortened afternoon nap) kept doing acrobatics that would delight Jack and make him laugh out loud. This kept us all entertained and in stitches for at least 45 minutes. At one point Jack put his hand on Jake's should almost as if he was saying,
"good one, cuz."

A few times when Jake was down for his nap Jack would look around for his compadre.
Even though they are a few months apart they are the same height - 29 inches. Jake is 2 pounds heavier than Jack. Jacob seems heavy around the middle and a little stocky - while Jack seems wirey and leaner. Will be interesting to see of Jacob can keep up with Jack's height?

By the end of the visit Jack enjoyed standing with a little support - I think he saw the advantages of being mobile. Once or twice I saw Jacob motion to Jack as if to say, "C'mon, Jack there's trouble to be had over here." Jack would smile and kick his feet enthusiastically and Jake would turn and set out to find mischief on his own.

I noticed that between the two - Jacob is a little more hyper. I have either a daredevil or showoff on my hands. I love the spirit in the boy - but in the words of Maria Bamford, I am trying to channel his super powers for good.

However, we had a fabulous visit and we don't want to let too much time pass before we get the boys together again.