19 Months!!

Tomorrow my "baby" will be 19 months!! That seems so close to 2yrs old that it makes me wonder ... where did the time go!? I think I forgot to do a 18 month update so I will make up for that now:

Things that are different:<br>

-Jacobs vocabulary seems to be growing in leaps and although not all his words are proper we can at least communicate and I understand what he is asking for. Some of his words are ...

** "woof, woof" = dog ** "baa baa" = bottle **"naa naa" = thank you ** "mee mee" = I want that

things he says pretty clearly --- outside, up, mommie, dadda, down, papa, juice and of course no

he is working on saying--- off, on, (they sound so similar that a lot of the time I'm not sure what he wants), and yes

I'm sure I'm forgetting some words he says and of course he can understand way more then what he can say. He really wants to jump and has now incorporated using his hands when he dances so he really rocks out!! He looks like a drummer playing air drums. He gibbers all the time and sometimes I'm certain that he believes he saying words that I should understand but have no idea ... the other night he looked me in the face and said something that sounded like juice so I asked him if he wanted some juice and he shook his head, said no and I could see he was thinking about it really hard and said the same word again. I had no idea so I told him ... I'm sorry ... I don't know what you want. It was kinda frustrating that I couldn't help him out but at the same time I was amazed that he would say the same gibber word and answer my question, it was almost like having a conversation! :) He is like a sponge, he knows how to fix his toys when they need batteries and we have to let him try to do it, he is becoming so independent and wants to do everything himself! He still has his cranky fussy moments where I have no idea what his problem is and he whines about what ever it is driving me nuts but those are slowly getting few and farther apart. He loves his blankie and puppy that seem to have magical powers to comfort him in a way that nothing else will? He gives great hugs and kisses now and will hand them out whenever he feels, usually to books and teddy bears first.

We are trying to break or cut back on his bottle intake which is very hard! We were doing pretty good until one night hubby put him to bed and just gave him his bottle so now he is back to going to bed with a bottle. He seems to be doing very well at his new day home and I feel like the lady is treating he good, he seems happy and sleep is going a little better. He can now reach the tops of the counters so we have to be more aware of what is in arms reach! His potty training has been going well, he understands when he should use it and he has pooped in the potty a hand full of times. Now we just need to push the issue a little more and I have to stay home more instead of always taking him out and about. It would be easier to train him at home and put him in waffle underwear for a few days then to take him out visiting with a diaper on.

My weight loss battle has been going fairly well, I am working really hard on the exercise. I joined a gym that has a day care and Jacob seems to be OK with going there, he doesn't like it as much as going to the day home but I can see him in the window when I do my work out and he plays with the other kids so I know he is OK but he is upset when I go get him so I know it's not his favorite place. But it's usually for only an hour so I think it's OK. On the scale I have really only lost a little over a pound but I feel better mentally and I know it will take a very long time to get the weight off so I just have to be consistent and not give up! I am still eating NS during the week but on weekends I usually have whatever hubby is having (or at least a smaller version of it). I must say I am impressed with NS now that they have changed the program back to letting Canadians order from the American site. They have added some new foods that so far are really good!! I now have a hard time picking menu every month cause I have so many favorites, it's not just ravioli and lasagna! ;) I have also been using the Wii a lot more too, when ever I can't get to the gym I go on it after Jacob is in bed and I love the new Wii Fit Plus, I tell it what parts I want to focus on and can even program a warm up and cool down then it gives me a work out, usually with different games so I like the variety and surprisingly after 30 min I am really sweating!

This weekend is a huge scrapbook retreat thing that I told my hubby I was going to, which is a first for me, but I'm really hoping to get lots done on Jacobs book. I haven't scrapped in it since his baby shower! It should be lots of fun and as long as I don't chat too much with my girlfriends I should get lots done!! I think it will also be a first that I'm will be away from Jacob for that long. Sometimes I feel guilty for taking all this time for me lately but I suppose in the long run everyone will be happier?

dayhome search, holidays and NS

Well, I'm back at work ... holidays were good - I feel like I got lots done, not everything I wanted but still it was good. I did some serious cleaning, set up our "guest room" in the basement and cleaned out my flower beds for winter!

We found a day home, in a way it sucks cause I know that MIL made sure Jacob was taken care of 110%, fed well and they always had outdoor activities and at the day home I'm just not as certain that he is eating good and getting some fresh air!? But at least this way he has interaction with other kids and will hopefully pick up on "good" behavior! Yesterday was his first full day at the day home and he let me leave him there no problem, a quick hug and I left ... no tears - it was nice! Then I went to pick him up at 5pm and apparently he had just woke from a nap and was a little upset but he is always upset when he wakes for whatever reason!? He didn't seem like he was in a huge hurry to leave and he wasn't too clingy when I got there. The day home lady is from the Philippines and is sometimes hard to understand but seems like a nice lady and I've always heard good things about Philippines and that they are hard workers and family is important to them. I guess we will see how this week is, I might still try looking for a different day home - it's just so hard to trust a complete stranger!?

On the diet front I am down almost 5lbs! Not too bad, could be better but at least the scale is going in the right direction! And I must say that it was hard to stay on track on my holidays so I'm hoping that now that I'm back at work I will see better results cause I can stay on track. I'm liking the new NS products and find that some of my old staples are no longer satisfying so it is nice to have new choices! I'm going to set a mini-goal that by Christmas I will loose another 15lbs! Should be do-able, that is only 5lbs a month!?

Lately we have been having a hard time with Jacob and his sleeping!? It seems to be getting worse not better, like I thought it should as he gets older!? Before he was 6 months old he used to sleep straight through the night from like 8 till 6am!? Now he goes to bed around 9pm and lately has been waking every 3 hours?!!? It's very frustrating and I'm not sure why, he used to wake up and coo in his crib, now he wakes up screaming! I wish I knew why it changed and how I can correct it! I'm certain that we aren't really helping the situation cause we know that if he wakes we just change him and feed him then he will go back to sleep no problem but if we don't give him that bottle then he won't go back to sleep right away and at 3am the last thing you want to do is pace the halls!? But if we keep giving him milk at 3am then he will keep waking at 3am for the feeding!? I'm almost certain that he just has the bottle as a comfort thing and it's like a soother for him which makes me almost want to try giving him a soother instead to see if that will help him sleep but then I think it's crazy to give him a soother now!? He is 15 months old and has gone this long without one, why start a new habit!? But at least this way he won't need that feeding and it might be easier to potty train him cause he will wake up dry?!

Speaking of potty training ... it's the craziest thing but Jacob is showing interest in using the potty and if we ask him if he has to use it he will go to the bathroom, grab his potty seat that is on the floor beside the toilet, put the seat on the toilet and wait for you to undress him. 80% of the time he usually pees on the potty! It amazes me that he has already connected the 2, he understands the urge to pee and where he is suppose to do it! We aren't pushing it too much but usually once a day he uses it, hopefully it will continue but I've heard a lot of people say that he will prob revert back and not use it for a while!?