Vegas, San Diego, and personal progress

As promised, here are some pictures from our trip to San Diego and Las Vegas! We had such a fun time, and were sad when the trip was over.  I'll tell you all about it between the pictures, and then if you keep reading to the end, I have some Jake "progress updates" for you. 

We decided not to try and drive straight through to San Diego, and stopped in Vegas for a night on our way down.  We got there in the late evening, and decided to go for a walk on the strip before bed.  We assumed that Jake would probably fall asleep on the walk, so we bathed him and put him in his jammies beforehand. 

It didn't occur to me that Jake would be so dazzled by all the spectacular Vegas lights and sights.  No sleeping whatsoever happened.  You can tell from his expression that it's well passed his bed time though :)

We spent just over 2 days in San Diego.  Wesley's cousin Victor had gotten married recently and we came for the reception.  It was so nice to spend time with family! It was our first trip down with Jake, and it seemed he was also a huge fan of the perfect Cali weather.  We went shopping at an outdoor mall before the reception, so the next few pictures are from there. 

Having a taste of daddy's watermelon slushy.  A little sour and sugary for his little tastebuds!!

So happy to run free after being cooped up in the car for 2 days :)

We took these in the park behind the reception.  This is his adorable cousin Caitlin.  It was really fun watching all the little cousins play together!!

Wes and his sister Melanie, and Scott, Jake's closest buddy and cousin.  I can already see them plotting all kinds of mischief and adventures together in the months to come ;)

All the cousins.  The newlyweds are in the middle!

Once again, we cut the trip home in half by stopping in Vegas.  We took Jake to FAO Schwartz while we were there, and he had such a blast! For those of you who don't know, it's the biggest and coolest toy store ever! The whole front end of the store is stuffed animals. And Jake spent about 30 minutes going from animal to animal giving them hugs. 

And now its back to life as usual.  Jake is running around the house full speed ahead, and is even starting to say words! He can say "doggy" "woof woof" "sammie (his giant stuffed dog...notice a pattern here?)" "and most recently "bye-bye" and "book".  Its so funny because he comes running toward me several times a day with one of his board books saying "book" over and over until I pick him up and read it to him.  I'm even attempting to teach him sign language.  He has mastered "more" and I think he is getting the hang of "all done".  Those are some very helpful signs during mealtimes! He is so smart!!! 

Jake is also starting to do more strange things.  For instance.. he is obsessed with wearing things around his shoulders like a shawl --blankets, belts, toilet paper, strings of floss.. you name it.. its really weird, and I catch him walking around like a little old lady all the time. :)  Also, he has become obsessed with trying to wipe off my eyeliner when he is on my lap.  He isn't a girly boy though, don't worry. Because his other wierd/favorite thing to do is make everything into a car.  As in, not only does he push his actual toy cars around the house, but he'll do it with shoes and books too, all the while making a Vroom Vroom noise.  He is such a crack up.. The other day I caught him in our closet trying to ride one of Wesley's sunday shoes. Its funny how I am constantly thinking "NOW Jake is old enough to really have some personality!" and then a few weeks later, I'm thinking "actually, he was a little dull then, at least compared to how he is now!" It's incredible how fast he is developing and just really coming into his own identity.  

Each new milestone just makes me more excited for what the future will bring.  What new words will Jake know a month from now?  Also, the house is rapidly becoming a much more dangerous place.  Jake learned how to climb onto the couch a couple days ago, and I'm realizing that I will have to watch him much more closely so he doesn't try to dive-bomb off the back of it. yikes!  Well that's it for now as far as progress updates.  In less than 2 weeks I'll be going on yet another trip.  This time I'll be traveling to the motherland.  And no I don't mean Germany (I wish!) Jake and I will be going to Virginia for a visit.  A slightly stressful thing, as I'll be flying all alone with a child made of pure energy.  as always, thanks for reading and stay tuned!!