thoughts on cleverness

As a mother, I am inclined (and allowed) to think that my kid is the cutest and cleverest of them all. I don't always think this, particularly when a tantrum ensues--but most of the time, yes, I definitely tell Jake about how he is the sweetest and smartest boy in the world.

My mom told me that as a child I was talking in sentences by the time I was 18 months old. I know, I know, every kid is different, and the girls are usually earlier talkers. (I also didn't take a step until I was 15 months.. you can't win 'em all.) But still, I would say that Jake is a little late on the communication side of things. We made feeble attempts to teach him sign language ("more" was the single glorious result), and we got to THREE!!! when counting (and only because it is SO FUN to shout). Words were coming here and there, but up until a few weeks ago, I had a difficult time even imagining that sentences were on the horizon. The main problem, I think, was Jake's complete and utter lack of interest in the "repeat after me" game. you know the one: "can you say mom?" ...... nothin.

I knew he wasn't stupid. He just didn't care.

About 6 weeks ago, a good friend of mine told me about this DVD series called "Baby Signing Time". Long story short, the friend told me that these videos were not only teaching her daughter to sign all sorts of words, but she was talking a lot more as well. So we decided to give it a shot. Jake watched maybe 20-30 minutes a day, and something amazing happened. ***communication!!!***

I know what you are probably thinking--videos are not a substitute for actual parent/child interaction. And I agree--They aren't a substitute, but for us they were a launching point. In the last few weeks we have turned a corner with Jake. He now thinks the "repeating" game is great fun, and is really letting me work with him and teach him. He can say and sign all sorts of new things, and is letting me know that he understands me.

Yesterday Jake had a very clever moment. It was about 4 in the afternoon, and the cabin fever was setting in. After staring out the window for awhile, Jake came over to grab my hand and tow me over to his lookout. He pointed to the window, knocked on it, and looked up expectantly: "Out?? PEEASe???"

I looked back at him and said "silly Jake, you can't go out right now, you don't have any pants on!! it's too cold!" I expected one of two reactions to this. either--

1. a blank stare and acceptance.. then off to play with toys.

2. a tantrum

But there turned out to be a secret option three!

Jake simply turned and ran to his room, grabbed a pair of pants from his closet and brought them to me. "Pants? Peeease? OUT!!"

So we went out.

And I took pictures.

Which turned out lovely in my opinion.

By the way..

Now when I ask Jake "can you say mom?"

I almost always get a "mon!" right back.

And yes, that's an "n" :)

reunions

Things have been pretty busy around here lately, but I wanted to quickly put some pictures up on my blog to let you know about the fun things that have been happening! Here is a list of highlights, and then some lovely pictures to illustrate some of them. Enjoy!

1. Discovery Museum in SLC with Jake and some friends

2. Roommate-reunion girls weekend in SLC

3. Wesley's guys weekend in Phoenix

4. New nephew (and the momma popped 3 weeks early!!)

5. Wesley's mom--flew in from Thailand

A couple weeks into January we took Jake up to the Discovery Museum. We met up with our friends Meghan and Tyler and their adorable little girl Caitlin. The kids had a blast, and lets be honest--so did we!

Ladies first!!! Although Jake is supposed to be older and wiser, he was a little nervous about all the other kids at the start. So he let Caitlin play at the water feature first, and hung back with daddy for awhile :)

Jake loved playing in the henhouse!

and being on the news.

but his favorite was definitely the car. (no surprise there)

Last fall my friends and I decided to plan a reunion for sometime in January. In the last couple years, Jessica has had 2 kids, I have had 1, and Sarah has been away on a mission. So we decided that a little get together was just what we needed. It was SO NICE to take a few days and vacate our lives with some shopping, fun restaurants, and lots of girl time.

Thank you to the husbands for watching the kids so we could have that experience!

A couple weeks later Wesley went to Phoenix for about 4 days. Most of his old mission buddies live down there now, so when I saw a really good sale on Southwest, I encouraged him to plan his own little weekend away from the fam. I also encouraged him to take a camera and snap a few photos for my blog...no dice. So, know that he had a fabulous time, and came back alive :)

Wesley's sister Melanie was due to have her second baby boy on February 17th (hey, thats today!) Her mom was planning to fly out and help her for a few weeks, and had booked a flight from Bangkok for Feb 15. At around 3:30 in the morning on January 26th, we got a phone call from Mel saying that her water had broken. They live just up the street from us, so I ran up to the house and slept there with my nephew Scott, so mommy and daddy could head up to the hospital. Later that afternoon I took Scott to meet his healthy new brother. Mark Austin weighed 7 pounds even though he was 3 weeks early. It was such a blessing. (and holy cow, what if she had taken him full term??? he would've been enormous.) Both mom and baby did so well, and were able to go home after 2 days.

It was such a touching experience to see Scott meeting his new brother for the first time. At some point, if God sees fit, we will be able to see Jake do that with his own siblings. I have always been a bit apprehensive about that part of growing my family. I just love Jake so much and it's hard for me to imagine splitting my attention. But watching the Riggs family, I could see that the attention and love aren't split. Our capacity to love just grows. Even Scott, at 2 1/2 years old, seemed to understand how special his brother was, and really seems to love him.

A couple days ago, Wesley's mom flew out to help Melanie. We haven't seen her since Jake was about 8 weeks old, and it was a happy reunion. She will be here for about a month. Pictures to come!