Summer of travels & changes

Jacob started preschool this week, signaling the official end to an adventurous summer that took the 2-year-old across thousands of miles through the air and on the road.



From Tennessee to Texas to Chicago and down to the Florida gulf coast, Jacob experienced things that now will remain with him forever through his quickly developing vocabulary.

Beach, water, boat, algae, sand, crab, shark, yellow cab, pool, baseball, pitch, hit, kick, lion, gorilla, monkey and giraffe are a just a few of the many words he developed from his travels.

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Here are a few highlights from our summer:

In Dallas...

• Went to an indoor safari, where he rode a mechanical zebra.
  
• Attended a couple baseball games that created a love for the game, at least the throwing and hitting parts. He met players, saw pitchers in action up close and learned the throwing motions, spitting included. He gets excited now every time he sees baseball on TV.

In Chicago...

• Rode in a cab (that was a car seat-less experience for us all)
  
• Saw about a dozen suburban fireworks shows light up the southern horizon from our hotel room on the 25th floor
• Visited Lincoln Park zoo where he saw a lions, gorillas and rhinos up close—three animals that are not at the Nashville zoo
• Played in the frigid water of Lake Michigan

In Fort Walton Beach, Fla. ...

• Listened to/watched Elmo Potty Time at least two dozen times in the car and throughout the week
• Played in the white sand and water Gulf of Mexico. Jacob enjoyed smashing my dream to build the most amazing sand castle, or even a very simplistic one. He enjoyed shoveling sand into his giant Tonka dump truck, pouring it out and then being pushed around in it... by me. He enjoyed being buried up to his waist in sand.
• Jacob was able to communicate with us whether he wanted to go to the beach or the pool.
• I drove home solo with Jacob in the back seat (Erin left early to attend a teacher conference). Jacob was surprisingly cooperative. We stopped only four times during the 450-mile trip, had no accidents, ate well and napped for three hours. A great end to an amazing summer!
  
  
  
  

Muffin Tin Monday

Florida/Beach Style

Top Left- Starfish brownie, sand applesauce with fruit rollup crab, cheese boat
Bottom left- Dolphin and Whale chicken nuggets, Algae (peas) with Meatball beach ball, and fish sticks

We spent all week last week on the beach in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. Jacob had a blast and thought that this theme would fit perfect!


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Muffin Tin Monday

Muffin Tin Monday- Sports Style!

So Jacob is really into sports right now. You can tell if you read the post below! Doesn't matter what sport it is, he always thinks its baseball. LOL. If the sport has a ball then its baseball. So I figured I would do a sports theme this week.

Top Left- Cheese football, Bologna pendant, fruit rollup Stars (for Allstar)

Bottom Left- Yummy toast jersey, Baseballs (meatballs), and a baseball bat(banana with stars on it. Thanks to Bri for the idea)
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Team Jock-ob

Jacob has become a sports junkie. Baseball, soccer, football, basketball, golf, pool—he loves to play them all.

He's become obsessed with baseball after attending a couple minor league games this summer. He doesn't have the attention span to sit in a seat for three hours and watch the game along the baseline, but he does enjoy seeing the pitchers and hitters up close behind the plate. Since then, he always shouts "bayse ball!" when he sees it on TV.

He's surrounded sports. Erin's dad, of course, showed him how to throw a baseball—spitting and wind-up motions included. My sister bought him a soccer goal for his birthday, my parents bought him a soft Titans football that he likes to throw in the air and I'm teaching him to shoot a jumper... or at least how not to shoot a jumper. On recent trips, he got to experience golf and pool.

Here are several videos highlighting Jacob's athletic prowess. I hope coach Self is watching.


Jacob's Sweet J




Throwing the Heater




GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL!




Hustling Pool




Putting Time

Muffin Tin Monday (a day late)

So happy to finally do a Muffin Tin Monday again. We just got back from Chicago yesterday morning and drove to Clarksville yesterday evening for some fun 4th of July fireworks with Eric, Bri, and Waylon. Bri does Muffin Tin Mondays as well so we decided to do it together! YAY!!

Theme: 4th of July (of course)
Top left- Fruit Star (oranges with a grape), chocolate covered pretzel and a cupcake, strawberry stars with a 4th of july strawberry (white chocolate and blue sugar)
Bottom left- Yogurt with red and blue sprinkles, USA hotdog, red and white chips
Decorated beautifully to celebrate Independence Day

Thanks to Bri for doing Muffin Tin Monday with me. The Boys loved it!

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No Muffin Tin Monday due to Potty Training!! :

We will do a great Muffin Tin Monday next week to make up for today. We will be doing Muffin Tin Monday next week with the one and only Bri. Of course it will be 4th of July Themed!

Jacob has been showing many signs that he is ready to be potty trained. I wanted to put it off as long as I could because I was not sure how to potty train and because the daycare Jacob will be starting in August will potty train for us. Well, I decided just to go ahead and do it now instead. I am so glad that I did this. Jacob sure is ready! I received an E-Book from a friend a while back talking about potty training in 3 days. I thought this was amazing and decided to read up on it and give it a try. Well today was day 1. Jacob woke up and we watched Yo Gabba Gabba in bed for a bit and then went to eat breakfast. After breakfast we went to his room and he threw all of his diapers away. Even the ones in the diaper bag. He chose his pair of underwear. He was able to choose from Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse, or Thomas the Train. He chose Thomas the train. What the 3 day potty training is, is that he should be fully trained in 3 days but its very frustrating and difficult. There are no diapers or pull ups involved. We are stuck inside for 3 days and can't go anywhere. I have to be very close to him all day every day. If he starts to have an accident, I have to pick him up immediately and rush him to his potty. I have to catch him in the act. Well after the first 3 accidents and no peepee in the potty at all, i was getting very frustrated and about to lose hope and put a diaper back on him. Then after a few minutes from his last accident, he was showing signs that he had to go. I ran him into the bathroom and he sat down and he went. I was so happy for him. We did the potty dance and i gave him an M&M and sticker and he helped me flush. He was so happy for himself. After that, he was pretty much good to go. He had a few accidents here and there trying to make it to the potty but he def. knows when he has the urge to go. All in all, we had 6 accidents today and he peed in the potty 10 times. He is so happy for himself and he knows when he has to go. He says "mama peepee" and runs to the bathroom and does his business! He even woke up from his nap dry. Again, no diapers or pull ups at night or nap. If tomorrow and Wednesday go as good or even better as today, then I am certain that he will be fully trained in 3 days!! YAY!

Before we threw all the diapers away!

Jacob in his Yo Gabba Gabba Big Boy underwear

Jacob in his Thomas the Train Big Boy Underwear

Muffin Tin Monday and 200th Post

Yes this is our 200th post on this blog and Yes its Muffin Tin Monday!!

Muffin Tin Monday's Theme is Animals. Enjoy!

Top Left: Giraffe Leaves (snap peas), Hay (Cheesy rice), Pig (Pink Marshmellow), Cow Milk
Bottom Left: Yogurt with Bear sprinkles and animal crackers, elephant PBnJ, Snake (Banana)