happy ten months

Such a little boy!  Ten months old today!  He still weighs 21 lbs, which is a plateau in the weight gain.  Likely a reflection of his more active (i.e. crawling) lifestyle.  He is now 30 1/2 inches long. Jake's sense of independence is growing each day; he prefers to feed himself, he can drink from a sippy cup without help, he plays on his own and can turn the pages of his books.  And with six new teeth, you can start to see the little boy Jake.  Soon not the baby Jake, but not too soon please!

Big milestones for this past month:

• crawling (albeit commando style)
  
• beginning to use signs to communicate
  
• sleeping through the night without the need to be fed
  
• vocalizes constantly as if having a conversation using lots of vowels and consonants
  
• sitting very well on his own for indefinite periods
  
• for sure he knows his name, and Mommy and Daddy along with Lucy and Simon
  
• can put objects into bins, trying to fit shapes into the proper holes

hair

Okay so it's not the thickest head of hair out there, but Jake does have hair.  He might look a bit bald, and he was for quite sometime, but his hair is growing in.  It is quite fine, but when it's wet you can see that he does have a lot of it.  In fact, it is getting long enough at the back to begin to develop the sweetest, cutest little set of curls.  They are so kissable.

The colour is a light brown, almost blonde.  Many people think that there is a reddish tinge to it, much like his Dad's.  Today we took a trip to the barber shop to watch Dad get his hair cut. Jake scoped out the experience and is looking forward to a full head of hair to get trimmed.

jake enjoys books

We received many books for Jake when he was first born. What wonderful presents since we can enjoy them with him again and again. Jake likes to have books read to him. He turns the pages, and if the book has any touch and feel portions, he explores away. His favorite types of book so far are the ones that have flaps that he can lift to reveal a peek-a-boo surprise underneath. And one called "Tails" seems to have it all for him right now: flaps, things to touch and things that move.

Jake goes to to storytime at the library, and he loves it. He sits and listens and watches attentively. We have started to get books out of the library for him, to keep the stash of books fresh. We usually read a couple of books in the afternoon. 

And every night there are a couple of bedtime books, ending always with "The Going to Bed Book".

to crawl position

So far Jake's crawling has been commando-style: he pulls himself along with his arms.  And amazingly he makes good time and distance.  But he has just recently been able to manoeuvre the from sitting position, to hands and knees position via the difficult to balance crouch. 

 

It's only time before the full on crawling begins.

surfing

We took a mini-break to Tofino.  Jake is now old enough to start enjoying adventures like this since he likes car rides and looking out the window, he likes being carried in the backpack and in fact kicks his legs in a 'giddy-up' fashion if you stop too long, and he likes to eat finger foods which makes eating in a restaurant easier (as long as you are willing to share).  We left first thing in the morning (7 a.m.) right after Jake had his breakfast and  Daddy was on the water by lunchtime.

Daddy  had a great time surf kayaking.

Mommy did an hour of boogie-boarding and was exhausted.

Jake explored the beaches

dreamed about kayaking

ate his lunch in the great outdoors

also ate his lunch on the road (what a good sport)

played in the hotel room

ate snacks in the hotel room

explored the rain forest

and put up with getting changed in the car.

We can call it a vacation because Jake slept right through the nights, without any wake-ups at all, and woke up each morning after 6 a.m.  Thank you Jake, that was a nice break.

toys

What are some of Jake's favorite toys? Well alot of the them are classics.

There are the stacking rings;
googly eyed pull phone;
nested cups;
puzzle alphabet;

the 'laptop' with all sorts of bells and whistles;
hexagram ball that you can put shapes into;
stackable bug blocks;
wooden cube with things to move around;
includes xylophone;
and of course Lucy the cat.

for those of you who need proof

These photos have been pretty hard to obtain.  And trying including, some close-up surprise photos, but Jake always seemed to know that something was up.  We have finally managed to capture the set of new teeth on film. Five.....count them.....five!! teeth.  Two bottom, one upper and two upper outside teeth. Growing and growing.  They offer a world of exploration, including the new bite off a piece of food.  So much more that Jake can now eat.

Big toothy grin.

hiking in the rain

We do live in a rainforest.  Jake will have to get used to playing in the rain.  It's raining?  Great, put on your rain gear and play.  Dad and Jake headed out for a walk along that great lush, forested ravine that is near our house.  Jake put on his lemon suit, and sat underneath his rain guard on the back pack.  

See, no need to be cooped up inside all day.  Get out there an enjoy nature.  

Or at least get out there and enjoy a nap.

happy hallowe'en

Jake did wonder what this day was all about.  Everywhere we went there seemed to be some strange looking people, wearing some strange looking outfits.  Jake went as Superman this year; costume made by Mommy.  Take one blue sleeper and fasten on logo made from felt pieces.  Grab one receiving blanket, one diaper and a pair of socks, then dye them all red.  oila!  A baby costume.

Backtracking a little bit, we started the week with a playdate at our house with some of the Moms and babies that we meet with for coffee. Great mayhem ensued.  

Since it was a couple of days before Hallowe'en the babies brought their costumes.  Logan was a bee.

Lucas was a dragon.

Cohen was a turtle, and Thomas a rocker.

Ethan was a puppy.

Jake's costume had yet to be made, so some improvising was in order.  Jake was Elvis.

Thankyouthankyouverymuch.  

Well he was a sport about it, but it was obvious that the wig and glasses wasn't his favorite thing in the world.  

So Mom got to work on the Superman costume the next day.

For Hallowe'en day Daddy dressed up as a Viking, and Mommy as a witch.  

We all went to Mother Goose song group, to meet up with the other little Trick or Treaters.

In the afternoon, Jake and Mommy headed to the Hallowe'en party at her work.  Everyone in the Groundfish Section were happy to see Jake and were amazed at how much he had grown. And Jake enjoys a good party, especially one with great decorations to play with.

The evening did not have any Trick or Treating for Jake, since his bedtime is still early and let's face it, his teeth are barely in yet.  But we did get a visit from our favorite monkey....she even wore a costume to try to make herself more monkey-ish.  Eee eee, oooo oooo.

All in all, perhaps a strange day for Jake (he certainly spent alot of time wide-eyed and open-mouthed), but he had a great time.  Up, up and away!