NaNa (neyney)

The cutest thing, (other than these little tooshies) is hearing Jacob say Aidan's name. Just recently he started to call Aidan by his name. It usually sounds like "NeyNey" or occasionally "NeyNen". I love to hear Jacob calling for his brother. This morning, as we were sitting eating breakfast, Jacob was trying over and over again to get his brothers attention. When he finally did, both shared big grins at each other. It's great to watch them play and begin to interact with each other, Jacob calling Aidan over to play or calling Aidan's attention to a toy that Jacob has OK'd him to play with. I've said this before and know I'll say it many times more, it is so much fun to watch the boys grow together, interact more and learn to care for each other. I hope and pray that as they grow up, their friendship will continue to grow and always be strong.

At Grammie and Poppop's
(Dad was intended to be PaPa, but Jacob pronounces it "PopPop" - I think it will stick!)
house, waiting for their bath after a fun evening of playing.

Happy Visit

Jacob had his very first trip to the dentist today. Dr. Sims and his office call it a "Happy Visit" and really focus on making it a very positive experience. Heather, our hygienist, told me that depending on how Jacob reacted, we may only ride up and down in the chair and that would be it. Well, Jacob was awesome! Heather showed him each of the tools that they use and then was able to look in his mouth. (We had practiced that this morning after brushing his teeth). She said his teeth looked great! Then Dr. Sims came in, made him a balloon out of a glove, looked at his teeth and we were on our way. Jacob was given a goody bag with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, and flossers in it. Then he got to visit the treasure box on the way out and found an awesome plane! All in all I would say we had a very positive and successful first trip to the dentist.

New interests every day!

It seems like everyday brings something new in the Thomas household. It's so amazing to see your child's interests evolve in their ever changing world. It may seem like just little things to some, but to me, it is so much fun and I get so excited about what the next "new thing" will be. Jacob has really started to play and use his imagination. His newest interest is the wooden train sets. We had a play date with a good friend of ours yesterday and they brought over a wooden train set. It was all Jacob would play with. Now, being the perfectionist that he is, (and that fact that he got up way to early) he would get frustrated when the trains would come off the track or the trains wouldn't stick together because he didn't understand the concept of magnetic attraction. Needless to say, the trains did end up in time out a couple of times after flying through the air. Despite those minor details, I think the sets will be on his birthday and Christmas list. We went to a great toy store today and I started his collection with his very own train. I also learned that this is going to be quite the costly hobby. I'm not ashamed to admit that we will be searching Ebay, Craigs List and buying the off brands . . . it's not like Jacob will know the difference.

Jacob and his new train

Hey, this is my train!


Jacob's second new interest is air hockey. I believe I mentioned this in the last post. At Grammie and Papa's, he turned their coffee table into an air hockey table. At first he just clenched his fist like he was holding the air hockey thing (sorry, don't remember what it is called) and hit a ball back and forth with Grammie. It took Grammie a minute to figure out what he was doing. Then Grammie had a great idea and brought out butter dish lids and they worked great! He made everyone play with him. Aunt Lorissa is in the picture playing below. At home he made me sit on the floor and we used stacking rings to play. Jacob's knowledge of what it is he wants and how to do it absolutely amazes me. He is so creative and will find ways to accomplish what ever he wants.

Aidan newest interest are trying to stand up (no photos of that at this time), eating Cheerios and any other bite size foods we place in front of him and making silly faces. Aidan loves to laugh and smile and make others laugh and smile. He is so care free and very active! I used to think he was going to be my laid back baby, but I'm now thinking differently . . . I now have a feeling he is going to be the one that gives me my first heart attack! He just decides what he wants to do and does it. No fears in this little man.

Eating Cheerios

Hey, wanna see my Cheerio?

Silly faces!!

Just me and my amazing boys!

Fun with firsts

We had fun week filled with a few "firsts". Jacob has started to associate objects with actual words. He will now saw "ball" for ball and "cup" for cup. A new favorite activity for Jacob is coloring. I painted a table with chalkboard paint and he loves to color on it. He also had fun coloring pictures of Curious George. At a birthday party on Saturday we discovered that Jacob has a knack for air hockey! There was a mini air hockey table and he somehow knew exactly what to do! It was awesome!

Aidan's first for the week was pulling himself up! I was looking the other way (which, for the record, has been his way of doing everything for the first time - I missed the actual rolling from front to back and from back to front, the pushing himself up to sitting position and now this. Little stinker.) when Jacob pointed and mumbled in Aidans direction. I turned around and there he was, standing at the foot stool. Before I know it, I'm going to turn around and he'll be walking!

Great friends, one great blessing . . .

Last week, our very good friends, Lisa and Jason Miller, welcomed their first baby into their family. Indie Rae joined her parents on Tuesday, August 14th at 5:16pm. She weighed 7.7lbs and was 19 3/4 inches. She's adorable and mom and baby are doing great! We are so happy and excited for Lisa and Jason and can't wait to meet Indie at Christmas time! ( I wish it were sooner though!)
Congratulations to the Miller family!!!

I'm a big boy now!

Hey! I'm a big boy now!!!!

I have my third tooth - the upper right finally popped through and the left one is on it's way!

Me and my snaggle tooth

I get to take big boy baths with by brother now too!

I also get to sit in a booster seat at the table with everyone!

Jacob shares his big boy toys with me now, I love the ball popper!

And I can finally join Mama and Jacob on walks or bike rides in the GoBug!
I love being a big boy!

Silly smiles, brotherly love and a little bit of trouble . . .

Jacob has really become quite the "ham" in front of the camera. If I have the camera out, he's smiling. Sometimes he gives the goofiest smiles - it's hilarious!

Jacob has also started to give hugs to his brother - it's adorable and Aidan loves it!

Just for a good laugh . . . Jacob found my lipstick one morning while I was in the shower and left a nice hand print on the drawer. Thank God for Fantastic!

California or Bust

The Thomas Clan just returned from our first big family vacation. We went with my sister, Lorissa, her husband Doug, my brother-in-law Travis and two more friends, Katie and Missy, to Oceanside, California. Last Thursday night, around 6:30pm, we packed the kids up and went to meet up with the rest of the crew. We made it into Oceanside around 1:30am. The drive went off with out a hitch. The boys slept and there were no major tantrums or breakdowns. Thus making it possible to start our vacation off stress free - a little tired - but not stressed out. We stayed with a great friend, Mike Kelly. It was so great of him to open up his apartment to all of us. He lives about two blocks from the beach, where we spent the majority of our time - that is in between naps and eating. The boys loved it. Aidan took a couple naps at the beach and Jacob had so much fun playing in the sand and water. Aidan's favorite pastime - eating sand. I guess California sand is delicious, who knew. We packed up and headed back home on Monday. Cody and I decided to test the waters and drive home during the day. We left just after lunch, right before nap time in hopes of the boys sleeping a good chunk in the afternoon before stopping for dinner. We were very lucky to have two great boys! Aidan did have a few bouts of crying, but Jacob did awesome!! And he was the one I was more worried about. We made it home by 8:45pm, all in one piece and again, not stressed out. Success!! So, to sum it up - we had a really great vacation and I am not nearly as nervous about traveling with the boys. Our next adventure . . . .maybe Boston next summer . . .will we be brave enough to test out flying? You'll have to wait and see . . .

Aidan sees the ocean for the first time

Jacob tests out the water for the first time

Naps are always more relaxing on the beach

Jacob having a blast in the sand

Jacob and Mama laughing it up in the water - Jacob kept trying to put his salty hand in my mouth and thought it was hysterical

Aidan figuring out what sand is all about

Is it for exfoliating?

My cute boys playing together

Jacob playing - Aidan eating

Aidan's first taste of pizza crust - loved it!

Jacob's silly smile!

All the guys: (l-r)
Uncle Doug, Aidan, Cody, Jacob and Uncle Travis

The crew: (l-r)
Uncle Doug, Aunt Riss, Cody, Jacob, Ang, Aidan, Mike, Missy, Uncle Travis and Katie

The girls: (l-r)
Missy, Lorissa, Katie and Me

The Thomas Family