For Laughter. For Encouragement. For Inspiration.

For Laughter. For Encouragement. For Inspiration.

09 December 2007

New words...

jacob is about to be 22 months old, and i wanted to record his new words as his lexicon is growing exponentially...daily:

Boo (blue)
Re (red)
cheese
juice
shoes
okay
elmo
more (when he wants something to eat and would like for you to follow him into the kitchen)
NO! (with his lips very rounded and his brow furrowed...my favorite expression...he looks too cute) :)
dis (meaning "this", with his finger pointed at what he wants--usu. food)
book
cock (clock...this ALWAYS generates a laugh from me--which confuses jacob hahaha)
ca-cuh (cracker)
waTer (it's so cute how he enunciates the "t")

The gift of daddies...

lou taught jacob how to climb the ladder of the bunk beds yesterday. i was horrified, but lou would not let me intervene. it was such a treat watching jacob overcome his fear.

let me set the stage...jacob loves climbing. he has progressed from just climbinig on the chair to climbing onto the table from the chair. he'll climb anything at anytime. i have been a nervous wreck checking and double-checking the house to make sure everything is safely out of "having to rush to the hospital" range, while allowing opportunities for jacob to climb.

well yesterday, after changing jacob, lou and i were just kinda hanging out in jacob's room with him, and jacob decided to climb up the first rung of the ladder on his bunk beds (which he's not ready to use yet, they're just waiting for the crib to be transitioned out :). he's done this before, but he looked up and wanted to go higher. he recognized his limitations, but lou stood behind him and was encouraging him on. i got freaked out cuz his foot kinda slipped, lou held his up behind his back to me (as if to motion me to hold on a second), jacob heard me gasp, looked over at me (whereby i, noticing i was his strength at that point, faked excitement and said, "you can do it!"). my baby followed lou's instruction and put one foot up, pulled his body up, raised one hand up, pulled his foot up, and so on and so forth until he reached the top bunk. it was amazing!

he was flipping all around on the top bunk once he reached the top. he was so excited! i was sitting on the floor watching it all, and his sweet little face looked over the railing of the top bunk looked down at me with this incredible smile and said, "HEY!" hahahaha

lou took him off to do it again because he was giving signs to go again. well, this time lou did not have his hand on him as support. i was so tense as jacob's little body was literally shaking while he tried to steady himself and pull himself up. i saw him shaking and said low "lou get him!" jacob didn't hear me, but he felt me, and looked back at me for strength. i smiled as if to say, "you can do it." he smiled, turned around then slipped! lou caught him, but jacob had pretty much caught himself. and then he climbed up faster to the top. he learned the process so quickly!

i also recognized in an instant (even though i kinda already knew this) the power of my praise. if i had shown doubt, jacob would have sensed it and probably not gone further. i must never forget this---even into his adulthood. parents can be either the wind or the pin for the balloon of life for their kids (hmmm, i like that). :)

i also appreciated lou all the more in that instance cuz he makes jacobs take risks for his growth that i would probably NEVER do! mommies strengthen the heart, but daddies strengthen the resolve. :)