Today Jacob and I were listening to one of his CD's in the car. Old McDonald was playing, and on his farm he had some ducks, so we decided to stop at the park with a duck pond by our house, and see the ducks. There were about 100 ducks there...I have never seen so many there before at one time...they didn't even all fit in the picture. We had a good time!

Today was Jacob's first day of school!! One of the things he got to do was make an art project, using a half of an apple, and dipping it in paint. He seemed to really like school, and talked about it a lot today. It was nice outside, so we ate dinner at a new park tonight. The middle picture was taken looking through a playground bridge that Jacob was playing under.

Today we spent the day in Red Wing just for fun. We walked along the river, saw a train at the train depot, and had a picnic at a park.

Jacob got to visit the new Cabela's store in Rogers today. He liked seeing all of the stuffed animals, and especially liked seeing the fish swimming in the aqarium.

Today was Grandma's birthday. Jacob called Grandma to see if she would be home tonight. I put him on speaker phone so I can help prompt him to keep the conversation. He said happy birthday, and I prompted him to ask her what she did today. Grandma said she went to work and went out to lunch for her birthday today. Without prompting, Jacob asked, "Play outside in the sandbox today??"
Grandma said they were going to be home, so Jacob said he would come over with a surprise in a little bit. When we went over to Grandma's, Jacob walked up the driveway with a dozen roses in one arm, and a card he made with crayons and stickers in the other...He looked like he was picking up his date...it was very cute!!

This morning, the boys had a picnic on the kitchen floor for breakfast, and then we built a tent out of blankets. We put their sleeping bags under the tent, and they watched part of a movie.

Zachary came from Texas to visit this weekend! Jacob is so excited!! When Zachary is out visiting with his family, Jacob is constantly looking out the window, and asking if he's back yet, but tonight Zachary got to stay all evening and play. The boys painted together, and rode in the convertible to the park to shoot off rockets. After dinner, we had a bon fire, and the boys made smores. When it was bedtime, they got to sleep in their sleeping bags in Jacob's room. They have a lot of fun together!!

Tonight Jacob took his first shower instead of a bath, which he really liked. He also is as long as a step so we took a picture!

Jacob was eating some yogurt today. He wiped his fingers off with a baby wipe, looked over at the floor next to him, threw his wipe on the floor, and said "Gravity!" We learned about gravity about a month ago, and every so often he'll bring it up out of the blue.

Jacob and I also went to the park tonight. There were lots of acorns in the grass, and we talked about squirrels eating them for breakfast. We made a big pile of acorns for the squirrels to find tomorrow morning! He also liked that he could touch the leaves when he sat on my shoulders!

Friday morning, we were getting ready for the day. Jacob runs down the hall past me...stops and turns around, and said, "I going camping today Mommy!" We have been talking for weeks about camping, but when we actually got there and got the tent up, HE WAS SO EXCITED to see all of the things we talked about actually there...the tents, the sleeping bag, the camp fire, the stars...He was so smiley, and busy checking everything out. Several times, he said to me, "I happy Mommy!" It was a fun experience (for me too!) He loved walking on a trail through the woods, swimming and throwing stones in the river, and even got to go on a fire truck ride through the camp ground. Jacob built "a castle" out of the firewood, and was in charge of cracking all 3 dozen eggs to help with breakfast. The weather was great on Saturday, but today we did a rain dance at the camp site (which we called "Jacob's yard" so he knew where the boundaries were for playing). There were so many things to see and help with this weekend, he had a great time! We will definately go camping again!!

Tonight we started packing for the camping trip this weekend. Jacob used the list we made with the pictures, and put stickers over the pictures as we put each thing on the dining room table. We also went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house tonight to borrow their air matress. Grandpa asked Jacob where he was going this weekend...
..."camping".
What do you get to sleep in when you're camping?...
..."sleeping bag".
Where do you put the sleeping bag when you go camping?...
..."on the table in the dining room!"

Tonight we were in the car and saw the moon. It was a pink full moon, and this caught Jacob's attention...until it hid behind some trees. Pretty soon I hear from the back seat, "Mooooooon, are you?" (Where are you?)...Oh there you are moon!! He would get so excited!! "Moon, are you?...Oh there you are moon!" He did this over and over as he saw the moon between breaks in the bunches of trees on our street---like it kept getting lost!!

We were outside after dark, and Jacob asked about a noise he heard. We talked about crickets. He asked if they lived in the trees, and wanted to see one. I told him they usually hide in the grass, but it was too dark outside to see them. Later, when we were back in the house, Jacob was talking (about everything!) and he ended with, "kick-ets hadding en da dirt Mommy!" ("Crickets hiding in the dirt Mommy"). I love hearing what he's thinking in the moment!

Jacob is going on his first camping trip later this month, so we have been talking about sleeping in a tent, making smores, fishing, etc. We've also been talking about what to bring, so this weekend, we made a list of things he'll need to pack using pictures!

Tonight we went to a water park!! It had a zero depth enterance, and the deep end was 2.5 feet. There were water fountains, sprinklers, and 2 kiddie waterslides. Jacob did really good about getting his face wet. He liked playing motorboat, and trying to splash me. We both had a really fun time!! It's the perfect water park to take a toddler to!

Today we went to the Christian Community Fair at River Center in St.Paul. We saw a puppet show, a monster truck, and a race car. Jacob also got to jump in a bounce house, and pet some new animals, including a baby zebra, baby wallaby, baby camel, and baby pot belly pigs. On the way home, we stopped at a park that had a bunch of water fountains, and foam to play in!

About 2 weeks ago, the drain in the laundry room backed up, and we had a plumber come out to fix it. Jacob and I talked about what a plumber was, and I tried to explain what the plumber was doing as he worked. Jacob was very attentive, but we didn't talk about it much after that. Then tonight, it was almost Jacob's bedtime. I let him play on my bed with just the lamp on, and a flashlight to shine at the ceiling. I went to get something, and came back. Jacob had built a little tunnel with my comforter, the flashlight and his head were burrowed inside. He popped his head up and exclaimed, "I da pummer Mommy!!...Jacob fix the water broken right here!", shining the flashlight, and pointing in the little opening. I had no idea he even remembered the plummer! It was really cute!

Jacob likes to watch a cartoon about a toddler named Caillou (Kye-you). Caillou doesn't have any hair. We were talking about the word "bald", and I explained to Jacob that "bald means no hair". We practiced a little, asking if grandma had hair, to compare this to Caillou. Jacob seemed to get the concept, and then said, "Yes, grandma has hair" (then he signed "ball")..."and Caillou is a ball."