Tonight we visited Carol and her friends at her senior apartment complex. Everyone is so excited to see Jacob and so nice to him. It's really fun to see him interact with them!

A few times now, I've asked Jacob what he wanted for Christmas. Fruit snacks are always at the top of his list, and then it depends on what he sees in the moment. One time I asked him while we were driving in the car, and he said he wanted street signs, and "orange construction cones--and they would not be heavy so I can carry them by myself". Other things that have made the list include a cow and a pig to play with in the back yard, tinker toys, and cereal bars. His latest request is for Santa to bring him some new play dough (which Santa already has ready for him!). But it's fun to hear what he comes up with!

Today we made Turkey cookies (like Zachary made!) to bring to a family get together tomorrow. Jacob's job was putting on the candy corn feathers.

The other day, Jacob and I watched part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV, and he really liked it, so tonight we went to the Holidazzle Parade in Minneapolis. He loves Minneapolis, and we watched the parade from the corner where the light rail stops on Nicollet, so we got to see a lot of trains during the parade too!

"Today we put the train up because it's Thanksgiving"
Translation: Today we put the Christmas tree up, which has a train that runs around the bottom of it, and we had to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to do this!
We also decorated a little tree on his dresser in his room, which he was pretty excited about!
If you ask Jacob what he put on the tree, he says, "lights, balls, and garlic" (garland!) He's a good little decorator! He's so invovled with whatever we're doing, and likes to ask lots of questions about it, which is pretty fun!

Jacob and I have been talking about Thanksgiving coming, and that it is a day to thank God for our families, a place to live, the sunshine, etc. Tonight we were talking about Thanksgiving tomorrow. I asked Jacob if he remembered what we say to Jesus on Thanksgiving. Jacob said, "HAPPY THANKSGIVING JESUS!"

Jacob's been learning some new poems for Thanksgiving (see videos). Here are the words so you can follow along easier...
Good morning Mr. Turkey
Thanksgiving's almost here
So I've come to tell you
You better disappear.
Mommy doesn't know it
Nor does Farmer Gray
But I've opened up the gate
So you can run away!

A turkey is a silly bird
His head goes wobble, wobble
All he knows is just one word
Gobble, gobble, gobble.

We've been doing quite a bit of drawing, and art projects lately. He especially likes making things with circles, faces, handprints, and drawing "the towers by Daddy's work". The blue paper is a turkey we made by glueing feathers on his hand print. The black paper on the table is a sun he drew with chalk. The blue marker is a picture of Mommy, and he drew "Jacob's face" on the foot of the turkey with his picture on it.

Whether it's his pumpkin going to the landfill, or his bath water going down the pipes, Jacob is always interested in knowing where everything goes. He and I have been talking a lot about the Salvation Army bell ringers lately, and how they use the money that he puts in the red containers to help people who need a coat, or food, or Christmas presents for kids. I have been looking for other opportunities to teach Jacob about giving, and tonight we went shopping for a project called "Operation Christmas Child" that I heard about on the radio. You choose an age group and gender, and fill shoebox full of gifts for a child in another country. We shopped for a 2-4 year old boy, and Jacob got to pick out what he thought "a toddler like Jacob would like". (We've been talking about "toddlers" a lot lately too, so it fit in perfectly!) Initially he wanted 2 of everything so he would have one too, but he did a really good job picking things out!

Jacob and I had some pictures taken the week before last.
(The last one of him is my favorite!)
A few days after our sitting, Jacob pulled his little stool out to the middle of his room, put a blanket over it, and asked me if I wanted my picture taken, showing me where to sit on the stool. After a few pretend pictures, he even learned how to take real pictures with the digital camera on a tripod...He gets so excited when the flash goes off!! He jumps up and down, cheering, "I took a picture! I took a picture!" We now have lots of pictures of his stuffed animals. When he wants to "change the background", he puts a different blanket right over the first stuffed animal, and poses his next little friend on top for their picture. It's pretty cute!

Last Thursday we had to throw Jack (Jacob's Jack-O-Lantern) in the garbage can. Luckily, I warned Jacob that this was coming early in the week. He had a lot of concerns about exactly what was going to happen to his pumpkin, and asked about it everyday. Garbage day went very smoothly, and all weekend, Jacob has been explaining how he got to "put Jack in the garbage can, and the garbage man brought Jack to the landfill, and mixed the poke-ins (pumpkins) up with all the garbage and the dirt in the landfill." This was particularly amusing to tell everyone at Thanksgiving dinner yesterday!

Jacob has been really into street signs when we're driving lately. He asks what all the signs and construction cones mean, even when he knows the answer. At home, he has a toy that looks like a dashboard with a steering wheel. He puts it on his race car bed, loads all of his stuffed animals into the back, and drives them to Mommy's work! He even calls me on his play phone to let me know they are coming. It's fun to listen to, because he carries on both sides of the phone conversation, so I don't have to wonder what he imagines I'm saying back!

Today we had Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncle's house. I asked Jacob, "Do you remember where we're going today?", and Jacob signed..."potty".

Last night Jacob was playing with a little alligator, and out of the blue he said, "God made alligators and cartoons!"

Jacob has been testing out his barganing skills lately. For snack today, he wanted a poptart and some cantalope. When he finished, he asked for more of both, and I said, "How about we start with some more cantalope!". Jacob replied, "How about we start with more cantalope AND poptart?"

We had tacos for dinner tonight, and I asked Jacob to pass me the lettuce. He started taking a handful of lettuce, and I asked him to just pass me the whole bowl. Jacob replied, "I will pass you this handful of lettuce." His barganing is cute, but he is slowly learning when it's okay to bargan, and when it's better to just follow directions the first time!

Tonight Jacob and I made a tent in the living room with the dining room table!

This morning I took Jacob with me to vote. As we were walking from the car to the building, we saw lots of people coming and going, and I explained that all of these people were our neighbors. We talked about what a neighbor was, how they all lived in houses near our house, and go to the same gas stations, schools, stores, etc that we go to. I pointed out the red "I voted" stickers, and Jacob could tell me who voted already, and who hadn't. I told him that we all come to vote for who we want to help make rules for us. Jacob said, "Me, I will make the rules...vote for Jacob!" After I voted, we were in the car, and Jacob told me over and over about the voting box that sucked up the papers like a vacuum! He even wanted to wear his "I voted" sticker on his pajamas to sleep tonight!

I put on a new video of Jacob singing his pumpkin song (See video). Here are the words so you can follow along easier:
I made a Jack-O-Lantern, on Halloween night
He had 3 teeth, but he didn't bite
He had 2 round eyes, but could not see
He's a jolly Jack-O-Lantern, happy as can be!

The other song he likes is "The Witch Song". When Jacob sings "Poor old witch", he runs the words together, and it sounds like "porridge". Here are the words...
She's stuck on her broom stick, and can't get off
The poor old witch, can't get off
She sat in some bubble gum, what a sight
Now she's stuck on her broom stick, good and tight
She'll never make Halloween night!

Tonight we carved our pumpkin...or as Jacob pronounces it,
we "coughed our poke-in"!
Jacob didn't seem to mind that it was after Halloween.

Jacob and I spent the day at the Children's Museum today. He kept asking where the dinosaurs were because Curious George visits a museum with dinosaurs in a book we read. There was a stage that Jacob could dance on as he watched himself on a monitor, which he really liked (see video). The last time we visited the museum was in January, and it was fun for me to see how his interests and exploring has changed since almost a year ago.
Can you find Jacob's face in the art gallary?