Jake is learning to eat with a spoon now, and it has been interesting. He is doing really well for being at it for less than a week. We have tried with cereal and yogurt. Sometimes he gets it right, sometimes not. His biggest problem is that he can scoop up the food and bring it to his face with all of the food still on it, but then has the tendency of turning the spoon upside down to put it in his mouth (I guess he thinks that it should lay with the bowl of the spoon on his tongue, as it seems to fit better that way), and spilling most of the cereal and milk onto his tummy. We have typically been stripping him down to his diaper to do this, so we don't go through too many outfits a day.
He has definitely gotten more picky in his eating, and will change his tastes from day to day. One thing that he still loves, though, is french fries. He especially loves them with ketchup. Ever since a recent trip to Wendy's, he also prefers to have his ketchup in a little cup, so he can dip the fries in the ketchup. Sometimes he just prefers the ketchup, and will dunk the fry, lick the ketchup off, then put the fry down and do it again with a fresh fry (you see, the old one is now used).
Leigh Ann and I went to see the newest Harry Potter movie last week, and we loved it. While the book was not our favorite, we really enjoyed the movie. We saw it in IMAX, with the 20 minutes of action near the end in 3-D. We would have preferred seeing it on the normal screen. Maybe it was because we were too close to the screen, but with all the action taking place, the 3-D was too jerky, and the image didn't always match up, so it wasn't a great experience. Oh well, live and learn. We have already pre-ordered the last book, and are supposed to have it delivered to the house on Saturday. I'll have to suppress my natural impatience while Leigh Ann reads it. That is why I recently went to the library and got some books I thought would occupy me for a while. If not, I'll probably just reread the 6th book.

More Fun With Friends

We're hoping our friends, the Bevans, don't get too sick of us. After staying at their house until 11pm on the 4th of July, we were there until almost midnight celebrating Maury's birthday (hope I spelled it right!) on Saturday. Jacob wasn't quite as happy this time around, until we determined that he was hungry. You would think that sooner or later we would catch on to his various signs. Maybe one of these days he'll just actually tell us that he is hungry.
We had burgers and sausage, again grilled outside, and enjoyed the sunny evening (wishing that the 4th could have had that good of weather).
Jacob and Abby again played together, and their budding romance continues to blossom. Yesterday at church, Jacob was acting up (we are not big fans of church from 1-4 pm, since Jacob doesn't get his proper nap, and so is really cranky at times), but when Abby came up and put her head on his shoulder, he became silent and looked at me as if to say, "What's this all about?" It was really cute. We watched Abby for a couple hours yesterday evening as well, and they took turns laying their heads on each other's shoulders. In addition, they had great fun climbing up and down the stairs and playing hide-and-go-seek.
Leigh Ann and I are excited for this week, because I have already ordered our tickets for the IMAX showing of the new Harry Potter movie. We're going to see it on Thursday. We have mixed emotions about this movie. It is Leigh Ann's least favorite of all the books, and made her so upset when she read it, that she had to throw it across the room a couple of times when things got so frustrating.
Here are a couple new pics of Jake. He enjoys putting a little wicker wastebasket on his head and walking around the living room. Every once in a while he will do it, and I finally got a picture of it. So . . . enjoy!

4th of July

We had a thoroughly enjoyable 4th of July. We didn't see any fireworks, but we still had fun. Both Leigh Ann and I had the day off. We took the morning to do some shopping and get out of the house. Unlike California, we weren't in a short supply of rain, and we made sure we had our umbrella ready in case we were caught away from the car when the next storm would hit.
Jacob decided to not take a nap, and instead spent about an hour in his room tugging on the curtains from his crib and talking to himself.
We headed off to spend the evening with our friends, the Bevans, where we had a great dinner grilled in their backyard (of which we are jealous, as Jacob loved playing in their backyard). We feasted on burgers (provided by the Bevans) and bratwurst and knockwurst (from our favorite, or at least my favorite, German restaurant, Schmidt's), along with various side dishes. Their daughter Abby (who is adorable, and we are thinking of planning an arranged marriage between her and Jacob when they get older) obeyed her parents and went to bed at a decent hour, but Jacob, in keeping with his refusing to take a nap earlier, refused again to go to sleep at their house. So for the rest of the evening, he alternated between sitting on their bean bag watching "Cars" and playing with toys. We were really surprised how well he behaved, and let us play two full games, one of Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit, and one of a new game (for us) called Time's Up (at least I think that is what it was called). We finally got home by a little after 11pm, with a very tired little boy who tried to pretend that he was awake as I carried him from the car to his crib.
So although we didn't see any fireworks, we had a really good time. I hope the rest of you enjoyed your holiday.

Ball!

I have been a bit delinquent with my postings, and I am sorry.
Jake has been growing and getting into even more mischief (if that is possible). His favorite pasttime continues to be playing with balls. He has also learned to climb up and down stairs, which makes it a lot easier not having to climb over a gate anymore to go up the stairs. I don't know how many times I have banged my knee trying to get over that stupid thing. Just in time, as well, as Jake, with all of his hanging on the gate, yanked one of the bolts for the gate out of the wall, so it hasn't closed right ever since.
Summer is upon us here in Ohio. While it has gotten pretty hot in the last couple of weeks, today it is actually fairly pleasant.
We had to deal with a pretty sick little boy last week. With fevers in the low 100's and a lack of appetite, Jake was not a happy camper. Before the fever subsided, he also developed some congestion, which means he also wasn't sleeping well at night, so there were a couple of times we were awakened in the middle of the night. But he is back to his hungry self, and all is now forgotten.
Life continues on here in Columbus. This month we are awaiting the arrival of the newest Harry Potter book and the newest Harry Potter movie. Leigh Ann got me hooked on the books, and I have to admit that they are really entertaining reading. I still cling jealously to my love of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but that will never change.