3 Years and Counting!

So we have reached another birthday with Jacob! Actually, this one came almost a week late. I was in San Antonio, Texas, for an international HCV conference from last Sunday until Thursday, so I wasn't actually in town for his birthday on Monday the 6th. We decided to wait until Saturday to celebrate. Leigh Ann's mom came into town to stay with Leigh Ann while I was gone, in case munchkin number 2 decided to make an early entrance into the world, and her dad took the opportunity to pay a visit to his company's office in northern Ohio. I got back on Thursday night, and Leigh Ann's father arrived Friday night, so we had the party Saturday morning.

Jacob was excited when he came downstairs. We had his presents set up on the table, along with some balloons. What did Jacob love? The balloons. His Grandma Rice sent him lots of tractors and a couple of tractor books, which he loves. His Grandma Cate and Daddy Cate (these are all his names for them) brought him a Backyardigan's DVD and music CD (Jake still loves Pablo) and some more Thomas trains. We bought him a little Thomas the Tank Engine tent to play in. He proceeded to pile all of his toys into the tent to play with. But at the end of the day, what did he love the most? That's right, the decorations - the balloons. Helium-filled balloons are just about the coolest things a little boy could get.




This last month has been a doozy in terms of sickness. The week before I had to leave, Jake came down with pink eye. Leigh Ann and I were frantic to not catch it - me because I had to go to a conference and present a talk, Leigh Ann because she had to work her last weekend before her maternity leave, and didn't want to expend any more PTO.

Neither of us got pink eye. However, on my flight down to San Antonio, I came down with a killer cold, and spent most of my time in San Antonio in my hotel room nursing a fever. When I returned, I found Leigh Ann also was starting to come down with it. We now both look very pathetic and have nagging coughs that we are trying to get rid of. We're hoping that everybody will be back in good health shortly, as we are less than 2 weeks from the due date for our second energetic little boy.

Jacob continues to increase his vocabulary. More and more he is sounding intelligible - although he still clings to certain false words, even though he can say the right thing. Specifically, the work that he uses to replace both look and work is "merk." Oh well, one step at a time.