8 Months

Today, my little baby boy is 8 months old. Wow! I can't believe how fast this is going. Jacob's babyhood went fast also, but now that we have two, it seems things pass by that much quicker. Evan is extremely inquisitive. Since he was a newborn, he's never liked to be held much. He has to be touching and seeing everything going on around him. I call him my squirmy wormy. He enjoys sitting up on his own, except that now when he rolls down on his tummy, he gets frustrated that he just can't quite crawl yet. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth, but that's all at the moment. So, for now, he settles for rolling and scooting to get what he wants. Evan is a very smiley child, except of course for when you want to take his picture. I think he's too fascinated by the red light on the camera right before it snaps the picture. Dang digital cameras! Anyway, Evan is our big eater. He has yet to reject any food I've given him, and he even gets a bit agitated when he see us eating something that he can't have because it requires teeth! He did cut his first tooth this last month, so he's well on his way. His one guilty pleasure is watching his brother cry. I have to think it's his sinful nature coming out, because when his brother sobs, he laughs his head off. It's actually kind of funny to watch :-) He's been praised in the nursery for being the best natured child in there and so easy to care for, so that makes me a very proud mom! Happy 8 Month Birthday Evan!

Christmas

Bob's Hamburg

Today, Frank and I had the good fortune of dropping off the kids with my parents for a few hours, so we could finish our Christmas shopping. (That's right folks, we're done! We started and finished early this year.) Anyway, we decided to start our day with lunch. My parents and grandfather have been telling us about this place in Akron that has been around "forever". Supposedly, they have the best hamburger around. Now, I've found any hamburger hard to compete with our local Swensons or a California In and Out Burger, but I have to say, this one is a close contender, if not my new favorite. We ventured to Bob's Hamburg on East Ave. in Akron today. It's just this cozy little dive with a counter seating 8 people and no more than 5 booths. Needless to say, we were a bit skeptical, but I've always enjoyed visiting little mom and pop places like this, knowing they surely have so much history. Well, we were very pleasantly surprised and had an incredible burger and tasty homemade onion rings...yum! The staff was a trip as well, since they all were over 60 and basically everyone did everything...serve, cook, cash register...kind of chaotic if you ask me, but also kind of charming in a way. Anyway, we had a lovely visit at Bob's Hamburg today and would recommend to all you Akronites to stop by sometime, but try to make it a weekend lunch outing because they close at 2 p.m.

No Fun Being Sick!

I haven't blogged in awhile and for good reason. About 3 weeks ago, the boys came down with colds, pretty severe that I had to take them to the doctor, only to find out that it is viral, and will have to simply run its course. I also came down with the same virus, so poor Frank was the only one healthy for about a week. Then, of course, he got it as well, just as the kids were starting to feel better. Luckily, we were all healthy enough to enjoy Thanksgiving, but just a couple days later, the virus came back in full force for me and the kids again. I am coughing my head off, Jacob's got a head cold, and Evan has an ear infection. It's made for a difficult time in the Choate household lately. I promise as we start feeling better that I will post more pics and updates! Until then, we would appreciate your wishes for good nights rests!

On to the next phase!

I mentioned before that Jacob can climb out of his crib now. For the past month or so, he's been doing this on a regular basis. He'll go to sleep on his own without a fight, but when he wakes up in the morning and from his naps, he gets himself down and comes downstairs. At first it was funny to be lying in our bed in the morning, open my eyes in the morning and see a cute little face staring at me, but since he has become so independent in this way, he has decided to wake up much earlier. We let this go on for a few weeks, then got tired of the 6am appearances in our bedroom, and we put up a baby gate in his room, so even if he wakes up, he'll just have to play by himself until we say it's ok to come out. Since Jacob's room is so large, we have our spare bed in there for when guests come to visit; however, Jacob loves to lie in that bed any chance he gets. The last few mornings, when I've gone to get him up, he's laying in that big bed all by himself. So I think we might skip the toddler bed and get a rail for the big bed, so he can be a big boy all the time.

My little Evan is becoming much more mobile as well. Evan has been a tummy sleeper since the beginning. That is his preferred method for sleeping, so despite the Pediatrician's advice, I'm going to go with what works for us! Now, we have come to a new challenge. Evan can roll over from tummy to back. He seems to do this while he's sleeping, then wakes up on his back, and starts crying. This means that lately, we have been going into his room several times in the middle of the night to turn him back over. Just when I thought those days were over! I'm working with him to roll back to front, and he's almost got it, so hopefully in a couple of weeks, this won't be an issue anymore.

Between these two developments, we're not getting much rest these days. It's always something with these boys!

Regressing?

Allow me to preface this story by saying that Jacob can climb in and out of his crib now, and does so, on a regular basis. We're almost to the toddler bed stage, but I'm putting it off as long as possible...more on that later.

This morning I went to blow dry my hair for 5 minutes in the bathroom. Usually, when I need to do somethingsfor myself, I put Evan in his bouncy chair to watch his Baby Einstein video and Jacob usually plays in either his room or Evan's room (there are toys in both locations). Today, he started out in his own room, but when I turned the blow dryer off, I heard music coming from Evan's room.

I went in to find Jacob lying in Evan's crib, covers pulled up, watching Evan's musical aquarium, with Evan's pacifier in his mouth. I think somebody wants to be the baby again :-) I tried to sneak up on him, but he saw me and said "I'm in Evan's crib!" Then we both started giggling.

I'm noticing more and more signs of jealousy with Jacob. He has even said to Frank on occassion "Put Evan down, Daddy". He also seems to be acting out more, trying to get attention, even if it's negative. We're trying to be more careful to give him some one on one time these days. Ahh, the joys!

Two Adorable Pumpkins!

Jacob and his pile of candy!

I love it when they hold hands!

Jacob enjoying his first piece of candy

Evan, just waiting to start trick or treating!