Jacob is 1!

(Warning, this is long, and is mostly for posterity (okay and grandparent) purposes, so if you don't feel like reading too much my feelings won't be hurt)

Time really does fly. I know I say that every time I have an update about the kids, but they are just growing up so fast. Where has the year gone? Jacob turned one on Tuesday the 28th of April. We didn't really do too much that day but sing Happy Birthday to him at dinner time. Tyler and I were saying Happy Birthday to him all day long, and I don't know if it was just me or what, but he seemed to just act so much older that day than the night before. It was like he was trying to be extra cute that day too, he seemed to know it was his special day. A few days later we had a little party for him with cupcakes and root beer floats. He didn't care too much for the cake, though we thought he'd tear right into it. Jimmy, Bekah, Evan and Allison came and gave him a fun rocking horse, our friend Teigan also came over.

He had his 1 year check up at the doctor on Thursday, and boy was that a nightmare. We switched doctors and he seemed to really notice that because he did NOT want to be near any of those nurses or the doctor. He's never had a problem at the doctors before, he's usually always pretty cooperative. This time though was horrible, he was screaming and crying, clawing at me for dear life. He kept pinching me and trying to climb up me to get behind me if anyone came near him. Needless to say, it was difficult to get his measurments and check his vitals, etc. We finally did though, he weighed in at 23lbs which is in the 54th percentile for his age, 30.25 in. long which is in the 66th percentile for his age, and his head measured at 48cm which is in the 90th percentile for his age. He's pretty healthy except he has had some hives and excema for a while now, which we're pretty sure are from an allergy he has. His dr. sent us to an allergist and we were able to get in there that Saturday (which was great luck since it normally takes at least a month+ around here to see an allergist!). They did an allergy scratch test to test different things he might be allergic to and it came up positive to peanuts and eggs (in their purest form). So, since positive doesn't necessarily mean he's allergic to it, and it doesn't say how allergic he is, we have to do some experimentation for a couple weeks. Since those aren't things you feed a baby yet anyway but he is still nursing, it's me that has to take them out of my diet. Once they've been out of my diet a week or so we'll introduce them back in and see which brings back the hives. Hopefully he just grows out of these allergies eventually though! UPDATE: We introduced peanuts then eggs back into my diet and the eggs are what brought back the hives. Just cooked eggs like scrambled, hard-boiled...so nothing too difficult, thank goodness.

Jacob still sleeps horribly. The majority of the time his 2 naps are no more than an hour and he wakes up 3-5 times a night. He can put himself to sleep initially, but refuses to do it in the middle of the night, and since they share a room I can't let him just scream forever...as much as I'd like to. UPDATE: Since I originally wrote this he has begun waking up less at night, 5 of the 7 days a week so far he has only woke up 1-2 times, much better than the 3-5!

He is walking a little more each day now. His preferred mode of transportation is still crawling, and he is super fast at it too! He can stand up from sitting with out havin to use anything to pull up with. He is a climber...boy does he love to test my patience when it comes to climbing on things! Just today I was doing the dishes and peeked in theboys room to see what he was up to and he was standing on one of Tyler's little chairs looking out the window. He's slowly figuring out he can move things around to use as steps to get to higher places, I'm sure he has learned all of this from carefully observing his big brother. UPDATE: As of the last two days (5/18-19) he has all of a sudden switched to walking 95% of the time! It is so cute to see him wobble around the apartment, it makes me a little sad to see him change from an infant to a toddler in just two days!!!

Jacobs favorite toys are all the balls we have around the apartment (okay and anything that Tyler is in the middle of playing with). He loves to play with them, he loves to throw them, roll them, hug them, and hit them. He has quite the arm, he loves to throw anything he can get his hands on...which makes us nervous when we are at church or anywhere else! He hates to get his diaper changed and fights with all his might to get away from us. He's quite the challenge at church since he is always wanting to be on the move. He instantly starts wiggling around when he hears music (his way of dancing). He loves to babble talk constantly. He thinks it's a hilarious game to take food out of his mouth or unwanted food on his tray, look us in the eye, then drop it on the floor, all with a huge grin on his face. Some of his favorite foods are grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza, ramen noodles, strawberries, and pumpkin/pear baby food. He still loves to wrestle with Tyler. They have so much fun playing together now.

He is getting so big and growing more and more each day. We've been so blessed to have him in our family the past year and look forward to many more years.

(Since I am SO behind posting this, I will post some more pictures from his party soon!)