Jacob Says

Here are some additional funny Jacob says moments:

"Mommy take you!" = Mommy, please carry me!

Daddy was eating cheerios the other day. Jacob kept talking about Daddy's "lelios." Then he says, "I like lelios!"

Jacob got a basketball goal for his birthday. He constantly says, "Fro it basick!" = Throw it in the basket! Oh, and he even did this one in his sleep the night he got the goal.

"Dear Gock, fankyou Ella, fankyou Nonna, fankyou Beck, fankyou Gama Roof, fankyou Gama...." = Dear God, thank you for Ella, Miss Donna, Mr. Breck, Grandma Ruth, Grandma..."

"Gama backhoes! Diggin holes. Truck dumpin dirt. Beep, beep, beep!" = Grandma took me to see backhoes and they were digging holes. There was a dump truck dumping dirt. Then they backed up and said beep, beep, beep!

If you ask Jacob if he likes something his response is "yeah."

"Mommy dipperchange!" = Mommy, I need a diaper change!

"Mommy sit deown." = Mommy, sit down and watch this program/read this book with me!

"Happy to me!" = Happy birthday to you!

Jacob is such a little parrot these days! Don't say anything you don't want repeated!

2 Year Old Stats

Jacob had his two year old well baby check up yesterday with Dr. Warner. After his display of sheer terror with the specialist at UK a couple weeks ago, I have to be honest and admit I was just a wee bit nervous about this appointment since I had to take him alone. We talked a lot about the visit and I even had Jacob saying "Dr. Warner is cool!" nonstop in the car on the way there. We talked about courage and bravery and how men show how brave and strong they are. There was to be no screaming and crying when he had to be weighed, etc.

Well, Jacob did GREAT! He was such a good boy...so brave and courageous just as mommy had asked! He stood right on the scale (on the neat little footprints they have on the scale for them to stand on) and stood tall to get measured (although perhaps a little too tall...I think he was on his tip toes, but it was just an approximation). He greeted everyone who spoke to him and did just an awesome job.

He checks out just fine...a strong, healthy toddler. Here are the stats:

• Weight: 25 pounds, 18th percentile. Last appointment (6 months ago) he was also 25 pounds. He did not gain anything and dropped from 40-50 percentile to the 18th. Dr. Warner did not seem overly concerned about the lack of weight gain. Jacob is a good eater, enjoys a variety of foods, and is active. The direct quote from Dr. Warner is, "I am not worried at all about the weight. He is just going to be skinny and that is just how God made him." If I'm honest with myself I will admit I am a little bit concerned and do want to be sure Jacob eats a decent amount at each meal. We don't need him wasting away now!
• Height: 33 inches, 90th percentile. This is a three inch growth from six months ago (!!!!). I do think this was not fully accurate, however, I still think he grew at least 1.5 to 2 inches in the last six months. So, this explains the problem with pants we have. Too big in the waist, to short in the length. Apparently all his nourishment has gone to his height! Not sure where this came from since Mommy is certainly NOT tall and Daddy is average.

The rest of the appointment was as expected. Jacob had his blood pressure taken for the first time and he had a good healthy result. We talked about his lack of ability to jump and Dr. Warner just encouraged us to keep practicing and told us it should be right around the corner; no worries. Jacob's vocabulary and language skills are on target or even a little ahead of the curve. No more whole milk...he is a big boy! Talk about potty training sometime during this year, etc., etc. He is a healthy little guy. And to quote Dr. Warner one more time, "Gosh, he is just a cute kid!" We think so too!

What a Difference a Year Makes

What a difference a year can make! I think Jacob has figured out that birthdays aren't all that bad...

Backhoe Birthday Party #1

Today we celebrated Jacob's 2nd birthday with the Burris side of the family with a backhoe birthday (if you know our son, you know backhoes are the center of his world these days!). We'll celebrate with the Ruth side of the family in a couple of weeks when my parents are in KY for a visit. Jacob had soooo much fun at his party! He did so well enjoying each one of his gifts and appropriately thanked each person for everything he received. What a good boy!

Chris and I cannot begin to express in words how deeply blessed we are to have Jacob in our lives. What a gift God gave us when He gave us our "Geekub-Boy." We had a wonderful day with a great "Backhoe Birthday Celebration!"

Cupcake tower with construction equipment toppers!



Backhoe decorations for the party...



Opening gifts... He has certainly got it figured out this year!




The Burris Family (minus Aunt Jenn--I forgot to take the picture till after she left!). We're a good looking group, if I do say so myself!



Sweet two year old Jacob-Boy.

Snapshots of Spring

Spring has sprung (or at least started to spring) in the Bluegrass State. God has generously blessed us with some unseasonably warm temperatures this week. Jacob has been thrilled with all the time for outdoor play and mommy has been thrilled to get out of the house and break up the usual routine.

Here is a sampling of the fun we've had this week through snapshots. Ah, spring is in the air and there are so many fun adventures ahead of us!

Checking out the hand-me-down power wheels motorcycle. I think he needs a few more driving lessons....


Fun at the park going down the slide like a big boy!


Jacob's passion: construction equipment.


More dirt!

Jacob Sees the Pediatric GI Specialist

As many of you know, Jacob has had an issue with perpetual constipation since he was about six months of age. We've progressively had to get more aggressive with our treatment of the problem and have moved beyond diet, natural treatment, etc. Our pediatrician has been treating Jacob throughout the problem, but as things got worse, Chris and I became concerned we were potentially masking a larger problem with all the laxatives we are using with him. The pediatrician understood our concern and referred us to a pediatric GI specialist at the University of Kentucky. We've had to wait almost six months for the appointment, but we finally had it today.

The appointment was a total adventure. The appointment was for 9AM, but we were told to get there 30 minutes early to allow for parking, registration, and locating the office. Sheesh! So we left the house at 8, and managed to get there, park, and register all by 8:45. We were put in a room right around 9...after doing battle with a two year old who had zero interest in being weighed or measured. Then we sat. And we sat. And we sat some more. Then the nice nurse came in and said the doctor had just finished with his patient and was coming to us next. So we sat. And we sat some more. And we sat to the point that both Mommy and Daddy felt like this was a serious test of their patience and it was a small wonder that Jacob was so content playing put in and take out with the contents of his backpack. Finally....sometime after 10 (!!!!!!!) the doctor came in. We've seen a specialist once before about the way Jacob's head was shaping and the appointment literally lasted less than 30 seconds. Chris and I were very concerned that this appointment would go the same way and were really edgy about waiting as long as we had. Fortunately, this appointment did not go that way! The doctor spent a long time with us, collected a very thorough history, and asked a lot of questions. He is a bit of an odd old man....well, let's be honest, he's really odd and totally freaked Jacob out, but he seems to know his stuff and he explained it all in a way that we could understand.

Here is what he told us (in a nutshell). Jacob's problem is normal and our approach to it so far has been completely appropriate. The majority of his issue stems back to infancy and the failure for him to develop adequate muscle tone and strength for having a bowel movement. He lacks coordination in this area and needs time to build that up. Until then, he will remain on a constant regimen of Miralax. He will stay on the Miralax for five days a week for likely another 6 months. We will then start to discontinue and wean off. If it doesn't work, we up it again and recognize his coordination still has not developed. The doctor warned us that it is not at all uncommon for a child to struggle with this issue until the age of three and a half, so it may be pretty much an ongoing battle for us, especially when we enter the potty training stage of things. He explained what the Miralax does and how it works and put our minds at ease that we are not at all harming him or altering the way his body functions (which had concerned me...the label on Miralax clearly states not to take it for more than 14 days unless advised by a physician). We are currently scheduled to go back for a follow up in May, but likely won't have to keep that appointment as long as the current regimen continues to work for Jacob. The doctor won't even begin to discuss weaning Jacob off the Miralax for at least another 6 months. We'll have another follow up then and talk about the process of weaning him off and I'd imagine we'll just go from there.

I apologize that this is a bit of an unpleasant conversation to have, but many have asked how Jacob's appointment went and rather than type this all out a dozen times, I decided it would be easier to post it here.

We had planned to take Jacob to Monkey Joe's after his appointment, but since we were there forever and since Jacob's behavior during the appointment was not stellar (likely due to being trapped in the room for an hour waiting and then being creeped out by the odd old man doctor), we decided Monkey Joes will have to wait for another Friday afternoon outing. We'll get it in one of these days.......

Geekub Finds a Hat

I finally set aside some time this week to sort through three large bags of clothing I brought back from New York that my wonderful sister in law handed down to us. I was happy to find some pants that will tide us over until shorts season....Jacob is right on the cusp of out growing his current pants and honestly, I do not want to buy more just for him to wear them for a month and a half. We should be into shorts by May.

While sorting the clothes we found an adorable bucket hat! Jacob loved it! This will be a staple this summer!

Thank you Aunt Shelley for all the wonderful new clothes and most of all, for the new hat!

Jacob Says

Here are some of the more recent favorites (along with the translation) or if you feel daring, try to figure it out yourself before looking at the translations listed in blue:

• "Gama backhoes! Gone! Pop, pop, pop! Modirt!" Translation: Grandmama took me to see backhoes. We went where there used to be one, but it was gone! We found another one and it was going pop, pop, pop and scooping up more dirt!
• While in the car this evening, Jacob sneezed and said, "Bless you, mommy!"
• Jacob has been learning about the attributes of God. We will ask him what he has learned and he will say, "God issssss feefull 'n God isssss goooood!" Translation: God is faithful and God is good.
• Counting: One, two, fee, fife, sick, sehmen, nine, tin! Translation: 1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10. Yes, he tends to skip 4 and 8. We're working on fixing that.
• When asked if he can see something: "I seeum!" Translation: I see 'em.
• Geekob doit. Translation: Jacob do it.
• When asked what friends he will see at church: "Noah, Jonah, Hannon, Connah..." Translation: Noah, Julianna, Haddon, and Conner.
• "Sided turch." Translation: I am excited about going to church!
• "Gama Roof comin." Translation: Grandma Ruth is coming!
• "Ahfahdeown!" Translation: All fall down!
• "Ella heouse. Ella treat! Ella pee pee pahee. Nonna pee pahee too! Geekob pee pee pahee too! Mommy pee pee pahee too!" Translation: At Ella's house she gets a treat if she goes pee pee on the potty. Miss Donna goes pee pee on the potty too. Jacob and Mommy go pee pee on the potty too!
• "Abcdahg....P...querssss....tuv....double.....z! Translation: This is his version of the ABC's.
• "Ahbeen mommy." Translation: Obey mommy.
• "Fuff noll." Translation: Self control.
• "Fefish." Translation: Selfish.
• "Eat fries! Buger." Translation: Hey! We ate at that restaurant! I got french fried and a cheeseburger there!

Of course, I live with him all the time, but I really feel like much of what he says is plain. He is so expressive and chatters nonstop and will repeat every single thing you say, just as you said it. So watch your tongue around him (we were a little concerned about the "language" being used at the playground the other day....so far he hasn't repeated any of it!)!!

So, how many of you took the challenge? How many did you get right on your own? Chris told me he was going to help me learn how to load video onto this blog, so hopefully one day you will be able to hear him saying these things "live!"

P.S. My spell checker does NOT like it when I write these "Geekob-ese" blogs! :-)