The Warren Family

I'm sorry I haven't posted any updates recently. I can't believe it's been a month since my last update. It looks like this will be a long one since I have to catch up. It seems to be tough to find the time these days. We have Jake in a great routine and I try really hard to stick to it. I'm also trying to savor every moment that I have being a stay at home mom and that means that I try to give Jake as much of my time as possible so some things just have to wait. He is napping right now and since I finished our taxes last night I thought now would be a good time for an update so here goes... we'll start with the most recent things...

Jake isn't walking yet but he is cruising all around the house holding on to anything he can get to and he is standing independently all the time now. Uncle Russell & Aunt Kristi bought Jake a really cool v-tech walker for Christmas and he loves it but has never used it to actually walk until yesterday. After his nap, I changed his diaper and set him down in the floor and he crawled over to it... stood up and just took off. It was the cutest thing ever so we made a little video to share. He was so proud of himself. Trip had to leave for Raleigh and he is so afraid that Jake will walk on his own for the first time while he's out of town. We've been so lucky to both be there for all of his "firsts" so I really hope Daddy doesn't miss this one.

Ready or not here I come Daddy.

Jake turned 14 months old yesterday. It's so hard to believe how quickly the time has passed but we love our lives with Jake and truly don't know what we ever did without him. Jake is really learning a lot. We've counted over 70 words that he can say now... granted a few of them require us to translate but the overwhelming majority are very easily understood. Some of his words that require a translation are "golk" for "golf" and "grak" for "grass" but other words like earth, stretch and dish are perfectly clear. We've been working on the alphabet a lot and he recognizes all of the letters now. If I ask him to hand me a particular letter he will find it and bring it right to me. He knows the sounds that the letters make too ... for example if you ask him what sound the letter M makes he will say... "mmmm". The only two letters he really hasn't gotten the sounds for are the L and the W but we're still practicing. We spend a lot of time working with him, reading to him and playing with him and we continue to be amazed at how fast he is learning. We took him to the pediatrician's office this past Saturday because he had been running a slight fever and feeling a little rough. Luckily... he wasn't sick... just cutting teeth number nine and ten (molars... very painful). Dr. Love was amazed at Jake's vocabulary and the way he recognized his letters and made their sounds. We're truly blessed that Jake is doing so well and we're trying our best to give him the best possible foundation from which to build his life.

Happy 14 Month Birthday to Me!

Yipppeee... time to rip down the sign.

This past weekend was a whirlwind of activities. We all went to a 40th birthday party for a very good friend.... I went to a baby shower for his wife (one of my best friends)... Trip and Jake watched the Masters (even online each day before the television broadcast started so they wouldn't miss anything) and it was Easter.

We spent Easter at Mamaw and Papaw's house and Jake had his first bowl of ice cream (a very small one). Aunt Kristi helped him eat it and when it was gone Jake leaned over and looked down into the bowl and said "all gone" in the most pitiful little voice that you can imagine. As you might guess... Papaw immediately gave him some more which made him very happy. I made Jake an Easter Bunny cake exactly like my Mama used to make for Russell and I when we were little. When I finished decorating it... I held it down where Jake could see it and he literally laughed out loud. It was well worth the time and mess! When we got back home from visiting our family... Jake enjoyed finding all the goodies in his Easter basket and we spent the rest of the evening playing with the new toys and reading the new books.

Jake's first Easter Bunny cake...

Wow Mama... you made that all by yourself?

Aunt Kristi couldn't get that ice cream
in my mouth fast enough so I had to
help her.

Really... all this is for me?

Hey Elmo... what are you doing in my egg?

I love the Easter Bunny almost as much
as Santa!

I love watching "golk" with Daddy!

Thanks Grandma! I love the dogs on my
new outfit!

Bananas are Jake's new favorite food. He has always liked them but we've only been giving him pieces that we've cut up for him. Trip decided to give him the "big" banana last week and he LOVED it!

I could eat "nanas" all day long.

Jake has never shown any interest in pacifiers but I heard about a trick that can help with teething pain so we tried it and it really does help. There are certain pacifiers that will allow you to fill the nipple up with water (they aren't intended to be used that way so you have to work at it a little but its totally worth it). Once you have the water inside the nipple ... pop the paci in the freezer until it freezes solid then give it to your baby when the teething pain is bad and the cold will give them some relief.

Ahhhhh... this feels so good on my gums.

Jake has always loved bright colors and when we went to The Children's Place a couple of weeks ago they had the cutest little crocs. Trip and I aren't fans of crocs... in fact we have always hated them and even made fun of them but of course we changed our minds when our son wanted some. He got to choose the color and immediately went with the red ones. He is so proud of his new shoes. Aren't they just adorable?!?!

Check out my cool new kicks.

I can stand up really good in my
new red shoes.

Jake still absolutely loves being outside so we get him out every chance we get. Sometimes we just play in the yard at home or go to the park but one his favorite outdoor activities is hiking. Hopefully more warm weather will mean that we can go hiking a lot this spring.

Come on Mama.

Mama... look at my new stick.

Dr. Love said that we could turn Jake's car seat around when he reached one year of age and 20 lbs. He's been ready for this for a long time. He would get frustrated facing backward and it made car trips a real challenge. We still don't know how he'll tolerate a long car ride in his new position but its definitely made our errands around town and our trips to Mamaw & Papaws house much more pleasant.

Thanks Daddy! This is awesome!

The dishwasher is still a hit in our house. Jake loves to "help" with the dishes. He will put the silverware in the basket and take it out and hand it to me so I can put it away. He also loves to push the button to start it. As you'll see below... he also enjoys a "close up" look when Mama turns her back for one second...

I thought Mama would never
turn around so I could climb
up here.

We have gates for the stairs but when we open the one at the bottom Jake likes to try to go up a couple of steps on his own. A couple of weeks ago he decided it was time for him to go all the way up but don't worry... Mama and Daddy were both right there just in case.

Come on ... let's go outside.

I think I can do it!

Here goes nothing...

Whew... it's a long way up here.

I'm almost there!

I did it!!!!!

I'm so thankful that I've been able to nurse Jake for his whole first year of life. It has provided great health benefits for him and has also been an incredible bonding experience for the two of us. We've started the weaning process but Jake doesn't like regular milk. We've tried warming it and serving it cold but with no luck so we've started adding a little vanilla milk for flavor and he's starting to drink a few ounces each day now so hopefully we're headed in the right direction.

Hmmmm... is that vanilla that I taste?

We lost a very special friend of the family a couple of weeks ago and had to go to the memorial service so Jake got an extra visit to Mamaw & Papaws house which is always a treat even on a sad occassion.

Mamaw and Papaw love me so much!

I'm such a big boy... not even holding on
to anything and helping with the dishes.

Mama says Daddy used to wear his
hats like this when they first met.

Hi again Mama.

I love to watch my reading videos.

The "grak" is getting so thick and green.

I love hiking with my Daddy.

This way Daddy! We're suppossed to
follow the blue dots to stay on the trail.

Hmmmm..... let me give that some thought
and get back to you Mama.

I guess I was still hungry after breakfast.

I'll start it for you Mama.

Ketchup is a vegetable right Daddy?

Here I am patiently waiting on supper.

Our little baby is not really a baby anymore... he's a little boy. Jake can say almost 30 words now and is using them correctly. He's even starting to master yes and no. Yesterday I was telling him to stop eating his crayon and I said "no Jake... no, no" and he looked at me and smiled and said "jez" (his version of yes) and put the crayon back in his mouth. He also understands and will point to lots of other things that he can't yet say ... like drum and turtle. He loves scribbling with crayons, pens and pencils and has made us some beautiful art for our house. He can use a spoon and a fork and insists on feeding himself most of the time now which is quite messy but so fun to watch. Jake has four new FAVORITE things... ice, sticks, his new toothbrush and the dishwasher. He gets so excited when we open the dishwasher door and hurries to get to it before we shut it. He will crawl into the kitchen and sit in front of the refrigerator and say "ice... ice.. ice" until we give him a piece. He loves his cars and trucks and has now started making the cutest little... "mmmmmmmmmm" sounds when he pushes them around the house. Trip says that he learned it from me because I do it when I play with him... especially when I push him on his big Tonka truck.

I know that I'll be going back to work at some point but I'm really thankful for this very special time with Jake. Trip has to travel some for work and he really misses Jake when he's gone but when he comes home Jake is so EXCITED to see him. It is so adorable... he just "talks" and "talks" and follows Trip around the house like he's trying to tell him what he did while he was gone and of course Daddy LOVES it.

I'm posting a bunch of new pictures and a couple of videos of our little man so enjoy and stay tuned for more updates.

"MMMMMMMMM"