Wake Up!!!!

When my sister was Jacob's age, one of her favorite movies was Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp. As soon as my parents put the tape in the VCR, she would curl up on the couch or on the floor with a pillow and wait anxiously for the movie to begin. Little did she know, letting her watch that movie was just a way to get her to rest and take a nap. She loved watching those dogs, but something about them made her fall asleep. Once the movie started, she was usually out within a few minutes. BUT....there was one particular part of the movie she could never sleep through -- the singing siamese cats. Remember? "We are Si-a-mese if you ple-ease....."

To look at her, you would think JoBeth was in the deepest sleep one could possibly achieve, but, as soon as those cats started singing and dancing, JoBeth was up dancing right along with them. It was the funniest thing. To this day, every time I see that part of the movie, I think of little JoBeth "sleep dancing" with those cats.

I thought of this the other day as we were in the car on our way to...can you guess?.....Publix. It was Jacob's naptime, but I had to go to the store or else we would all starve to death. It takes about five minutes to get to Publix. When Jacob is tired, five minutes is all he needs to fall asleep. Actually, 30 seconds is probably more accurate. Anyway....if Jacob falls asleep and has to be woken up to go somewhere, do something, etc... take it from me...it is NOT a good thing. It doesn't matter if he's been asleep for two minutes or two hours. If you wake him up, he is never a happy camper. For this reason, I did not want him to fall asleep in the car on the way to the store. I looked back at him in the rearview mirror and saw him start to nod off. His eyes were closed. I panicked. I quickly turned on the Boomerang Express CD from VBS. As soon as he heard that didgeridoo, he opened his eyes, bobbed his head back and forth, and threw his hands up in the air to dance. I started laughing and Jacob started singing. Whew...that was a close one! He danced and sang all the way to the store.

To Jacob, the Boomerang Express theme song is like JoBeth's singing siamese cats. Good to know. I guess I'll have to keep that CD in the car after all.

Money and Mayo

Annabelle is into everything lately. As soon as she hits the floor, she crawls through house searching for something fun and interesting to play with. Her favorite things? Money and mayonnaise.

Jacob has several pieces of plastic play money that came with his grocery store and cash register. Annabelle LOVES the dollar bills. She will sit and gnaw on a dollar bill forever. Then, she moves onto the mayo. Jacob also has a game that came with all the parts of a sandwich (bread, several types of meat, pickles, tomatoes, mustard, cheese, etc...). For whatever reason, Annabelle loves to play with the mayonnaise. I've tried giving her the tomato. She throws it asside. The meat? Not having it. Cheese? Puh-lease. She only likes the mayonnaise. Give her mayo or nothing at all.

I don't think I ever posted anything about her nine month check up. She is growing! As of her nine month doctor visit, she weighed 14 pounds, 6 ounces. That was over a month ago (she went to the doctor a couple weeks before her 9 month birthday). Now, she's really bulked up. She's up to 15 pounds! :) She measured 26 inches which put her in the 10 - 25th percentile for height. In case you're wondering, she was in the <5th>

Her new favorite pastime is standing. If she can grab something to pull herself up, she will. And she's so proud of herself. Sometimes while I'm sitting on the couch, she'll crawl over, grab the edge of the couch cushion and stand up, sporting the biggest smile you've ever seen.


Look at those lashes!

Wow...I love the wagon!

Waiting for Daddy...

Calling All Movers!!!

Jacob is absolutely infatuated with the Imagination Movers. He loves them. Everyday he acts out one of the scenarios he's seen on the show. As far as children's programing goes, this is one of the better ones (in my opinion). I actually enjoy the music just as much as Jacob does. Hmmm....I'm not sure if I should really admit that. Oh well -- too late now!

Sooooo....since Jacob loves the Imagination Movers, of course, we had to have a Mover themed birthday party. It was so much fun! All the kids seemed to have a great time and I hope all the adults enjoyed it too!

Here are a few pictures from the party. A big thanks to Michelle for being the (unofficial) party photographer!

Birthday craft activity: tamborines. You need an instrument if you're gonna be in a band, right?

Here, Katie...you can pway my dwum if you want to.

Hooway!! It's my birfday!

Everyone loves balloons!

Fun in the tunnels!

Let's pray....

Earlier in the week, Jacob asked if we could have a picnic in the backyard at his birthday party. I told him we could. Why not? Well, I changed my mind about the outside picnic the second I opened the door -- hot, humid, disgusting. I decided to move the picnic indoors where the humidity was low and the temperature was cooler. The kids didn't seem to mind. It was still a picnic to Jacob!

Drumroll please........And now......presenting........THE CAKE!!!

Two recipes of Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake + approximately six pounds of confectioners sugar + one large bottle of red food coloring and several smaller ones + one small bottle of blue food coloring + one small bottle of yellow food coloring + several dowel rods + a few twizzlers = a drum cake for a three year old. (And no...that is not a typo. We really did use about six pounds of sugar.)

I decided to make Jacob's first birthday cake because I thought it woud be more meaningful. I made the second, and now...I've made the third. I think, each year, the cake gets a little more difficult and I end up staying up a little later to get it finished. I didn't get to bed this year until around 3:30 AM. I should add that I would never attempt any of these without the help of my wonderful friend Erika. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!! I can tell you, this cake would have been a complete disaster without her help.

Pweeeeeease.....can I pway my cake now?????

Let the sugar rush begin!!!!!

Oh my. That didn't take long.

Time for presents!!

Ooooooooohhhh! What have we here?!?!?

We planned on Jacob opening his drum set last, after he had opened all his other gifts. The drums were against the wall, unwrapped, but still in the box. Everyone was crowded around watching Jacob open his presents. We all figured he wouldn't notice the drums because so many people were standing in front of them. We were wrong. As he was about to open one of his gifts, he spotted the drums and took off.

DWUMS!!!!!

I play better when I stick my tongue out.

When I grow up, I want to be just like my big brother.

It may not have been her birthday, but Annabelle clearly wasn't hurting for attention!

More From Beach Week

At the aquarium.......

Fwog goes, "Wibbit, wibbit!"

We took a break from the beach one day and visited the NC aquarium at Fort Fisher. We were lucky to get there just in time for the alligator feeding. That was interesting and very entertaining. The alligators seemed to be so well-trained. The trainers made them stay in the water and wait for the food to be dropped into their mouths. If they came out of the water too much, they were verbally reprimanded and poked with what looked like a giant peppermint stick. Sorry. I don't have any pictures or videos.

I do, however, have a picture of Luna, the albino alligator.

Hmmm...that crab looks strangely familiar.

Oh...it's Jacob!

Annabelle hung out in the stroller and practiced her leg lifts.

Hands-on exhibits are always fun. Jacob touched a horseshoe crab and a sea urchin . He was just happy being able to put his hands in the water.

For whatever reason, this was a popular photo spot. Since everyone else was having their picture taken inside the bubble, we decided to join in. Jacob was not at all interested in a picture. He wanted to look at the fish. After all, the fish were the reason we went to the aquarium, right?

Fun In The Sun

Annabelle: Mmmmmm...my brother has some of that yummy sand on his knee. I wonder if he'd let me have some.....

Jacob: I LOVE the beach!!!!

Sun, sand, surf...and the cutest little strawberry you've ever seen.



Ha ha ha! The water's getting my feet!

I dubbed last week the Duncan Family Beach Adventure. We went up to Carolina Beach, NC for a week with a lot of Heath's family -- 18 of us total. We rented a beach house so we were all under one roof for the entire week. I have to admit, I was a little concerned about space, but it turned out great! A fantastic time was had by all! I did feel a little guilty because our family had the master bedroom, so we had plenty of space. In our defense, we did have to set up a pack 'n play for Annabelle to sleep in and a toddler bed for Jacob. That's why we were given the big bedroom. Hugs and a big thank you to whoever made that decision!! Perhaps, one of the most enjoyable things about the week was the fact that we had so many people to help care for Jacob and Annabelle. Heath and I actually got a little break for the week. Hooray for that! Annabelle got completely spoiled from being held so much. The ride home was rough because she wasn't happy in her carseat. She wanted to be held and voiced her requests through loud, angry cries. Ugh. She seems to be getting over it now, though.

Can you believe it? We spent all week at the beach and came back without even a little sunburn! I think this is a first for me. I ALWAYS get sunburned, no matter how much sunscreen I use. Before we went out on the beach, I was very careful to make sure every square inch of Jacob's and Annabelle's bodies were covered with sunscreen. The ritual took FOREVER, but was definitely worth the time and effort. I am so happy they didn't get burned. I did learn that we need to use only the sensitive sunscreen on Jacob. I usually covered him with the Neutrogena Baby Sunblock first, then later, if he needed another coat, I just sprayed him with the Coppertone Kids' spray. Apparently, some of the spray dripped down into his eye while he was playing in the water. He started screaming and a rash broke out on that side of his face -- not good. No more sunscreen spray for Jacob. He's strictly lotion only from now on.


I remember taking Jacob to the beach when he was a baby. I remember taking him out into the water wanting him to at least get his feet wet; but, anytime we held him out over the water, he would raise his feet and legs to a sitting position. For some reason, he didn't want his feet in the water. I saw a baby boy doing the same thing at the beach this week. Funny.

Annabelle does the exact opposite. She loves to kick and splash in the water. She did raise her feet like Jacob, but that was only to kick, not to keep them out of the water.

They may have reacted differently to the ocean, but in another way, they are definitely the same. When Jacob was Annabelle's age, he made a three course meal out of sand. Annabelle took it to the extreme with a delightfully gritty four course meal. She ate SO much sand. I tried to stop her from eating it, but she is one determined nine month old girl. Noone was coming between her and her sand.

Here's the little sand eater in action:

Ok...I have a lot more pictures and videos to post...but I'll have to keep you in suspense. I have lots of party preparations to tend to at the moment! I'll get them up as soon as I can!