Barber Steve

Healdsburg's town barber is retiring in September.  He has been a one man show in the same location for 38 years.  He also has the last working payphone in Healdsburg in his shop, which is still used.  (I found this out this am).  He told me that the kids are going to be the hardest part of leaving.  He has loved watching kids grow up into adults around here.  And you can't leave his shop without a gumball or a lollipop in your hand.  Really everyone just LOVES this sweet man.

Jake has come a LONG way when it comes to haircuts.  I bet we had 5 or 6 haircuts that were a complete nightmare before he finally sat still without tears.  His first haircut with barber Steve was about a year and a half ago.  It was his first time not in a "kid" salon and I just knew it would be horrible... and it was.  Horrible.  My dad was in town and with us and he did everything to try and distract Jake.  It was hilarious really.  I wish I had a video on my dad :)  Jake had to sit in my lap and I had a death grip on him.  The more he cried the more snot he produced and tears+ snot+ HAIR= torture... for both of us... really for sweet Steve too!  He has always been incredibly patient and calm with Jake too.

But now, Jake does perfectly and I still get so excited about telling Jake what an awesome big boy he is and how great he does sitting so still.

... now I get to look forward to Pierce's first haircut in a few months...

Here are some of my favorite past haircuts... enjoy!  :)

Jake's very first haircut.

Jake's second haircut.

Over the next few haircuts, I decided to try out my mad skills with some sissors.  I would put on a movie or over the course of the day I would sneak a snip here and there.  This one's not so bad... if you like the "bowl" haircut... hmmmm sorry Jake!  At least he looks happy.  :)

I must have left my camera at home all the other times Jake got his haircut.  I didn't need to document any more nightmares... we were all about get in, cut, and get out in the fastest time possible!  :)

But here we are at Plaza Barber in downtown Healdsburg.  Camera in hand to document Jake's last haircut with barber Steve and to document his pre- preschool haircut!

Such a big boy this guy is!

TaaaaDaaa!  Thank you Steve and preschool... here I come!!!

Potty Time

***WARNING... This post contains WAY too much information about pottying and pooping so proceed at your own risk!  But since this is my very first time to potty train a child I want to remember everything about this stage when it comes time for Pierce to learn!**

I wish that I was one of those people who could sit down (or even have the time to sit down) and try to  calculate approximately how many diapers Jake has worn in his almost 3 years of life.  You know try to figure out how many days he has been alive times roughly 8-10 diapers a day yada yada yada and then take it a step further and try to figure out how many boxes of diapers we have gone through at whatever cost... but then again, I don't really want to be that person and I REALLY don't care to know how much I have spent on diapers in Jake's 2 years, 9 months, 1 week, and 2 days of life.  (And the only way I know THAT is because of the little ticker I have on facebook!) :)

Have I totally lost you?  I feel like I'm lost myself after re-reading all that... sorry!

Anyways... Jake starts preschool on Tuesday, September 7 and he HAS to be potty trained.  I just kept looking at my calendar going "I've really got to start thinking about this" as we got further and further into summer.  We have on several occasions during the last months put him in underwear and on the potty and he will actually go but I've never gone "full throttle" until a week ago.

So Jake woke up last Wednesday to a party for him.  But it wasn't just any party.  It was a POTTY PARTY!  Complete with presents, balloons, enough candy to make a dentist call CPS on me, all sorts of different and fun drinks, a fun chart with stickers and stamps and LOTS of new big boy underwear.  Whew!  Let's do this thing!

We followed the "3 Day Potty Training" method fairly closely with a few slight modifications :)

OK, let's see if I can remember... again, sorry this is so detailed!

DAY ONE (Wednesday)- we started after breakfast and unfortunately (yeah right) he had already pooped for the day.  Mark took Pierce for the morning so I could be by myself with Jake.  Only one potty accident by lunch.  Afternoon was accident free.  Not so bad actually!  I've never played so much with Jake before :)  With this method you have to catch your child in the act of pottying and scoop them up and let them finish on the potty.  So I had to be with Jake every second of the day.  I realized that day just how much Jake actually plays by himself.  Our house is so little that I always know where he is and he is old enough that he enjoys playing in his room without me.  Anyways, we did EVERYTHING that day together- painted, play dough, made zucchini bread, lined up cars a thousand times, made forts and tents with sheets and comforters, made obstacle courses with pillows and cushions for Pierce, made ramps for his cars, played drums with Pierce with ALL my Tupperware,  bowled down the hallway... do you get it yet... everything :)  nap time, Jake wore a pull up, which is a NO with this particular method.  Remember I said we made a few modifications???  :)  Actually woke up dry though.  By the afternoon, he was telling me he had to go potty.  And by the end of the day, he had only had that ONE accident.  This may not be as hard as I thought... hmmmmm..... Pull-up went on at night!
*Jake responded really well to "Jake, you let mommy know when you have to go potty, k?" instead of "Jake, do you have to go potty?"  I didn't ever set a timer and then just go put him on the potty.  I let him tell me when he needed to go.*

DAY TWO (Thursday)- woke up wet but immediately called out for us saying he had to go potty.  Man, my child can pee!  No accidents by lunch.  Decided to try letting him wear his underwear for a nap.  Sweet guy slept 3.5 hours.  He had a little accident in his bed.  I think that was what woke him up.  He must have immediately stopped because he finished in the potty.  Only one accident in the afternoon.  I was changing Pierce and realized that Jake wasn't with me anymore.  Pooping was an issue today.  Jake was really afraid to sit on the potty for that.  Finally after some advice, I let him start in his underwear and then he finished in the potty.  We shouted for joy because he "did it!!!"  Yeah for Jake.  So got his poop present.  Whew!  Pull-up on at night.  I'm EXHAUSTED!!!

DAY THREE (Friday)- made it through the whole day with no accidents and him telling me every
time he needed to go potty.  Woke up dry in underwear.  No poop.  We even ventured out of the house for a quick trip to Arista.  No accidents.

DAY FOUR (Saturday)- no accidents, woke up dry again from nap but again no poop.  he would tell me every once in awhile that he needed to go "poops" but never would on the potty and i would never leave him alone to go in his underwear.  would try and distract him because he would get pretty upset because he needed to go so badly.  I almost gave into letting him go in his pull-up but I didn't and I'm so glad.

DAY FIVE (Sunday)- woke up dry from the night.  no poop.  starting to complain about his tummy hurting :(  started giving him prune juice to see if it would speed things up some :)  I put him in a pull-up for his nap "just in case."  Called me in his room after his nap with a, "mommy, i poops."  Rats.  Sure enough, he had.  Oh well.

 DAY SIX (Monday)- *breakthrough*  Poops in the potty!!!  Hallelujah!!!  No accidents.  Dry in morning and after nap.

 ... and here we are... officially on day #9 post diapers... and I feel like I can say out loud that we are READY FOR PRESCHOOL!!!  I could have said it 2 days ago but I didn't want to jinx it!  I'm still putting him in pull-ups for nighttime.  The last thing I want to do in the middle of the night is change sheets.  It's not hurting anyone so we will stick with pull-ups for a few more weeks maybe... :)

But Jake did it!  His mommy did it!  We both survived!  :) :) :)

The only thing we have left to do is try and get him to keep his underwear and shorts on while going to the potty.  I'll wait and tackle that the week before school :)

 Potty Party

 The goodies

All set up and ready to go!  The present is his poop present.  Yes, I said poop present!

This was just little "extras"- like the first several times he actually said, "mommy, i have to go potty."

Yummy treats.  And I did pick up a new toothbrush for him as well :)

Potty chart complete with stickers and stamps.

Now of course I didn't actually throw them away.  No one in their smart head would actually throw perfectly good diapers in the trash.

Locked and ready to go!

Poop present... number 1! :)

He has a whole weeks worth of stickers on top of one another :)  Not as cute and neatly done as I would have preferred but then again, we are talking about a two year old BOY!  :)

We gave Jake this awesome firetruck last night as just a "way to go/you did it/you're awesome/big boy."

Please don't think we just give and give and give Jake presents.  We really rarely give him things but we thought that this week was definitely an exception :)

Whew!  If you are still with me, you deserve a reward yourself!  :)

Thanks to EVERYONE who offered advice and words of encouragement and prayers this past week.  We did it.  We survived.  And I'm so glad we are over this mountain!

Jake, mommy and daddy are SO PROUD of you and love you SO MUCH!!!

Official 10 month stats

Pierce totally performed for the pediatrician yesterday.  It was a hoot.  Smiling like crazy.  Babbling non-stop.  Crawling and climbing onto the benches.  Even walking while pushing a stool.  Lucky for us he didn't get shots so it was a very happy appointment.  Pedi says that Pierce is "awesome!"  I would have to agree :)

So, at almost 10 1/2 months, Pierce weighs 20 pounds, 14 ounces (about 40%).  He is 30.25 inches long (75%).  Has a head circumference of 19.25 cm (can't remember what the percentage is)

JAKE AT 10 MONTHS!

I don't have Jake's 10 month stats but at 9 months, he weighed 19 pounds 12 ounces and was 29 inches long.

Thomas the Train

... was in California last week!  Really, he was!  He is really real and we just HAD to go see him for ourselves :) :) :)

We have been planning this trip for several months now and have been looking so forward to taking Jake on a special trip.  My parents were supposed to come out for the event too.  My mom couldn't come because of my grandparents failing health but was dad was able to steal away for a few days.  First of all, it was so great to see my dad!!!  It had only really been a couple of months since I had seen him last but so much has happened since then that it was like I hadn't seen him in a year.  When we picked him up from the airport I didn't want to stop hugging him :)  But the policeman told me that we needed to get back in the car and move.  I hate those nagging officers at the airport!  Anyways, back to Thomas...

Thomas was in Santa Cruz which is about a 3+ hour drive for us.  Remember, we REALLY wanted to see him!  :)  Pierce stayed at home with Mark's parents so Mark, my dad, and I had Jake all to ourselves and the day was just great!  We got to the Roaring Railroad campground a few hours before it was our time to hop aboard Thomas.  We spent our time meeting Sir Topham Hat, listening to Thomas stories, listening to songs, jumping in jump houses, playing with all sorts of wooden train sets, eating hotdogs, seeing Percey, buying some Thomas toys that would have been WAY cheaper at Target, riding back and forth on a train shuttle, walking the railroad tracks and soaking up the beautiful day in the redwoods!  Seriously, the weather could not have been more perfect.  It was about 73 degrees and sunny :)  My only complaint about the day was just the fact that all of this was happening during the time frame of Jake's afternoon nap.  He was thrilled to be there and he loved (almost) every minute of being there but I think he was a little tired.  He was sound asleep before we left the parking lot.

I'm so thankful that my dad could be with us during this trip.  It would not have been the same without him.  He is and has always been a LOVER of all things train!  Our family loves to do "train" things and when he is with us it's even that much more fun.  Like when we did this.  And then when we did this.  And then when we did this.  You get the picture yet???  I don't know who actually has more fun- Jake or my dad!  But back again to Thomas,  I loved that my dad got to experience all this with Jake!  :)

I wonder what my dad is telling Jake?  Must be some interesting fact about trains! :)

Sir Topham Hat

My child loves train tracks.  Wants to walk them all the time.

Sittin' on Percey

Could have played here all afternoon!

This is another train that takes you to the top of the mountain.  It's about an hour and a half long.  Definitely want to do it sometime!  Evidently it's a gorgeous trip.

Don't be fooled... not on Thomas yet...

"I see him mommy.  I see him comin'.  I see Thomas!!!"

Alive and pretty darn cool if I do say so myself!  :)

He would NOT take his eyes off of Thomas!

I put this picture in so you could see just a glimpse of what we saw.  It was completely beautiful.  This picture doesn't do it justice!

 This was a trip full of wonderful memories that will last forever!  I loved every second of it :)

Vacation Bible School

A couple of weeks ago, our brand new little church had VBS.  We had about 40 kids and it was a huge success.  There was a preschool program for the siblings of the older kids and Jake participated a few times during the week.  Here are some pictures from the last night.  It was a western themed week complete with a real live horse, an unbelievable western town, and hayrides up and down the hill.

Jake with his 2 favorite little cowgirls Elizabeth and Ruby!

Feeding Rosie a carrot.

Sure wish Jake ate carrots... sigh...

Not a happier little guy than when he's on his poppy's tractor!  :)

Watching the puppet show.

Don't they look totally enthused about something???  Love this!

(I'll have to find some pictures of the actual little western town that the men built!  It was unbelievable!)

10 months!

I mean, I seriously do NOT know how 10 months have gone so quickly!!!  I'm looking at Pierce on the floor right now just becoming his own little person with his own precious personality trying so desperately to stand up without holding onto anything.  He makes my heart skip a beat when he smiles at me and I am so incredibly thankful for a wonderful little boy!  

Some little facts that I want to remember about him right now are...

We are about 90% done with baby food!  This child will eat ANYTHING you put in front of him!  Literally!  He is the first one to start eating and he is the last one at the table.  Mark says he eats like he will be an offensive lineman... not so sure this momma wants him to be that though!  :)  

I have also started gradually adding whole milk to his formula.

He is still sleeping really well.  2 naps.  Goes to bed around 7 and will consistently sleep till 7 am or longer- love that!
He's wearing a size 2-3 diaper during the day and size 3 for nights.  But about to switch to size 3 for day in the next week I bet.

I loves how he just wants to play with Jake's toys- probably much to Jake's disappointment :)  Like right now, he is playing with Jake's huge box of wooden blocks.  He's actually trying to climb into it.  

Speaking of climbing... he tries to climb everywhere- onto the couch (can do it if the cushions are off), into the dishwasher, into the tub, into his toy basket.  Jake and I love making little obstacle courses on the floor for him.

He's crazy fast crawling!  Is standing by himself for about 10-12 seconds at a time.

I love how he sits in his highchair with his right knee up.

I love how sometimes he takes a break from playing and just curls up on the floor in a child's pose position.  He'll just look at you and smile the sweetest smile.

I love how when he is looking at something, he will make the cutest little "ahhh" talking noises.
I love that in the past few days he has started pointing at things.  It's so cute!

I love how he loves to snuggle with his daddy.  He won't put his head on my shoulder like he does to his daddy.

I love how he just babbles ALL THE TIME!

I love that he can finally hold his bottle... most of the time!

I LOVE his sweet little personality.

Pierce loves to laugh, loves to play in the water, loves to be outside.

I love seeing that new top tooth!  (Makes me miss Jake's teeth!)

We head to the pediatrician next week so I'll have his official stats then.

AND I JUST SAW HIM STAND UP BY HIMSELF... OH MY WORD!!!!!  OH MY WORD.  OH MY WORD!!!

Happy 10 months precious Pierce!  We love you to pieces!