Little Angel/ Little Devil

Well our little boy is at it again.  He has his good days and bad days.  Unfortunately, lately there has been more bad than good.  I think it is partially our fault.  He's had some late nights recently and I think he's lacking sleep.  Last night he had a night terror again...his second one.  My research on those say that they are sometimes due to lack of sleep.  So, I am determined to keep him on a normal schedule to help out with his bad tantrums and to hopefully prevent anymore night terrors.  Today, was mostly a good day.  When he woke up from his nap he was in such a happy mood.  He and I went downstairs and played a little bit.  Daddy came down for a quick break.  When he, Daddy, went back upstairs to work, Jacob wanted to follow him.  So up we went, but the office door was closed, so Jacob decided to play on the stairs, dangerous I know, but I was right there with him and we actually had a great time.  Each time he got to the top of the stairs, he said, "Dada working" and pointed to the office door.  So cute.  He now understands and is able to voice that his daddy is working and can't come out to play.  Anyway, we played rolling the ball down the stairs for a good 15 mintues.  He watched the ball roll down the stairs, laughed and then went "boinging" down the stairs saying "I got it" or "I get it"  Then we started throwing the ball to the top of the stairs and watched it bounce back down the stairs.  I was trying to teach him about taking turns (but he already practices this at the park and other places with his friends).  Anyway I would say, 'okay it's Jacob's turn" and then "okay, it's mommy's turn" eventually when it was his turn he said "Bacob turn" "Bacob' is the way he says his name.  then when it was my turn he said "momma turn."  What a good boy and he was so good about taking turns. He was having a blast rolling the ball down the stairs, I didn't know when I was going to get him down. 

Later tonight I went to have dinner with some former co-workers and Jacob and daddy went to Kindermusik.  I guess Jacob was a good boy there, but was not a good boy when he got home and had to put on his PJs.  When I called home to tell Bill I was coming home, he said "my ears feel like they are bleeding."  I guess Jacob was that loud.  Let's pray for a good day tomorrow :)  So until next time...mommy and daddy love you!

0 comments - Posted by Missy Roberts at 8:36 PM - Categories: About Jake

Sesame Street Live

Last Wednesday night, Jacob went to see Sesame Street Live.  He obviously had no clue what was going on, but when the show started and all the Sesame Street Characters came on stage, his eyes got so big and his mouth was open in amazement.  It was the cutest thing.  He could not stop pointing at the stage and shouting out, "ELMO! COOKIE! ERNIE! BIG BIRD!"  I don't think he blinked for the first few minutes.  He got off our lap and started dancing in the space in front of his seat.  He was adorable.  After each song, most of the characters went back stage to take a break.  When they left he would put his hands on top of his head and say "oh no!" "where go?"  He was so sad they they were gone.  We tried to explain to him that they would be back soon, but I don't know that he understood.  When they finally came back onstage, the amazement was there all over again.  It was more fun for us to watch him watch the show than it was to watch the show.  It's amazing that we now enjoy watching him enjoy things more than enjoying it ourselves.  He LOVED it and even though it ran late and he was tired, his eyes were glued to the stage the entire night.

Thanks to our friends for getting us tickets to the show.  We all had a great time.

0 comments - Posted by Missy Roberts at 8:31 PM - Categories: About Jake

Fires in Chino Hills

We had a pretty eventful weekend.  Saturday Daddy, Papa and Uncle RJ went for a motorcycle ride in the morning/afternoon.  Jacob and I hung out with Nani at her house.  We left the house in the late morning and noticed some smoke in our house's direction.  We heard on the radio that there was a fire in Corona/Yorba Linda, so I wasn't too concerned about seeing the smoke.  By that evening we were seeing the flames glow in the night sky along the ridges of the State Park, which is right near our house.  We went to visit Vanessa and Phil and baby Nathaniel.  As we drove there both Bill and I were a little nervous about the apporaching flames.  We called our neighbor to ask him to call us if something should arise that we should be home for.  By the time we got home at about 9:30 we could see an orange glow and smoke just over the hill to the south of our house.  We watched the news until about 2 in the morning and saw that the fire was getting closer to our neck of the woods.  We packed up our computers and important papers, just in case.  Bill kept waking up at night to check on the situation.  By 4 am we could see flames to the west of us and the smoke to the south of us.  We got really worried then.  The fire was right at the rim of the housing area just above our neighborhood.  We began packing up more things, just in case.  From the news casts pictures, this did not look good.  I thought for sure those houses were gonners.  I will admit, I was very nervous.  I was not nervous up until that point.  I also had heard that the houses south of us were evacuated.  I knew that if the winds switched direction, we were going to be in big trouble.  The fire to the south of us could quickly approach us and I was fearful of embers flying.  There are quite a few houses between us and the brush of the State Park, but what made me nervous was the flying embers.  We had just seen houses burn to the ground because of the embers.  Anyway, by 6 am I was more nervous.  We called my parents and my dad came over with his truck just in case we needed to leave.  We heard that they were evacuting houses two streets away from us.  By 7am we were feeling a little better about the situation.  The firefighters were setting backfires to control the movement of the fire, which set my mind at ease, but also made me worry...those fires can get out of control quickly if the wind shifted.  Fortunately for us the winds were more calm than the previous day and were heading in the right direction, away from us.  Jacob and I went to my parent's house and spent the day there while Bill stayed home and stood guard.  By about 3pm the fires were pretty much put out in our area...those firemen are amazing and did a great job in our area.

Amazingly, the skies were clear over our house the entire time.  There was a major fire burning less than a mile away from us and we could barely smell smoke.  The wind was moving in a North western direction and completey away from us.  By about 3pm though, the winds shifted and the sky over our house became grey and it smelt pretty bad.  This morning we woke up to clear skies and very little smell of smoke.  Again at about 2pm, the winds shifted and we smelt the smoke again.

today, Aidan and Erin came over and joined Jacob and me at Little Gym.  the boys had a great time and after class we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch.  The boys were good eaters.  Jacob was exhausted after and took a 3 hour nap.  He woke up, had a good snack and then a good dinner and then we joined two of his friends at Baskin Robbins for ice cream.  Jacob had a strawberry ice cream cone and enjoyed every lick of it. 

We are blessed that no major damage was done to our city and we are praying for the people who lost homes in Orange County...there are way to many of them.  Thank you to all the firefighters who risked their lives to keep us all safe...they did an AWESOME job!  So until next time...mommy and daddy love you!

0 comments - Posted by Missy Roberts at 9:05 PM - Categories: About Jake

Good Days/Bad Days

Jacob has had some rough days the last two days.  On Tuesday he had a "timeout" twice and we had to leave his Little Gym class early.  Wednesday he had a 20 minute tantrum as I was trying to put him in the car.  So it's been a rough couple of days for both of us.  Here are the details.  Tuesday while sitting down to eat his breakfast he decided that he didn't want to eat and threw his plate off the table, intentionally.  I know toddlers are still learning the idea of cause and effect, but he knew exactly what he was doing in this case.  So he had to sit in the "corner" (the area next to the end table between the family room and kitchen) until he stopped crying and was ready to try sitting on his "big boy" chair again (the kitchen table).  So when he was done crying and ready, he sat in his chair and ate all his breakfast.  I was happy about that because I think he's finally done with his hunger strike...that and he's finally feeling better.  So after breakfast we were off to Little Gym.  While there he was having a good time until his teacher brought out the wooden sticks.  Jacob got his two sticks and began running around the gym holding the sticks.  I went to him and explained that he had to sit on the red mat with the sticks or give the sticks to mommy and continue running around.  Well he chose to pull the sticks away and say "mine" and started to run off.  OH NO YOU DIDN'T!!!  So I took the sticks away and he started screaming on the floor.  I calmly took him out into the lobby and waited for him to be done crying, then explained to him the behavior that was expected of him and went back inside.  The second his foot touched the red mat, he started screaming again.  So again, we went out into the lobby.  I told him that if we went inside again and he started crying we would have to go home.  Well, after he calmed down and was ready to go inside we went in and he started crying again...that was it...it's time to go bye bye. When we got home I knew he was tired.  He played for about 10 minutes and then I took him to his room (after another melt down) and he fell right to sleep.  It was only 10:50...WAY early for his nap.  He took a LONG nap and was ready to go for the afternoon.  he was really whiney the whole afternoon and had to spend another minute in timeout for I don't remember the reason now.  After that, he was a good boy the rest of the evening and was a good boy for daddy that night while mommy went out to meet baby cousin, Nathaniel!

On Wednesday after Stroller Strides, I took Jacob to get his haircut.  Almost from the second we walked into the place, he was not happy.  I tried putting him in the fire truck chair and he SCREAMED!!!  He wouldn't even sit down.  As I held him down for the haircut he SCREAMED the entire time.  The lady didn't even get a chance to clip the back edge of his hair because he was way too out of control by then and I was done torturing him.  So off he went to play with the train table while I paid.  Well, when it was time to leave another fit broke out...this one turned into a 20 minute tantrum outside our car.  We left the store and when I tried putting him in his carseat, he stiffened up so hard that I COULD NOT put him in.  I tried several times, be he is so strong when he's upset, nothing can make that body bend to sit down.  He ended up on the floor of the back seat SCREAMING HIS LUNGS OFF for a good 20 minutes.  I was a little embarrassed by the onlookers passing by, but what was I going to do.  FINALLY I was able to push him into his carseat (in as gentle a manner as was possible) but he was still screaming.  I was in a downpour of sweat at the time.  We drove a couple of miles before he calmed down.  I couldn't believe it.  I was SO DONE with him at that point.  I even called Bill and told him how upset I was, like that was supposed to help, but at least I was able to get the anger off my chest.  When Bill got home, he took over Jacob duties and gave me a little time off :)  Thanks honey!

So after a rough two days, I decided to try to make today a good day for both of us.  I called up a couple of his friends moms to see if they wanted to go to Disneyland. No one could go, so we decided to go by ourselves.  I was a little leary about going, just the two of us.  But it was the best idea EVER!  We had a GREAT time!  Jacob got to see Mickey Mouse and took a picture with him.  Then he was a big boy and walked from Main Street to Tomorrowland.  All the way there he was saying "BUZZ," his new favorite character.  when we got to Tomorrowland he saw the rockets and then it was "ROCKETS, BUZZ, ROCKETS, BUZZ"  We parked the stroller by the Buzz ride and looked over only to see Buzz himself standing across the walkway.  Jacob's eyes lit up as he saw his beloved Buzz, standing right before his eyes.  We ran over and got in line.  Jacob was very patient in line and kept saying BUZZ, he was so excited. When it was his turn he RAN over to Buzz and gave him a big hug.  I got it on video and it almost brought a tear to my eye.  I took his picture and he turned around and waved bye-bye to his Buzz.  We got on the Buzz ride and he loved it and he got a Buzz toy at the end (thank you mommy!).  Then we walked (no stroller) to Autopia where Jacob got to "drive" the car, until it got out of control and mommy had to take over.  After the ride we had lunch and Jacob was a good boy and ate ALL his lunch plus some of mine!  Then he hopped in the stroller and we went to Fantasyland to see DUMBO because that's where he wanted to go next.  We went on Dumbo and went up and down up and down...I was getting a little sick, but he LOVED it.  Then he wanted to go on the horsies (the carousel) and then the choo-choo (Casey Jr. Railroad).  AFter that I knew he was so tired.  He went back in his stroller and I walked around with him for a couple of minutes until he was out holding onto his Mickey doll.  So I walked it back to the parking lot with a smile on my face thinking about the wonderful morning/afternoon I had with my baby boy. 

Today definitely made up for the two previous days.  I know he's a handful sometimes and there are times when he drives me crazy, but then there are days like today when he brings such a HUGE smile to my face and a tear of happiness to my eye.  I love my little guy and always will, even when he makes me crazy!

So until next time...mommy and daddy love you!

1 comments - Posted by Missy Roberts at 8:03 PM - Categories: About Jake

It happened again

Yep, our little guy did it again.  On Thursday night, November 6th, Jacob had another febrile seizure.  Here's the story...

Thursday afternoon we all went to King High School because Bill had to teach one of the teachers (hehe) how to work the website he built for them.  Anyway, Jacob and I tagged along and it was great to see everyone.  Jacob was very mellow while we were there.  I attributed it to the fact that he only had a 30 minute nap.  Well, when we got home, he was still really mellow and actually came to sit next to me on the couch.  I felt him and he felt really warm.  I took him temperature with our dumb thermometer and it only read 99.7.  Okay, not really a temp, but with our past experience, I'll give him some Motrin and let him just chill for the rest of the evening.  Bill had a meeting that night so it was just mommy and Jacob hanging out.  We ended up going upstairs earlier than normal because Jacob was done for the night.  He ended up falling asleep at 7:30 which is really early for him. 

Later that night I was laying in bed watching Grey's Anatomy, it was abotu 9:30.  Jacob coughed (not unusual since he's had a little cough this past week).  For some reason I looked over at the monitor and noticed his legs moving in a wierd manner.  I ran to his room and saw him convulsing.  I immediately took off his clothes and was talking to him letting him know that mommy was right there and telling him to stop convulsing (as if he could really stop...and as if he always listens to me anyway :) ).  I left him for 5 seconds to run into my room and grab my phone so I could call Bill.  When I got back to his room he was still convulsing.  I called Bill, but he did not answer...he was still in the meeting.  So as I hung up Jacob's seizure finally stopped.  I called my parents because I just needed someone there for me.  Dad answered and came right over.  Bill ended up emailing me saying he was in a meeting still.  I emailed back SEIZURE AGAIN!"  he called me immediately and rushed home.  Once Jacob came to, he was crying and I picked him up, but he didn't want to be held.  So he went back in his crib and he just kinda layed there.  I took his temperature again (under his arm) and it only read 99.8.  Okay, I know under the arm isn't totally accurate, but come on thermometer...he was burning up.  So once he really came to, he asked for Mickey Mouse.  So we went into my room and put on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for him.  I called his Dr. and the advice nurse advised me to take him into the ER.  Bill was home by the time the nurse called me, so off we went to the ER.

We knew he was okay because on the way there he still wanted to watch Mickey Mouse and he was telling us all about the moon up in the sky.  Fortunately when we got to the hospital, they took us right away.  When Jacob got in the room all he kept saying was "bye-bye, go bye-bye."  Poor baby, he did not want to be there, but under the circumstance, he was a good boy.  The nurse took his temperature rectally and it was 103.3!  So much for the reading on my thermometer.  Then they put us behind a curtain on a bed.  Jacob did not want to put the hospital gown on...can you blame him? and he did not want to let go of me.  He was hanging on to me like a little monkey.  So he and I lay in the bed and he ended up falling asleep on top of me.  They gave him tylenol and motrin and we lay there waiting to see if it would bring his temp down. Every nurse we saw and the doctor were all super nice and caring with Jacob.  It made Bill and me feel better too :)

We got to leave the hospital at 1am and we were all dead tired.  Jacob slept the entire way home and slept in our room that night (and the whole weekend).  I gave him some medication every 4 hours and when he woke up in the morning his temperature was gone, but by the afternoon it was back and got as high as 103.4 at 3:15 Saturday morning.  Of course neither Bill nor I could sleep those two nights.  Sunday morning he woke up asking for Mickey Mouse and milk and his fever was gone and didn't come back, Praise God!

We ended up just relaxing at home all weekend.  Jacob never got out of his jammies and got to watch lots of cartoons and movies...we are so done with Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear.  He started crying when he asked for Buzz one time and Bill told him Buzz was sleeping.  It was so funny!

So it is now Monday and he is definitely back to his normal self.  He slept in his crib last night despite my hesitation.  I don't think I fell asleep until about 2 or 3 in the morning because I kept going in to check on him.  I know I'm paranoid, but I hate those seizures and HATE to see him having one.  It is one of the worst things I've seen in my life.  I have to say that I am proud of myself because I remained calm (well mostly calm) and did everything they told us to do the first time.  I didn't panic like I did the last time, but I also knew what was going on this time.  Once my dad got there I also felt better and when Bill arrived I felt a lot better (plus my baby was feeling better by then too!)

We now know that he is prone to these seizures when he gets a fever so we have to keep an extra eye on him the next time he gets a fever.  The doctor told us that kids usually grow out of these between 3 and 4 years old.  gosh, I pray that he does not have to go through that again!  If you are reading this please say a little prayer for our Jacob that he never has to experience that again.

so until next time...mommy and daddy love you!

0 comments - Posted by Missy Roberts at 12:04 PM - Categories: About Jake

Halloween 2008

Jacob had a very busy Halloween day.  We started off the morning with our friends at Stroller Strides.  Jacob wore his Buzz costume and after our workout the kids all had some yummy treats.  Jacob really enjoyed his chocolate cupcake.  I think his lips and cheeks enjoyed it too because I think they had more chocolate than he tummy got :)  After playing for a while, we went to visit Nani at her office.  I was hoping to have Jacob take an early nap so he could be fresh for trick-or-treating at the Shoppes.  Unfortunately, after being in his crib for over 30 minutes, I knew a nap was not in order for a least a while.  So we put the costume back on and he and I were off to the Shoppes for some trick or treating fun.  Nani and Papa joined us there and we had a great time.  With no nap, Jacob was done with the trick or treating pretty early.  He knocked out on the drive home and was asleep until 6:30.  We were going to go to our church for the Family Fest, but it was already late and we didn't think it was worth going at that point.  So we stayed home and gave out candy (all the candy Jacob received earlier that day and at Disneyland).  Jacob enjoyed opening the door for the trick or treaters and he really liked dumping the candy out of the pumpkin and counting it while putting it back in the pumpkin.

He LOVED being Buzz Lightyear and still wears his gloves.  It is so cute because the gloves are about 10 times too big for him, but he wears them anyway, and it's amazing how much he can actually do with the one glove on.  He can even eat with it on...it's time to wash the glove though.  Now he thinks he's Buzz Lightyear and will go up to his daddy and say "Buzz" and that is daddy's cue to make Jacob "fly" around the house.  The two of them together is just too adorable.

I'll post some pictures as soon as I download them onto the computer...I've been slacking!

So until next time...mommy and daddy love you!

0 comments - Posted by Missy Roberts at 8:00 PM - Categories: About Jake