Jacob started his swim lessons this week.  We are taking parent-tot swim classes at the YMCA again.  We started on Tuesday and it was a cool morning.  I think Jacob was a little tired and not used to the water.  He cried about 70% of the time we were in the pool and I actually took him out of the water about 5 minutes early.  I figured he needed a day to adjust to being in the pool again.  It's been a LONG time since he's been in a pool.  He must have been REALLY tired because he took a 3 hour and 15 minute nap when we got home!  I couldn't believe it!  When we got back in the pool on Thursday he did MUCH better and was smiling the whole time.  He really enjoyed jumping in the water (of course I caught him and he didn't get his face wet...something he does not like too much right now).  Daddy joined us (but not in the water).  He was taking lots of pictures and video of Jacob in the water.

Friday night we met up the the Kollen family at Irvine Spectrum.  Jacob and Luke ran around the bookstore after dinner...they were too cute.  Jacob loves to play in bookstores.  He loves finding books with Elmo, Mickey Mouse and Thomas the Train!  He was making me laugh watching him go from one part of the store to the other...you would have thought he was in a playground, not in a bookstore. 

I really think he's had another growth spurt.  We were outside playing basketball the other day and I was able to raise the basket a little and he was able to "dunk" the ball!  When we first received the basketball hoop we had to tilt the hoop down just a little in order for him to make the shot.  Well now it's at it's normal height (well, the lowest height) and he does just fine.  He loves playing basketball!  Thursday night the Lakers played and he and his daddy put on their Lakers jerseys and went outside to shoot some hoops before the game started.  They were so adorable pretending they were playing in the NBA championship game.

This weekend we had a pretty uneventful weekend.  For the first time in a long time we had NOTHING on the calendar.  Next weekend will be a completely different story, so we took advantage of this weekend and basically did nothing...okay, well not nothing, but it was nice not having anything planned.  We did head over to the Shoppes so I could do a little shopping.  The boys went over to the water fountain to play in the water while I shopped.  Jacob got a little wet, but ended up falling down and not wanting to play anymore.  oh well.   He is really enjoying playing in water.  Now if I could just get him to like rinsing his hair off in the bath.  The second just a little bit of water runs down his face, he is ready to get out of the tub. 

Sunday we went to church and this was the first time that Jacob did not cry when we left him at Sunday School.  Well, we thought he didn't cry, but according to the teacher, once he stopped playing with a toy and realized that we were not there, he started to cry...my poor baby!  Well, at least he's getting a little better.

He's getting better at dealing with his tantrums.  He's had fewer tantrums in the last week than previous weeks, but he still has them once in a while.  I don't know what it is that is working, but I am ignoring him when he has one and trying to stop them before they start.  In the car we are doing a lot of counting of objects (trees, cars, etc.), sing songs, and watch out for trucks and bikes whenever he starts to throw a fit about whatever.  It's still frustrating to Bill and me since it seems like his is whining or crying all the time, but we have to learn to deal with it, afterall, he's a toddler and that's what they do.  We are encouraging him to use words to ask for what he wants...which is what causes a lot of his crying.  He wants something but doesn't know how to ask for it so instead we are playing the guessing game and that is frustrating for all of us.  He still only has a few words and even those words he hasn't been using much.  He did add "papa" (for my dad) and "grandpa" (Bill's dad) to his vocabulary this week.  he's only said Grandpa once, but it was definitely grandpa.  Anyway, I hope his vocabulary begins to grow soon, so we aren't playing the guessing game much longer.

Lastly, he's started making this very strange sound that neither Bill nor I like very much.  It's hard to describe, but it's almost like a roaring sound, but he doesn't do it when he's acting like an animal.  I don't like it very much and tell him not to make that sound anymore, but does he listen?!?! NOOOO!  Oh well. 

Okay, enough for today.  So until next time...mommy and daddy love you!