Our Little Tax Write-Off

A few days ago David and I were looking at old videos from when Jacob was first born. He was so small and helpless. He had no control over his movements or head, and relied on us for everything. As the videos progressed, we saw smiles, laughter, hitting toys with a little fist or kick, first sloppy tastes of baby food, sitting up on his own, babbling, crawling, playing and all the while him getting bigger and bigger. 

I look at the toddler in my life now and can barely remember those early days when it seemed hard, but really was just sleep deprived. At least you could put a baby down and he would stay there. Now, as soon as we set him down it is off to the races! We may get more sleep at night, but we use up all our energy during the day.

It is worth it when I see Jacob doing or saying new things. He is trying to say his name (hence the “Baybub” in the title), and many other things. He is pretty good at feeding himself, and tried to put on his own socks and shoes. He loves ABCs and counting. He always wants singing and music. He can play his little drums along with certain songs. Perhaps most amazing is he is learning to trust that when mommy and daddy drop him at school, or leave him with family, that we will be back for him so he doesn’t cry as much. His teachers keep saying how he is growing up. 

From a tiny baby to this amazing, growing personality… Isn’t life so incredible? I am so grateful for having a wonderful family to come home to every day. In a few months, he will be ready to enter his terrific twos, and I am so ready to see what he will learn next. 



He’s closing in on two years. He is getting there fast. The time is flying by and we are trying to treasure every little moment we can. One of the things that I love is that all he wants to do is be with us. Both of us. He just loves spending time with us. When one of us is not there, he asks for that person. He just seems so happy and content when the three of us are together.

Yesterday was his 22-month birthday. Today, we took him to the Aquarium of the Pacific for the second time and he had so much fun. He had fun seeing all of the sea life, including the sea lions which he was convinced were big dogs that — I suppose — really loved to swim. He also had a blast playing in the water areas and getting wet.

Happy birthday to our little man who, before we know it, won’t be so little anymore.

Jacob’s Kitchen coming soon to the Food Network

I’m not sure who the beginning of the week was harder on. Jacob? Mom? Dad? Earlier this week Jacob fell and broke a tooth. He’s fine now, but getting there was an emotional ordeal for mom and dad. He had to go to the dentist for the first time. Before this, his pediatrician was doubling as his dentist. Let’s just say that Jacob was not a fan of the visit.

Sure he liked all of the toys at the dentist. What he didn’t like was mom holding him down and the dentist sticking things in his mouth to repair the tooth. Luckily it is a baby tooth and will fall out one day, but the dentist still did a fantastic job. If you don’t know what to look for, you would not know anything happened.

But for mom and dad, it was very tough emotionally. Jacob didn’t understand what was going on and all that he wanted was for it to stop.

It’s tough watching your child go through something like that, even if he is back to himself an hour later. All you want if to make your child feel like they are safe. To make sure that they are happy and healthy. Hearing him say “all done” while the procedure was taking place was heartbreaking.

He is fine now and we are happy that the dentist did such a good job. Things like this make you second guess a lot of things and make you want to work even harder to be even better parents. Jacob means the world to us.

Love you mommy and daddy

Jacob has started saying “love you mommy” and “love you daddy” which just melts my heart. Especially the first time I heard it. Then when he couples it with a hug, it is tough to fight off the tears of joy.

He is growing so fast and learning so much. He seems so smart. When we look at videos of him when he was younger — during a time when he couldn’t even sit up yet — it is tough to believe that we have come so far in such a short amount of time.