Jacob the Artist

Jacob has discovered a love of art. He now wants to draw, paint and sculpt (okay- more like play with playdoh) all the time. The only problem is that he is not really understanding the concept of appropriate canvases...

The television...

The wall behind the sofa...

His bedroom wall...

The play kitchen...

The computer...

I hope my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works as well as I am anticipating. To give him a little bit of credit here is a piece of his "respectable" art ;)

Bicentennial Trail

We rode bikes on the Bicentennial Trail in Ashland City yesterday. It is a great place to ride or walk. It is mostly shaded and cool thanks to its proximity to the Cumberland River.

It is part of the "Rails to Trails" program where old railroad tracks are being converted to walking trails for public use.

Abby rode her bike for 4+ miles! The more she rides, the stronger and faster she is getting. Also, she had no crashes! Yay!

Jacob rode in the bike trailer. I pulled him with my bike. He did pretty well but did not like it when I stopped or stood up on the bike.

We had a great time, but man my butt is sore! I forgot how painful bike riding can be! hahaha!

Jacob's Big Shoes

Jacob is somewhat obsessed with his daddy.






I couldn't have asked for a better role model for my son. It makes me very happy to think Jake is looking to Josh for a definition of what it means to be a good man...

And the Verdict Is...

Jacob had a visit from TEIS today. For those of you that are not familiar with TEIS, it is an acronym for Tennessee Early Intervention System. By law, each state is required to provide develpomental/educational assistance to children with special needs. TEIS works with children age 0-3.

We have had issues with Jake's speech. It is pretty impossible to understand him and he communicates mainly through gestures, pointing and grunting. After talking to his pediatrician, we decided to get him checked out.

A wonderful lady came out today to give Jacob a screening. She asked me questions, asked him questions, asked him to perfom different tasks, watched him play, etc.

TEIS evaluates kids in five areas:

1. Personal-Social Skills - interaction with other people


2. Adaptive Skills - handling different tasks


3. Motor Skills - using his muscles


4. Cognitive Skills - problem solving


5. Communication Skills - understanding and using language

Jacob passed all areas. The screener acknowledged that Jacob is quite a bit behind in his language usage. But because his language comprehension (he understands what we tell him) is so good, it offset that score.

The conclusion we came to is that Jacob is probably just a lazy talker. He doesn't want to put out the effort to talk when he can just point and we will try to figure out what he needs/wants. TEIS is going to send me some info on ways to encourage him to use words and get talking. I hope we can find something that will work.

The screener also said that if the situation doesn't improve by October, they will come back out and reevaluate or see what they can do to help. That is very encouraging.

The main reason I wanted to write about this is because I wanted to make everyone aware of a great resource that is available if you need it. Everyone I spoke to was so friendly and helpful. I wouldn't hesitate to call them again if there was a need. It seems like a great program and it is free!

Strawberry Fields

Today We took a MOMS Club trip to The Orchard in Cross Plains to pick strawberries. It is a great place. They owners are very nice. They grow strawberries, blackberries, peaches and blueberries. They have a picnic area and are very kid-friendly.

Getting started with the picking...

It was hot. After an hour the kids were ready to go to Gammy's and eat their berries...

Abby picked beautiful berries. Jacob got a few brown and green ones. Luckily, he didn't eat any though - I was pretty surprised by that!

Jacob on the way to Gammy's after picking strawberries.


Our strawberries on the way to Gammy's house. YUM! I hope we eat them quickly so that we can go pick some more...

Mess of the Day

Never give your kids a bowl of peanut butter. What was I thinking??? And just so you know - the spoon is not laying on the sofa. It is standing up thanks to the huge blob of peanut butter. Nice...

Trampoline

Puddles No More!

As many of you know, I have been struggling for some time with trying to keep a diaper on Jacob.

I have gotten many great suggestions. One of the best was to put his diaper on backwards. This worked great for about an hour... then the smart little guy figured out how to reach back there and take off the tabs.

Then I decided that I would just have to keep him in pants all the time. It did not take him long to learn how to pull down his pants and take his diaper off.

We have hard floors (no carpet) so the little puddles left everywhere were not a big deal - I would just wipe them up. I even caught Jacob a couple times going to the bathroom to get a towel to clean up his own mess! hahaha - unbelievable!

The big problem was when he would take the diaper off in the middle of the night and poop in his bed. I won't give you all the details, but it was very gross and happened pretty frequently.

Finally! I have found a solution! A friend gave Jacob some underwear (thanks Danielle). Jacob loved them. They made him feel like a big kid. So in my infinite mom wisdom ;) I got an idea... Jacob LOVES Thomas the Train. I picked up some Thomas underwear. He wears the Thomas underwear over his diaper. He doesn't want to take off his Thomas underpants so he leaves the diaper alone! So far it has worked like a charm. Why didn't I think of this months ago??? Aren't they cute?

Puddles

Yesterday the kids were playing with the hose making puddles. Jacob slipped and fell in the mud. My initial reaction was to scold my husband for laughing. But, after I saw Jacob, I realized that I owed my hubby an apology. Sorry babe - I get it now!

Afterward, I reflected on the fact that we ran for the camera as soon as we saw Jacob's face. I have dozens, if not hundreds, of pictures of my kids messy and very few of them spic and span. Why is it that messes are so photo-worthy? The only thing that I can figure out is that aside from being funny, messes are an integral part of childhood. Only a child is fascinated by the goopiness of mud and finderpaint. Only a child thinks that spaghetti tastes better once it has been rubbed in your hair. For children, messes are not only fun, but a learning experience.