It's been close to a month since we flew down to Florida for our visit with Jake's Uncle Sal, Uncle Michael, Uncle Greg, Aunt Karen, Cousins Carson, Ryan and Andrew. It was Uncle Michael's 60th birthday and Jake and I took Nanny and La La (his Aunt Louise) down for a surprise party. We had a great time and Uncle Michael was very surprised. Jake had a chance to swim a little one day, though none of us were brave enough to get in the pool with him, so he basically played on the steps and made his way all the way around the pool by holding onto the edge (with me following closely behind crawling on the cement). I thought for sure I was going to end up having to jump in with my clothes on...but we somehow managed to avoid that. He also had a chance to play with his cousins Andrew, Ryan and Carson...and in true Jakey style, he had his good moments and not so good.
One of the highlights of the trip was our visits with Jake's donor sibling (half brother) Cole and his wonderful mommy, Tammi!! They were so warm and friendly, you would have thought we had known them for years. The boys had a good time visiting and playing together and Tammi had a number of good things lined up for us to do, including: a coconut hunt (Jake had never seen a real one before), feeding the ducks at the park, playing at a great playground, and visiting at her house where we got to meet so many wonderful people who absolutely adore Cole (and help her to watch him when she has to be out of town, she's a flight attendant). Here are some pictures of the two boys. Not as much resemblance as with some of his other donor sibs, because Cole looks a lot like his mommy. But, as you can see, he's a total DOLL, with beautiful blond hair and that Florida surfer boy look.
Tammi has promised to come up and visit us to play in the snow sometime and we're really looking forward to seeing them both again real soon!!!
One other note from the trip, Jake went the entire 4 days with only one accident. So, we're hopeful that we're in the home stretch on the potty training...WOO-HOO!!!! (While simultaneously knocking on wood...LOL)In an effort to "catch up"...here are some Christmas pictures as well. Including one of Jake and his girl, Jo-Jo (aka, Smidge) with Santa...holding hands!!! (And yes, that is a look of fear on her face, but, that's a whole other story....LOL)
This was the first year that Jake really, really enjoyed the whole presents scene and was excited for Santa to come. 
One of his most loved gifts was his BIG BOY BED...a gift that Santa managed to move right into his room and get set up while also putting the crib up in the attic...he's a very resourceful guy, no? (I let Jake sleep in my bed for this special night) Santa put a big red bow on Jake's door and when we saw it in the morning (he slept until 8, which doesn't sound early, except when you consider that nanny and I only went to bed at 3), we just knew that Santa had left a present in there. He was soooo excited to see it and of course, was jumping on it in 30 secs flat!
This was the first year that Jake really, really enjoyed the whole presents scene and was excited for Santa to come. One of his most loved gifts was his BIG BOY BED...a gift that Santa managed to move right into his room and get set up while also putting the crib up in the attic...he's a very resourceful guy, no? (I let Jake sleep in my bed for this special night) Santa put a big red bow on Jake's door and when we saw it in the morning (he slept until 8, which doesn't sound early, except when you consider that nanny and I only went to bed at 3), we just knew that Santa had left a present in there. He was soooo excited to see it and of course, was jumping on it in 30 secs flat!
If I'm being totally honest, it was a little hard for me to disassemble the crib and put it up in the attic. And even harder to see him sleeping in that big boy bed for the first time. Made me totally wonder "what the heck happened to my baby???" I can still remember the moment I had finally gotten his room all set up...the rest of the new house was in complete disarray...boxes everywhere, half painted, the kitchen torn out...and his room was PERFECT. The perfect color baby blue, the perfect little ducky border, the perfect little duckies on the walls, clouds on the ceiling and stars and planets hanging everywhere, and a beautiful crib and rocker. I spent hours in there with him, rocking him, breastfeeding him, watching him sleep, sometimes falling asleep in the rocker holding him. And every night before bed, I would ask him the very same question I still ask him now..."Who loves you more than your mommy, who could possibly love you more? To which I would reply (for him)...NOBODY!!!" (These days, he says EVERYBODY, and giggles because he knows he's about to get tickled for that response.) In those moments, with that warm little snugly body held so closely against me, listening to every breath, every sigh, hoping time would stand still, I don't think I've ever felt closer to any other human being or ever will again.
Ironically, tonight after I tucked him into his new bed, he called out to me and said "momma, can you rock me please???" We usually rock and read books every night, except for nights like tonight when we're up really late, but I rarely rock him to sleep anymore. As I sat in that rocker with him snuggled up against me, feeling him trying to squeeze that little boy body into the shape of a baby all curled up with arms around my neck (and of course, squeezing my waddle) and legs tucked in tight, I thought, this must be what they mean when they say he'll always be my baby. Because for that hour while I rocked him slowly back and forth, feeling his body untense and slowly drift into sleep, it was just as it was way back when and once again, I wished that time would stand still.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and have a Happy New Year!!!>
p.s. Jakey lines of the week... After playing around in his big boy bed for a while, Jake told me that he'd really like to get the BIG big boy bed (the loft bed that I made the mistake of showing the kid who NEVER forgets a thing) next time. So, I said we could ask Santa for it next year. To which he replied..."Can we call him right now?" So, trying to explain how this whole thing works, I proceeded to tell him that we had to write a letter. And he asked "Which one, momma?" ; I had to laugh out loud at that one. Trying again, I said, "no, honey, not that kind of letter, we need to send him a note to let him know what you want for Christmas". And he asked "what does the note sound like, momma?" LOL
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