Jake is 2 years old!

Today, Jacob Andrew Bandi turns 2 years old.  He is quite the kid and we love him so much.  I don't know that I can capture his spunky personality in mere words, but I will try to paint a picture of Jake as a toddler.

Tidbits Of A Two Year Old Jake:

- Jake loves his dogs and wrestles them down to the ground with love.  If you are ever looking for "T" and "Bow," you will find them hiding under the bed.

- Little Bit adores his family and can name most of his family members even if he doesn't see them often.  He will tell you that Daddy says, "Hi Buddy," GP says, "Hi Big Man," GM says, "No no," Opa says, "Hi Jake-O," and Oma says, "Pie!" (Disclaimer - GM said no to Jake once when he climbed on her elliptical machine.  He imitated her perfectly, GP laughed, and that's all it took for Jake to repeat it over and over.)

- Jake says many words and can repeat anything.  He puts together 2-3 word sentences such as:  Daddy is funny.  Love you Mommy. Bella is cute.  Watch Mickey!

- If Jake is being silly, he will call you a "cheeseburger monkey yoyo."  No idea why.

- Our big boy can count to 20, although he usually skips 4 and mumbles from 14-18, but triumphantly yells 20!

- He can sing many songs with help such as:  ABC's, Row Row Row Your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, 3 Little Monkeys, Bringing Home A Baby Bumble Bee, along with selections from Fresh Beat Band, Spaghetti Eddie, and Laurie Berkner.

- Smarty Pants knows most of his colors and many shapes.

- Jake is a mover and a shaker:  He jumps on and off of anything, dances with style, and runs very fast!  He imitates his favorite dances from Fresh Beat Band and does a great Mickey Mouse Hot Dog Dance.

- Our book worm loves to read.  He takes books into his crib with him and reads before he goes to sleep and when he wakes up.  He "reads" me stories using memory and picture clues and has many books partially memorized.  Favorites include Once Upon A Potty, Elmo Goes To School, and most of the books that we have read to him since he was an infant.

- Jake loves to play outside at the park and in the backyard.

- He has become a bit of a picky eater.  Not much of a breakfast fan (unless it's bacon), and likes the same things without much variety although we encourage him to try new things.  Jake loves most fruits, cucumbers, rice, meat, chicken, and anything else we can convince him are one of the above mentioned things.  Snacks are another story - he's a fan!  Jake has a sweet tooth for cake, cookies, and especially pie!  Good thing he's active and brushes his teeth obsessively.

- Jake is a friendly fella who loves playgroup and school.  We've come a long way - the other day when I told him goodbye at school, he said, "No kisses.  Bye bye Mommy."  It didn't even break my heart as I was so proud that he no longer screams when I leave.

- Our toddler is learning to share and take turns.  Sometimes he likes to take a bite of dog food and then say, "it's T's turn" as he shoves a handful of kibble into poor Tank's mouth.

- Jake's new fetish (thanks to GM) is cleaning up.  When he's done with something, he announces "clean up" and then sings the song. The other day he put an entire bowl of dog food into Daddy's shoe and then ordered the dogs to "clean up!"

- Jake uses the potty to pee pee, but not on his own yet.  We'll get there...

- Big Man loves cars!  He likes to count them in parking lots and tell you what color they are.  

- Thanks to nightly bath time with Daddy, Jake knows most of his body parts and their quantities (including some that would make you blush).  Also, thanks to Daddy, he will announce if he (or anyone else for that matter) has "tummy gas" or "butt gas."

- Jake is definitely a sports fan!  He will go up to Daddy and say, "Watch football game."  He loves to shoot baskets and toss the football.  Jake can recognize the Thunder logo!

- Our Jake is a tough guy, but gives lots of hugs and kisses.

I could go on and on but I'm sure it's evident what a cool kid Mr. Jake is and how much we truly love him.  He is such a joy!

Stay tuned for more fun this year - Jake's birthday party, first trip to the beach, adventures in potty training, big boy beds, and becoming a big brother.

Shanda

March 2013 - May 2013

Jake has embraced spring with lots of activities and family time! He got to spend both Passover and Easter with his OKC family and had a ball. Jake did the best an almost two year old could do at our Passover Seder. Thanks to all of the Seder participants for graciously tolerating Jake's interjections, applause, and musical interludes. GM and GP enjoyed watching Jake chow down on the Passover meal (and they each had a considerable amount of it on their clothing thanks to Jake). A special thanks to Laurie and Jon for making Jake's hunt for the afikomen both easy and full of fun surprise goodies!

 Jake did a dry run Easter egg hunt at school and really took to the idea. The next day, Jake went to an egg hunt with Oma and Opa and latched onto the idea that the Easter bunny gives out candy.  This led to Jake's relentless stalking of the furry cottontail.  Jake also got to go on a nature walk at Martin Nature Park with Mommy, Daddy, Oma, and Opa.  That boy loves his time outside!

My active boy finished his second year of swim classes and loved it!  He is quite the athletic little guy and a flirt too - he had several girlfriends by the end of the class!

Jake still loves his time at playgroup and school making friends and playing hard.  His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds and he imitates everything.  He takes Mommy's cell phone and pretends to call someone.  The conversation goes like this, "Hello? Apple juice? Ok, bye."   After a week with GM and GP (while Mommy was working for the OKC Memorial Kids Marathon), Jake began to pee pee on the potty!  Although we are a long way from being potty trained, it's nice to know we have a start.

Jake loves his doggies more than ever and calls them "T" and "Bow."  He loves them with such gusto that the pups have found new hiding places in the house to escape his "hugs."

We are looking forward to a fun filled summer!

Drying off after swim class

Testing out the charoset he made with GM

Yummy Passover Seder meal

Afikomen presents!

Playing with GP

Applauding for Jon

Hunting for eggs at school

Jake was thrilled with this family picture 

High fiving the Easter bunny with Oma

So he just gives candy away?

Bunny, Daddy, Jake

A rare still moment with Opa

Loving Scooter

Visiting Daddy at work

Yogurt after the park

Cutie!

Sweet smile

March 2013

Spring is just around the corner and Jake is always ready to "spring" into action.  I spent many years teaching second and third graders about verbs, and now my toddler is teaching me the true meaning of action words.  Jake is always busy moving, talking, singing (loudly), climbing, playing, jumping, and thinking.  He loves to say "ta da" when he wants you to notice his latest amazing feat (thank you GP for teaching him this).  Jake also gives the best high fives and now fist bumps (thanks to Opa).  Jake loves to yell, "MOM!" or "DAD!" either from his crib or when we are within two feet of him.  Another favorite word is "wait."  He hears this a lot!  Jake's vocabulary is expanding every day so Daddy and Mommy have to watch what we say (especially during tense Thunder games).

Our little man is busy with playgroup and school (which he loves now) and will start swimming lessons again soon.  He loved swimming lessons last year when he 8/9 months old, but I have a feeling that this time around will be very different with a more active and much heavier toddler.  Mommy will surely get an extra workout in.

Jake is becoming Daddy's shadow and wants to do everything like him - even wear his shoes.  It's a sight to see him try to walk in Daddy's size 14s!  He thinks he is such a big boy and calls every child he perceives to be smaller than him a "baby."  Jake loves playing fetch with the puppies and chasing them around until he can catch them for a hug.  I usually intervene when Tank or Bella is choking for air.  Jake is an aggressive hugger!

We love watching our big boy learn new things every day.  He is so much fun!  Happy (almost) Spring!

Shanda

Highlights from February:

Valentine's Day

Multitasking by playing on the iPad while snuggling the dogs

Using Bella as a seat to eat his snack

"Umm, no Mommy, I did not just launch myself from the recliner into my chair."

Birthday!

Date with Mommy

Tank has his eye on Jake's snack

TROUBLE

Fun day at the Science Museum of Oklahoma with Mommy, Daddy, and the Walkers

Bubbles

Climbing

"Hi!"

Water table

Jake still loves anything that rolls or spins

Shooting hoops with Tyson

Such fun boys! (Tyson Walker and Jake)

Sweeping while wearing a pitcher on his head.  Don't ask.

"Mom!  Watch this!"

How the cool kids eat applesauce

Lowe's field trips are the best!

GP met Barry Switzer and got an autograph for Jake

Typical morning with Jake

Just like Daddy

Being a kid is exhausting

Puppies make great pillows

Mommy and Jake

Contemplating his busy day ahead