Jake at Two and a Half

It's been a tough week for Jake. After a summer of non-stop fun and activity with his siblings, the first day of school hit hard on Monday.

By 8:05 am our house was nothing like the bustling place he had become accustomed to. Playtime lasted about an hour before he started pleading with me, "Pick up Ryan? Pick up Dit-da (sister)?" Poor guy.

Fortunately Jake's half-birthday is here. We plan to celebrate with our traditional half birthday doughnuts, and try to take his mind off the fact that a quiet house starts all over again next week.

In celebration of Jake turning 2 1/2, here are a few Jake-isms that bring smiles to our faces every day.

Being around seven year olds all the time, he has picked up some funny language.  He loves to exclaim "Oh Jeez!" or "Hole Cow!" (holy cow) in amazement. "Cool!" and "Awe-fum!" (awesome) are often heard as well as "See-rosly?" (Seriously? My two year old says "seriously"?)

Another benefit of being the youngest is getting to experience things at a much earlier age than older siblings. Lucie and Ryan got to watch "Star Wars" for the first time this summer, at age 7 1/2. Jake, at age 2, was right there next to them enjoying the show. He didn't quite get everything (understandably) and spent the entire movie pointing at Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader asking, "Who dat guy? Who dat guy? What he say? What he say?" Oh how relaxed we have become in our parenting with kid #3.

Jake continues to love trash trucks and playing "Ball Hit!" (baseball) with whoever will pitch to him. Other things that get him excited are the swimsuit spinner in the pool locker room and the baggage carousel at the airport. When we arrived home from a recent trip, I think the entire baggage claim area heard him exclaim in joy "Hole Cow!" when he saw his bag coming around.

We sure love our Boo around here. For a such a little guy, he has made a tremendous impact on our lives.

We all strive to make him happy and hear a coveted, "Me Yike Dat!" come out of his mouth. Life is so much sweeter with our Jakey in it. Welcome to the second half of the two's little buddy !