"I Can Tell That We Are Going To Be Friends"

This past weekend Jake learned that there is life on this planet to which he can relate. Jake's new friend, Aaron, came to visit along with Aaron's mom, Susan, and the famous Dog. It's no secret that Jake is a bit of a fussbudget from time to time...but what we had previously chalked up to gas is more likely the misconception that the only people in this world are giants that weigh over 100 pounds and stand more than 5 feet tall. When Jake was hanging out with Aaron, a happy 5 month old, he was a different man. As Susan said, it was like Aaron was saying "dude, you're acting like such a 2 week old. You're old enough to smile and be fun...you should try that out."

Dog, Susan, the boys and I spent Saturday in Annapolis walking around the Naval Academy (mainly so we could earn our trip to the fudge and ice cream store). Then we walked around Hunt Valley on Sunday (mainly so we could earn our pizza for lunch). We had a great time touring around Maryland while Kevin spent the weekend in Syracuse watching Penn State dominate. Unfortunately only one of us could have the camera, so check out Amy's pictures here. Below is how Jake felt when Dog, Susan and Aaron left. It's also how he felt after the big OSU loss.
Also, the Vileation Nation has been sucked into Facebook. And the Nation has also purchased a new computer. This is a bad combo. I could use another 8 weeks of maternity leave (more like "materNERDy leave") so I can learn all this new technology (read: "so I can play fun new computer games").

*special thanks to Aunt Linnea and Aunt Sarah for Jake's weekend wardrobe!!!

The towel rack...as promised

Before the big reveal on how we used a towel rack to "improve" our son's room, please note that Jake is SMILING in this picture. I think it's the real deal. He smiles when we get him out of his crib in the morning, too, which is so sweet of him since most days he has been crying for a good hour before one of his lazy parents actually gets out of bed to help him out.

So here's the towel rack. My vision is that Jake can use this for accessing his books when he's able to, well, access books. We'll see how this vision pays off...you don't see this idea in too many magazines (by that I mean ANY magazines), so I have to believe it's going to backfire in a big, awful way. As though putting a towel rack in a baby's room isn't already considered backfiring.

And here are Kevin, Jake and Luther at the Reisterstown Festival yesterday. We strolled through and enjoyed a lovely day of family time. Now it's back to the grind for Kevin and back to figuring out ways to make Jake keep smiling for me. Note to self...the sling does not bring smiles.

Labor Day

What better way to celebrate Labor Day weekend than by celebrating the fruit of your literal labor.

Jake spent the weekend hanging out with both sets of grandparents as well as Great Nana. It was a wonderful time and the event is commemorated in photos here. You will note that we are prone to taking 6-7 pictures of the same thing. Each picture more blurry than the next. But anyway, here they are. Happy Birthday, Jake's Grandma!!!

Not to repeat myself, but we are tired. Very tired. Therefore the wittiness of the blog is suffering. So instead we'll say this...Jake becomes more awesome every day. He is weird and quirky and we love that. He is in love with a toucan sticker that is at his changing table. He thinks it's great if we pretend to eat his hands and feet. He looks like Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber when his hair is brushed a certain way. And he's always happiest right before spitting up. He's great.

So that's it...we'll work on getting wittier and more poignant. But no promises on when that will occur. Likely not until Jake is old enough to write the blog entries. Which could be next week. Because, look...that is a little bit of a smile there in the picture below...who knows what he might do next!

Oh...and good news, we've done some work on Jake's room and it looks far better. Even though the main improvement involved a towel rack. Pictures forthcoming.