CHRISTMAS 2008

Merry Christmas to everyone. Hope yours was great because ours rocked the house! Grant was so much fun and the video evidence below is fairly indisputable. The first one was him opening his stocking and finding some of his favorite treats. The next one is actually when he first comes down to find Christmas. We had set-up some of his presents so he could play with them right away but he was too "Wowed" by the fire to even notice. It took some convincing and coercing to get him to realize what was going on but when he caught on there wasn't one present that he didn't open - his or not. Peter slept through half of it and was a mere spectator for most of the day. Erica and I enjoyed a great day of a warm fire, merry music, good food, long naps, and cheese...yes cheese. For dinner, we went with the never-fail staple of pizza - Grant loved it. A pretty awesome day to say the least.

Grant's Second Birthday

Grant turned two last Friday and we took him to this inflated indoor playground called the "Jump Zone". He was extremely hesitant at first to go on anything or even near anything without us. We thought we had made mistake by bringing him their for about 25 minutes and then the light just went on and he got it. Every time we went down a slide he would get done and say "Again, again." He could not get enough. I must admit I had great time too. The best part about the place is that adults can go on everything too. He dragged us around the place for another hour and we were all exhausted when we could finally convince him to leave. It was a good idea after all and next time we go it will be that much better. We all went home and took a much needed nap and had an early dinner. Cake and ice cream came after and then the presents - play-doh, a new-ish kid's work bench with tools, a thermos and stuffed animal. It was great. Happy Birthday Grant!

Grant and Peter

Grant and Peter. As big as Grant is Peter is catching up fast.

Grant's First Word.....

....even though now he can hardly say the same word we still count it as the first word. Sure, he said "Hot", "Dog", "No", and others before "Umbrella" but those one syllable words don't count. This video is quite a few months old but good nonetheless. There are more videos on the way but I realize showing you all of Grant's tricks on one post would blow up a server somewhere or something like that - the kid is amazing.

HALLOWEEN 2008

We all had a great time at Halloween this year. It was Grant's first experience with Trick or Treating and he was so fun to watch. He immediately knew what to do; ask for your treat, say thank you, and move on to the next treat giver as soon as possible. He never once stopped to try to eat his candy. We went up to Litchfield, the next town over, as the police close down a whole neighboorhood and set up lights and patrol the scene so its safe - kind of like how all our lives will be when Barack takes over the White House. Anyways, its great fun and the street fills up with people from 5 PM until 9 PM and theres haunted houses and everyone dresses up - except for us. After attempting to make Grant into a ghost this year - he would keep pulling the sheet off of his head...who knew? - we had enough Red Sox gear to make that his costume.

Little Slugger.

Note the right-handed 'Ted Williams' stance. Can you say '.406'?

Even Peter got in on the night.

All the boys waiting for Mom to finish taking pictures so we can get us some candy.

Here's action footage of the boy's first piece of Trick or Treat ever! I was definitely more excited than he was although once he figured out what all the buzz was about - candy - he went nuts.



After a few Treats and no Tricks in sight, the boy started to pick up speed and was dragging us from house to house.

Grant Benjamin Jacob

Grant is a big boy. He keeps us on our toes by usually keeping on our toes. He eats everything you give him and most of what you try to keep from him, as in the video below. His sense of humor is definitely from the 'Jacob' side and he's quick to use it. Nothing against any of your kids, but Grant is probably better than all of them. Its true...just ask Mom.



This is Grant eating an onion...speaks for itself.





Grant was getting ready for the Red Sox game and imitating me with my shoes and glasses - Erica set this one up all the way but I could not have been prouder.






Grant has been hilarious for some time now. Here he is only a few months old trying, and failing, not to fall asleep. I think he had been doing this for sometime before Erica got the camera on him.

Peter Maxwell Jacob

Peter Maxwell showed up a few days late but once he decided to make the trip, it went really fast. Erica was feeling contractions the Sunday after her due date - September 10th - and that night called the doctor to see what he advised. All he said was, "If you're in pain, go to the hospital." Thanks. Ten years of medical schooling and that's what he says...bozo. So we wait it out at home and overnight the contractions subside a bit but they pick up again in the morning. We call the doctor's office and luckily he's not there. The phone answerer says to go to the hospital and get checked - so we do. Note: phone answerer probably had less schooling than bozo doc and got us to do what she said. Nice. Anyway, the hospital admits Erica and checks her out and says she's barely a '2' (but will always be '10' to me). The nurse says she'll call bozo doc and see what he wants to do with us but said he'd probably just keep us there. We did not want to be there 4 days and in labor for 84 hours. A lot of waiting followed. Bozo doc comes into the room which has a nice 'whirlwind' draft to it due to my endless pacing. He immediately says he'll be inducing her and how he would anyway in a day or two because she's so overdue and before we can say 'peep' he's broken her water. This is about 9:45 AM. OK. They induce labor with the drugs and we're on our way to child number 2.
I make a few phone calls, not to any of you who are reading this obviously, and Erica asks for the good drugs that I'm not allowed to see them inject in her - thankfully. More pacing ensues while Erica tries to sleep/relax. Around 11:30 the nurse comes back in and checks on her 'progress'. All I see is her surprised look and she says, "The head is right there. Don't move." She then runs out of the room to where we know not. We didn't think we heard her right until she comes back with all the delivery stuff and more nurses and they're calling the bozo doc. They kept saying stuff like 'push' and 'head' and 'good drugs' and 'not yet'. The baby was going to get here before the bozo doctor would. They get Erica all ready and the finally the doc shows up to earn his money. He states something obvious like, "We're having this baby right now", and starts putting on the scrubs. Before he can finish he's already saying 'push' and he gets all dressed just in time for the last push. 12:05 PM and Peter Maxwell was born. 6 pounds 13 ounces. 21 inches long. Long legs and arms and really skinny, just like his Dad.

If you're reading this....

...than you must already know how we got to be "Us" and who we are. We'll spare you going over those details again. What we will be reviewing is what the latest 'stuff' is. And when there isn't any new stuff...I'll make some up...so pay attention.