An Afternoon at the Beach

We took Jacob to the beach for the first time today (it's about time, since we live 5 miles away). Jacob was not impressed. He made fantastic faces as we let his feet touch the sand and the water. We also used our Snugli backpack for the first time.

the beach

Jacob's first Christmas!

Here are some photos from our first Christmas with Jacob. We have been very busy the last few weeks getting ready for lots of family to visit. Within a three day span, Jacob got to see all of his grandparents and aunts and uncles. Jacob also had his first haircut a week ago, but Mandi forgot the camera. Oops! We only had the back trimmed, though, which you can see in one of the pictures. There are also a few pictures from this afternoon, when Jacob decided it would be fun to climb into the shower and crawl around.

Christmas

Jacob continues to crawl and cruise all over. He can pretty much get wherever he wants to go, and grab whatever he wants to play with:



And he can even climb the stairs now:

Jacob Eats French Fries

Yup, he did. In-n-Out fries. Are we bad parents? Probably. But he ate. By himself. Something besides the bottle. We consider this one small victory.

I also included two pictures that show why Jacob is not allowed in the computer room.

French Fries & Computer Cables

A Typical Day in the Stiles House

Here are a few photos to show just a few of the typical activities you might find going on if you stopped by the house on any given day.

A typical day

Jacob "helps" with the laundry

Jacob loves helping out around the house! Here he is, helping Mandi sort out the laundry, and helping us check to make sure the washing machine is fully emptied out.

A Visit to Santa Claus

I took Jacob to see Santa Claus today. It actually went better than I thought. He wasn't scared, just totally amazed.

Santa Claus

Toilet Paper

As I was prepping lunch today, I realized that it was rather quiet in the living room. So I went and checked, and he wasn't in the living room. He was in the bathroom discovering the wonders of toilet paper.

Jacob and the toilet paper

Another Tooth!

Yes, that makes seven, and three of them in the last nine days. Poor baby. Now if only he would learn to eat with those pearly whites...

(Sorry, no pictures this time.)

Hello, Christmas card readers!

I've uploaded some full-resolution versions of the Christmas card pictures, for those who were asking for them:

Christmas Card photos

Next, we finally managed to capture his elusive lip-playing noises on video—check it out. I swear, we did not teach him this. It's all a Jacob original. (For those paying close attention, "Goose" is our Jacob nickname.)



We've also captured some great photos of Jacob doing some of his current favorite things. He loves brushing his teeth—any time he sees Mommy or Daddy doing it, he demands his toothbrush so he can play too. He is also fascinated by watching the washing machine rotate—good thing we got that front loader! And finally, he loves cruising and switching from one piece of furniture to the next.

Toothbrush, Washing Machine and Transferring

As for the current tooth count, Jacob has six! He cut two last week, he'll be cutting another any day now, and another sometime in the next couple of weeks. And his eating is slowly getting better. He occasionally likes jarred food and he loves the little Gerber puffs, but that's about it.

Merry Christmas everyone!