New skills

Except for one "PJ Day" when mommy was sick, last week was another one of getting out and about. Once summer hit, I figured we would be spending a lot more time around the house, but so far that hasn't been the case.

The boys are playing together a bit more, but we still have a long way to go. Jacob gets frustrated easily when Luke doesn't do what Jacob wants him to. Once playing with mommy or by himself gets old, he is ready to have friends over to play or get out of the house for something new.

Luke is definitely going to be a handful to keep up with for the next few years. He is a climber and doesn't shy away from much. The lastest feats, he learned how to climb up on Jacob's bed. The second I turn my back on him, he is taking off down the hall to his room to climb up. We've had to start keeping just about every door closed when I'm not right there following him around. He's a smart little cookie too. He has figured out how to use drawers and chairs as "steps" to a higher location.

I also saw him get from sitting to standing without pulling up this week. He doesn't do it often, but he does know how, so when he finally does walk he'll be set. For Jacob, I remember that skill coming a few weeks after he learned to walk so he wasn't a full-time walker for a few weeks because of it. He is up to 6 steps in a row now, but they aren't very steady. In other skills, he has mastered the straw. Which is good in some ways, I suppose, but so far has just proven to be a hassle. He now wants to drink from my drinks even more!

After 10 days of nighttime wetting and 3 daytime accidents, a couple of weeks ago, Jacob has now been accident free for a week and a half and has stayed dry most nights too. He has now developed a fear of the loud flushing noises of the public restrooms, which has spurred his fear of going anywhere but home, so I'm trying to ease that fear a bit by having him go to the potty at other places whenever I can. I think it is working.

He now knows all the letter sounds! I am so impressed. He is such a smart little guy. We just need to work on the vowels a bit more since they have both long and short sounds (he knows the short vowel sounds only.) The best part, he is very excited with this skill and will happily practice it often asking me to write out little words and he says each letter's sound. He hasn't figured out how to put the sounds together to make one word, but that will come in time. The funniest thing to me, he reads the letters from right to left. I noticed he did that when reading out letters before, but since he didn't always read out every letter, I didn't pay that much attention to it. I've told him to read from the other direction and he just thinks I'm silly. That's ok.

And...the biggest feat for Jacob this week. The pappy is gone! (almost a week now) It was a rough few days, but we made it. We've tried to make it his decision with some strong "encouragement" from Mommy and Daddy and it has taken some time. He still struggles to fall asleep without it, but I think that will get better in time.

Here are the rest of the week's pictures.