11 months old!!! -- Yesterday

Jacob is 11 months old. He stands on his own more often and practically runs holding on to the stroller, his car, or our hand. He is not walking, yet. Jacob is such a love boy. He gives hugs and kisses all the time and he crinkles his nose when he laughs and smiles. Jacob imitates a lot more sounds and movements. He waves "bye bye", blows kisses, claps his hands, and sometimes signs diamond, all done, open, and more. Jacob is able to say ball, dog, dada, mama, bye, and no no (his favorite word). We often say that he is a one-year-old going on two.We also think that he is approximating water in Polish (woda). He can follow one step directions pretty well and he points to a number of things when asked the "where is" questions. It would take a lot of space to list them all. Jacob can be a little rascal at times. He likes to empty my bottom kitchen cabinets, climb on top of the dishwasher door, suck on mommy's cell phone (its a miracle that it started to work again), flush the toilet (yup, its his new hobby), wiggle during diaper changes (its hard when its a chocolate surprise), and refuse to take a nap (ever since we came back from vacation). On the other hand, he is a perfect angel. He helps me clean the table, the floor, and his bum. Yup! I say start them early! He loves to brush his two bottom teeth and carries his toothbrush everywhere he goes. He has 5 toothbrushes at his disposal. Jacob's motto is- Don't leave home without a toothbrush! He enjoys hanging out with his buddies; Thomas, Matthew, and Max. This past month we have been to the Castle Island with Matthew, to the Franklin Park Zoo with Thomas, and to playgroup at Max's house and of course a million trips to the park. He doesn't like when kids scream or cry (who does really?). Just recently he started to fake cry-- it's so stinking cute. Also, when he bumps his hand he extends it so we can kiss it and blow on the boo boo. Sometimes he completely fakes that too. Jacob likes to eat. His favorite fruits are the watermelon (I understand why I craved it during pregnancy), banana, and peaches. His favorite vegetable is peas and his favorite snack is the banana flavored star shaped puffs. He likes to eat turkey sandwiches, hot dogs, chicken soup, pasta, yogurt, grilled cheese sandwiches, and an array of steamed/cooked vegetables. raw fruits, and snacks. Since we have not been to the doctor recently I have no idea how much he weighs and what is his length. He hasn't changed much judging by his clothes (12 month shirts and pants still fit him well). Jacob's hair is now a lot longer and I now style it in a FoHawk -- absolutely adorable.

~Crinkly nose~

~Hansome boy~~Show me your teeth!~
~Jacob is demostrating how to flush the toilet~

Happy, happy, happy

Well, we have lots of celebrations one ofter the other. Happy Birthday Auntie Monika and Cousin Isabelle!and Happy 10 year anniversary to us! We dropped off Jacob at my parents on Tuesday (Grandpa was watching him) and went for a romantic trip to Stop & Shop for some serious grocery shopping. Now, we have a stocked refrigerator and cupboards. I think that our trip to Florida counts as an awesome Anniversary present to us!

Wednesday Danielle and Thomas invited us to the Franklin Park Zoo. It was a beautiful 70 degree day and we were so happy to go. Jacob really enjoyed the peacock, monkeys, zebras, and waterfalls. I will soon post the pics of the trip.

Happy Mother's Day!

We would like to say Thank You to our Moms for your love, strength, encouragement, and adise.
We love you! Happy Mother's Day!

I hope I can be as good of a mom as my Mom was to me. I always felt loved as a child and I just hope that Jacob will always feel love from me. It is my first Mother's Day and although I have spent most of the day at the airport I had my baby close to me at all times (literally attached to my bosom). He gave me the sweetest card and the best hugs and kisses. I am a Mom. Wow, what an honor!

Marco Island -- Saturday

Saturday morning we went for a walk at the beach. During his morning nap, Scottie and I were busy packing. We have left Marco Island in the early afternoon and travelled to Tampa.

Along the way we stopped for a bite to eat and shopping. We arrived at the Marriott (located conveniently at the airport) in the late afternoon. Jacob and I went for a swim in a rooftop pool of the hotel. Scottie joined us after returning the rental car. We had a nice dinner at one of the restaurants. We've had a wonderful time on this vacation. We loved to see Jacob's eyes light up every time he was in the water and at the beach. He was so good throughout the trip, enjoying every moment with mommy and daddy. Although Jacob will forget this trip, we never will. I took many pictures as evidence that we did go to nice places when he was a kid. I think that this trip opened him up quite a bit. He is no longer afraid of strangers and in fact, loves attention. Jacob learned how to sign "all done" (koniec) in ASL and "more" (wiecej) during this trip. He is quite good at opening and closing the cabinets now and also he is practically running with the stroller.

Marco Island Friday

Marco Island Thursday

Our early morning walk to the beach.

Jacob just loves getting dirty in the sand.

He was helping me collect shells.

Dig, baby, digThe legend says that there is a treasure buried at

Marco Island beachJacob walked behind the stroller all the way from our room until he reached the gigantic mozaic flower, which was very fascinating. We went to a hotel cafe in the morning after Jacob's 1st nap.

Here he is grabbing everyone's attention~Another relaxing day at the pool~~Jacob just can't get enough of the water fountains~After the pool and good lunch Jacob went down for a 2nd nap. When he woke up we played. One of the favorite toys was the suitcase- climbing in and out and playing with the zipper.

~Out to dinner~

Scottie and I decided to celebrate our 10th

aniversary a bit early. We went out to a fancy restaurant

for dinner. Taking some photos along the way.~My favorite photograph~ ~Jacob enjoys his bread stick~ We gave him a taste of
fish, rice, bread, and ice cream from our meals.
~Our Anniversary dinner and desert

Marco Island Wednesday

~Getting ready for a morning walk~
~Jacob is showing his tongue (jezyk) and his hair (wlosy)~We went to the beach for our morning walk. Jacob just couldn't wait

to go into the water. He was practically running holding Daddy's and my hands.

~Shell Beach~

~Splash, splash, splash~
~and scream at the top of your lungs~ ~Time to rinse off the sand~ ~Ooooo, more water~ Jacob was full of sand so we decided to take a Jacuzzi before his first nap.

~The more water the better~

After the morning nap and a quick soak in the pool it was time for lunch

~Jacob has to make a few important phone calls to Grandmas~ Jacob and Daddy went took a nap late afternoon, while I got a chance to sunbathe

by the pool. No pictures! The two sleeping beauties joined me for as swim after they woke up. We ordered Jacob dinner from the kids menu. It was his most expensive dinner to date $25, which included rice pilaf, fried chicken, and green beans. Thank goodness he really liked it thus we saved the rest for next day. (we have a fridge and a microwave in our room)

We came upon the British family again this night. Zahara and Jacob had a lot of fun playing together as we all watched them and the sunset. Zahara refused to sit on the grass, so her parents placed a blanket for her to sit on.
~Sunset Playdate~ ~Straight from the cover of the GQ magazine for babies~