The Verhoeven's: July 2008

Jacob has been walking with a walker push toy! He looks like a little old man running around the house with a walker. He is known to get really mad at start crying when he hits a wall and can't go any further. Just like Daddy... haha :) Kidding, kidding! Here is Jacob walking around:

We've been trying to introduce more foods & protein lately. Doctor says we can introduce meat now, and Jacob loves it! We didn't puree it or anything, I just cooked it separate from ours with no seasoning and cut it up real small and fed it to him. We also just tried some yogurt. Do you know how hard it is to find soy yogurt? Very hard! The doctor said she wants to introduce him to dairy at one year, but it is OK to give him soy yogurt. I got a mixed reaction... At first he loved it, then he was making sour faces later. I'm going to try it a second time, we'll see how that goes.

He's a little piggy. Forget about eating anything in front of him. Even if you have just fed him he still wants a piece of whatever you're eating. It can actually be quite annoying. One thing I miss is having a meal in peace. Even before Jacob was eating solids, he wanted to be fed while I was eating... It's almost like he knows.

We just bought him some new Fogoo sippy cups. They are stainless steel, BPA free, and they keep drinks cold for up to 6 hours! The doctor said that we could start introducing sippy cups too. He drinks from it just fine, although it can be a bit messy with it oozing from the sides of his mouth. I'm still being very anti-juice. I don't know why, but I just don't want to give it to him! Mike & I decided to buy some V8 fruit & vegetable juice and we're going to try it out sometime this week too.

Jacob is drinking from a straw now too! I let him put my straw in his mouth so he could chew on it and to my surprise I looked over and saw he was actually drinking it!! The kicker is that he was drinking my Oreo milk shake! So much for no dairy, huh? So we bought him some straw sippy cups and tried those out and he drinks from those too.

Diaper changes are still a daily struggle. He just will not sit still and fights it so bad. Anyone who is on the phone with me while I am changing him can tell you how bad it is. So the other day I decided to just let him go diaper-less for a little while I washed the dishes. BAD IDEA! Jacob decided to poop on the floor and play with it. Rubbing it all in the carpet and getting it all over his clothes, body, and even some of his toys. Mike was in the living room the whole time but was busy wiping down to table. By the time he noticed, it was too late. Just thought I would share :) I guess this is pay back for painting my crib in poop when I was a baby... Sorry Mom :(

In big boy news, Jacob now knows how to give 'high 5s' and sometimes he'll even wave. Most of the time he does it when it is irrelevant, but nonetheless, he's doing it! He's also been baby babbling a lot more lately. I love hearing that little man talk. He yells a lot too. You can even catch him slamming toys down and yelling at them. He's got quite an attitude. He has also been making a really mean face lately. He scrunches his face up and puckers his lips out. He's been doing it all the time! I can't figure it out, but it is sure funny to look at! I'll have to capture a photo of him doing it!

Look at all those teeth!!

Jacob just celebrated his first 4th of July and looked very festive in his outfit and holding the Marine Corps & American flags! We went to downtown Nashville and walked around for a little bit checking out the scene. It was so crowded down there though, and the fireworks weren't going off until 9:30 and Jacob goes to bed usually at the latest 8:30. So, we decided to call it a day and hang out at home. We spent the rest of the day packing and watching the fireworks outside on our balcony and then on the TV.

We finally officially own our home!! Everything is finished and the house has finally all come together. We only have a few complaints though. The "landscaping" consisted of planting a few bushes in the front yard, spreading grass seed, and covering it with straw to prevent the seed from washing away. And most of our yard in the back has not and will not be cleared for us. So we will have to pay someone to come out and clear the land for us if we ever want to utilize it. Also, we found out that the house does not come with a refrigerator. What brand new house does not come with a refrigerator?? We ended up buying one at a Sears scratch and dent. We got a pretty awesome deal and paid $500 for a refrigerator that was originally $1000. There are barely any scratches and what it does have are almost completely invisible.

Other than that we love it! We can't wait to get in and finally be settled. I took some pictures of the the house all finished. We'll get some more up as soon as we unpack (which may take a while...). :)

I've been crocheting some baby hats. I'm thinking about maybe selling a few at the flea market right down the street from our new home this winter. We'll see. It all depends on the amount of hats I can crochet before that time. Here are some new ones that I made these past few weeks:

Hat for Anna. :)

I tried it on Jacob to see if it would fit Anna-- and he just looked too cute not to take a picture of it. He is going to kill me one day :(

Car Hat!

Now that's more like it!

Hat I made for Genesis.

This is a newborn hat I made, just messing around. It's so small!!

I also made a pair more girly looking baby legs for Anna. They came out very cute. I love little girl things!

Jacob's first birthday is less than three months away. If you plan on heading up here to celebrate with us, please get in contact with me! I want to start making plans!

Speaking of birthdays, I just celebrated one of my own! I turned 23 on the 10th. It was my first birthday without my family. Mike made it a little better by surprising me with a birthday cake and candles. He even lit the candles and sang me happy birthday. It was very sweet. Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes, cards, and gifts. It really meant a lot!!