Hawaii- so many firsts for Jake!

Wow...we've just returned from a beautiful week in Hawaii with Josh's family, celebrating Grandma Lee's big birthday.

Upon our return, Josh and I started listing out just how many firsts for our Little Man actually occurred on this trip. We've documented most of them in picture or video, and I will continue to post the evidence throughout the week, but here is the list:

1. Jake's first vacation (as well as first time on an island, first time out of California, etc)

2. His first plane flight (5 hours, WITH a 1.5 hour layover in the middle)

3. His first #2 explosion on Papa (this list isn't all things we're proud of necessarily =)

4. Jake's first time touching sand

5. Jake's first time in the ocean

6. His first time in a swimming pool

7. Hi first tooth officially popped out of the gum on this trip

8. and his SECOND tooth quickly followed!

9. Jake began sitting up on his own for the first time!

10. Jake tasted real FOOD for the first time (well..some wouldn't consider rice cereal real food, but still...big step)

11. His first Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Grandma Lee!

How much stuff does a 5.5 month old need???

My goodness...as I lay out all of the things to pack for our Hawaii trip, I'm beginning to wonder how in the world we are going to make it all fit! Jake alone (because I'm dressing him I'm sure) needs at least half of my suitcase, if not his very OWN suitcase! Look at all of this stuff! Plus a stroller, carseat, diapers, etc. It's really incredible!

Mr. Independent

Well, well, well...Jake has decided that he wants to hold his own bottles now as he is being fed. We've got Mr. Independent on our hands already!

Welcome Hunter Moulds!

We've just heard that our great friends the Moulds' just delivered their baby boy. Welcome to the world Hunter James Moulds!! Jake wore all of the adorable clothes that the Moulds gave him in honor of his new friend being born.

Going to miss Granddad and Nana!

Since we're going to be going to Hawaii next week, we're going to be missing our traditional Thanksgiving feast at my parents house this year. Because Granddad Fredrikson hasn't seen Jake in a long time, and we'll be missing out on the Thanksgiving celebration next week, we stopped by my parents house this weekend for some play time. My goodness...it will never cease to amaze me how kooky my parents become when they are around Jake. It's like they are both playing with their most favorite toy in the whole world, and just never want to let go! Very, very funny and sweet to watch.

Jake's first Mickey Mouse birthday party

We went down to celebrate Kylie Petty's 1st birthday party this weekend. It was pretty cute to see Jake with his first Mickey Mouse ears on! It's going to be a very fun time when we finally get to take him to Disneyland some day soon!

It all makes sense now...

The endless drooling, putting everything in his mouth, irritable rants all make sense now....Jake's first TOOTH is coming in!! We were out at dinner last night, and Jake was biting on my finger, and WOW...the little sharp corner of this bottom right tooth has popped out of his gums! We couldn't believe it! We've been saying "Oh...he must be teething" for months now, but it is still a little early for baby teeth to be showing up. But, not for Jake, as they are here! We've got to do some research asap on what works best during this teething process, as poor Jake does seem more irritable than normal these days.

We are so happy to have Papa home

Phew...we are so happy that Papa is back home safely after his business trip to Chicago. I was pretty worried how my first night alone would go with Little Man, especially since he is at the stage where he will NOT be put down once he is asleep in my arms for the night. So, after one complete and utter meltdown to start our first evening alone, Jake did mellow out and fall asleep in my arms. Of course, that meant, I couldn't go to the bathroom, wash my face, get the bottles prepped and ready for the next day, etc, which was most definitely frustrating. But, a solid night sleep for Jake means a somewhat good sleep for me, so I let it all go and just cuddled up with my Little Guy all night long. Thank goodness my Mom showed up early the next day, so that I could have a bit of time in the morning without having to entertain Jake, to prep for my day. I'm telling you...mornings are SO difficult these days, as Jake just will not be left alone without waking up our entire neighborhood with his hysterical crying. We've got lots to work on, but for now, Papa arrived home late last night to help with some of the nighttime feedings. We certainly missed him. We love you Papa!

Happy Birthday Tia Erica!

Even though Tia Erica is literally half way across the world currently, we are wishing her a BIG HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY Erica!!!! We wish that you were home so that we could celebrate your big day with you, Fredrikson style.

Here is Jake wishing you a fantastic day!:

Our first parent/teacher conference!

Oh yes....it's true. We had our first parent/teacher conference for our FIVE month old boy yesterday. I was actually nervous to go, as I was imagining a long meeting to discuss how badly we are raising our child. But, it turned out to be quite the opposite. His teachers just absolutely love him, and really like how social and easy he is to handle (except for nap time). He is still the youngest baby in the room, by about three months I think, so he has the farthest developmentally to come. I think his teachers enjoy the fact that they are witnessing all of his big milestones virtually from the beginning, vs having to potentially train slightly older babies. His primary teacher Ivy really put me (yes, poor Papa couldn't make it up to the conference) at ease and was very helpful with all of my random questions. I actually walked away with this paper, which is basically his first REPORT CARD!! Can you believe it. It's boring to read through I'm sure, but I thought it was just hilarious to actually see an infant report card, so I had to share (yes, there are spelling mistakes, as his primary teacher's first language is Chinese).

Jake's new toy

We finally realized that Jake was getting a little bored of laying on his back every time he played, so we broke down and bought one of those play-gym things. This was what happened the second time he was put in it (the first time, he just kept throwing his head into each toy, instead of actually touching things!...quite funny really). We hope that Jake comes to love this thing, as we hear it is quite a life saver when Mom needs to cook dinner!

Jake hangs out with Riley

Today we went over to our friends the Zimmerman's house in Dublin. Their daughter Riley is ten months old, and quite the active little girl! Jake had fun watching all of the things that he would soon be learning to do (crawling, standing, eating big people food). At one point, Jake got confused about which hands were his, and attempted to put Riley's hand in his mouth (and Allie actually caught it in camera!). I promise that he wasn't trying to bite her...just hand confusion! They were wonderful hosts and served us a great BBQ lunch. Thanks guys, great to see ya!

Jake's growth by month

We've been taking pictures of Jake on each month birthday laying on his extra special amazing quilt. It's just amazing to put all of the pictures next to each other and see how much he has grown!

Seeing our old Playgroup again

Yesterday we finally got to visit with all of our Playgroup friends whom we haven't seen in two months (they still meet during the week, and most of them are not returning to work...lucky them). It was great to hear all of the updates and to learn what we have to look forward to in the coming months. Quite a few of the babies are just starting to explore real food...and loving it! I think it may be time for Jake very, very soon to give it a try. That's going to be an experience! Many of the babies are also turning from belly to back and vice versa regularly and some are even beginning to get up on their hands and knees! I can't imagine what our days are going to turn into once Jake becomes mobile! We already feel like we can't leave him alone, and he can't even move around yet! None have teeth yet, but multiple Mom think they are about to come in any day. All in all, it was a much louder, happier group of babies now that they can interact with each other. What a great day.

Happy 5 Month Birthday Jake!

I got to take the day off of work today, because my Mom is traveling and it is normally her day to watch Jake. I was SO excited to have him all to myself for the entire day. It was like re-living maternity leave today, going for a long walk, walking to the grocery store, doing chores (which are much more fun when you're not rushed and exhausted) and playing together. We also had my Mother's group over whom I haven't seen since I went back to work. It was so wonderful to see how all of the kids had grown in the last two months! Pics of the playgroup are coming, but first, we must wish Jake a Happy 5 Month Birthday today!! How in the world has 5 months already passed? It literally feels like yesterday when I went into labor here at home. At the same time, I barely can remember life without Jake though!

We love you Jake and Happy Birthday.

Rash, Rash Go away!

One of Jake's happy places has normally been his changing table. Unfortunately, since this horrible diaper rash has started, he has become quite afraid of the changing table. Because of this, we have had to make changing diapers EXTRA fun now. Papa is especially good at making Jake giggle...even on the feared changing table. I caught one good giggle stint the other day:

The Two Cabezas

Jake and I have earned new nicknames from Josh...Cabeza. Here is the story of how: We took Jake to Dr. Johnson for his 4 month check up a few weeks ago, and the appointment went just fine. Jake was a champ with his immunization shots and everything else checked out just fine. BUT, the next day I received a call at work from Dr. Johnson, which was really out of the ordinary. He called to tell me that as he was reviewing Jake's charts he was getting a little worried, because while Jake's weight and body growth were finally starting to slow down, his HEAD was still growing at a fast pace. He needed both Josh and I to measure our heads ASAP and from that he would be able to understand if Jake's head size (in the 97th percentile for his age) was hereditary or if there was something wrong. Of course, Josh and I scrambled and measured our heads immediately and called the Doctor back. Dr. Johnson then confirmed that MY head is in the 98th percentile in size for Women my age (thanks to my Fredrikson genes!!). Thank goodness, it looks like we have nothing to worry about heath-wise...but Jake and I have definitely now earned our new nicknames!!!!

Sunny day at the beach

Today was a gorgeous day outside. After having a very rough night of many diaper changes (resulting in crying tantrums due to Jake's sore bum) we were worried about what the day would bring. In actuality it was a very nice day. We met up with our Santa Clara friends at Taylor's for some burgers outside at the Ferry building, where Jake showed his wonderful manners and playfully flirted with all of the girls despite his bad mood. We did end up taking him to Urgent Care to see what the Doctors would prescribe for his tush, but we simply got the "New-parents-don't-worry-so-much-every-baby-goes-through-this" talk from the unfriendly doctor. To brush off the frustrating visit to the Urgent Care, we took a wonderful walk down to the water and met up with our friends Brie, Mike, Kim and Dane (and Brooklyn). Jake had a wonderful time rolling around (on top of a blanket), and sticking his feet in the sand for the first time. It was nice and cool outside and we could keep him in the shade at the beach. As long as we can find lots of shade in Hawaii, and temperatures don't get to high, Jake should have a BLAST in the Hawaiian sands!