Jake and Hunter

Jake and Hunter finally got to play together again on Sunday, after about 6 months of missing each other. We hadn't seen the Moulds' since Charlie's wedding in July, so both the boys seemed so much bigger and so much more interested in each other this time around. It was very sweet to watch them play, as they both are insistent that everything is "mine" at this stage, grabbing whatever the other one has out of his hand. Hunter is moments away from walking, and is SUCH a cutie!!!

Rain, rain go away

Jake and I are alone again on a rainy Saturday, thanks to Cal football. Needless to say, Jake is going a little stir crazy already, so I brought out the camera...and the Elmo shirt!

Happy Birthday Lee Lee!

We wish you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY Lee Lee!!!

We had fun celebrating with you last night, and we're excited to celebrate again!
Have a wonderful day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Per the Goines household norm, we've been up since 4:30am, even though it is a HOLIDAY!! But, today does remind us that even in the wee hours of the morning, we are incredibly lucky. We are lucky to have each other, to have our fantastic family and friends so close to us, to be happy and healthy and to live in this wonderful city. We are so blessed to have such a funny, smart, busy and adorable son, who has brightened our lives and who reminds us daily that the little things in life can be the most exciting and fun (don't take them for granted!).
We wish you all a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
(While Jake can't say Thanksgiving, here he wishes you a "Happy Happy"!!)

Celebrating with Tia

This post is very late, but Jake did very much enjoy celebrating Tia Erica's birthday last weekend. He was SUPER excited about the balloons that Nana and Grandad had decorated the house with! Jake has learned to say "Eca" for Erica now too...we're still working on "Lindsay"!

Big Boy bed!

First...I apologize for not posting all week...Josh and I are back to complete insanity times at work, with very early mornings and late nights. Neither job will be letting up on the craziness until after Christmas I'm afraid, so we're just going to have to get used to living in a fog each day with the lack of sleep we get between work and Jake. Some day we'll actually get a vacation!

Anyway...Jake never has taken to his crib well. So, Josh and I decided that it was time for a big boy toddler bed. I know, I know...he is only 17 months old, seems very early for it...but...we're three nights in now, and all three nights he has slept for 5-6 hours straight in his bed at a time, which is MUCH better than we ever got in the crib. He does wake up confused, and climbs out...but, we're hoping that eventually he will just get used it and actually SLEEP through the night (will it EVER come????)

Piano!

We spent last night at my parents house after celebrating Erica's birthday with a great family dinner (great job Mom!). Today Jake discovered my Mom's old piano which I learned to play piano on many years ago. He was very upset when I had to pull him away from pounding on the keys for quite awhile...perhaps we have a musician on our hands...piano, drums, flute...he loves to play it all =)

Happy Birthday Tia Erica!!!

We were so lucky to be able to be the first ones to wish Tia Erica a BIG Happy Birthday this morning. She stayed with me last night since Josh is away on business (and was a BIG help by the way). We took her to Noahs bagels for a birthday breakfast before I had to head off to work.

We look forward to celebrating with the family tonight.

Happy Birthday Erica!!!

Yogurt!

Jake is all about feeding himself yogurt these days...he would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if he could. Of course...it always turns into quite a mess, but very fun to watch.
Jake is also saying "Ummm-um" with every bite (thanks to Granddad).

We will miss you tonight Papa!! Have a safe trip! We love you!

Hugs from Riley

After the zoo on Saturday, we met up with Allie, Marc and Riley at the beach. It was actually a gorgeous day, and the kids are finally both walking around and could play together. It was adorable seeing them together, as one or the other of them seemed be following, hugging or sitting close to the other most of the time we were together. Jake was so lucky to get MANY hugs from Riley that afternoon...what more could a boy ask for!!

Giraffe!

Last time we were at the zoo, Jake slept through the giraffe park....THIS time he actually was really excited to see the big giraffes.

Even sassy Lindsay posed for a picture. Thanks for coming out Lindsay... it's always a blast seeing you!!

Zoo time!

Our old Intel friend Lindsay Brown is in town this weekend from Arizona...yeah!! We decided to spend much of the day at the SF zoo today, and then meet up with Allie, Marc and Riley at the beach near the zoo for the kids to play, as well as for ocean-starved Lindsay, could have some coast side time.

The last time we were at the zoo, Jake was only a few months old, and really slept most of the time. THIS time we had a great time walking around with him, as he practiced saying many animal names and noises. The SF zoo has a phenomenal petting zoo for little children that we finally wandered into...and it was GREAT! Jake walked right up to the goats and sheep to pet them, went crazy for the turtles, and loved talking to the bunnies.

One of our favorite moments was when Lindsay gave Jake some goat pellets to feed the goats....Jake thought it was hysterical feeling the slimy wet tongues of the goats as he fed them:

17 Months Old Today

Jake is 17 Months old today.

Latest stats:

New words: doctor, spider, no more, School, Maya, Oliver, Shay (his best buddies at school)

Latest obsessions: Animal noises, puzzles and still can't get enough of reading books

New foods: pumpkin anything, raw carrots, hummus

Giants Mania!

Wow...the city is literally ELECTRIC with Giants mania right now!!! Yesterday was the big parade, and of course I had to walk down and see it go by. Even walking over to the parade was incredible, as thousands of people were streaming out of every single building to head over to Market street....it was kind of like being in a movie, as I walked with thousands of people down to the celebration. Of course when I got to Market street, I was about 100 people back from the actual street, so there was no way that I was ever going to see a moment of the parade. I walked down to the next ally, and there were fewer people, but still, I was at least 30 people back. But then we waited and waited...and the crowd started giving up and walking away. So...I was able to sneak my way up to about 6 people back from the curb, just as the parade was coming our way....it was fantastic. The screaming, cheering, horns....incredible noise...it was amazing to be standing right in the middle. I did get a little claustrophobic by the end, as it was the largest crowd I'd ever been apart of, but super cool. I got most of the parade on video, but I don't think that it will come out very well if I post it here. Here are a few snapshots from the video though. Go Giants!!!

More Halloween...

So we had a few folks over on Halloween evening to celebrate and to see the kids in costume. Erica and I had to do some baking of course....we can't let a holiday go by in this household without some themed treats!!!

Above Jake sits with Lauren (Tiger) and Cason (green monster) and Lauren's parents Lee and Dwayne. Jake has taken to sitting in every new visitors lap and insisting that they read him a story upon arrival at our house...the kid can not get ENOUGH of his books!!!

Lauren and Cason were all born within weeks of Jake and are part of our Mother's Group...they all met each other when they were just 6 weeks old!

Yeah Giants!!!

WOW!!! They did it!!!!!!! Josh actually stayed home and watched the game with us....of course...he did have to run out to meet up with the boys after the big WIN, but that's ok!! The end of the game was a little too close to Jake's bedtime to get some serious excitement out of him, but boy was Papa excited! As he said "Jake...this is a once in a lifetime game to witness...I've been waiting my entire life to see this...you're so lucky!!!!"
Wahoo...the San Francisco Giants WON the World Series!!!!! The city is going CRAZY around us this evening...we can hear endless car horns, screaming fans and cheers of joy!!!!

Trick or Treat!

We had some friends over for a Halloween party, and then we all went out for trick or treating. There are three blocks totally blocked off to car traffic and are SUPER fun and crazy trick or treating streets for kids of all ages right near our home. I'll have more pictures of our friends and Jake in costume tomorrow, but here are a few from Jake's first trick or treating experience:

Jake didn't quite get the concept of asking for candy. He would go for the colorful bowl of treats at one home, take a piece, and then deliver it to the next home's big bowl of treats...by the end of three blocks, he ended up with 3 pieces of candy in his pumpkin.