In memorandum and new word

This week, we start with some bad news. Jakob's great grandmother Vera Fricke went home to be with the Lord. This past Wednesday and Thursday we traveled up to Gowrie, IA, for the receiving of friends and funeral services. Vera was 84 years old and while Jakob may not have a memory of her as he gets older, she got to meet him and spend time with him on numerous occasions and we have lots of photos/memories to share with him for years to come.

On the lighter side, recently Jakob began saying "a-she-she" and we thought maybe he had a new girlfriend. On occasion he would walk around and call out "Asheshe!" and we had no idea what he meant. We would repeat it back to him and he would laugh and say it again. This morning the mystery was solved. Kim pulled out the goldfish crackers before we went to church and asked Jakob, "Do you want a cracker?" He responded by putting out his hand and saying, "A-she-she," or what we now know as "a fishie."

Kim has parent-teacher conferences this week, and Marc will be in Rhode Island this week for work but back in time for the weekend.

More soon.

First it's warm then it's cold. . .

So, last weekend it was awesome outside so we decided to take the little boy over to Zona Rosa. It was great because we got to walk around in short sleeves, get some ice cream in what could be deemed "ice cream eating weather" and look at the cool fountains that didn't have any water in them. They did have change still, so instead of finding a second job to help with our next adoption and in preparation for the economy to continue to die under this new pork bill passing, Marc might be making a few trips over there again at 3:00 a.m. Any extra milk jugs you have that could be donated to the cause would be greatly appreciated.

Sunday, we had a lunch date with one of Jakob's good friends Bella and her parents at Olive Garden. Olive Garden is described by Bella's dad Ryan as "cheap, imitation Italian food, but Marc was quick to respond that this is from the same guy that can recite the Pizza Street jingle.

What's the best part of a great weekend? Wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. For the younger generation, that's an expression that means "when the next bad thing is going to happen." On Monday morning, as we celebrated his 18 month milestone, we had a great time in our usual getting ready way and headed off to daycare. Later that morning, Kim called to say that Jakob's teachers had called to say he had a 102 temperature. Kim picked him up and they headed over to the doctor to find out he had strep. Exciting!

Tuesday, Marc worked from home to stay with Jakob so he would have a full 24 hours of antibiotics in his system before going back to daycare. He's much better now and we're glad he's okay.

Jakob's vocabulary continues to grow as well. He has started saying "cookie" (although he only likes one kind of cookie and only in moderation), "cheese," "thank you" and signs "please."

Yesterday, we went to have his 18 month photo shoot. As you'll see below, he doesn't take a bad picture. One of Marc's coworkers bet him that we wouldn't settle for the $9.95 package of one pose and a bunch of pictures, and she was right. At the zero hour we ended up going home with an extra 9 in that cost. You can figure out where it's at. . .

Today, Jakob spent time with Nana and Pape while we spent a much needed Valentine's Day date at Peachtree Restaurant down in the Power and Light District. Good food, good music, great dessert. Time well spent.

We got home to find out that Jakob had passed out for about a third of the time we had gone out. It's his own fault for not taking a nap today. He went down quickly tonight and hopefully he has a good night rest. We've started putting up the plastic gate on his door so he stays contained in the morning. A few weekends ago we found him crying in the basement wondering where we were. He's a little too clever for his own good.

This week Jakob visits the doctor again, but just for a check up. . . for now.

More soon.