Who is this big (little) boy?

One of the things that is hard to fathom is how much Jakob is changing. We see him every day so his growth seems to blend together. We sometimes forget he was 4 pounds when he was born, that he could have died if his birth mother hadn't have come in when she did and that we worried we would break him just by holding him.

The other day, Marc's screen saver was on at work (which is loaded by a feed of more than 2,000 photos and Jakob is only 2 years old) and when he touched his mouse it went from a screensaver image of Jakob's tiny self to his current form of 27 pounds (Marc's wallpaper photo). Wow. How could this have happened?

Jakob is a Leo which means he's going to be a leader, compassionate yet stubborn and opinionated. He's going to be someone his friends look to that will listen and want to help. Wait, we did say "will be" and "going to be" right? He's actually there now except for that listening part. Not a fan so much.

He sits on the couch a lot for two minutes (one minute for every year in age) and while we don't know if he's understanding why, we're trying to be consistent. We'll see how it goes.

There was a time when daddy could do no wrong. Jakob wanted to be with Marc over anyone. That has changed and he prefers mommy when we're at the house. HOWEVER, when we go to Nana and Pape's (Marc's parents) or they come to see us, no one outshines Pape. All the way there we hear "Pape's truck? Pape's truck?" He loves to hang out outside with Pape pretending to drive the Blazer.

We're pretty sure Marc's dad taught Jakob how to say "Hey baby!" but we can't prove it.

Marc and Jakob went to the Liberty Early Child Development Center's Daddy Event "Rev Your Engines" last Tuesday. The event was fun and while Jakob had a blast with a tunnel, rocket ships, Matchbox cars and a parachute, he didn't realize he was actually learning and giving us ideas for Christmas.

Sunday, we spent the day with Marc's parents celebrating Marc's dad's birthday (early), and while Marc's dad got a present from Jakob, the real present was most likely time spent with the little guy.

The hardest thing right now is when he wakes up scared and we can't console him, or when he's completely upset as a result of having to be disciplined. He gets so disoriented when he's still in that not quite awake not quite asleep mode. We just hold him and tell him we won't let anything get him. When he acts up, in one vein we want to keep it so he understands boundaries, but in another it's so hard not to feel like we're being the bad guy.

Kim's heart melts every time he says "Rocka momma" wanting to be held one last time. There will come a time he'll have long forgot that so Kim indulges him every now and then. Mornings and weekend nap times are amazing because he likes to be held, and after he drinks his juice he falls asleep in our arms. If we look closely, he has that little one look he had when he was first born, and it's better than anything. It's the kind of situation where you want to call in sick to work or cancel your afternoon plans. In those moments, he's perfect.

But, right now he's running around the basement screaming to keep from getting tickled, and he wants to play guitars with daddy.

More soon.