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July 28, 2001
Good morning,
Well, I'm rather depressingly at work today, so I decided to cheer myself up by posting an entry to my diary (something I've been neglecting for the past week, partially because Mark "improved" our computer at home and it took a week to fix the problems...)
I'm working today, tomorrow, and Monday so that I can take off the rest of the week without using any of my precious vacation time. On Wednesday we're driving to Avalon, New Jersey for a week at the Jersey shore. Mark's folks rent a house there every year and invite the whole family to come. It fairly relaxing (even if I'm surrounded by in laws!) because everyone can come and go as they please. I am nervous about a few things though...
First, Jacob is going to be sleeping in the room with us. That means he'll disturb us and we'll disturb him. Hopefully it will only take a night or two for us all to become accustomed to this arrangement. Otherwise we might have to figure something else out. I am a MONSTER if I don't get enough sleep, and Jacob has inherited that trait from his Mommy. I really hope it all works out. Our other option is to put him in a room with his 3 year old cousin, but I think they'd both disturb each other if we did that.
Second, it's a 6 hour drive from Virigina. We're taking a ferry part of the way, so that should be fun, but it still takes 4 hours to get to the ferry. I'm sure Jacob will surprise me with his good behavior, but I just dread long car rides because, with a baby, it's such a big unknown. I am, however, looking forward to the ferry ride. Jacob has never been on a boat and I'm curious to see how he likes it.
Finally, it's a week with the in laws. I'm most nervous about Mark's brother's wife. She doesn't get along with Mark's parents at all (meanwhile I get along great with his folks). She has, in the past, put me on the spot trying to get me to side with her against them. She also wants to "use" me as an escape when the in laws get to be too much for her. She doesn't realize I occasionally need a break from her too!
In addition, Mark's grandparents will be there (2 of them anyway), and while his grandfather is sweet, I can't quite figure out his grandmother. One of her son-in-laws calls her "The Battleaxe", and I can definitely see why. She is impolite and expects people to do as she orders. She also doesn't seem to like children. She completely ignores Jacob and his 2 cousins (her 3 great-grandchildren). She also tends to give irritating (and often incorrect) advice. I hate unsolicited advice. Finally, and this is what will irritate me more than anything else, she will turn the tv volume up as loud as possible because she's too lazy to pop in her hearing aide. My biggest pet peeve in the world: a loud television.
Aside from the high volume, I also don't let Jacob watch television. I suppose that's not entirely true... When I'm home with Jacob, I don't watch television except maybe to check the weather channel. Jacob's babysitter does occasionally let him watch shows, which is fine with me. I would just rather play with him. I've also noticed that if the TV is on, even if the show is stupid, then I tend to watch TV rather than play with Jacob. To me, it gets my priorities out of whack - Jacob deserves my undivided attention without ever feeling like he's interrupting a show I'm watching.
Mark's family, though, loves the television. They have it on 24/7 and very loud so they can hear it over any conversation that might be going on. The men in his family fall asleep in front of it. They were shocked (I swear it caused a family scandal!) when they realized that I, the mean and evil Mommy, do not put Jacob in front of the television so that I can do my ironing (or whatever). Mark's Mom even said that once we have a second baby, I'll make start making Jacob watch television because I can't possibly take care of them both without it. (Ok, so she didn't quite say it that way, but that was what she was implying.) What did those poor women do for the thousands of years before televisions were invented?? I am now more determined that ever not to use a television as a babysitter. I take my MIL's comment as a challenge.
Well, that was quite a rant... I suppose we'll see if I'm eating my words in another 8 months when this baby is born. It won't be the first time that I've said, "I won't do that," only to find that I am... My current, brilliant plan is to buy a baby sling for the new baby. That way, I can wear the baby, while keeping my hands free to play with Jacob. We'll see if it works. Already I think I might be a bit naive. :)
Speaking of baby slings... Do any of you use one? Which brand do you prefer? Currently I'm leaning toward the maya wrap sling and pouch.
As far as this pregnancy goes, I'm feeling fabulous. Sometimes (especially if I eat too much or not enough), I might feel a little nauseous, but it's so mild. I am also a little more tired than usual, but that's also mild. I hope that being at the shore (walking around in hot weather and sleeping poorly because Jake is in the room with me) doesn't totally exahust me. Then again, Mark has promised to take care of Jacob as much as possible (or as much as I'll let him) so that I can relax and enjoy my vacation.
Finally now I'll update on Jacob's antics.... I've really been going off on tangent's this morning. Maybe it's pregnancy brain??
Last Friday, Mark took the afternoon off work and we all went to The Virginia Living Museum. They have all kind of animals: from butterflies to bats to turtles to otters to turkeys to bobcats. It's very cool. Jacob was wide-eyed and overwhelmed by it all. He loved it, but was so busy taking everything in that he hardly even cracked a smile. His favorite animal: the turkeys!! They even gobbled at him, which he loved.
After the museum, we went to the SPCA petting zoo across the street. It was amazing. I don't know where this petting zoo gets their animals, but they had lions, panthers, tigers, and cheetahs! (Not for petting, of course!) But you could pet llamas, goats, and chickens (assuming, of course, that you can catch the chickens). We just walked around and showed everything to Jacob. He was delighted.
Yesterday, I took Jacob to Waller Mill Park which is a city run park in Williamsburg. There, we fed geese, ducks, and squirrels. I need to take him there more often because he loved it, and it's free (unless you want to buy a bag of bread - they you have to fork out 25 cents!) Jacob wasn't even the slightest bit afraid of the geese, even when the entire gaggle would come running up looking for bread. These animals were quite tame. I swear (if I were so inclined), I could have had the squirrels eating out of my hands. I held Jacob while we fed the geese because I was afraid they'd bite him. I did let him try to feed the geese, but he refused to let go of the bread. Instead, Jacob would tease the geese with the bread, and then eat it himself!! Crazy kid!
Jacob's vocabulary continues to grow, though I often feel like I'm lagging behind in my ability to understand all that he's saying. I guess I should be proud that I understand him better than anyone else, but he still looks so frustrated and confused when he says, "Cah!" while pointing and I have no idea what he's telling me. "Cah", as best I can tell, is his word for "car" (or trucks or helicopters, or bicycles, or any other form of transportation). Jacob also has developed quite a love for "hah" which, in his world, means "hat". He'll go through books and point out every hat in the book. He'll turn the hatless pages quickly until he finds one with enough hats to satisfy him. It's hilarious.
If you ask Jacob what an airplane does, he'll hold up his arm (as if his hand is flying) and make airplane engine noises. It's adorable. We were looking at a picture of my Dad, and when Jacob saw it, he started doing the airplane thing. I have no idea who taught him that, but he repeated it a couple times. It's amazing because my Dad is an airline pilot, though Jacob has no way of knowing that. Apparently he figured it out on his own? Or maybe it was just a fluke and since I praised him for it, he keeps doing it. Whatever the reason it totally delighted my father!
Also, now if you ask Jacob, "How old are you?" He'll hold up one finger and say, "Wuh", which is his way of saying "one". It's pretty darm cute!
Last weekend, we stowed away the high chair. Jacob now eats in a booster seat, at the table with Mark and me. At first, he wasn't sure about the new arrangement. (I did it because Jacob initially was refusing the high chair, but I think he was unsure once he realized that his high chair was permanently gone.) We're also now feeding him on plates and vinyl placements (whereas before I would just plop all his food onto the high chair tray). Initially, the plates became frisbees, and I was stuck cleaning two hundred (well maybe not quite that many) grains of rice off the kitchen floor. Now though, Jacob usually leaves his plate on the table, where it belongs. He still throws his fork though. Sigh.
While I work today, Mark is watching Jacob. It sounds sad, but it's been a very long time since the two of them were left alone without me there in case of a crisis. I'm not worried about them (though I am reluctant to leave my telephone in case Mark needs to ask me where the sunscreen is or something like that). In fact, I am quite happy they'll have today and tomorrow to hang out together. Jacob often acts like he can't totally trust hsi Daddy because Mommy is the one who handles all problems. I'm hoping that this way, Jacob might begin to realize that Daddy is just as capable as I am, even if I'm the one who is there more often.
I feel like I'm forgetting to mention so many things... Then again, you're probably thinking, "This entry is long enough already!!" It is time for me to heat up my leftover chili and eat my lunch. Plus, like I said, I'm at work so I should probably be doing some of that too! :)
I'll write as soon as I get a chance after we return from vacation! Despite my concerns, I can hardly wait to leave! It's going to be so nice getting away, and I'm really looking forward to taking Jacob to the beach!
Love,
Dawn
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