How old is he?

I need to take a moment to write about Jakob. For those of you who haven't met him yet, or seen him in a while, let me tell you a little bit about his development.

He started out walking at 10 months and now as a 14 month old, he's an old pro.
He's moved on to running, dancing, spinning, jumping, and climbing stairs....and doing it really well. We have a little slide in the house that has 2 steps on it, and he can navigate it so well.
He climbs up, sits down, slides down, and runs around to do it again.
He can even turn himself around on the top of it, and climb up the slide part too!

In the verbal realm he is amazing! He says tons of tons of words, and can parrot just about anything.
And he sings - YES he does.
His favorite is BA BA BLack Sheep,
but he also likes Ring o Ring of Roses, and Twinkle Twinkle.

And, TA DA...he can count. Only to two, but come on, you have to admit that is remarkable!
I discovered this the other day when I was counting steps with him and after I said one, he said TWO! Okay, so it sounded more like DO, but all the same it was a clear count.

I have attached a little video for your viewing pleasure.
Enjoy the baby!

January

It's been a wonderful New Year! The snow is here, the weather is cold, and the season for doing sports out in the snow is here! We have done a lot of sledding lately and last weekend went ice skating with friends in the most beautiful setting. It was an idyllic time. The baby slept in the car all bundled up and cozy, and the rest of us shoveled the snow off of the ice in cool paths....and then we skated. Anders was fabulous on skates! Seriously, I think he skated for 2 hours! It was one of those days when everything just felt so beautiful and healthy and fun. Check out his skating moves in the second photo!

Great Start!

Anders started the new year with a bang! He entered his first running race for kids, a one mile fun run. He started out happy and smiling and then quickly hopped up onto our friend Renzo's shoulders to finish the race. He did manage to go across the finish line on his own, and won a prize for best costume! Gotta love giraffes!

Happy New Year!

We headed downtown this New Year's Eve to the dragon parade! It was freezing cold out and the parade was very short! All the same, it was still fun to bundle up, get outside and join in the celebration of a New Year. We are looking forward to fantastic 2009!

Snowy Morning

We were all suited up by 6:30 in the morning today...snow pants, hats, mittens, neck warmers, boots...you get it. The snow was magical. We pulled the boys in the sled and searched for an open cafe for bagels and cream cheese. It was such a great way to begin the weekend!

Asleep in the Chariot

I just love these photo's of the boys!

It's comin' on Christmas, they're cutting down trees...

We found our tree today and brought it home.
The snow began to fly as we drove to the tree farm and it snowed all day. The ground is now snow covered and it does feel very wintery tonight.

The tree is up in the front room but not quite decorated yet.

That will be tomorrow's work.
Today we brought up all the decorations, hung lights outside, and unpacked all the Christmas toys that only come up at this time of year.

We are having a big holiday party this Friday and we have a lot to do....make cookies, finish decorating, rearrange for the gazillionth time, just to name a few.

Luckily the party is being catered and we won't have to do any of the cooking.

More photo's of the tree later once the nests and birds get put on.