15 month check up

Time is just flying by, I felt like we were just at the Dr's office for his 12 month check up! But there we were again last night for his 15 month appointment. Here are the stats:

Weight: 22 lbs, 7 oz (20th percentile)
Height: 31 inches (50th percentile)

So in 3 months, he gained just about a pound and 1 inch. The doctor that he's right on track for everything, which is always reassuring to hear. Unfortunately, we did find out that he has his first ear infection :( The doctor said it looked new, so at least we caught it in the beginning (and saved ourselves a separate trip to the office!) I felt bad that I didn't realize he even had one, but he really hasn't been out of sorts lately or running a fever or anything like that, I guess sometimes these things just sneak up on you. He's on antibiotics, so hopefully we'll get it cleared up soon.

From The Mouths of Yinzers

Over the weekend, Brian went to our local children's consignment shop while he was out running errands, they were having a 40% off sale (40% off!!) While in there, he overheard this statement:

"Yinz guys need to hurry up! Why do we need to buy all of these clothes for her? Little boys are so much easier to buy for....you buy them a pair of jeans & a few wife beater shirts and they're set".

Perhaps it was the guy we saw at the Steelers tailgate a few months ago with the word "Yinzer" tattooed across the back of his neck?

Now, before wife beater wearing people everywhere start coming at me with torches, let me just say that I don't have a problem with wife beaters. I myself, own some (are they called husband beaters in that case?) My little brother is quite fond of them and sports them around quite frequently (prompting some jokes from me about our family getting ready to appear on an episode of "Cops" with the way he's dressed....just so he doesn't yell at me, he is normally sporting them around doing yardwork or something, not as everyday attire) There's nothing wrong with little boys in wife beaters...in fact, sometimes they can be quite cute, trying to look grown up like daddy. It just struck me as a funny statement that this man seemed to think that they were the only clothes that boys would ever need to own....

Baby, It's a Wild World

One of our Christmas presents from my parents was a zoo membership to the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, which we used for the first time over the weekend. Of course, we decided to use it on a day that was almost 90 degrees (even in the morning hours!) but we still had a great time. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The wagon worked out really well, we were able to get him in & out easily when he needed to be lifted up to see the animals...and as you can see, sometimes he wanted to walk & push the wagon (as he should, it was filled with all of his crap anyway!) :)

Jake definitely enjoyed the Monkey House and the Aquarium the best. While looking at the lemur display, one of the little buggers decided to jump right in front of the glass that Jake was standing in front of...he came out of nowhere & poor little man jumped about a foot off the ground and reached out to grab onto me. (he fared better than the little boy standing next to him who burst into hysterical tears)

There was a sting ray tunnel to crawl through...he made it out alive, phew!

I think trying to do the whole zoo in one morning when it was so hot out was a bit much to take on for our first time...we didn't end up making it to Kids Kingdom, so we'll be hitting that first during our next visit. Someone had a slight meltdown after we ate lunch, was a tired, sweaty mess and fell asleep as soon as he was buckled into his carseat :)

Cheap Thrills

Nice Weather + $5 baby pool = Happy Little Man



Bag of Marshmallows: $2
Graham Crackers: $3
Hershey Candy Bar: 50 cents
Enjoying your first S'More: Priceless

Who Wants Baked Beans??

Jake does!!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, Jake likes food. A lot. Here he is chowing down on his new favorite food, baked beans, while making some, um....approving noises.

Ode to Oakland

Ode to Oakland
by Jacob Charles

Oakland, how I love thee
While walking on your sidewalks, I said "weeeee!!"
My parents went to school here & hope I'll do the same,
Mom said if I go to Pitt, she'll pay my whole way.

When I saw Fuel & Fuddle, I got a sparkle in my eyes
The sparkle grew brighter as I ate sweet potato fries.
Then I had some pizza & I said "nom-nom-nom"
Give me some more of that, this place is da bomb!

Next we went to Dave & Andys so that I could try ice cream
It smelled so good when we walked in, it was like a dream!
I really liked the ice cream, it was super yummy
But I could only eat 3 bites, I already had too much food in my tummy!

The end.


At Fuel & Fuddle:


First taste of ice cream!


Thanks for meeting us for lunch, Whitney & Neal!

My Daddy Plays Rugby Better Than Your Daddy

Brian played in his annual Alumni Rugby Game today and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day, it was 75 and sunny. Jake & I slathered on some sunscreen & went to cheer Daddy on at his game!

Our friends Jen & Scott sent this shirt to Jake when he was born, it says "Danger: Rugby Player, Stay Back At All Times"...it was quite the hit at the game.



He even got some practice time in with a rugby ball :)



Here's Jake last year at the game, look how much he's changed!!

Happy Easter!!

I think it's safe to say that Easter was a success...it had all of the right components of a good holiday.

Gifts left by a large animal upon waking:

New stylish clothes:

The family pet dressed up in bunny ears:

Good times with family and friends:

(Please note everyone's shirt selections....apparently it was green day & no one told me. I was wearing a black shirt, surprise surprise.)

And of course, yummy food!

Thanks to all of the help that I had in the kitchen, the meal was delicious. My helpers decided to uh...lighten the mood with a little sangria but they still managed to pull it together when they needed to & get the job done. :) I also have to give a shout out to Nate's girlfriend, Katie, who did an excellent job of supervising Jake while the rest of us were busy running around getting everything ready. He was completely infatuated with her and spent a good part of the day grinning, flirting and trying to get her attention (and um, trying to dress her up as a bunny.)

I guess I picked a pretty good turkey because everyone said it was one of the most moist turkeys they've ever had. And just a warning...if anyone leaves a comment on here about not having ham on Easter, I will block you from my blog. My kitchen, my food choice :) Another hit of the day were the Garlic Cheddar Biscuits...I stole the recipe from the Spice Rack blog. Thanks to some encouragement from Michelle, (who assured me that the level of difficulty was a 0...and she is well aware of my kitchen skills) I worked up the courage to make them & I'm glad that I did. They were super yummy and super easy. (right up my alley)

I think I'll title this next series of pictures as "Going, Going, Gone!" Sometimes you just can't fight the post-turkey coma.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!!

A Visit from Nana & PopPop

I figured I'd do a quick weekend-recap post before I gush about Easter, which needs a post all to itself to show off all of the cute pics :) Brian's parents arrived on Friday & they were amazed at how much Jake has changed and learned since the last time they saw him a month ago.

The Easter celebration started out on Saturday when Jake received a surprise gift in the mail from Aunt Melissa, Uncle Dennis & Ben! Here is our little Picasso using his new sidewalk chalk:

Another exciting moment on Saturday was discovering that we had our 1st tulip of the season open that day! Bring on spring!!

That night, we went out to dinner at Claddagh Irish Pub to celebrate Nana's birthday. While the food was good, the service left much to be desired. Fortunately, Jake was very patient (since even his food took awhile to come out, then he had to sit in his chair & wait while we finished our food) so everything was ok. We came home, put Jake into some PJ's & told him that he needed to sleep in so the Easter Bunny had time to come in the morning (HA-always wishful thinking, right??) and Nana read him a story before tucking him into bed. Please note that this is his first pair of "big boy PJ's", 2 piece without feet. Doesn't he look adorable? :) The shirt says "captain heartbreaker".