TA DA

New Things

I’ve been a little worried about Jacob’s language skills. While he’s starting to say more words a lot of them are not that clear and he hasn’t been putting words together. Tonight he surprised me at dinner by saying “more cheese.” Later when he was on the changing table he covered his eyes with his hands and then took them off and said “boo I see you.” So maybe he’s finally starting to get it after all :)

Jake can now count to ten by himself (well mostly). He’s also starting to recognize the numbers as well. Tonight when I handed him the phone to talk to Grandpa he pointed to the “9” button and said nine and then pointed to the “8” button and said 8. He also knew “1” and “2.” I’m hoping that when he finally gets moved to the twos room at daycare that things will really take off.

Jacob is Kosher!

Well actually he just completed the final step to his conversion to Judaism – immersion in a ritual bath called a mikveh. The first step was his circumcision which we did last March. At that time he was given his Hebrew name (he was named after my mother). The next step (which had two parts) we did today. The first part was a meeting with the Bet Din which is a group of three rabbis. They asked me questions about my background/Jewish upbringing and how I planned to raise Jake. The second part was to dunk Jake in the mikveh. He had to go completely under and I had to let go for a second so that the water touched him everywhere. He did a really great job and didn’t cry at all (although I’m not sure he really liked it too much). I had to say a couple of prayers and then we were done and Jacob was officially declared Jewish. We got dressed and we got a certificate to commemorate the event. It was a nice present to receive for Hanukkah!

I tried to take some pictures but because Jake is constantly in motion these days it’s hard to get any decent shots. Here are a few.

Where's the Baby?

This is what I found when I went to check on Jake tonight:

Jacob is Two!!

Happy Birthday to my (mostly) sweet boy!

Thanksgiving

My family came in town for the Thanksgiving holiday and it was great to see everyone. Jake loves hanging out with his Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Part of our weekend celebration included a family birthday party for Jacob and his cousin Shaun (whose birthday was December 1).

Sitting in Grandpa's chair:


Hanging out with cousin Shaun:


Checking out his birthday cake: