Jacob Is 1 Year Old!

Jacob with his parents, siblings & grandmothers

Jacob's magical first birthday has finally arrived! In line with maintaining our 1st birthday tradition for every one of our kids, the whole family has traveled to Tacoma for photos at the Korean photo studio while wearing traditional Korean outfits. Even my Mom got to wear a hanbok. It was a miracle to get a few decent photos since it was around kids' nap time & everyone got pretty hot & cranky in a small photo studio in no time. The photographer made the mistake of touching Jacob a few times to fix his hat & once Jacob started crying he couldn't stop. The seemingly impossible task of taking a decent photo of everyone looking at the photographer in the same direction while keeping their eyes open & smiling became possible with good old photoshop. A few "heads" were moved from one shot to another creating the final masterpiece. After the photo editing was done, we happily returned to Korean grandma's house for lunch of homemade seaweed & oxtail soup & cultured vegetables. Of course, Jacob didn't leave a stone unturned & Korean grandma had to do much cleaning up after we left.

Jacob has reached his busiest stage yet. If we open the front door, he rushes outside. When we open the dish washer, he wants to climb in. If we lift the gargabe can lid, Jacob wants to touch the garbage with his hands. When we lift the toilet bowl lid, he puts his fingers in the water. When I take a shower, he attempts to climb in or at least wet his hands. We literally can't step anywhere without Jacob following us!

Puppy love!

Jacob's latest favorite past time includes looking out of the doggie door. He also uses it to throw everything he can get his hands on outside. So I check the outside at least twice daily. We found things like TV remote control, his pacifier, puzzle pieces, small toys, shoes, spoons & food. Once Jacob even attempted to put a basketball outside without much success, but he sure tried. :-)
Jacob is still at the peak of his separation anxiety, so in her pursuit to get more sleep, my Mom moved him from his crib to sleeping next to her in bed. He still wakes up 2-3 times a night, but goes back to sleep as soon as he is reassured she is there. Both Gerritt & Sophia started to share our bed at the age of 2. It seems Jacob has figured out his priorities sooner! :-)

Climbing into the dishwasher

Jacob loves to play with pots & pans

He enjoys rearranging the shoes by the front door & would often bring ALL of them to whoever happens to sit on the couch. He gets upset if you push him away, say "no" or don't acknowledge him in some way. He sure likes to be appreciated whether you need his help or not. :-)

Their Own Bedroom At Last!

Bedtime story with Daddy

Today is truly one of the biggest days of the year! After cosleeping with us for over 3 years (Gerritt since age 2 & Sophia since infancy), both kids are finally sharing the bunk bed & sleeping in their own bedroom.
My slow but deliberate attempt to get them out of our bedroom began in April of 2011 when I was just 9 weeks pregnant with Jacob. Gerritt & I made a trip to Ikea & selected his new "big boy" bed (a bunk bed later to be shared with Sophia). He seemed really excited about it at first & was happy to sleep on the top, while I slept on the bottom, for 1 whole week. However, shortly after he refused to sleep in the new bed again & moved back into my bedroom. Sophia continued cosleeping with Daddy, which was fine with us since she still was so little. Gerritt coslept with me all through my pregnancy & following Jacob's birth.

When Jacob was 1 month old, my Mom moved in with us. Since Gerritt still slept with me & Sophia slept with Daddy, the kids' room & their bunk bed turned out to be the only available sleeping space for my Mom. She took over Jacob's night time care. After moving the kids' toys to my husband's bedroom, we soon moved Jacob's crib into the kids' bedroom, next to my Mom. So for the past year my poor Mom has been sleeping on the bottom of the kids' bunk bed & using the level above for clothes, diaper & linen storage.
To say that our sleeping arrangement was inconvenient would be an understatement. My Mom felt crammed in & would often hit her head on the kids' bed frame when getting up multiple times at night to care for Jacob. Gerritt often didn't want to sleep without me & would stay up late waiting for me to finish my house chores (& as a result be cranky the next day). My husband had to go to bed early to comfort Sophia. Gerritt's clothes was still stored in my Mom's bedroom so it was often a challenge to put away his things & get an outfit ready for the next day between Jacob's naps & before his bedtime. My husband's bedroom was filled with kids' toys & books. Jacob was crawling all over the house (while getting into everything), & there was no private room for Gerritt & Sophia to play. They had to get their own room again.

The process of getting the kids to sleep on their own has been gradual over the past year. My Mom often put Sophia on the bottom of the bunk bed for naps during the day. Shon & I would often swap the kids at night so that they could get their fair share of Mommy & Daddy time. This way Gerritt, who was used to sleeping only with me since the age of 2, got comfortable with sleeping with someone else. Also, it has become a pattern for my husband & the older kids to spend 1 night over the weekend at his Mom's house almost every week (to give my Mom & I that much needed break). We knew the sleeping arrangements had to change, so a couple of months ago my Mom & I made another trip to Ikea & bought a queen-size bed, a dresser & a wardrobe for my husband's bedroom. I also sold the king-size bed my husband & Sophia were using on Craig's list.
With Jacob's 1st birthday just 2 days away, I finally had enough of the chaos. It took us about 3 hours but we moved all of my Mom's things & Jacob's crib into my husband's bedroom. We also moved all of the toy shelves & kids' toys from my husband's bedroom into the kids' bedroom. By the end of the night, the kids were sleeping in the bunk bed in their bedroom (Gerritt on the top & Sophia on the bottom), my Mom & Jacob were sharing a spare bedroom & my husband & I were alone together at last. What a joy it is just to put the kids to bed at 8:30 or 9 pm, say goodnight & turn off the lights. I can't believe it took us such a long time to get Gerritt & Sophia into their own beds, but I am so glad we are finally here!