Ode to Jake

Jake at 21 months last Sunday

Jake seems to be in a mental growth spurt these days. I think it's partly that his communication skills are getting much better, and partly having Sadie around to remind us how much he's grown.

He's putting little sentences together, telling us what he wants and what he doesn't want. I'm sure it has to be satisfying for him too-- to finally be able to convey his needs to us with some accuracy.

And with Sadie here, it really hits me how much he's grown in less than two years. I mean, after two years of High School I picked up some new skills but Typing and Geometry are pretty minor compared to walking and talking. It's pretty amazing to see the world get bigger through his eyes. Probably the most fun for Ali and me is to see his personality develop. Wherever you stand on the nature vs. nurture argument, I think Jake's personality was showing all the way back to when he was Sadie's age.

He's always had a little independent streak, determined to accomplish tasks on his own and usually with some degree of seriousness. In new environments, he's always preferred to carefully observe for a few minutes, before engaging. He's sensitive to others, and that's really come out recently with Sadie. He's no angel, occasionally bonking Sadie on the head, but mostly he's concerned if she's crying, and he's always bringing things to her that he thinks she might need -- like trains and trucks and books. And he's always had a sense of humor. He seems to enjoy laughing and making others laugh, and as far as I'm concerned, that's probably life's most important lesson: you gotta laugh.

Here's a picture of Jake from about two months ago when he was clowning around with us. He had just gotten out of the bath and was being silly and making faces at us and I was lucky enough to catch one on camera. Warning, this image is PG-13. :)