i'll claim him

i know i sound like an ogling mom. but, well...i am! i can't help it. i am hopelessly in love with this little guy, jacob andrew. he's almost 2. on march 7th. i'm not quite sure where i found the joy in my life before i had his little smile to look at every day. generally i'm not a real sap, just ask my husband, but i must admit i can get a little over-the-top about my two boys. jacob's little smile just kills me. he really IS the greatest thing since sliced bread. sorry apple, it's not the iphone.
now, i don't mean to suggest that i don't equally adore my (almost!) 5-year old joshua. he is the sweetest, tenderest, funnest little man. he has such a senstive soul. i often stop and think just how special he is. but, well, he's FIVE. he whines, and always wants treats and snacks, he wants to play with his friends, he has an agenda--all normal little boy things which i don't begrduge him. however, the only thing on jacob's agenda is to be with me. his favorite thing to say is "hold you!" which sounds like "eatchyou" and means hold me.
jacob has the most wonderful, happy personality. he excudes sweetness and love and warmth. now, granted, the boy knows what he wants. he's a picky eater ("no! nooooo! juith, juith" or "reat, reat" ie, juice, treat. like any self-respecting parent, i don't give in. food all over the floor. i showed him!) he has clothes he wants to wear (he cries every time i take off his dinosaur pajamas, and laughes with joy when he sees me folding them once they're clean: "dinos!"). he does the whole arch his back and yell and flail around on the ground when he doesn't get what he wants--yes, he'll throw a tantrum. these are all problems we never had with joshua, who is very laid back about that type of thing.

jacob is also a little mischievious. there's this certain 2 and 1/2 year old boy in nursery who is very territorial and whiny. jacob knows this and antagonizes this boy to no end. i'm pretty sure jacob knows what he's doing. one day, any time any of the kids would come near this other boy, he would push them away. he did this to jacob several times and jacob just walked away--no problem. however, as soon as this other boy wasn't looking, jacob would come up behind him and whack him in the head. i do reprimand him at times like these, after all, we don't hit. but, i also find it endlessly amusing, i'm sorry to say.
a smile like that, and i can forgive anything. really. and it's not just the smile--he is so silly and so sweet. he loves dancing--he wiggles his back and little shoulders. he says "mommy, are you?" when he wants to know why i'm not with him. when i'm studying at night i'll talk to him on the phone and he says "i uv oo, mommy!" unfortunately he isn't cuddly and whenever i try to rock him he says "bed, bed" and then if i even try to sing to him he says "mommy, mommy, mommy..." until i stop and ask "what jacob?" to which he sweetly replies "bye-bye." and if i keep singing he says "bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye." it's a little sad, what mom doesn't want to rock her baby? but it definitely endears him to me. he just has his own personality. he knows what he wants and what he likes. you can't hold that against the guy. however, whenever i can hold him down for a moment and kiss his squishy cheeks and warm neck and squeeze his little chubs, i do take full advantage. josh and i often say we wish we could just keep him like this forever (maybe minus the flailing around on the ground thing). i told josh the other day that i think jacob is one of the funniest people i've ever met. he really is. he cracks us up. he is pure joy. sometimes kids are CRAZY, i'll be the first to admit. but the happiness you get from these little guys has just got to be what heaven feels like.