He was born during my senior year in high school and I tool an Amtrack train from Chicago to DC that year and met him as a tiny baby. I refuse to believe he is a grown up. I still feel like he should be 12 years old. Here's Jake and Chloe with Chloe doing her famous "cheese growl":
Here's one of those fun shots that just catches the essence of a family party, everyone laughing and talking, having fun:
From the left: My dad, Jake, Uncle Scott, Aunt Kris, Aunt Suzy (Uncle Bob was inside hiding from the mosquitoes who apparently love him:
The kids loved Jake and they were also over the moon crazy for my cousin Bobby who is like 8 feet talk and as sweet and gentle as they come. The kids know right away who the good guys are. Chloe learned his name within second and we kept hearing her lauging and yelling, "Bob, Bob." Too Cute! Here's Bobby talking with his fans. 
and here he is with my Jake stuck to his back and Carmen ( my cousin Allison's daughter) on his front:
Carmen is two and a half and she and Chloe have so much fun together. I have spent lots of time with groups of little boys and they often have a similar way of interacting. I have been surprised by how similar little two year old girls are. They like to talk and share dolls and hold hands. These two also like a good romp and roll around the yard just like the boys do! Here they are on the tree that landed in the front yard at my Uncle Bob's house. 
It would seem the tree landed there for the sole purpose of entertaining these kids. You would have thought Wyatt won the lottery when he saw that thing. All the boys were glued to that tree for several hours. Along with the nearby woods and kite, the whole thing was pure paradise for them. The biggest of my boys, Justin, was ready to go back the next day. He's a country boy and this "country" was only 25 minutes from our house! And finally, Chloe can always count on her oldest brother to snag some of the much sought after "brown pop" and share a little with her.
Here they are in the first day of school with their teachers:
and just waiting in line:
So, today my kindergarteners come for a one hour day just when the rain is expected to start falling again. Wish me luck!
Knowledge: Chloe loves to learn things. She learned all her colors back in the spring and she now knows 9 or more letter names and recognizes number 2. 
Chloe calls grandma, "Gammy." The way she says it it rhymes with "Mommy." It's so cute. She apparently thinks my mom is the only person I talk to on the phone because when she doesn't want me on the phone she says, "No Gammy!"
goes to daycare with Chloe and they are so cute together. Here are some pictures of the two of them. We kept trying to get them to give kisses or hugs. They were both willing, just not at the same time. It's all about the timing.
The spray park with Becky and Ian:
This the the moment before Chloe's peaceful game of filling and dumping was interupted by a bucket of water on her head.
Here's where Jake ended up after that, although I do believe that he thought she'd like it. She does like to be splashed and even to have water on her head in the pool. Jake now sees the fine lin between being splashed and having a full bucket of cold water dumped on your head from behind. 
Chloe was shivering and blue lipped for most of the day but refused to leave the water. She loves swimming. Justin thinks we have to get her to stop smiling so much while she's swimming because she ends up sucking in a lot of water with that big cheesy smile.
Here we are looking at the Monkeys. In this exhibit I had to carry Chloe because it was too crowded to let her walk. She's only 22 pounds but boy do you start to really feel those 22 pounds after a while.
