Where's Jumpin' J?

As previously mentioned Jumpin' J now LOVES to climb into things. On Saturday that thing was his empty diaper box I was going to throw out. J's dad decided to give him a little ride in the box. And when we realized that you couldn't see him we decided to get out the camera! Enjoy!!

What's in that box, Daddy?


It's a Jumpin' Bean


Lovin' the Ride

Jumpin' J's big boy friends are going to be hanging out with J and I this summer some while their moms are at work. JBH is our neighbor and Llamalad and Squid are his cousins that live in the next town over from us. Jumpin' J thinks that they are the coolest thing since his wagon, high praise indeed!



Fortunately they think he's pretty fun too and like to entertain him and let him hang out with them!


Jumpin' J and Squid


Jumpin' J and Llamalad


Jumpin' J and JBH

Stick Ups

When Jumpin J woke up from his nap yesterday his hair was sticking up in a crazy way!!! Mean mom that I am I took him outside to play and take a couple of pictures before I fixed it. It was just so cute I couldn't help myself.

More Climbing

Jumpin' J has definitely found his niche now. He climbs into and out of things, onto and off of things, and generally tries to give me a heart attack.



Yesterday he discovered that he could climb onto and off of his big firetruck and car. So he did that for a while before further discovering that he can push them around and ride them up and down the hallway. That was GREAT fun!



This morning he climbed into the little teeny basket that I keep my Dot Your i's stuff in. He barely fit and I couldn't get a picture fast enough but I'll try to catch a shot if he does it again. And then this morning he successfully climbed onto the couch.

Why Can't I Get In?

This morning Jumpin' J decided to try to climb into his Little People School Bus.



It didn't quite work out how he had hoped so he climbed on top of it.





That worked much better. And then he figured out how to ride it. It was really really funny!!

First Big Bump

Today Jumpin' J had his first big bump. He unfortunately did a face-plant into the hardwood floor this morning and scraped his mouth all up. There was a little blood and a lot of tears but other than a slightly swollen top lip he's feeling back to normal already. It was enough for me to have a heart attack of course but a little cuddling was good for both of us.

Rainy Days with Jumpin' J

We've had a lot of very rainy days around here. We even had thunder and lightening which Jumpin' J just loves by the way. It was a little tough finding things to do around the house. When the rain came down really really hard J wanted just to sit at the back door and look out.





On Monday J found the joy in climbing into and out of his dad's suitcase and then found a special spot that was ohhhhh so comfortable.

Graduation from Gym Class

Saturday was Jumpin' J's "Show Week" for gym class and he had a great time with Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Donna, and Grandma Potter. We got the whole thing on video but here is a short clip...




He got to do all of his favorite things...
Crawling on the big red mat...



The wheelbarrow...



Waving the parachute...



Walking with the parachute...



Bubbles, balls, and bells too!!!

Summer Rainbows

On Friday night J's dad came home from work in time to see the rainbow over the farm across the street from our house.



While we were taking pictures we realized that it was just at this time last year that there was another rainbow and we got a picture of Jumpin' J then too. Isn't it amazing how much he has changed in just one short year?

6 Weeks Old


13 Months Old

Infectious Laugh

When Jumpin' J laughs it is truly infectious. If he gets going in a store people stop to laugh with him. See if it works for you....




P.S. This file doesn't seem to be fast enough on my computer so if you're having a similar problem and want me to email you the original file just let me know.... it's definitely worth it!!

Who Cares if Its Pink

Jumpin' J got his first ride in our neighbors' pink Jeep and he was LOVING it. (Yes the neighbors are girls!) Fortunately he is secure enough in his own masculinity to be comfortable with pink because this car is PINK!!! He was laughing and laughing, he would have stayed there forever if we had let him.



And then when he was done with his ride and the girls went onto playing with something out he did a complete visual inspection of the car. It was really funny to see, he even got down to look under the car.





Maybe someday he'll have a jeep of his own, preferably not a pink one....

Boys Boys Boys

Today Jumpin' J and I went to the beach for the first time this year. Ray and Chris were hanging with us for the day so they came along and J was thoroughly entertained by them and wanted to be just like them.



And we were very lucky because our friend Andrew came to meet us at the beach too with a couple of his neighbors! Andrew is one of Jumpin' J's classmates from gym class! Andrew's neighbors are two girls and we all know how J loves the older babes. After about an hour it started to rain and since Ray and Chris had to leave anyway we packed all 6 kids into the cars and carted them back to our house.



Once we got home J, Andrew, and Andrew's neighbors played in the basement for about another hour before the two little boys were totally worn out. I know J had an awesome time and we hope they can come play again soon.



Andrew and Jumpin' J are proof that boys are boys are boys. They both love trucks and balls and climbing and roughhousing. And they were both eating sand at the beach, yuck! There was another little boy at the beach who was about 4 and he gave Andrew's mom and I quite a laugh as we could see our futures in him. Here's Jumpin' J eating a handful of tasty sand!

He's WALKING!!!!!

Jumpin' J has been taking a couple of steps at a time for quite a while now or will walk while holding onto a finger, pants leg, etc. He crawls so darn fast that I think he doesn't really see the point in walking. But in the last couple of days he's been getting braver. Today he walked half way across the garage and then a little later across our neighbor's driveway. And I caught it on video!!! So here is a short clip of Jumpin' J's first steps.

Sooo Cute But Unfortunately Expensive

I bet you thought this was going to be about Jumpin' J, huh??? While he is very cute and sometimes I feel that he is expensive this is actually about this new catalog that I got in the mail.

The company is called Serena & Lily and somehow I got on their mailing list to get their 2008 catalog. And let me tell you that I lust after so many things in this catalog. It is on par with Pottery Barn Kids with the types of things that are in it, baby bedding, kids bedding, a little furniture, some accessories. But it is soooo becautiful.

I love the Lucy set and the Wren set for baby girls. And I adore the Graham set, the Rex set, the William set, and the Henry set for baby boys. OK really I like all of them. Some of them are really cheap, only like $550 ;)

I had all the money in the world I would do Jumpin' J's room like the Gabe big boy set!! Alas I don't have all the money in the world so I guess I'll just have to drool over them!!!

Happy Dad's Day Daddy

Since Jumpin' J isn't old enough to tell me what he wants to say to his dad I'll go to a few other kids for inspiration...



~ You know... fathers just have a way of putting everything together. - Bill Cosby's daughter

~ Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys. - Anon

~ My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. - C.B. Kelland

~ Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father! - Lydia Child

~ My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass." "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys." - Harmon Killebrew

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to....

Grandpa Gary....


Grandpa Potter....


Grandpa Johnson....


Pops....


And all our other favorite dads out there!!! We love you!

First Time Using Chopsticks

Jumpin' J and I went to story time with one of our friends from gym class and we met some of their friends there. After story time they invited us to go to lunch with them at a local Korean restaurant. One of the other little boys had eaten there many times and he had the dairy and soy allergies like J has so it worked out perfectly because they knew what he could eat and what he couldn't.

As usual Jumpin' J liked everything we put in front of him. The dish we ordered had noodles and pork and veggies in it and so he got to try some new things. I used the chopsticks to eat and he got to try them too. J's dad and I are going to order him some of the kid's chopsticks that one of the other moms was talking about!

Yogurt

Last night in the bath we were reading Jumpin' J's tub books as usual. He likes to point at everything and have me say the word. And we were on one of the food pages and he pointed to the yogurt. So I obligingly said it and he laughed. He pointed to it over and over and over again and every time I said it he would go into a fit of giggles. His finger would move around the page and hover over other things and then suddenly swing back to point on the yogurt. It was really a special moment.... and it only ended when he laughed so hard he pooped in the tub. Now that really was gross but all I could do was laugh. I've heard of laughing until you cry but laugh until you poop, only J!

Morning Rituals

Every morning Jumpin' J starts his day by reading books. If we are downstairs in the morning he will read and play with his trucks together. If we're upstairs however he doesn't like the playyard so I let him hang in his room and read in there. Either way he has to take ALL of the books out of his bookshelf to read them. He starts on the bottom and then works his way up!

Pool Swimming

I love swimming so it was with great pleasure that I got to jump into Jumpin' J's mini pool today. I think that he likes it too but I had forgotten all the toys except a small ball so it wasn't as fun for him today as yesterday was. I think it's going to be a godsend tomorrow though since it's supposed to hit 98 with high humidity.



I did manage to catch a short clip of him "swimming" with my phone and am posting it for all to enjoy!

Reading Books and the Library

When Jumpin' J woke up from his nap he got to read for a little bit in his room while I finished up on the computer. He is very funny when he reads now because he has to have the book the right way up and he will turn it around if he opens it and it is upside down.



Today I decided to take Jumpin' J to the library. He's been a couple of times before but one time was when he was really tiny and the other we just popped in to see something in the adult section. But today we went to the children's section. And he was loving it. There was a tiny rocking chair that he sat in and a wagon which of course he climbed right into. And then the books were awesome of course. They even have a section of board books so he got to take a look at them all by himself.



It gives me real joy to see that he loves books as much as I do. I know that his dad will coach his sports teams because he is very athletic. And we will both make sure he loves school, he's a smarty pants already. But it's nice to know he loves something that I really love and that we can share, especially since I want to be a librarian.

Grandma Susie's Hutch

When Pops came down for Jumpin' J's birthday he brought down the hutch that he had made for Grandma Susie when they were just a young couple starting out. He didn't want it any more so we took it and will love it!

It reminds me of home just to look at it. It was always in my grandma's kitchen when I was growing up. It was filled with napkins and tablecloths or picture albums or whatever she needed to store there. And it always had her tips in there and it was fun to get out the rolled coins and all the loose coins in a can.

Jumpin' J discovered it this weekend and had fun peeking in the doors and checking things out. Hopefully it will help to generate as many memories for him as it has for me.

All You Need is a BOX

For his birthday Jumpin' J's dad and I got him a Radio Flyer wagon. We both remember the joys of boxes so we decided to keep it to see if J would like it too. It's been in the family room since his birthday but on Saturday he really discovered it, the BOX! He was laughing the whole time and it was a great time for J's dad and me too!

When you have a BOX you can look through it to the other end!


When you have a BOX you can crawl back and forth inside of it and chase your ball!


When you have a BOX you can climb on top of it, all by yourself!


When you have a BOX you can use it to try to climb like Spiderman to get other things you couldn't reach before!
(Note: We did not help with this we were just the safety net)

Swimming Swimming

On Saturday Daddy blew up and then filled up the little pool Grandma Laurie got for Jumpin' J. Yesterday J took his first swim in it. He was totally enthralled with the beach ball that Auntie Donna gave him for his birthday so he only gave a cursory look at the other items we put into the pool with him. I got in with him and played while Daddy was the lifeguard who caught a bit on video tape. We'll try to get the cable needed to hook the video camera to the computer so we can upload some of the fun times.