Fixin' Rocks

The weather is getting nice enough for J and I to play outside most days. We got back from the mailboxes and the landscapers had edged the walkways. J was very excited to realize that part of that process involved turning up the earth and therefore pulling many many rocks to the top! He started searching for them, he found BIG rocks and little rocks and teeny tiny rocks and each one was like a treasured jewel!!!!

Like the good mother that I try to be I asked him if he wanted me to help him build a tower with the rocks but he said "No Mama, fixin rocks". OK I didn't know what fixing them was but he had it all under control obviously so I went back to reading the mail. I look over a couple of minutes later and saw this...

Yes, he had lined them all up in a straight line. And as he found more rocks he added them to his line. He was very precise about where each one went. We may have another engineer on our hands ;)!

Forks, Forks, Forks Oh My

I am happy to report that Jumpin J is consistently using a fork these days
with great success and much enthusiasm!!!

Not My Baby Anymore

He's getting to be such a big boy and finally got to sit forward facing in his car seat this week. It was such an exciting ride in the car to Trader Joe's and back for J.

He pointed out all the oncoming cars and laughed his head off when I caught his eyes in the rearview mirror. I am so excited for him but a little sad for me because it's just one more step towards him being a boy and not my little itty bitty baby anymore. Love you J!

Looks as good as it tastes

Berry Yogurt that is! Jumpin' J eats yogurt every morning with his blueberry waffle. Lately he has decided that it is time to start feeding himself the yogurt. And he does a pretty good job but I have learned not to get him dressed until after he eats it because about 1/2 of it ends up all over his face, including in his ears, and all down the front of his pjs.

Opinions Galore

Over the last three weeks or so it's like a word fountain has been turned on in Jumpin' J! It seems like he has a least 5 new words every day and he repeats everything that I say. Yesterday he said to me "No way" when I asked him if he wanted to get his diaper changed. And out comes "forward roll" when talking to Grandma Laurie on the phone last night. Other new ones are "Anru" (Uncle Andrew) and Kim, playground, pirate, Toby (a train), yogurt, hamburger, and
"pick up"(pick me up).

He also has started having opinions on things. Let me clarify that, he started having opinions on EVERYTHING! Food is a big choice in our house now. He wants raspberry yogurt not strawberry. Fishy crackers over cinnamon! The blue crayon instead of the yellow one. He wants to go to gym class or the playground but definitely does not want to have to sit in his car seat to get there.

And when you disagree on something he gets mad and the terrible two's make their appearance! It starts if you start to read him one book when he wanted you to read another! Watch out if he wants you to "come" with him and you're doing something else! The tears well up and he scrunches up his face which gets all red. If he can, he lays down on the floor or, if he can't lay down, he throws his head back and the wailing starts. I have to admit that it's all in all pretty funny if just a teeny tiny bit frustrating.

Wild and Free

To be wild and free
Such a joy it be
The other day
Much to my dismay
He peed on the floor
Cleaning was a chore!

Adventures in Cookie Making

Jumpin' J constantly wants to "see" when anyone is cooking so I thought it would be fun to attempt to make some cookies with him. The girls across the street couldn't be left out of course so the four of us made a giant mess had a blast and made a few delicious cookies to eat warm!!!

First you melt the butter and measure out the sugar...

Then you mix up all the ingredients in the bowl....

And finally you put the cookies in the oven and then try to cook a banana!


Chocolate chip cookies warm out of the oven are one of my favorite things. We made J a special batch with dried cranberries since he can't do dairy still I think he felt the same way about his cookies that we girls felt about ours! YUM!!!!

Twist and Dunk

Every red blooded American must learn how to properly twist and dunk their Oreo cookies. Thanks to Grandma Laurie Jumpin' J got a package of mini Oreos for Halloween! Here he is twisting and dunking just like his mommy taught him!

Spinning Spinning

Just yesterday at gym class Jumpin' J discovered the joys of spinning around in circles. It's pretty funny as he gets himself quite dizzy and then can't walk straight. Here's a short clip...

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

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!!

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.

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!

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.

Look at Me... No Pants

Jumpin' J has been quite helpful for a couple of months now when it comes to putting his pants on. He straightens his legs when I say "time for pants." He also really seems to like pants best. He plays peek a book with his pants when you're changing him and those are his second favorite article of clothing to carry around the house, socks are his favs there. Anyway today Jumpin' J learned just how easy it is to take OFF his pants. He is constantly walking on the bottoms of his pants because they're too long and I guess this was just too much for him today because when he came around the corner of the chair grinning at me it was sans pants! I had to quick snap a picture because it was hilarious. So here is the quick shot of pantless J as he went looking for them to have me put them back on.

Grass Antics

This afternoon was so nice that Jumpin' J and I went to play in the backyard after lunch for a little while. He is finally getting used to the concept of grass, enough so that he decided to dive in for a little taste.



He crawled around a little, especially to chase his ball that rolled down the hill.



He also noticed some dandelions which of course had to be inspected. I did manage to keep those out of his mouth although J protested loudly at being denied a taste.



The most exciting thing that happened this afternoon though is that J took a little walk with me just holding onto one hand. He's still a little wobbly but was quite proud of himself and even started to get ahead of me.



I've been wondering if he was going to walk soon because he just doesn't seem all that interested in walking. He can crawl really fast and can get up and down to get at everything he wants so walking just didn't seem to be a priority. But maybe now with the chance to be outside where there's not as much to hang on to he'll start to want to walk, we'll see.

Pantry Exploration

Jumpin' J has now fully realized the potential fun to be had inside all kitchen cabinets. Yesterday he opened up Grandma Laurie's pantry cabinet and proceeded to empty the bottom shelf of all goods.



He also figured out how to open the closed boxes...



And then pull out the bags inside.

Reading

Yesterday we spent the morning cabinet climbing and then reading books in his room. He really loves books these days. They seem to be his favorite thing although he does have to take ALL of them out before reading.



I love this of course because I love to read and think books are great. It is amusing all the same to see this active kid with many toy options sitting down surrounded by books "reading" them to himself.



He even climbs into my lap now if I take out a book and sits to be read to. It gives me such a smooshy feeling when he does that!