Toys that really aren't toys

So now that Jonah is mobile- we find him everywhere, into everything and moving oh so fast as a door opens, the refrigerator opens or his favorite the dishwasher door comes down. So needless to say, this weekend was spent baby proofing - plants are off the floor, vases are up higher, blinds are raised, drawers locked, etc. Jonah loves to play with many things that really aren't toys, but they sure do entertain him for some time! : )

It is (was) a Date!

So it's been awhile since we've met up with our friends Jenni and Chris and Jonah's girlfriend- Emma! So we all went out to eat for another date night (usually we hang at each other's houses). Just for the record- Emma did make the first move by reaching her hand out to Jonah.....and the gentleman that he is, he did take it (actually we were just happy he didn't try to pull pretty Emma's hair, since that is what he likes now).

Jonah's Growing Up

We've been taking pics of Jonah with the same teddy bear since he came home from the hospital. Here's a slide show of months 0-8.5 months. Enjoy ~

Peek a Boo

This video pretty much seals the saying that babies really do listen and watch what you do! We have been doing Peek A Boo forever even when Jonah was too little to know what it was, but he liked the pitch in our voices. What I like most about this video is that he is the one DOING the peek a boo-- something he learned from watching us. He is the one deciding when to cover his head and get a response from us. Now, I'm not saying he's gifted or anything of the sort, just an observation by 2 new parents who are taking in all the big and little things our baby boy does daily that amazes us while our love for him grows more and more!

Through the generations

I love sentimental things.....always have! You can look at my kitchen and see all kinds of items that belonged to my grandparents, our parents, etc. So it's too cool to see Jonah participating!

This was Grammy's highchair when she was a baby....

and now Jonah is using it when he visits.

Popo always wears hats. And all the grand babies love to take them off and wear them. Jonah is no different!

Playing around

Clap, Clap, Clap

This is what we do for fun now- we clap- actually we just clap when Jonah does. Once he got it down and realized he got a reaction from anyone who sees him, he does it all the time.

What a joy~



*** A priceless photo op - Jonah with dreds!

Who knew wicker was so good?

So come the weekend, we're finding ourselves busy keeping up with Jonah while having fun. He loves to play and does play well by himself. There seems to be toys everywhere. We're making one of our spare rooms a playroom, but he's too young to be in there by himself- so we came up with a solution so Jonah can have all his toys and we don't have to take them out and in everyday. BASKETS! I love baskets and now love them more! There is a basket in every room- I kid you not. There is one in the kitchen, one on the kitchen table (so when we're eating dinner and he joins us, but is not eating, we have quick access to toys), one in our bedroom / bathroom (so when we're getting ready he's entertaining himself), one in the living room , one in his bathroom, one in his bedroom and one in the Media room. We have it covered- no matter what room Jonah is in, he's sure to find a toy to play with, to put in his mouth, to toss, to whatever babies do with toys that seems to amuse them for such long periods of time.

Jonah Kaden is 8 months young!

I remember friends who are Mom's telling me that as babies get older it gets so much better - and the funny thing is - at that time these Mom's had 1 year olds or 1.5 year olds in their hands. And I thought, really at 1 years old? Now that Jonah has hit the 8 month mark, it seems like so many things are happening at once - truly a fun time. He's crawling and pulling himself up to his knees and exploring everywhere. There isn't a drawer left close or toys left in any baskets around our house. Toys that make noise are this favorites and of course he loves finding things that are not really "toys" but soon become so (such as my belts, Rick's shoes, legs to the chairs, his own socks, doors, drawer knobs, the dishwasher door, and so on). There is so much talking-- from the moment we pick him up in the AM until he goes to sleep. And sleep..... well he's sleeping around 11.5 hours a night and enjoys "talking" himself to sleep every night. We feed him, give him kisses goodnight and he grabs his froggie, listens to his music and nighty night. He here's a foreign noise, he turns to look at it and makes a verbal response in only his language. When he here's the water for bath time, he makes a beeline crawling to the bathroom. When he sees his bottle of milk, the mouth is open and the "talking" begins in an anxious manner. So since friends do know so much, can't wait to see what is next as we turn the corner on 9 months.

The "junk in the trunk" is up!

Yep, Jonah's got it down now or should we say up now. He's finally picked up his butt and started crawling. He still at times prefers to lay on his tummy with his famous Army crawl (he goes faster don't you know??). Then as soon as he learned to pick his butt up, he immediately pulled himself up. Yikes....that was a fast one! So needless to say, the crib is lowered and the bar is up! And not too soon as this morning when Rick went into his room, there was Jonah on his knees holding onto the bar (it was a little early- 8AM so no pic).



Jonah is also eating "puffs" now-- basically introducing him to the finger foods. He loves them (no surprise there), but his little pudgy fingers get in the way and he grabs the puff with his hand-- we'll work on that fine motor skills. He prefers to take them out of our hands instead of his tray. Apple and peach seem to be his favorite- although if another flavor appears before him, he has yet to let it just sit there!

I got a new car seat!

Well not really, but another car seat. Jonah is just too heavy to carry in the carrier, but since I drop off in the AM and Rick picks up in the PM, we have to take the carrier in and out of our cars. So to the rescue, Aunt Justine-- she gave us Mason's old car seat since he's using another one. So now, each of our cars has a car seat and our arms are so appreciative!

Touring around Big D

While our friends were in town, we visited the Dallas Zoo, Cafe Brazil, JFK Museum, a couple of parks, and strolled around Firewheel Mall. Had tons of fun spending time outside, playing board games, and catching up.

Only in TX- 80's on a January Day

Seriously- this certainly makes Winter more tolerable when you you have a warm 80 degree day only followed by a 36 degree day. We spent the warm day at the park!

NYE 2008

We had some friends come in town from WI for a NYE celebration. Scott and Rick have been friends from high school. We've taken vacations with them and now since we both have kids we've modified our "vacations", but still made sure we get together. We stayed at home, ate a good meal, enjoyed fondue dessert, had good music and ended with a warm campfire......all after the kiddos went to bed. Here's to a good 2009 to all!

Rite of passage

So here's a little know fact about me that some might say 'makes me a little crazy.' I love to go grocery shopping! I love the grocery store! I go down every aisle, love to compare prices, see new products, and so on! Call me a freak, I don't care- I've been this way forever. Maybe it's since I worked in a grocery store during high school, formed some really great friendships out it (to this day as well), maybe it's cause it's my own guility pleasure, maybe because I get to go alone. Who knows.

A little history- when Rick and I first got married- he joined me in our first and ONLY grocery store outing together as he suggested we cut the list in half- literally- tear the list in half we split it up. Are you kidding? Was my new husband really suggesting this? That would be like me suggesting to him that I watch the first half of the WI football game and he watch the 2nd half and we compare notes at the end- that would be a no go! So needless to say, I go by myself, and so we're still happily married.

So Rick suggested I take Jonah since he can sit in the front of the basket. I thought what a good idea and Jonah loved it. He was looking all around at the people, the colors, and the noises. There was so much to keep him occupied. He did well considering he had no choice since Daddy wasn't home. He'll certainly go again, maybe not everytime since some grocery store visits are longer than others, but at least Jonah sat there and didn't mind going down every aisle. That's my good baby boy! : >

The best gift of all

was really not a gift, but left over ribbon from pulling down all the Cmas decorations. What they say is true, kids don't need to have toys bought, find stuff around your house (a box, tupperware, dishtowels) and now we can add ribbon to that list.

Football and all it's perks!

Ok, for starters this REALLY bothers me, so I had to share. My wonderful husband forwarded me a link to see and well although the comments were pretty comical, the content is NOT. I CANNOT believe how much "free" stuff these players get! Are you kidding me? No wonder ticket prices, parking fees, etc. are so high......these corporations need somebody to pay for these players' "goodie bags" and it will be the consumer. When is it not enough to just be in a Bowl game, especially since there are so many???? You can't pay college players or give them any gifts all year, but come the end of a season, you can give each player $500 as a reward for going to a Bowl Game. The reward is that your going to a Bowl Game and your school is getting money whether you win or lose, you get air time and your season is extended. I'm so upset, I can't even think straight! Is it time for NCAA basketball or do they get "free" stuff too? Maybe I shouldn't ask, I might not like that answer either!

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1144&CID=893028

Jonah's 1st Cmas Celebration

Well this is a first for us- being up early on Cmas Day- we usually sleep in, but not this year. Jonah was up at 7:30 rearing to go and see his gifts from Santa! We opened gifts from WI and each other and had a nice breakfast. Then we all took a morning nap! Jonah enjoyed eating the paper more than anything and didn't know what to do with so much of it.

That afternoon we headed over to the McGee's house for lunch and more presents. Jonah was on overload and putting everyone's presents into his mouth, grabbing paper, gift bags, etc. The only time he didn't was when I was feeding him.

All the boys got toy marshmallow popper guns....how old are we????

Jonah was fascinated with Mason's Elmo slippers. Of course, Mason didn't like it too much.

Cmas Eve Celebration

We had friends and family over for Cmas Eve and had some fun and funny times. Everyone brought apps to eat, lots of sweet treats (yummy) and played some games. First we had a White Elephant exchange- the only requirement was the "item" needed to be from your house- you couldn't go buy anything! So whatever item you brought know that the rest of us will KNOW that you had this in your home and possibly used it. Oh yea, some "bad", but good (funny) items! Then we played Pictionary- that's always fun to see who can draw and who can't!

all those white elephant gifts-- and everyone had to show us their "gift" as they exited our house- we were going to make sure no "gifts" were left here!

Lights, Lights and More Lights

We made the trek to Grand Prairie to see Prairie Lights! Oh what a show. You pay by the carload, so we loaded all in one, paid a small fee, and drove around the park to see over 3 million lights. They were set up by themes and so cool. Where else can you drive with your car dimmer lights on, coast a mere 5 miles per hour, have the windows open to get a better view, still wear all your winter garb since it's cold outside and see tons of lights on display? The kids really enjoyed moving around the car (not wearing their seatbelts) moving from side to side not miss anything. Halfway through the display, there is a Marketplace selling treats, kiddie rides (free) and a Cmas show before you go finish the last half of lights. This might be an annual tradition!