A new walk

This is the new walk we're seeing. Not sure where he got this "bunnytale" walk- hands behind the back. Not at Mrs. Julie's- I asked! It looks like what the Kinder class is doing at my school. Oh well, we're going with it!

Cousins are a great Sub

The joys of having an older niece and nephew is that they love to care on Jonah. And this includes getting ready for bed. If Kirsten & Jared happen to be here when we start Jonah's nighttime routine, they are quick to offer to do it. And we think about it for like a millisecond and jump on the chance! I mean really, why would we deny our Jonah or our niece and nephew quality time together???? Heck, we're just happy to have an extra 45 minutes in the evening. So here's some snapshots of K & J. J wanted to bathe Jonah, K wanted to dress him and they both read books to him. There was some serious negotiations going on to see who would bathe and who would dress. Ahhh, to be young again!! And they knew exactly which books to get (Jonah's favorite). Jonah loved it- getting so much attention. And we loved it seeing the cousins interact and build memories together. And being a good sub in our place for one evening.

All in a day's work

Jonah's new favorite toy- the lawnmower or as he says "ma moer". We trail up and down the sidewalk and he even stops to make sure the wheels are ok.

A laboring day of fun

It was a labor day filled with fun. We headed to the park in the early AM to beat the heat.....and well it didn't matter to my 2 boys- both were sweating bullets after 10 minutes. Is it Fall yet??We still had fun playing and exploring. We have certainly utilized our parks this summer. More money needs to go to parks, but then again parks don't bring in money, so we can't build those, but we can build numerous strip centers even though there is one down the street that is vacant. What a messed up world we live in! Ok, enough of my soapbox!

Not funny Dad

Rick was trying to be funny and well it wasn't. When he does this for our nephews they laugh, but not Jonah. Push play and watch Jonah.....it's great. Of course, we didn't have the camera the first time he did it, but we grabbed the camera for the next shot-- as would all good parents would do the same!

Just hangin' around

We call it being creative

Who says Mr. Potatohead can't have a nose on the side of his face or that his ears can go on top of his head and in his mouth? We see Jonah's imagination coming through, we see it as a kid who is taking the road less traveled by fellow people who put Mr. Potatohead together. We see it as the best toy that actually can keep him still for at least 3 minutes!

Better than Expected

The first haircut- so much stress to find the right place, the right person, the right time of the day, the right everything! Of course stressful for me, not so for Jonah or Rick. So we showed up at Sportsclips (hmmmm, wonder why??? since Dad is a sports nut- I thought this was for Jonah- anywho).

We walked in and the staff knew immediately who to give us to- Teresa! She was the one for us- she knew kids, worked fast, moved around them and had more tricks up her sleeve than anyone else I've ever met. She knew what songs to sing to make him stare at her so she could cut that one hard to reach area by the ears that so desperately needed to be straight. She was good! And she even made sure to save me some of his hair in an envelope (as to much of Rick's rolling of his eyes thinking what else do we have to save? his first toenails, his first eyelash, I could hear it already). Jonah left there like he was a big man on campus!

Random pics

School is underway and so is getting back into the routine! Got to start to finish. We're both at our same schools and have many returning students which makes for an easier transition. Jonah is "talking" all the time and his newest words are "bubble" and "hado (hotdog)". New teeth are coming in and he loves to answer "no" to everything. He loves to turn on our radios and "dance." Whenever our shoes are laying around, he will pick them up and bring them to us and try to put them on for us. He's able to clean up his toys after play and knows when we say "time to eat" he goes to the sink to wash hands. We are truly amazed at how much he understands, models, and can do independently. And so, our live continues to be good as we know it.

This boy does really eat anything!

What is that green and slimy veggie on his tray? It's spinach! I was making some spinach dip (because that is how I eat it unless it's that good spinach mixture from Boston Market or just a plain spinach leaf salad) and Jonah kept motioning that he wanted some. So I put some on his tray and he ate it up and then asked for "more." That tops the list of things I never thought he would eat. I guess that is why they say to feed kids all kinds of stuff- again slow learner- rookie parents.

Frig Artwork

We got Jonah's first frig art from Mrs. Julie's today! Jonah was all excited to bring it to me when I picked him up. I guess my face showed that I didn't know what it was-- (it's an onion, you know) so they told me. I just didn't expect it to be food since that isn't the unit they are studying this week. Anywho- we realize Jonah didn't write on it all by himself, but rather hand over hand and he needed lots of help along the way- but don't burst our bubble- we got frig art and we're happy to show it off!

Up close & personal with an animal safari

Fossil Rim was the place to be! Jonah loved the animals coming up to the car and seeing all of them. It was like the animal safari book we read all the time, but ten times better since this was LIVE. Of course, he won't remember it, but well worth for him to experience it!

this lucky little boy had a sleep over

at these cousins house, where he was spoiled with lots of attention

and cared for by his Aunt & Uncle who treated him like one of their own for 24 hours

so we could

go away here.......

A BIG thanks to Aunt Justine, Uncle Chris, Jared, Mason, Logo & Kirsten for taking such good care of our baby boy. He was busy from morning up to bedtime- really wiped out! We're so grateful for your giving of your time so we could have time of our own. Love you guys!

A chip off the old block

Yep, that's my boy baking- can't start too young, you know? Had a fun time baking brownies with Jared & Kirsten, saying, "ooooohh" the whole time.

I'm a BIG boy now!

We had Jonah's 15 month weigh in (check up) today. The boy graduated from the "baby" scale where he lays down and now gets to use the one to stand on. He thought he was big stuff all smiling and holding his sticker so proudly.

Stats are as follows:

weight: 25.2 pounds (50th - 75th percentile)

height: 32.5 inches (75th - 90th percentile)

Havin' fun with MY girl

Bonus time for Jonah & Emma! They spent Saturday night and Sunday afternoon together. We went to their community pool where there was a nice kiddy area to splash around.

Family vacation in TN

After 2500 miles, 7 states, and numerous nursery rhymes- we completed our first family roadtrip. We did go to Oklahoma City last summer, but this was a big road trip- one that required 6 hours of driving a day. And Jonah did swell. There were a few rough spots, but not to fret- there was plenty of things to do in the car (balloons, Mr. Potato Head, putting playing cards between his toes, etc) all to make the time go faster.

All of our vacations PJ (pre Jonah) were filled with daily adventures and non stop. We always treated our vacations as if we might not ever visit that place again, so we'd max out our time seeing and doing all that we could. Now with Jonah we still filled our days with activities, but our days didn't start until after his AM nap- the power in getting that 2 hour nap pays off quite nicely in the afternoon.

We stayed at Uncle George & Aunt Penny's houseboat in Chattanooga, TN- how cool. Jonah liked seeing the water everyday, got to drive a boat (with help), went swimming in a big lake, touched a fish, collected seashells, got spoiled with Grandparents and his Great Aunt & Uncle. We ate some good seafood, had nice conversations, awesome views of the mountains and played around the city too.

Thanks to UG & AP for a memorable vacation. It was fun taking Jonah on the road to see and do new things.