Today

Today we met Adam for an afternoon ski at Lake Meridian before Jim left for work. The water was rough but we all had a great time anyway. JT and I were waiting for Jim to cover up the boat before we could go home. I snapped a few shots…

…then JT was ready to go. He was tired and probably a little hungry, since he had already finished off the water and puffs that I packed and it was nearing his snack time.

He crashed in the car and by the time he had some banana, avocado, and cheese crackers at home he looked like this… much better!

Then JT and I spent some time coloring. Just yesterday I handed him a pen with the lid snapped on to see what he would do. He crawled over to a piece of paper and tried to scribble on it with the pen. So I bought crayons and a floor pad this morning and we went at it.

The “crayons” are softer than normal so they’re easy to draw with, and they also come in a stick form like a marker so they’re not breakable. They got all over the place but wiped off easily with soapy water. I like to call this look “What? Something on my face?”

And here is a piece of JT’s first piece of art work. I think I’m going to frame it. 🙂

Father’s Day

I can’t believe I forgot to post these two pictures from Father’s Day!

We were supposed to spend the day on the lake, but the weather didn’t cooperate at all. For those of you who live near us, you might remember the thunder and lightning storms that went on all day long!

Instead, we went to dinner at my parents’ house and invited Jim’s parents to join us. We had an awesome build-your-own-pizza bar and enjoyed spending time with family. We got a great picture of the Dads and another one with both Grandmas.

Pots and Pans

JT is now enjoying opening cupboards in the kitchen to see what is inside. What I think is very interesting is that he stands up, opens the cupboard with the knob, and then sits back down to pull things out. Obviously he sees us use the knobs, and assumes that is the way to open cupboards.

I took twenty minutes of play time and narrowed it down to a forty second video of images.

Down the Stairs

Yep, JT can go both ways on the stairs now – up and down. We started by teaching him how to lie on his belly and slide off the couch or an ottoman. Then we showed him how to reach back with his foot on the stairs. Two practices later, he was a master. He goes pretty slowly (good) and stops to check his progress (also good), and sometimes he starts going back up again (funny). Since we don’t use baby gates, it is a little settling to know if he gets away from us, at least he’s not going to immediately tumble down to the bottom. But still, parental supervision is required for all stair climbing. 🙂

Water Bowls

Earlier this week I had a lot to do in the kitchen, and I thought things might go a little faster if JT wasn’t crawling all over the house.

So I got some bowls out and filled one part way with water. Then I stripped him down, put everything on a bath towel, and handed him a measuring cup.

Viola! Forty-five minutes of work time for me, and a happy guy. When I was done, I used the towel to wipe up the water on the floor and then I even had a clean kitchen floor. Ahhhhhh.

Applesauce!

Remember when JT got to try yogurt with his own spoon and bowl? This week we tried applesauce and the results were pretty fabulous – just look!

I’m inspired by JT’s swimming buddy, Emi, who has a mom that updates her blog whenever she feels like it. Now that it’s summer, I am planning to be more spontaneous with my postings (did you catch the paradox there?). 🙂

11 Months Old

That’s right, you read that correctly. That’s one month until the big day, and a whole new world of peanut butter, strawberries, honey, egg whites, and whole milk. Not all at once, but still, it’s exciting!

Meanwhile, we’ve been doing some pretty fun stuff while we wait. Here are three of JT’s 11-month-old pictures that I took in our backyard. Special thanks to Jim for being so funny right behind me while I snapped away. The first one is my new favorite picture of him. And yes, he’s holding on to the deck rail all by himself.

This week was Jim’s sister’s birthday. We celebrated with a yummy barbecue dinner and cake at Jim’s parent’s house. JT was a lucky guy and got to help his Aunt Jennifer open her presents and blow out her candles.
JT also got a new fun present to use at Grandpa and Grandma’s house while we were there: a ride-on John Deere tractor. It even rumbles and makes a tractor sound when someone is sitting on the seat. JT knew to grab on to the wheel and hold on while Grandma pushed him around the house!

We spent a little time on Lake Sammamish again this week. Jen and Asher came with us (thank goodness we have a great friend who loves to boat and is home during the week…) and Asher and JT had a great time. Asher said “J-J-J” to JT, which was super cute! Here the boys are watching Jim swim outside the boat. The next picture is what Jen does while Jim and I ski… baby holding. Notice Jen is having a great time, but the boys are not so impressed with “life jacket time.”

And finally, we had a wonderful time at the annual Book Club Family Barbecue. JT got his first experience with sidewalk chalk and made sure to taste each color equally. Yumm…

Mr. Chatty has decided to tell all sorts of stories at the dinner table lately. They are funny stories, and sometimes there is a joke involved. I have several minutes of this exact thing going on and on and on… and then both grandparent babysitters this week commented that JT did the same thing for them. Here is a short clip of what could be hours of the same thing – but with different sounds and hand motions!

MV Days

One last posting: this morning, JT and I went to the big parade for our town’s annual summer kick-off celebration. JT had a great time clapping, waving, and bopping his head to the music. It was really cute to watch him look at all of the floats.

The parade lasted an hour and a half (!) so JT was ready for a nap by the time we walked back to the car! We’ll save the rides for next year.

The Middle of June

Picture of the Week:

JT is standing all over the place now. He loves the vacuum cleaner. Jim told him today that he probably won’t love it when we start making him use it… but for now, he can’t wait to touch it.

He’s also standing in his crib, in his pack-n-play, at the back door, and anywhere with something solid to use for balance, like a wall. This new skill helped him figure out something cool to do in his room when he’s not especially ready for a nap… see picture below. 🙂

I started using the Moby Wrap again this week for new purposes. There is a great side hip hold and another on the back. It was very convenient, and JT seemed to like it just fine.

The Park

On Monday, we invited our god-daughter, Aly, to go to the park with us. We had a great time!

Here is Jim teaching Aly to pump her legs “just like Rachel” (Aly’s cousin). Both kids liked going high on the swings. It is amazingly difficult to get pictures of smiling kids on swings. Thank goodness for digital… fifty shots later, I had a couple that I liked!

Next we moved on to the play structures. Aly and JT got to try out the slides. Aly, of course, went on the much cooler slides while JT was stuck sitting on this rabbit. I think he’s thinking, “What am I supposed to do on this stupid rabbit?”

While headed back to the car, Jim suggested that we could play Roly-Poly down the hill. Of course, Aly loved this idea. Then Jim told Aly that “Becky just loves to play Roly-Poly!” and so I was stuck. Once she got the hang of it, she thought it was pretty fun. JT watched from his stroller.