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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

recent conversations

convo 1:
Joseph: It's 7:00!!!
me: what is special about 7:00?
Joseph: it's when we watch something special on TV!
me: like?
Joseph: like Glee or American Idol!
(mama thinks that it's a good thing is summer time and that we need to stop watching TV)

convo 2:
Joseph: look at my underwear. they have you on them.
WALL-E: that's cool Joseph.
Joseph: yah it is. Did you know you're in a movie too?
WALL-E: really?
Joseph: yah - you and Eva.

convo 3:
Joseph: mama, why does the Earth turn?
me: You should ask Daddy that question. He's really smart about things like that.
Joseph: well, why are you not smart?

bonus:
I joined Stroller Strides several months ago and am loving it. Not only do I get a great workout but I also get to hang out with other moms every morning. I was going to class on M, W and F which is also when Joseph is in school. However, they've recently added a T, TH class closer to home so I've been going occasionally and taking Joseph along. Our class consists of fast-paced walking with our strollers with stops at different stations to work on strength and toning of arms, legs, abs, etc. Occasionally we'll also do lunges or squats with our strollers.
So - last week I took Joseph grocery shopping with me. He wanted his own little cart which usually creates a problem. That thing is just so much fun to push while running or spinning around. I gave him strict instructions about cart-pushing etiquette and what the consequences would be for misbehavior. About half way through the store I turned around to give a little reminder about not lagging behind . . . but all I could do was laugh. Joseph was doing lunges behind his cart and was quite pleased with himself at being able to multi-task with a workout while shopping.

14 m o - part 2

I forgot to add that Jacob's first molar finally popped through last week. He had been working on that one for about 3 months. I hope the rest don't take that long!

Monday, May 30, 2011

14 months old!

Wow - two month have passed since we celebrated Jacob's first birthday. He suddenly seems very "little boy" and not so much "baby!"At 14 months:
He runs for his chair when we say it's time to eat. He's a much pickier eater than Joseph was but we're managing to get some nutrition in him. He was refusing to eat fruit but I offered him a fruit smoothie of bananas, blueberries and peaches and he slurped it right down. Using a straw! Also - I committed the "he's a second child" crime and gave him a peanut butter sandwich. He loved it.

He runs for the stairs when we say it's nap time or bed time. Although he is a great sleeper, I think it has more to do with the opening of the baby gate and accessing the stairs than it does to his excitement of going to sleep.

He also runs away from me when I come towards him with a diaper. Usually this is accompanied by loud laughter.

He runs to the back door when I say that daddy is home. And then he runs away from it laughing when he sees daddy.

He runs instead of just walking. It think we've covered that. He can also stand up from the floor now instead of crawling over to something to pull up first.

He says: mama, daddy, doggie, Katie, diaper, hi. He will also mimic other words but doesn't use them consistently.He has strong opinions and strong reactions. He's also quite dramatic and a frequent user of what we refer to as his "bitter beer face." This usually consists of a puckered mouth and closed fluttering eyes. It may or may not be accompanied by crying. It can turn into a bad scenario when done while walking/running.

He still sucks his thumb and carries a blanket around. (picture Linus.) I love it when he gets tired and comes to me with his blanket in his arm, his thumb in his mouth and lays his head on my leg.
He loves to dance. And he is quite the dancer. He will dance any time music comes on or if I just sing to him. He also loves to clap. When the Indy 500 cars took off yesterday, he jumped up and down - clapping and squealing.

He is a precious, enthusiastic and passionate little boy who gets into everything! And we love, love, love him.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

rosemary, basil and strawberries . . . oh my!

Last year the planters on our front porch contained a mixture of herbs and flowers. This year we decided to forgo the flowers in favor of more tasty options. So we increased the number of basil plants and added banana peppers, cilantro and strawberries. I somewhat doubted that the strawberries would do much but thought the vines would be a nice "spiller" over the planter. Much to our (mostly Joseph's) delight, we have a few strawberries. We check on them multiple times a day to see if they're ready. Look closely - I believe Joseph may get a taste of a "planter strawberry" later today.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

sickness

Poor daddy come home from work last Thursday with a nasty stomach bug. He was sent straight to his room with orders not to touch anyone or anything. He pretty much stayed there until Saturday evening and was still feeling sort of rough until Monday. Mama carried around a can of lysol, took the kiddos to the doorway for short visits and to say "good-night" and swapped out glasses of water, juice and gatorade. Of course the biggest fear was that the rest of the family would catch it . . . . however, the only casualty was Curious George.

Joseph informed me on Monday morning that his baby was sick and had thrown up. Fortunately he had thrown up in the bucket so clean-up was minimal. I provided Joseph with a towel for any future incidents. He took good care of George and I'm happy to say that his bought with the stomach bug lacked the intensity and duration of daddy's.

Monday, May 23, 2011

dancing jake jake

freecycle goodies

Occasionally I find a sweet deal on Freecycle and respond quickly enough to get it. This weekend I picked up 2 huge garbage bags of "toys" from a home nearby. Although some of the items were not all that great (and not all were toys), there were a couple of super things for Joseph. This electronic Battleship game was really the main reason I wanted the items. Here Joseph is playing vs. the computer (a.k.a. WALL-E).

today's homemade goodness

in addition to refilling our sweet mint tea container and our stock of pesto . . . I made baked sweet potato chips and . . . .
some chipotle raspberry barbecue sauce.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

saturday morning playtime

a.k.a. this is how quickly we can destroy the playroom . . .

Sunday, May 15, 2011

brother love

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

this morning's homemade goodness

I tried some of my mom's delicious homemade granola over the weekend and had to come right home and try my own version. I was also thrilled to see that the basil in my planters had thrived while we were gone so I also whipped up some homemade basil/spinach pesto. Add in some sweet mint tea and the humid 90 degrees outside . . . . :)

on the way home. . .

. . . we had to divert from our normal route due to flooding and roads being closed. Even the roads we were able to take had water right up to the edge. We saw flooded houses and crews of people filling sandbags and stacking them in the attempt to save other homes.

our adorable new nephew

road trippin' again

We just got back from yet another road trip. We're hoping this is the last one for . . . well, at least a month. :) After a whirlwind trip to Nashville a week ago for a wedding, we were home for two days to recover (and do laundry) and then hit the road again early Wednesday morning for South Bend to see our new nephew/cousin! He is precious . . . so precious that I spent all my time holding him and almost none of it taking pictures of him.

I did catch a couple of pictures of Joseph doing his favorite thing at Megan's house - playing on her jungle gym.





We also managed a little outing to the zoo one morning. Here Joseph, Jacob and Cannon are enthralled with the lions.


Joseph handing his ticket to the train conductor.

Interesting sign inside the otter exhibit.

Maybe instead of all the signage, they should just move the coin drop outside of the exhibit.


Joseph & Jacob also loved playing with their cousin Scout.
Grandma holding tiny little Cannon.
Grandpa & Jacob at our Mother's Day brunch at Carmela's.
beautiful Natalie & beautiful Scout