Revisit to the crib

After putting Caleb down for his nap, I opened Jonathan's door to check on him and be sure he was "resting" and not getting out all sorts of toys. He regularly falls asleep during "quiet time" and I'll let him sleep for about an hour (so as to prevent "night owl" syndrome). This is where I found him this afternoon. Do you think he misses his crib a little bit?

Water Lovers

As mentioned previously... my children love the water. Caleb has an especially cushy ride in this spiffy new float toy I purchased. He almost fell asleep as I pushed him around the big pool on Saturday.

This look is the "I want to move faster..." look

He even likes to put his whole face in and kick. He told me that he swims like the big kids.

This is classic. Jonathan loves to have Caleb's participation in all aspects of the play at the pool.

"This is the life."

Off to the Pool

The lazy days of summer. Lazy? I wish there was some laziness going on around here. Alas, there is only lots and lots of activity. And heat.

We have been:
Teaching a two and half year old to LISTEN
Swimming at the pool
Eating sno cones
Entertaining guests
Jamie's been working, working
Doing yardwork
Doing "spring cleaning" in the summer

And lots of other things. Caleb is "talking" all of the time, and it is delightful to hear him babbling as he plays with the barn or the loud, push-button toy. Jonathan loves to swim and has NO fear. None. He jumps in with or without us. We are working on the boundries for the pool.

Photos will come this week...

Big Boy Bed

What do potty training and a big boy bed have in common? These were the two things that I had great trepidation about as my oldest child turned two last October. Potty training? Check. Many people said that I cheated because Jonathan was so easy on me with this one. Remember two things: Jonathan is STUBBORN so he is only trained because it was his idea. Things that are not his idea are not so easy. The second thing to remember is that I still have Caleb to train.

On to the topic of the day: the big boy bed. I would have gladly left Jonathan in the crib indefinitely. He loved his crib. We would go in to get him when we heard him stirring in the morning and he would say, "I'm still sleeping. I'm not awake, yet."

We could not postpone the inevitable forever, so we got bunk beds (notice the ladder is intentionally not put on the bed) and put Jonathan in his "big bunk beds". He loves them! He has gone to sleep in his chair a couple of times and on Sunday night we found him playing in his chair with his light on at 10:15pm. New rule: no more turning on the light after bedtime.

Other than the light issue and occasionally sleeping in the chair, he has taken to sleeping in the bunk beds quite well.

Jonathan really wanted Caleb to sleep in the bunk beds with him so we put them together on his pillow for a minute.

Funnies

As my sister commented today: "Jonathan sure is a talker." Yes, he is. Here are some of his latest comments:

~ "Mommy, you can go on an airplane with Daddy, and I'll take care of Caleb." Where does he get this? We haven't even left him for longer than 2 days, and we didn't take an airplane to do that.

~ "Mommy, Daddy is your best friend." Well, yes son, he certainly is! I wouldn't have it any other way.

~ "First of all..." He has started using this phrase often. It is funny to hear him using phrases that I know I use.


Caleb is now rolling all of the time. I've already started preparing myself to be in high gear with him. Once he starts to move I have a feeling he will move very quickly.

Six Months plus a few

Caleb is six months old (plus about two weeks) and we had his check-up today. He is perfectly average in size: 50th percentile for weight, 70th percentile for height and head. He is sitting quite well and only topples occasionally. Today was an exciting day for me: Caleb managed to grab one of the "puffs" (Gerber puff things) with his thumb and finger and get it in his mouth. This means he can sit in the chair and start eating some things himself! Result: much less hands on time for me at meal time.

As far as the rolling goes: still a little spotty on that one. He did it several times one day and has repeated it occasionally, but not with any regularity. I thought they were supposed to roll on a consistent basis before they could sit?

Car Wash

Our neighbors were watering their new grass seed when we returned home on Sunday, so Jonathan didn't pass up the opportunity to play in the sprinkler and "wash" his car.

Next post: the "big boy bed"...

"I'll just go cry about it"

Whining has always grated on my nerves. It is especially grating when it is my own child, and it is persistent. As a result, we have begun telling Jonathan that he needs to go to his room if he is going to cry and whine about not getting his way.

Yesterday he was mad at me because I didn't allow him to do something that he wanted to do while we were outside. I turned to do something with Caleb and when I looked back at Jonathan, he was taking off his shoes and heading inside. "What are you doing? " I asked.

"I'm going to my room to cry about it," he responded. And to his room he went. Self-imposed consequences. Interesting.

Cat watching and wagon riding

Grandmas are wonderful for a whole host of reasons, but here are a few reasons that Jonathan loves his "Grammie": She watches the neighbor's cat with Jonathan

She resurrects the old wagon for use during our stay AND gives lots of rides

Abby was trying to catch the little boys in a photo moment or two and here is the result of one of her efforts :+)

Jacob liked the grass. A lot. So much that he tried numerous times to eat large handfuls of it. Here is Carla trying to get some of the grass out of his mouth after an especially yummy handful:

The "whos" of the trip (Part 2)

Jonathan, Jacob and Caleb with Grandma and Uncle Bruce
Grandpa, Aunt Diane, and Uncle Steve with the three boys

Take 2

And, one more time...

The "whos" of the trip (Part 1)

So, who did we see while we were there? Abby, Grant, and Frank from Oregon. Mike and Phyllis from Texas or Iowa, depending on the season. Carla, Nate and Jacob. My parents. Jamie's family for a day (we're visiting with them for a longer time in July). Uncle Steve and Aunt Diane and Uncle Bruce. And, many others that we didn't catch in photos and just happened to see during the week that we were there.

It was wonderful to have a chance to catch up with so many people that live so far from us. Enjoy the photos... Jonathan and Grant
Grant

Jacob and Jonathan

Jacob

Carla and Jacob

I.O.W.A.

We survived the travels to Iowa. Actually, it went remarkably well. Caleb only screamed for the last thirty to forty-five minutes of the trip, and he didn't scream non-stop. It was intermitent. We had such a wonderful time with friends and family so it was worth the hectic pace of life required to get us there.