These are a few of his favorite things...

Jonathan is growing and changing so much, and I am loving it! He was a delight as a baby, but this increasingly interactive and conversational stage is great fun!! Jonathan has his definite preferences... (my dad would claim that this comes right from me)

His favorite foods are: couscous and peas, various fruits (depending on the day), saltine crackers, milk (his version is rice milk w/ some olive oil added for fat... yummy!), hamburgers and sausage, and probably a couple of others that I have forgotten. He doesn't like sweets too much and he doesn't like fries. My brother-in-law, Nate, would claim that this is because we are healthy and don't provide these things. I really don't know why he doesn't like those things - I offer him fries and chips regularly to no avail, and we've tried various sweet things. No dice. Guess he will be healthly. Another of Jonathan's favorites: the outdoors. He has a new tricycle to use outdoors and he loves starting at the top of the driveway and picking up speed on the way down. He then tries to quickly veer the steering wheel to the right so as to end up on the sidewalk and not the street. The physics of the motion are not in his favor, and I have to be there to make sure that he remains on the trike and not plastered to the ground.

Favorite #3: Bathtime. He is especially fond of this time now that he has been granted use of some new bath crayons. He spend 30 minutes drawing in the tub yesterday (I wrote his name... he may be fabulous, but that is a bit much to expect of an 18 month old)
Favorite #4: Dandelions. More on our weed-infested yard later, but Jonathan loves picking the dandelions and giving me big wadded handfuls of them. Yesterday his hands were covered in yellow from holding them.
Thank goodness for spring!
Sarah

"Dead Bug Base"

I never realized how funny it would be when Jonathan learned to talk. Language acquisition is a long process, and I know we are just at the beginning. The title of this blog is as a result of a "conversation" (conversation is used VERY loosely here) I recently had with my son.

We found a bug in the basement, and I killed it and flushed it down the toilet. Little did I know that this would be the highlight of the day for my son. He immediately asked, "bug?". I responded with "the bug is dead". He began walking around saying, "dead bug" for the next hour.

We went upstairs to play, and after being up there for a while he started talking about the dead bug again. I told him that the dead bug was in the basement. The next thing I know he is pointing at the stairs, saying "dead bug base". He went ON and ON and ON. Jamie came home and the first thing out of his mouth was, "dead bug base" while he pointed frantically to the basement.

Yesterday I think he might have eaten an ant. He was playing with it - letting it crawl on his hand and such. When I looked back he had a strange look on his face and pointed to his mouth and said, "bug". I take that as a disgusting indication that he ate the ant.

From our bug world to yours...
Sarah

Will the rain ever end?

Final photos of our time with guests. All of the boys in the Insectorium looking at a large, hairy bug. The three boys, exploring, near the grizzly exhibit.
The rain here has been record-setting. Of course. Our first spring here and it is the wettest one on record. Our backyard is a swamp. Very squishy and muddy. Jonathan loves being outside. He asks to got out at 800 in the morning. I was tired of saying "not now" so we went out in the rain in the late afternoon. Jonathan is facscinated by the puddles and the rain falling in the puddles.
Puzzletime with Grandma and Grandpa. He now says their names with regularity after looking at his picture book. I have a cheap photo album with photos of Jonathan with family members when they've been here, etc. I am hoping that he'll remember the visitors we've had when we see them in May. He said, "Marc" for a while, but now he just smiles at the picture.
That's all for a while ~
Sarah

More on our guests...

Marc, Tammy, Alli, Nic and Nathan came to visit us during part of their spring break in the middle of March. We visited several fun places, and here are a few photos to share. Jonathan loved this exhibit at this "children's museum" of sorts that we visited... there was water and splashing... what fun! Here are Jamie and Jonathan with Marc and his family at the hippo exhibit at the zoo. It was a bit chilly, but tolerable that day.
This is a sculpture of a giant bug at the zoo. Nic loves bugs, so he was all about this photo. The Insectarium was actually quite fascinating, and I enjoyed viewing large bugs from the other side of the glass.
Nic and Jonathan investigating the bugs on the ground. Scientists at heart :+) (I can only hope...)
I'll post the last of these photos later this week... we had such a great time with the Guilds from Iowa! Jonathan was quite forlorn after they left, and I was the only remaining playmate.

~ Sarah ~

Many Visitors, Lots of Fun!

Since the beginning of the year (and our move into a house) I have been quite lazy with my blogging... so, I am going to make up for it this week. We have enjoyed several visitors so I have great photos to post from their time here. I love it when people are willing to make the effort to come and see us. I know it is effort... especially for the folks up North, but we just love seeing family and friends!

My parents visited for a week in early March. We spent some time at the zoo. Here is Jonathan with my dad and their matching hats. These were the zookeeper hats. My favorite (and one of J's, too) exhibit is the penguin and puffin area. Isn't this a great photo?
Mom, Dad and Jonathan... they are both so energetic about being willing to chase him and play with him. You would never guess them to be in their mid-sixties!

Many more photos to come of our time with Jamie's brother and his family. The cousins were of great amusement for Jonathan!

Sarah

Is it sunny in here?

We found these sunglasses in a box that we unpacked not too long ago... here is the result:

Have a great weekend!

Sarah

Fashion Show

Jonathan has been a boy of many fashions lately. He loves running around in his diaper so we spent an evening letting him play that way. He is playing "chase" in this photo... it was difficult to catch him in a still moment on this day. This is hide and seek under the table with the "pajama attire".
Looking dapper for church with a serious, still love my Mommy pose.
Little cool man in the hat. He especially likes the hearth in our new house so this photo exemplifies an especially common event in our house: sitting on the hearth, reading.
He likes to help me wipe the floor: here he is with HIS cloth to do so.
More photos will come tomorrow, but I can't figure out how to put more than 5 on here.

Last weekend I worked for the school district where I was previously employed. I was away from Jonathan for 2 nights and he and Daddy had a "male bonding weekend". They both had a great time and so did I! I missed both of them, but it was a good thing for all of us. It did remind me of how grateful I am to not be juggling childcare and work this year. Small blessings for which I am most grateful.

SPRING, please, please come soon!
Sarah