the past week has been a pretty dreary one, and so I took the advice of Jen and took Jonas to the children's museum yesterday. I had never been there before, but I know I am definitely going back!
They had so much fun, elaborate stuff for the kids to play with, and it really was perfect for Jonas's age. They had a miniature market, theatre, beach (sand, of course), train, house, construction site, and a few other things-- all complete with props and costumes for the kids to dress up in and use, and all unbreakable (mostly). They even had some full-sized stuff like a fire truck, police car, race car and jet cockpit for the kids to play in and use... so amazing! I would go in to more detail, but it would take forever.
I think Jonas's favorite thing of all was the "tots" area because they had a little tyles foot-powered car in there. He LOVED it. He would get in and push away saying "bye bye" and waving, delighted he was able to use the car. A close second was the market and train. He loved pushing the cart at the market and putting food in, and well, the train was just awesome.
On a different subject, Jonas is throwing things at people, and we are having trouble getting him to stop... don't really know how to do that. I guess we'll figure it out eventually, though...
Ok, I know this was a weak entry, I am just tired and wanted to write something before I forgot!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
learning new things
As will probably be the norm for the next 20 years or so, Jonas is just learning, learning learning! He is able to understand and respond appropriately to boolean questions (yeah, that's right, I used programming terminology- HA!), which I guess he has been able to do for a couple weeks now. This makes everyone's life easier. He is also able to clearly and (usually) easily communicate what he wants, again, making everyone's life easier. I suppose his biggest leaps the past couple of days have been more in what he understands he needs to do to help us.
I suppose it was several days ago, I got out his changing pad, and he walked over, and sat down on it waiting for me to finish getting ready for changing him. I thought it was just a coincidence, but sure enough, he has done this every time since. Also starting a few days ago was him trying to put his tray on his hi-chair. Sure, he had zero success, but as soon as I sat him down he was grabbing for the thing trying to slide it in while I buckled him up (another thing he tries to do). This ended up being counterproductive, but his lil' baby heart was in the right place, so it was still just adorable =).
The next example requires setup. Brandon puts all of the things he uses regularly but doesn't want Jonas to get to (like his xbox controller) on top of the couch out of reach. Jonas has figured this out, and will slyly ask Brandon to read him a book or something, and about a page in will "get bored" and grab what he can off the top of the couch before Brandon can stop him... clever boy! Anyway, Brandon got tired of humoring this (eventually Jonas just asked to sit on the couch like we do), and told Jonas he could just "get on the couch yourself, then!". So he did.... like he had been doing it for months. Just climbed right up. As far as we know, he has NEVER done this before, although he has "threatened" to climb up by sticking his foot up... but never made any effort to actually do so. So that was a surprise. Now we are having a power struggle to keep him safe on the couch... but no surprise there! Hand in hand with this, Jonas learned just this morning how to get off of the couch on his own (safely... ish). He flings himself against the arm rest, grabs on and then flips off. The whole process is terrifying to watch, he looks like he is going to roll off and hurt himself the whole time, but he is in control!
This morning Jonas helped me get his clothes on much more than his usual push his arms through the shirt holes. I asked him to bring me his shoes so we could put them on, and he ran off and came back with one shoe. He then took off for the other, only to become distracted by his dirty socks in the laundry hamper. You could almost see his head going "oh! I need socks too, I'll just go get those..." So sure enough, he brought me his socks unprompted. I did have to go get his other shoe, though, as he was sitting on the floor trying his hardest to get his sock on. He finally sort of gave up and I (slyly) switched out his dirty socks for clean ones. He held his foot up in defeat for me to sock, and when I finished that one, he held up the other foot to get socked. Then he stood up and balanced on one foot (with help, of course) so I could get his shoe on, then he did the other foot as well... very helpful!
Later that morning, he tried to get the bib around his neck, and he almost succeded... a surprising one since he is usually trying to tear his bib off. Also, and I think I am proudest of this one, when we brushed our teeth this morning (he LOVES brushing his 'deeeet') I always give him a couple of sips of water from the glass, but he was insistant that HE get to use the glass, not me. So I sat him down and very vigilantly gave him the glass of water. To my amazement, he carefully lifted it to his mouth, took a couple of sips, and handed it back... no spills or anything! He usually just dumps water everywhere and chokes when he does it, but not this time... he looked like an old pro... aww, I was so proud, and of course, that made him very proud, so he did a little dance, clapped his hands and took of for his bedroom squealing with delight.
In conclusion, it has been a very nice day for us... as is usually the case =)
I suppose it was several days ago, I got out his changing pad, and he walked over, and sat down on it waiting for me to finish getting ready for changing him. I thought it was just a coincidence, but sure enough, he has done this every time since. Also starting a few days ago was him trying to put his tray on his hi-chair. Sure, he had zero success, but as soon as I sat him down he was grabbing for the thing trying to slide it in while I buckled him up (another thing he tries to do). This ended up being counterproductive, but his lil' baby heart was in the right place, so it was still just adorable =).
The next example requires setup. Brandon puts all of the things he uses regularly but doesn't want Jonas to get to (like his xbox controller) on top of the couch out of reach. Jonas has figured this out, and will slyly ask Brandon to read him a book or something, and about a page in will "get bored" and grab what he can off the top of the couch before Brandon can stop him... clever boy! Anyway, Brandon got tired of humoring this (eventually Jonas just asked to sit on the couch like we do), and told Jonas he could just "get on the couch yourself, then!". So he did.... like he had been doing it for months. Just climbed right up. As far as we know, he has NEVER done this before, although he has "threatened" to climb up by sticking his foot up... but never made any effort to actually do so. So that was a surprise. Now we are having a power struggle to keep him safe on the couch... but no surprise there! Hand in hand with this, Jonas learned just this morning how to get off of the couch on his own (safely... ish). He flings himself against the arm rest, grabs on and then flips off. The whole process is terrifying to watch, he looks like he is going to roll off and hurt himself the whole time, but he is in control!
This morning Jonas helped me get his clothes on much more than his usual push his arms through the shirt holes. I asked him to bring me his shoes so we could put them on, and he ran off and came back with one shoe. He then took off for the other, only to become distracted by his dirty socks in the laundry hamper. You could almost see his head going "oh! I need socks too, I'll just go get those..." So sure enough, he brought me his socks unprompted. I did have to go get his other shoe, though, as he was sitting on the floor trying his hardest to get his sock on. He finally sort of gave up and I (slyly) switched out his dirty socks for clean ones. He held his foot up in defeat for me to sock, and when I finished that one, he held up the other foot to get socked. Then he stood up and balanced on one foot (with help, of course) so I could get his shoe on, then he did the other foot as well... very helpful!
Later that morning, he tried to get the bib around his neck, and he almost succeded... a surprising one since he is usually trying to tear his bib off. Also, and I think I am proudest of this one, when we brushed our teeth this morning (he LOVES brushing his 'deeeet') I always give him a couple of sips of water from the glass, but he was insistant that HE get to use the glass, not me. So I sat him down and very vigilantly gave him the glass of water. To my amazement, he carefully lifted it to his mouth, took a couple of sips, and handed it back... no spills or anything! He usually just dumps water everywhere and chokes when he does it, but not this time... he looked like an old pro... aww, I was so proud, and of course, that made him very proud, so he did a little dance, clapped his hands and took of for his bedroom squealing with delight.
In conclusion, it has been a very nice day for us... as is usually the case =)
Monday, May 11, 2009
*Snap!*
Today Brandon, Jonas and I went to get my car aligned. Our tires were completely worn through after less than 3,000 miles so clearly something was wrong, and sure enough, we were super duper out of alignment. The best the repair guy could figure is that somebody used a car jack and jacked the car up on one of the thingys that holds the wheel straight... so our whee was running crooked and dangerous. Boo! I'm pretty sure it was Discount Tire, and after our little run-in over them not telling us our car was so out of alignment in the first place, this could get kid of ugly... cuz there is no way I am gonna be paying for this without a fight. Anyway...
In the meantime while waiting for our car, the three of us went to Wal-Mart and K-Mart in search of a watch for me. Generally, I am a pretty fast decision maker, but for some reason, I just can't decide when it comes to watches... which is especially sad if you have seen my watch. it's definitely nothing special. All I want is a watch with a leather or REAL metal strap (so my wrist doesn't turn green, it doesn't stink, and it doesn't tear), the date, a light (I always wake up in the night and need the time), something I can get wet (i am bound to get a watch wet with a 1 year old), and preferably, but not required, digital. How hard is this to find? Well not very if you are ok with wearing a gigantic sports watch, which I am not unless its cute, but otherwise, it's kind of hard to find. Sigh.... that wasn't even the point of the story...
As I am looking for a watch, the George Michael song "Wake me up before you Go Go" comes on over the speakers... I effectively can think of only one thing when this song comes on, and of course that is Edd, Aaron (and Brian I guess) dancing around 4 seasons mall in "Choose Life" t-shirts... followed shortly thereafter by zoolander & company having a gasoline fight... anyway.... Brandon (holding Jonas) I guess was also thinking of this image, because he started snapping his fingers in rhythm. Jonas, completely enthralled, watched and decided he would give it a try. He started waving his arm in beat like daddy did, but instead of snapping, he was "clucking" his tongue on every downbeat of his hand. It. Was. SO. Adorable. OMG! And that, my friends, is the story of the day!
In the meantime while waiting for our car, the three of us went to Wal-Mart and K-Mart in search of a watch for me. Generally, I am a pretty fast decision maker, but for some reason, I just can't decide when it comes to watches... which is especially sad if you have seen my watch. it's definitely nothing special. All I want is a watch with a leather or REAL metal strap (so my wrist doesn't turn green, it doesn't stink, and it doesn't tear), the date, a light (I always wake up in the night and need the time), something I can get wet (i am bound to get a watch wet with a 1 year old), and preferably, but not required, digital. How hard is this to find? Well not very if you are ok with wearing a gigantic sports watch, which I am not unless its cute, but otherwise, it's kind of hard to find. Sigh.... that wasn't even the point of the story...
As I am looking for a watch, the George Michael song "Wake me up before you Go Go" comes on over the speakers... I effectively can think of only one thing when this song comes on, and of course that is Edd, Aaron (and Brian I guess) dancing around 4 seasons mall in "Choose Life" t-shirts... followed shortly thereafter by zoolander & company having a gasoline fight... anyway.... Brandon (holding Jonas) I guess was also thinking of this image, because he started snapping his fingers in rhythm. Jonas, completely enthralled, watched and decided he would give it a try. He started waving his arm in beat like daddy did, but instead of snapping, he was "clucking" his tongue on every downbeat of his hand. It. Was. SO. Adorable. OMG! And that, my friends, is the story of the day!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
a funeral...
So last Friday afternoon, we got a call from Lisa saying Brandon's Papaw Kenny had finally passed away. From what I understand, he has been very sick for a very long time and had pretty much told everyone he was very ready to go... like, when they took him off of the ventilator he asked '...what's taking so long?' I suppose this made it easier for Tim & Dave & others close to Papaw Kenny... I would think it would help a lot.
Anyway, we spent Saturday morning packing and cleaning (our house had to be spotless in case somebody wanted to come look at it), then, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in hand, set off for the buzzing metropolis of Richlands, VA. We got hungry along the way and stopped to eat, only to get back on the highway and realize we were only 30 min. from our destination! As soon as we got to Great-Aunt Wilma & Great-Uncle Jack's (hereafter just Wilma & Jack) house, we noticed Jack grilling a feast in the back yard. Lisa had used her birthday money to spoil Jonas a little more (he got a big blow up play thing and some other toys for her birthday =) ) so Jonas had a big time running around with his new toys till his cousin Kyndahl arrived... then they both had fun with their new toys.
Our late afternoon over-stuffing set the stage for the rest of the trip in the eating department. Say what you will about Richlands, but you will never, EVER go hungry there! Wilma and Jack were awesome hosts and kept us full to busting the whole trip... I swear I got used to eating a full meal every 2 hours. Brandon, Jonas and I stayed in the "master bedroom" of one of Wimla & Jack's houses (yes, one of... i think they had 4 on the hill...). This is where I learned one thing that Uncle Jack was famous for... his firearms. I had heard he had an "arsenal" on the way up, little did I know... There were 3 loaded guns in our bedroom alone, which is ok with me as long as Jojo couldn't get to them (and he couldn't). Not that 3 is an arsenal... no, no. I asked Uncle Jack for a tour of his arsenal, and he obliged, but only for the guns he had in ONE of their houses. I can't remember every detail of every gun, but I did learn a lot about different guns... the difference between a flint lock, muzzle loader, pump action, semi-automatic, lever action, etc. were some of the things I learned. Suffice to say he easily had hundreds of guns, no exageration necessary. Anyway... he also was a painter and made (yes made) violins. They said he was a "hobby man" =)
Anyway, on Sunday, we all went to visit Papaw Kenny's last living relatives, his brother and sister-in-law. They, also were very nice and insisted on stuffing us full of delicious food (though theirs was of the fudge variety, i can't complain! =) ). We learned a lot of family history Sunday as well... brandon's grandma (Nadine, sister of Wilma) was 1 of 22 children... yes, twenty-two. Wilma said their dad had 3 wives all of whom died and he remarried... that is crazzzzy, so many kids! And I thought we had a big family! We also got to hear stories of yester-year. Apparently Tim was born while Papaw Kenny was in vietnam, so Grandma Nadine wrote him a letter asking him what he wanted to name the baby. He wrote back and said some crazy super-old sounding name like "manfred horace"... he was therefore shocked when he got back to meet little Manfred (or whatever) that he was, in fact Timothy. haha =)
Anyway... Monday was the funeral... it was pretty standard as far a funerals go. Brandon and Max were pall bearers, and so they both looked very nice. In fact, we had to have an intervention with Max to get him to do his hair so it wasn't in his face. He finally decided he would wet his hair, and then I would blow dry it backwards so that it would fall naturally, but be not in his face. This worked out rather well, if I do say so myself. Actually, everybody looked very nice. We had a debate over whether it was against funeral ettiquite to take a picture of Papaw kenny since he was looking so nice... but decided that was creepy.
Anyway, after the funeral, Brandon, Jonas and I headed home. Jonas was so tired he slept the whole way back, and even all night... what a good little boy.
In conclusion, even though it was a sad thing we gathered for, it was a pretty good trip overall.
Anyway, we spent Saturday morning packing and cleaning (our house had to be spotless in case somebody wanted to come look at it), then, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in hand, set off for the buzzing metropolis of Richlands, VA. We got hungry along the way and stopped to eat, only to get back on the highway and realize we were only 30 min. from our destination! As soon as we got to Great-Aunt Wilma & Great-Uncle Jack's (hereafter just Wilma & Jack) house, we noticed Jack grilling a feast in the back yard. Lisa had used her birthday money to spoil Jonas a little more (he got a big blow up play thing and some other toys for her birthday =) ) so Jonas had a big time running around with his new toys till his cousin Kyndahl arrived... then they both had fun with their new toys.
Our late afternoon over-stuffing set the stage for the rest of the trip in the eating department. Say what you will about Richlands, but you will never, EVER go hungry there! Wilma and Jack were awesome hosts and kept us full to busting the whole trip... I swear I got used to eating a full meal every 2 hours. Brandon, Jonas and I stayed in the "master bedroom" of one of Wimla & Jack's houses (yes, one of... i think they had 4 on the hill...). This is where I learned one thing that Uncle Jack was famous for... his firearms. I had heard he had an "arsenal" on the way up, little did I know... There were 3 loaded guns in our bedroom alone, which is ok with me as long as Jojo couldn't get to them (and he couldn't). Not that 3 is an arsenal... no, no. I asked Uncle Jack for a tour of his arsenal, and he obliged, but only for the guns he had in ONE of their houses. I can't remember every detail of every gun, but I did learn a lot about different guns... the difference between a flint lock, muzzle loader, pump action, semi-automatic, lever action, etc. were some of the things I learned. Suffice to say he easily had hundreds of guns, no exageration necessary. Anyway... he also was a painter and made (yes made) violins. They said he was a "hobby man" =)
Anyway, on Sunday, we all went to visit Papaw Kenny's last living relatives, his brother and sister-in-law. They, also were very nice and insisted on stuffing us full of delicious food (though theirs was of the fudge variety, i can't complain! =) ). We learned a lot of family history Sunday as well... brandon's grandma (Nadine, sister of Wilma) was 1 of 22 children... yes, twenty-two. Wilma said their dad had 3 wives all of whom died and he remarried... that is crazzzzy, so many kids! And I thought we had a big family! We also got to hear stories of yester-year. Apparently Tim was born while Papaw Kenny was in vietnam, so Grandma Nadine wrote him a letter asking him what he wanted to name the baby. He wrote back and said some crazy super-old sounding name like "manfred horace"... he was therefore shocked when he got back to meet little Manfred (or whatever) that he was, in fact Timothy. haha =)
Anyway... Monday was the funeral... it was pretty standard as far a funerals go. Brandon and Max were pall bearers, and so they both looked very nice. In fact, we had to have an intervention with Max to get him to do his hair so it wasn't in his face. He finally decided he would wet his hair, and then I would blow dry it backwards so that it would fall naturally, but be not in his face. This worked out rather well, if I do say so myself. Actually, everybody looked very nice. We had a debate over whether it was against funeral ettiquite to take a picture of Papaw kenny since he was looking so nice... but decided that was creepy.
Anyway, after the funeral, Brandon, Jonas and I headed home. Jonas was so tired he slept the whole way back, and even all night... what a good little boy.
In conclusion, even though it was a sad thing we gathered for, it was a pretty good trip overall.
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