Weekend in J-ton

     We had a very fun visit in Jourdanton with our family. Jeffrey got to play with his cousins that he hadn't seen in too many months. Nathan shot his first dove. Jonah caught a 2 foot catfish. Brant shot 8 dove. Hannah worked on her bug project, very impressively classifying insects, left and right! I still need a picture of that finished project!
     We visited with Lolly before she had to go back home. I got to see Brant's high school while riding with Shari to pick up the spaghetti dinners made for the athletic department fund raiser. Jeffrey read with Gram, played a lot with Jonah and we all had a great time!

 

 Playing on the cooler after looking at Jonah's catfish!

 

 

This boy!

    Jeffrey knows exactly what we're saying and doing. He is the only kid I've ever seen who is so interested in the end pages of books. Right now, he especially loves the end pages of Little Mouse, pointing to each animal for me to say the name of the animal before we can read it and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, pointing to each color stripe for me to say the name of the color. He does this with many books. At the end of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, he says "Gigi" on the page with the teacher, so I guess he thinks Gigi looks like the teacher. If I wait for him to finish a line in a familiar book, he'll do it, ("Baby says,...'uh oh!' "Mama says,...'oh no!' "But those shoes just...'go, go, go!' and others.
     Every time we see pumpkins, he calls out, "Hemi!" I have no idea why he calls pumpkins hemi. I bought him some gourds and small pumpkins to feel and sort. They're all "hemis."
Ashley and I started a toddler book club-it's at her house and I do the read aloud/lesson/song. Our second one is next week. We'll read Harriet's Halloween Candy, sing 5 Little Pumpkins and compare the "hemis" with all his buddies.
     We went to the Children's Museum on Monday. Jeffrey had a ball with lots of other toddler boys there. We went to the tot spot and played first, then to a story time and activity, then more play in the museum. He loved being the pilot of the plane. Brant went to Dallas for the day for training yesterday and it was difficult to explain to him about Daddy being on a plane. We hear them and see them in the sky, but that is so abstract! Because he hears them all the time now, I am so much more aware of them too. I never really noticed before.

 Loving his swing Gram and Grampa got for his birthday! He can see it from his high chair and wants to swing after every meal. We do much of the time. I say "1-2-3, Weeee" and he copies inside with his cars, etc.

 Painting on the porch that Lacey keeps oh so clean!

I thought it was funny on this day that the two stickers he got told exactly the two places we had been. Stride Rite for new shoes, "I donated my old shoes today!" and HEB.

 Driving the trolley at the Children's Museum after we saw real trolleys outside.

Listening to the story, I Went Walking, and playing with animals

 On the plane at the museum

 

Racing cars at the museum

 

The next series of pictures is of J eating blueberries and looking in a mirror, making faces...

A bib would have probably been good, but that's what Oxi-clean if for!

 Painting on the back porch that Lacey keeps so nice and clean!

 J loves to empty Lacey's water bowl and then wear it like a hat, gross!

 He sees Brant sitting here, working. He wanted to balance the checkbook. He got out his piggy bank and everything! All by himself!

 Bathtime

 New cowboy hat

 

18 Months Old!

     Jeffrey is a year and a half today. His doctor was impressed with his verbal skills. He said, "keep doing what your doing!" He has very good vision and is a very healthy, happy boy! His doctor said, "Your hair is more red every time I see you." His word list is growing and growing. We love when he says "turtle" because it's so perfect and clear. (He knows what all these words mean too, pointing to them in books or looking for them while we're on walks.) He'll sing "turtle, turtle, turtle..." He gasps a little and holds his hand up to cup his ear when we hear an airplane, inside or outside. We showed him a rainbow before going into a restaurant and he was looking for when we left. After Daddy leaves for work, he sings, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy..." So many precious little things.

 He eats whole peaches, pears and bananas nowadays

 backyard time

Cruising around Grandpa's "ranchito"

 watching Sesame Street at Gigi's, in Grammi's childhood rocking chair

A Great Visit with Friends

     Kristina and Klara visited us this past weekend. We mostly just did our regular thing and relaxed and caught up. We made it to the farmer's market and walked around some shops Saturday morning and out to eat Mexican food Saturday night. With two babies, that's all the out-and-about we did! It was a great catch-up!