I'm a big boy

Everyday it seems like JP's doing or learning something new. Here's some of the fun things he's doing now:

- Says Bye, Dog, Ju (juice), & Pretty (sorta). Signs 'eat' and 'more', often at the same time. Also will sign 'all done' but usually only if we have signed it first. He pretty much tries to mimic anything anyone does or says.

-Helps put on his clothes, he can put his arms through the holes with little or no help & will try to put his feet through the pants too

- Brings you a book to read to him. If you don't take it, he'll pull open your fingers & push the book into your hand. Snuggle Puppy is his favorite I think. One of the first few times I'd read this book to him, he laughed hysterically as I did the song part.

- Understands more words than we realize! For example, one day we were talking & said the word 'outside' in our conversation, JP jumped up & ran to the front door. Another time I was asking him if he wanted a few things (cuz it was funny that he said no to every question). When I asked if he wanted some oranges though (mandarin), he started signing 'eat' very adamantly. I ended up getting him some oranges!

- Knows a dog says Woof Woof. But ask him 'what does a ___ say (insert animal of choice) and the answer is also Woof Woof. If he hears a dog, sees a dog, thinks about a dog, he'll start saying 'oo oof'

- Will whisper if you whisper, sometimes. One night recently I was trying to get him to sleep & whispered something to him (about it being time to sleep probably) and he whispered back some gibberish. It was so sweet & now I can only get him to do it again when he's really calm.

- Climbs. Ok this is not really a fun one, but it can be funny for a minute or two. Mostly it's just tiring & frustrating. He climbs up the back of the couch, on the side tables, stands on anything he can get to, climbs on & over us in bed & will try to climb out of your arms onto anything nearby. Thank goodness we don't have stairs in our house!

- Dances & drums. See the attached video of him drumming. He will drum on anything and sometimes randomly start dancing. Of course he dances to music but sometimes I think he's got songs stuck in his head (Noggin is particularly bad with the catchy kid songs but I like that it has no commercials, plus Yo Gabba Gabba is still his all-time favorite).

Some typical toddler struggles we are having: hitting, head-butting, tantrums. This story is for you Grandma - If JP has a particularly bad tantrum, he'll start by stomping in place while he scrunches up his face. Then he runs straight for the nearest bed or couch & flings himself onto it to scream into the pillow or mattress. I don't have the slightest idea where he got that temper from. :)

It's always an adventure around here. You just never know what an animal, baby or husband (love you!) might do....

The kitty likes to get up in the highchair. Sometimes he even curls up & sleeps there.


This shirt on JP cracks me up. Jack couldn't find a shirt to put on him so he grabbed this white one. It looked a bit big to me so I asked him where it came from (I didn't remember buying him a white tee that big). Turns out it was one of mine!

JP can now reach the power button on the TV in the bedroom so he can turn on Noggin anytime he wants. It was funny the first few times, and convienent in the mornings, but it gets a little tiresome at naptime. He either stands there staring at it or backs up & sits down leaning against our mattress (which I think is too cute).

And the boy loves music & dancing! Here he was providing backup dancing to our Guitar Hero band. Grammy & Mama got a little addicted & stayed up all night until we beat the first level.

Guitar Heroes

While trying to concentrate on my digital album (which has been failing tonight), I found this cute picture. Taken 6/12.. this was the first time Jax 'played' Guitar Hero with Daddy. He really was more interested in the guitar that Daddy was holding.

Sweet Boy/Wild Boy

I am completely behind on updates. I've been working a lot & not spending much time on the personal computer. I'll be posting some pics from June & July over the next few days.

Isn't this a sweet picture? I really love how this one turned out. (Though it would have been a little better if he had not knocked the blinds all askew. It's funny how sweet & innocent he looks there, but below is what he was really doing when I managed to capture that shot (and you can understand why the blinds were messed up)

Sing-a-long

This has to be quick because my lunch break really should be over already.. but JP has been funny this morning & I wanted to share.

This AM while I was changing him, Daddy & I were talking about the goofy kid songs we had stuck in our heads. Daddy started singing the one over & over that was stuck in my head (just to make sure it stayed there) & my cute little boy started singing along. Of course he couldn't sing the words, but he was gibbering along to the tune & was swaying while singing. His first performance!

bumps & bruises

Living with a 13 month old boy keeps you on your toes. And teaches you to keep a stocked first aid kit.

Jaxon loves our kitty, Thumbtack. He follows him around pointing & laughing. If the cat stays nearby, he'll 'pet' him which is really more hitting until we remind him 'gentle'. But Saturday he decided something more along the lines of a tackle was in order. The initial tackle didn't seem that bad, the cat had already been laying down so he didn't really move much. It was too close to the wall so Jax ended up bumping his head (since he didn't seem to mind, it was a little funny). But I guess in the process of trying to get up, he did something the cat didn't like (looked like he used the cat as leverage to push himself back up), so he got a quick swipe to the head. He's got two small scratches on his forehead which are already fading. Kitty is amazingly patient with Jax, and even his scratches seem held back, like he didn't really want to do it but just had to. Of course, Jaxon is still following the cat around everywhere.

Yesterday afternoon, Jaxon tripped on a DVD on the floor (he pulls them all off the shelf) and landed on a metal trash can (which he had put in the middle of the floor, upside down so he could climb on it). Jack & I both were right there in the room but could do nothing to stop his face from hitting the lip of the bottom of the trash can. Actually, we both thought we saw him hit his forehead so when I rushed to soothe him, I was looking for a bump on his head. As the tears & sniffling gushed, I noticed the trickle of blood out of his mouth (at which point I starting counting tiny teeth). Jack got some ice & a cloth and we got him all doctored up. It was really very minor & stopped bleeding quickly. I couldn't even tell for sure where the cut was at the time. And he pretty much forgot about it after that. Of course this morning when we woke up & he took out is paci, we saw it had turned a nice purple color. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but the bruise even has a little bit of a curve up his cheek, like the Joker, to show where he hit the curved lip of the can. Thankfully he still seems oblivious to it.

Of course here's the punchline: we have portraits scheduled this week.

root beer floats

On Wednesday, June 3, 2009, Sonic Drive-In is giving away free root beer floats from 8 P.M. - Midnight.

http://www.sonicdrivein.com/prmtns/2009/frbf/index.html