Mirror Fun

Jay decided to play by the full-length mirror today. Here are the results...

I think this might be one of most favorite videos of Jay yet! I think he likes himself? What do you think??

Saturday Morning Market

On this rainy, typical Seattle-like weather day Saturday we enjoyed a morning field trip to the famed Pike Place Market between Jay's waking up time (around 6 a.m.) and his first nap of the day (which is typically at 9 a.m.). Matt and I enjoyed our Starbucks (we went to the flagship location) and then we enjoyed wonderful croissants at our favorite french bakery a few doors down. We then wandered through the market as the growers/producers were just beginning to get set-up for the day.

I had to get a picture of Matt and Jay in front of the pig -- a MUST!

Sunflowers

Dahlias

Fresh Seafood

Fresh Vegetables

I am always amazed at the beauty of the market. My favorite would probably have to be the flower booths with the amazing $5 or $10 deals for huge, beautiful bouquets that they display. The sunflowers and dahlias are in their full glory right now. The whole market is truly a feast for the eyes. Matt and I were hoping our favorite crepe place would be open, but alas, they opened at 9 a.m., so we settled for a 1/2 dozen fresh mini doughnuts sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar to end our special breakfast field trip. M-m-m!

Friend's 2nd Birthday Party

This past weekend our family was invited over to our friends' home to celebrate little Ben's 2nd birthday. A total of about 8 families (including the hosts) attended. There was about 10 or so kids in attendance with all being under 3 years old. The youngest babies were 5 months old. We all had such a good time enjoying the relaxing fellowship and the kids had a blast playing with each other and all the various kid-friendly, age appropriate toys.

Ben - the birthday boy

Jay enjoying this ride-on train

I'll end this post with a short video of Matt showing Jay how to "golf." They successfully putt the ball together and then Jay does it his way.

Chrysanthemums

To me chrysanthemums say "Fall" along with cooler weather, pumpkins, corn stalks, roast turkey, pumpkin pie, and apple cider.

With the return of routine this month brings, I was ready to see something fall on a daily basis. Since my fresh herbs were past (and they looked pitifully ugly) I decided to change out the planter pots on our deck. Off to Home Depot I went Tuesday night to buy a few chrysanthemums. Wednesday morning while Jay took his morning nap I blissfully enjoyed potting the plants.

Here are pictures of the result!


I can't help but smile every day when I look out at my cheery planter boxes.

While I took these pictures I had my ever-constant companion by my side. I decided to play around with the different settings on the camera and took this photo of Jay. What a cheesy grin.

While writing this post this morning Jay was doing some independent play around the house. He got awfully quiet - and we all know quiet at this age isn't always a good sign. I investigated. I found him in a spot playing with something that was just fine, but upon further investigation I found that he had previously gone into our bathroom and had fun unrolling a good portion of the toilet paper roll. He clearly understands and KNOWS that is a no-no...that little bugger. I brought him in to the bathroom and again explained to him that doing that is a BIG NO-NO. What does he do? He gives me a look similar to that cheesy grin above. Oh, the joys of parenting!! Lord, help us train up this child in the way he should go...Prov. 22:6.

Hometown Parade

Matt, Jay, and I hit the road Thursday afternoon. Matt needed to do a bit of business on this road trip so we stopped in a town on the way to Grandma's house. While Matt worked, Jay and I played in the town's local park. That worked perfectly! Then we arrived at Grandma's house in time to hit the hay.

Friday we just enjoyed the beautiful day (the weather was PERFECT) around Grandma's house. Jay always asked to go outside when we were inside for any length of time. (He asks by pointing and making an insistent "uh uh uh" sound.) It was so fun to watch him explore the farm. He especially liked watching the kitties. They are a bit on the wild side so they didn't allow us to pet them, but Jay sure found them fascinating. He would squat down low and jabber jabber jabber at them. So funny!

Saturday morning after Jay's nap we ventured in to town for the annual parade. I have the best memories from attending our small town parades so it is fun to share that experience with Jay now, too.

Here are some of the kids awaiting the best part of the parade...to be thrown some candy. They were using their cowboy hats as their candy baskets.
And here they are quickly running and picking up the candy that had just been thrown to them.

Here is the local rodeo association folks riding in the parade on their horses.

My favorite part of the parades when I was a little girl were the floats. Here are the floats that were part of the parade this year:

Ritzville (I know two out the three girls who were chosen to represent my home town this year). The theme of their float is Purple Dream.

Deer Park came with their Drive-In themed float.

Odessa came with their Under the Sea themed float.

And Davenport had a Flintstone themed float this year.

It is so fun to watch the kids' excitement. Here is Jay's second cousin, Zachary, on his John Deere tractor that he rode in the Kiddie Parade that just preceded the main parade.

This was Jay's most favorite parade entry - an old-time tractor. He pointed and lit up and made his motor sound when this went by us.

And here he is watching that tractor like a hawk (while I fed him his lunch).

The parade ended with the second graders getting to ride on a fire truck. This is an annual tradition that has gone on for as long as I can remember.

After the parade we ventured up to the town's local park where they have a BBQ sandwich lunch. Jay enjoyed playing on the park's kid play structures and slides while Matt and I visited with friends.

We had planned to attend the rodeo at the fairgrounds Saturday night but a big dust storm rolled through town about that time. It would have been kinda miserable to sit in the bleachers in the wind and dust so we decided to skip it this year.

I'll end this post with some pictures we took of Jay over the weekend around Grandma's house.

He enjoyed his ice cream treat - can you tell?

He loved walking up and down the wheelchair ramp.

Here he is exploring Grandma's yard/gardens.

He got especially excited to watch and listen to Grandma's cuckoo clock when it chimed at every hour. He would rush to whoever was closest to him and ask to be lifted up to watch it closely as it sang it's little song. (Here he is in Grandma's arms.)

15 Months Old

Jay is 15 months old today! And with that comes a well-child check-up at the pediatrician's office.

Today's Weight: 21 lbs., 5 oz. (in the 10th percentile)
Today's Length/Height: 32-3/4" (in the 90th percentile)
Today's Head Circumference: 18-3/4" (in the 50th-75th percentile)

He also received two shots (one in each thigh) today.

Here are some highlights of what Jay is doing these days:

• Walks well - and runs! Can walk backward to pull a toy, or drag a towel, or drag a blanket.
• When a friend is over to play he actually is good at sharing. That isn't typical since most kids do that poorly at this age. He is average in that he mostly does "parallel play."
• Enjoys playing with balls, his small trains, his dump truck, his John Deere tractor, etc.
• Understands and responds to sequential directions such as "Jay, please go and get your shoes for me."
• Still loves when we sing songs.
• Claps his hands and moves his feet back and forth (while you are holding him) when he is very happy and excited.
• Enjoys his books; will often pick up and bring books to us to read throughout the day.
• Often you'll hear him babbling in his own language. Can say "uh oh" "Dada" and "Mama" but rarely does so.
• When we look at picture books that we've read often, he can answer questions with his pointer finger, such as "who likes to jump? (in this picture)" and he'll point right to the frog.
• He rarely sleeps longer than 10 hours at night. Takes a morning and afternoon nap still -- typically about 1 hour or 1-1/2 hours long each.
• Three teeth came in over the last couple weeks and now his molars are beginning to poke through the gums. I think 12 or 13 are in or poking through the gums significantly now.
• He enjoys stepping up on the stool and hoisting himself/climbing into the recliner all on his own.
• He is very keen on experimenting with different ways of moving: climbing, jumping, running, marching and ... dawdling.
• He likes to carry objects while he walks around putting his new physical skills to the test. Especially large toys that are at least half his size or bigger. When he tires and can't do it, he gets frustrated - and he lets us know with whining and small temper tantrums. We do our best to distract him from what he was attempting to do or we "help" him until he moves on to something else.
• Being strapped into a car seat is often the LAST THING Jay wants to be. We now expect an earful and sometimes it is accompanied by an arched back when it is time to buckle up. We realize this is just because he'd rather be practicing his footwork than sitting still. Once settled in and driving he settles right down and loves to watch the trucks and cars from his seat.
• Jay gives the BEST hugs and occasional kisses to this Dad and Mom. We love those and him so-o-o much!!