I think the kids are getting sick--jasper's been pooping all morning, josie threatened to throw up. Oh well, such is life. We had fun this morning, rode our bikes to the doughnut shop, then across the street to the park where we sat on a blanket and shared our sprinkles. It was very nice (if a hard ride up the hill :)
After one particularly big rumble in the diaper, Jasper sat on my hip, blowing raspberries and practicing the new consonants he's discovered in the past couple of days. goos and gaas, and heees and haaas. very cute!
Monday, May 29, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
Gardening behind the scenes...
So even though these photos are from a couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be good to see the team working together in the main (not josie-sized) garden. In the first photo, you can see how helpful Josie is being with the Tomato plant, Mommy is getting ready to plant it, and ... Wait, what's that Jasper's doing?
the second photo shows more clearly...
Along the gardening theme, Jasper recently sat for the traditional posed picture with daffodils, preferably in a Paddington Bear jumper. Note the two new teeth he's sporting! This was one of the few photos when he wasn't trying to eat the daffodil...
the second photo shows more clearly...
Along the gardening theme, Jasper recently sat for the traditional posed picture with daffodils, preferably in a Paddington Bear jumper. Note the two new teeth he's sporting! This was one of the few photos when he wasn't trying to eat the daffodil...
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Josie and her kitties
Josie has decided that today she has three baby kitties. They're imaginary, of course, and their names are Jana, June, and Jasha. I'm the grandma kitty, my name is Asher, and I take care of the other baby kitties (whose eyes aren't open) while Josie takes the sick one to the doctor then out for a treat. I don't know where she came up with these names, but they're cute!
Jasper started reaching up with his arms when he wants to be picked up. This morning in the kitchen I was making some lunch and Josie was up on the counter. He crawled over, sat right in front of me, and when I looked down he put his arms up, then was just so happy I knew what he was trying to say! It was so neat!
Jasper started reaching up with his arms when he wants to be picked up. This morning in the kitchen I was making some lunch and Josie was up on the counter. He crawled over, sat right in front of me, and when I looked down he put his arms up, then was just so happy I knew what he was trying to say! It was so neat!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Things are going pretty okay back here at the ranch...the weather's been very nice, bordering on a little too warm, these past couple of weeks, and we've really been enjoying all that summer is poised to bring. The garden is growing nicely, with little bean plants, peas, and greens; the rhubarb is growing (after immediately killing my four previous efforts!), melons and pumpkins are sprouting. Josie has a little garden in the middle of the lawn (she found her own little dirt patch and planted a pea seed), and her one pea has been joined by radishes (which sprouted in a little more than 24 hours and already taste nice and radish-y), carrots, and spinach. Oh, and a red pepper, which Josie likes to remind me are yucky. I think she'll eat them anyway. We go out every morning or early afternoon and hoe all the new weeds out (trying not to get anything we've planted) and water the seeds. Since I'm usually pretty delinquent with both of these, having Josie to remind me has been a big help!
I'll have to get some pictures of the two gardens, though...sorry I keep forgetting :)
One interesting thing, though...Josie's a natural-born pusher, but Jaspie seems to be a biter (just like I think I remember being, interestingly). Josie was kind of pushing him around yesterday and Josh was trying to convince her to back off when he made some sort of growling noise and zipped over to bite her arm. I was at the dentist, and so sad to have missed it! We'll have to work on nipping this in the bud, since pushing isn't nearly the problem that biting is (and Josie hardly pushes any more)...
Anyhow, here we are enjoying the spring weather:
In this last one, Josie's playing croquet...at least trying to figure out how!
I'll have to get some pictures of the two gardens, though...sorry I keep forgetting :)
One interesting thing, though...Josie's a natural-born pusher, but Jaspie seems to be a biter (just like I think I remember being, interestingly). Josie was kind of pushing him around yesterday and Josh was trying to convince her to back off when he made some sort of growling noise and zipped over to bite her arm. I was at the dentist, and so sad to have missed it! We'll have to work on nipping this in the bud, since pushing isn't nearly the problem that biting is (and Josie hardly pushes any more)...
Anyhow, here we are enjoying the spring weather:
In this last one, Josie's playing croquet...at least trying to figure out how!
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Monday, May 15, 2006
Well, I don't have any pictures today, but I have to keep you coming back. so here's the scoop on the kids:
Jasper's doing fairly well, growing out of clothes as quickly as we can buy (borrow or steal) them, sleeping a little better now that he doesn't have a stomach virus/enterovirus/teething/drooling/reflux. He's still very smiley and seems to have grown out of some of his separation anxiety in the past few weeks. His sounds still mostly consist of "aaaah!" and blowing raspberries, but he's obviously listening and taking in what we say (especially Josie!) Aside from walking or crawling really fast, he gets around surprisingly well, cruising around furniture, pulling up (and getting down) easily, and if there's dog food around he'll find a way to get to it :) If he's by himself and hears a voice he'll crawl around (bleating like a lamb) until he finds someone to pick him up. He and Josie are really getting to the point of being interested in each other. They still have tea parties together and have other little games they play (sorry, I have no idea what the rules are!). They're sitting next to each other in the back seat now, and Josie talks to him, telling him what a good baby he is, that she loves him, asks him how he's doing...and (for good or bad) feeds him bits of whatever she's got (I looked back there on Saturday and he was covered with banana goo). It's particularly fun to hear her talking to him the way I spoke to her when she was a baby, saying things like "not for you Jaspie!"
Speaking of Josie, she's doing a better job of listening when Josh or I ask her to do something (or not do something, as the case often is) without questioning us first. She's still really interested in letters and words, and has started sounding out words based on the sounds the consonants make. She's clearly got the idea that letters = sounds = words = ideas, she just needs to practice a little more. She's also trying to write more letters, and is drawing some really startling things. She was playing with some of her buddies last week and they got the sidewalk chalk out. Mostly the kids were scribbling big lines and circles...Josie, on the other hand, quietly drew a big lobed flower with a circle in the middle, a stem, and a leaf. Very clearly a flower (the way I usually draw it, anyway). She's great with the scissors too, but I have to keep her away from the sharp ones! She had her first trip to the dentist last week. I've been really apprehensive about the dentist myself, so I was worried that it be a fun visit for her. We found a pediatric dentist and it was great! They were great at working with Josie's shy nature, and gave her a lot of control over the procedures (holding the suction thing...oh, sorry "mr tickles" etc), and the jungle theme in the officce made it distracting enough that she wasn't worrried about a thing. The dentist was particularly sensitive to her, and had her talking to him within two minutes. I don't think I've ever seen anyone get through to her that quickly! Anyhow, her teeth were clean and cavity-free, although she's got an overbite and a little crowding that she may not grow out of. I guess we'll start saving for braces...
So, the weather's warming up, seeds are sprouting, and we can finally play outside every day. I'll have to take some pictures of Josie's garden (where she planted some peas in a bare patch the middle of the backyard) once the carrots and spinach sprout! Hopefully I'll have some more pictures soon :)
Jasper's doing fairly well, growing out of clothes as quickly as we can buy (borrow or steal) them, sleeping a little better now that he doesn't have a stomach virus/enterovirus/teething/drooling/reflux. He's still very smiley and seems to have grown out of some of his separation anxiety in the past few weeks. His sounds still mostly consist of "aaaah!" and blowing raspberries, but he's obviously listening and taking in what we say (especially Josie!) Aside from walking or crawling really fast, he gets around surprisingly well, cruising around furniture, pulling up (and getting down) easily, and if there's dog food around he'll find a way to get to it :) If he's by himself and hears a voice he'll crawl around (bleating like a lamb) until he finds someone to pick him up. He and Josie are really getting to the point of being interested in each other. They still have tea parties together and have other little games they play (sorry, I have no idea what the rules are!). They're sitting next to each other in the back seat now, and Josie talks to him, telling him what a good baby he is, that she loves him, asks him how he's doing...and (for good or bad) feeds him bits of whatever she's got (I looked back there on Saturday and he was covered with banana goo). It's particularly fun to hear her talking to him the way I spoke to her when she was a baby, saying things like "not for you Jaspie!"
Speaking of Josie, she's doing a better job of listening when Josh or I ask her to do something (or not do something, as the case often is) without questioning us first. She's still really interested in letters and words, and has started sounding out words based on the sounds the consonants make. She's clearly got the idea that letters = sounds = words = ideas, she just needs to practice a little more. She's also trying to write more letters, and is drawing some really startling things. She was playing with some of her buddies last week and they got the sidewalk chalk out. Mostly the kids were scribbling big lines and circles...Josie, on the other hand, quietly drew a big lobed flower with a circle in the middle, a stem, and a leaf. Very clearly a flower (the way I usually draw it, anyway). She's great with the scissors too, but I have to keep her away from the sharp ones! She had her first trip to the dentist last week. I've been really apprehensive about the dentist myself, so I was worried that it be a fun visit for her. We found a pediatric dentist and it was great! They were great at working with Josie's shy nature, and gave her a lot of control over the procedures (holding the suction thing...oh, sorry "mr tickles" etc), and the jungle theme in the officce made it distracting enough that she wasn't worrried about a thing. The dentist was particularly sensitive to her, and had her talking to him within two minutes. I don't think I've ever seen anyone get through to her that quickly! Anyhow, her teeth were clean and cavity-free, although she's got an overbite and a little crowding that she may not grow out of. I guess we'll start saving for braces...
So, the weather's warming up, seeds are sprouting, and we can finally play outside every day. I'll have to take some pictures of Josie's garden (where she planted some peas in a bare patch the middle of the backyard) once the carrots and spinach sprout! Hopefully I'll have some more pictures soon :)
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