words and signs

Talking with my mom this morning, I realized that Jasper's been signing up a storm. This is thanks, in part at least, to Josie. She learns a sign, then drills him on it until he adds it to his repertoire...which he usually picks up after seeing it just once or twice. Thus far, he's got far more signs than words, but with the recent addition of "mine!" (something Josie didn't learn until at least 2) the words are catching up!

Words:
mama
dada
Jo!
dog
cat (also meows)
mooooo
boo (as in peek-a-)
choo-choo
roars like a lion (very deep and rumbly)
bye-bye
mi(ne)!
vroom (car)
boot
book
hat

Signs:
shakes head no/nods yes
waves, blows kisses goodbye
points
thank you
love
night-night/sleep
diaper
hat
dog
squirrel
duck/bird
horse
mouse
lion
bear
tiger
giraffe
elephant
rhino
monkey
fish
flower
hot
cold
ball
snowman
ornament
Santa
snow/rain
up
star
moon
light
airplane
egg
milk
more

Okay, I'm sure that there are more, and I'll add them once I think of them. At this point, I'm fairly certain that he already knows more signs that Josie did, and he's acquiring words at about the same pace as she did. I'm also surprised that he actually distinguishes between rhinocerouses and elephants, bears and dogs, etc. Like I said before, though, I think Josie's been a real help. Once he learns the 'shower' sign I think we're really done for. We'll all be prunes, since he could spend all day in there :)

We all enjoyed Christmas, snowstorms, travel, Santa, Christmas cookies (by the dozen), homemade ice cream, ornament making, present opening, family, and Charlie Brown. Yes, Charlie Brown. He may be fictional, he may be overwrought with the commercial nature of the holiday, but starting before Thanksgiving, and even in the new year we've been watching and grooving along with the Charlie Brown Christmas movie. We even went out in the blizzard to buy the last copy. Our first kid-movie purchase (followed closely by Curious George, which has Jasper doing the monkey sign nonstop, and dancing to the soundtrack in the kitchen).

More later, once we have pictures!

favorite books: Beatrix Potter, and Richard Scarry's "What Do People Do All Day?" for Josie; any book with animals that he can do the signs for would be Jasper's pick.
favorite music: Jingle Bells!
etc: dutch pancakes with lemon, oatmeal with blueberries (a perennial favorite!), and frozen fruit obtained surreptitiously from the bag in the freezer. Preferably one strawberry would be left on the floor to melt--and perhaps revisit later.

It came upon a midnight clear

Josie: "Come on, Baby Jesus, let's go in the kitchen!"
Mommy: "Josie-o, why do you keep calling Jasper 'Baby Jesus'?"
J: Because we're playing Baby Jesus. You guys are Mary and Joseph.
M: I see. That's cool.
J: But Joseph went to work, so it's just Mary here with Baby Jesus, and I'm the donkey.
M: The donkey, huh? That's interesting.
J: No...actually I'm the angel. (J exits stage right, singing "polly wolly doodle" at top volume)

November Jack-o-lanterns

Well, we've got a lot of pumpkin. Most are, admittedly, pie pumpkins, but we did real well growing them this year. Now if we could only grow some pies. But with all of the costume excitement, we didn't do so well on Jack O Lanterns. Josie carved one at a party, but it molded in 3 days!

Last night, Amanda carved a pie pumpkin. So of course, Josie and I had to do one too! I let Josie take a pen and draw the face, and then I faithfully cut out whatever she drew, with no artistic license, just exactly what she put. And this is what we got! I think it's museum quality. I continue to be overwhelmed by the amount of graphic skill and hand-eye coordination she just flaunts for an almost 4 year old.

...And the final doorbell...

Here's Josie and Monkeyboy at the final stop of the year Tuesday night at our neighbor's house. note Josie's jacket on under her costume, and the halloween socks she picked out herself. Jasper has learned the game, just put the shiny stuff in the bag, make sure I get as much as her. Nothing more realistic than a little, waddly toddly monkey who doesn't use his knees scuffling up the the door, looking up from between those dinnerplate ears, holding out his bag and going "ugh ugh!!"

Afterwards, while Jasper was going to bed, Josie and I had a long heart to heart about what it is a flower fairy actually does. We decided together that her job was to take care of the flowers, put them to bed in the fall and wake them up in the spring. Needless to say, at 8:30 on a freezing halloween evening (aren't they always freezing?) Josie and I were out shivering around the yard, putting imaginary blankets on each and every flower in each and every garden. And believe me, I planted a lot of flowers this year!

Hallowhirlwindy!

Mama really pulled out all the stops with the costumes this year. I am proud to report that Josie was one of only two kids at preschool with a homemade costume, and hers clearly looks professional, as the pictures show. Hopefully she (and Jaspie) will get lots of additional use out of them after all the effort Amanda put into them! I'm thinking we will need an organ grinder monkey at both Thanksgiving and Christmas if we can just get him on the plane!

Without further ado, here is our first (of four) trick-or-treating outings this year:

Just moments after finishing the costumes, we are studiously accessing the street:


Josie really starts to enjoy it:

Meanwhile, the other child can only be described as "grumpy monkey":

Afterwards, we reviewed the afternoon at a nearby restaurant. A classic Josie triptych:



Meanwhile, my primate of a son just kicked back with a cold milk:

p.s.

There are two new posts that follow this one, so keep reading.
In the meantime, though, I wanted to make you all aware of a nifty feature that the blog offers. If you check down there, in the lower right corner of my post, you'll see a cute little pencil and something that says "0 comments". If you click on the little pencil, you can leave a nice comment on how great the kids are, what a fascinating life we must lead, or how lovely the weather's been. I know you're reading this, so give it a try.

quick update

Josie: is really enjoying school. It was my day to stay and help on Thursday, and she really seems to be comfortable, fit in, and know what she's doing. She plays so nicely with everyone, and feels free enough to talk to any of them or say what she's thinking to the teacher. She just seems happy there, and that makes me so happy!
We went to the big (really nice) park in Golden together on Thursday afternoon, after a long day where neither kid would nap for long, and Josie rode her bike on the path along the creek. It's a little kid bike that I found at the thrift store (although it's a quite nice bike), and the training wheels keep her upright. When she falls over she says cute things like "Good thing I was wearing my helmet!" then gets up and rides on. We later went to the library where she insisted on wearing the helmet.
Jasper: is really loving the park. He is so happy to follow Josie (and her friends, whenever available) around and do what they do. Usually after school we stay for 45 minutes to play with Josie and her buddies. I think he thinks he's also three, and they really treat him nicely and try to let him join in a bit...and he does his best to keep up. He's quite proficient at sliding now, although it's usually feet-first on his belly (the safest way, no doubt), and can climb the ladder up to the second level on the play structure. I just can't get over it! Josie was an early slider, compared to her friends, but she was 16-17 months rather than 12 when she started. Okay, so he gets injured frequently, but he bounces back really quickly, and is just so generally happy and fun to be around (even when he's teething, his reflux is acting up, and he hasn't slept!). He's also really enjoying books right now, especially if they include large pictures of animals, preferably photographs, that he can point at and say "dog", "duck", or "that" or make the signs for "elephant", "butterfly" or "fish". We also think he says "right there", but that one's not so clear... I've also discovered that he understands everything I say, like "let's go in the kitchen!" or "can you put this in the basket over there?". I think he understands when I say "No!" too, but that one gets a less pronounced response...
favorite books: Anything fall-related, with leaves, pumpkins, or apples (Josie) "My Big Animal Book" and "Peek a Who" (Jasper)
favorite music: Soundtrack to Curious George the Movie (haven't seen it!) by Jack Johnson (Josie); anything danceable (Jasper)

confucius say....

Josie's hand-picked fortune (from a cookie) of Friday, 13 October:

A GREAT PLEASURE IN LIFE IS DOING WHAT OTHERS SAY YOU CAN'T


enough said.

overdue...

I've been told that I'm waaaay delinquent in updating the blog, but for good reason! Since just before preschool started we've suffered a string of debilitating (okay, not that debilitating, but annoying!) runny noses, sore throats, and general malaise. We seem to be getting over this last one, though, so here I am!
Josie's been in preschool for about a month now and is really enjoying it. Her teachers seem to be very in tune with the kids while being super-calm and keeping things fun and engaging. Josie's slowly breaking through her wall of shyness and speaking up more, singing along, playing with lots of kids (rather than just the four she already knew), and trying all of the activities they have. Every day follows the same routine, with circle time at the beginning, an hour or so to work on the 'projects' (Josie's word) they've set up [she usually goes for whatever gluing/painting/beading/coloring project they've got, then the cutting-with-scissors project, then the woodworking center (usually popsicle sticks and wood, plus glue make something vaguely recognizable as a boat or....something)], plays games, etc. She's really engaged and having fun. Then they have a snack, play outside or in the gym if it's wet, and we come get them. It's all very interesting to her, and she asks EVERY DAY at LEAST once if it's school. Even on weekends. She's just so happy, and it gives me a nice chance to spend a few minutes just with Jasper (and enjoy his naptime, but more on that later!). She's also been doing a lot of drawing and writing at home, which is part of the reason for my delinquent blogging--I've been meaning to scan in some of her more interesting pieces to share. They've gotten to be really detailed and have good stories behind them. We've also been doing a lot of sewing lately (it seems like I skip between paper things, knitting, and sewing, but Josie and I are kind of on a sewing streak right now, what with Halloween sneaking up on us!). We've nearly finished a coat for her. She was perusing the Butterick book and found a lovely a-line polarfleece number with a round collar. We found some lovely blue to match her eyes, and some pink kitty-face buttons to keep it around her. We've also got a jumper, fairy costume, Jasper's secret costume, and a bunch of pincushions in the works, plus bear and kitty dolls in the 'almost finished' pile. I'll have to get pictures of those, but I'll have to wrest them away from Jaspie first, since he seems to have an absolutely unmatched love of stuffed animals.
Speaking of, he's growing fast. I need to get him in for his one-year checkup (okay, so we're six weeks past that, but he'll be fine, so long as the mumps aren't going around) just so we can get his weight. It's somewhere upwards of 26-27 lbs, but I'm falling behind. At least he can walk now, and I don't have to cart him nearly everywhere any longer. Just a month ago he was taking his first steps, now suddenly he walks from one end of the house to the other, chasing Josie around for his morning hug (or post-naptime hug, or anytime hug), falling, getting up, smiling, dancing, suddenly a boy rather than an infant! It just happened so fast!

Sounds like he's waking up, so I'll cram as much info as I can into this last paragraph--he's got about ten words (book, milk, dada, doggie, kitty, mo(re), something approximating 'Josie', maaaamaaaa (when he needs something), and duck), plus a few signs (more, fish, light (the favorite), waving hi/bye, clapping, etc). He's a great imitator, trying to pin my fabric for me, or knit, or chop carrots, drawing, painting. If Josie's got a fork, he needs one too. Although the biting and sand-eating is winding down, he seems to have grown a possessive side, from the way he flipped out when Josie had 'his' orange cup yesterday. Loves the water...at the pool he's like a fish, and if you put him near a sink he climbs in and turns it on. Eats anything (just like his sister!), falls down and gets up without so much as a whimper (usually, unless there's blood), good with the shape-sorter. Oh, and he drives and 'vrooms' for anything with wheels between bringing books over that he wants to sit on my lap to read. Best of all, he's free and easy with the hugs and kisses, just like a good boy :)
favorite books: "Metro Cat" (Josie) "My Big Animal Book" and "Goodnight Moon" (Jasper)
favorite music: "something jazzy" (Josie)
etc: Jasper's now moved on to popsicles, and they both love oatmeal or p'nut butter toast (preferably RAISIN toast) to feed selves for breakfast;
recent favorite quote, about the mutant underpollinated indian corn in our garden:
Josh: "wow, that's something else!"
Josie: "no dada, that's just corn."

now back to our irregularly scheduled programming...

Okay, so vacation's over, summer's winding down and school has started! I've been such a bad blogger, taking the last so many weeks off...it almost makes me sad to look back at the last post, with Josie leaping into my arms, realizing that that is now past! Anyhow, it's time for a big update, so here goes!
We had a great vacation, several weeks in Plymouth with Sisi, Papa, and Uncle Brian followed by more than a week with Grandma and Grandpa (plus a surprise appearance by Uncle Bread!) in Kettering. We did so many fun things I can't even begin to reiterate them all here, but needless to say, the high point of the vacation was all the time we spent in the water. We hit every major geographical feature: ocean, pond, lake, pool, water park. Jasper takes to the water like a fish, crawling into whatever he can find (usually over his head!), and wanting to do whatever Josie does. He floats along happily, and could literally spend all day in the water without complaint. Josie moved from being pretty unsure and trepidatious to feeling very confident about putting her whole head under, jumping in, floating around, even trying to swim (which mostly consisted of walking on the bottom of the pool until someone pulled her up to breathe). She even took advantage of the opportunity (with Uncle Brian) to take up her new favorite hobby of fishing, and she was a champ. With a bit of assistance, she caught two little bass and a whole mess of perch.
Josie started school last week and absolutely loves it. Josh and I are both very happy with the school we found; it's at the local Methodist Church, less than a mile away. The teachers seem to be very comfortable with each other, they're well stocked with fun supplies and creative ideas, and have a great playground. Josie couldn't be happier (well, unless she could go live with princesses who don't have a baby to pay attention to, but that's another story), and neither could we! The teacher was surprised to see that she could write her name, saying that it's a skill the kids usually pick up this time next year. At that point I realized that Josie started it this time last year. Goodness! Speaking of which, she's figured all the letter sounds out and can read simple words and books. I guess I'm not all that surprised (and she certainly doesn't seem to be!), but it's so exciting to see her acquiring all these new skill and taking such pride in her new abilities. With the start of school she suddenly seems...older...and bigger. Her language is getting to be so complex, with long phrases and interesting words...and so polite! She continues to be a really fun kid to be around!
At the same time, Jasper's got about ten words that we can figure (milk, book, dog, kitty-cat, mama, dada, something approximating 'josie', and a couple more), and a few signs (more, no, dog, wave goodbye or hello, light, milk, airplane). He's also really been interested in books. It started about a month ago when he would try and get in with Josie and I to read whatever we've got. Now he'll find books on his own to sit and page through. My favorite part is when he tries to pick the blueberries off the page :) He's also become really mobile in the past month. When we left Plymouth he was just starting to come around to the whole idea of walking unsupported, then Josh tempted him into walking...with blueberries. He would stand a few feet away with a blueberry and Jasper would walk over, nibble it out of his hand, then walk a bit further for another bite. Now he's walking wherever he wants to go, and is absolutely thrilled about it. He's also quite the climber---whatever he can do to get up on the counter where we keep the (you guessed it) fruit.

I've got great pictures for all these adventures we had, so I'll have to upload them in the next few days...stay tuned!

favorite books: "Horace, Morris, and Mostly Dolores Join the Chorus", "Where the Wild Things Are"
favorite music: "Catch that Train" Dan Zanes
etc: Jasper's really loving fruit and graham crackers; Josie digs the peanut butter cookies and popsicles