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
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