Instant Journal vol. 1

John Caleb Jones age 2 years and 2 months
( from Wondertime)




Ask your child what he wants to be when he grows up, and why.

He wants to be a monster ball clean up. This answer came because he was playing monster bowling with his dad and had to clean it up before they could have a tea party.




What are you learning from your child these days.

M&M's are a cure all and bribe all, kisses do make it all better, sometimes it takes longer to set up the craft than it actually does to make it, little boys are just as good at playing mommies as little girls, snuggling in mom and dad's bed watching cartoons is second only to reading his favorite book and him knowing all the words.


Likes

Pancakes for breakfast, the color blue, Apple juice, doing it (everything) himself , plugging things in, having tea parties, his bouncy house, cheese pizza, digging in the sand, Shauna, Shayna, Taylor and Sydney, talking to Papa on the phone, Mickey Mouse, washing his feet in the sink, sitting on the potty and making a pee sound, and Llama llama red pajama




Dislikes

fruit (except bananas), all vegetables, mom's new rule about keeping the milk cups in the dining room, bug bites, and getting his hair washed

well we got a lot done

It was another busy weekend here. I woke up Friday morning thinking, oh we should really think of something fun to do with the baby this weekend. Then I remembered how last weekend was all about him and decided he had probably had enough fun, so we could do some things around the house! (I think I am getting nervous about his adjustment to the new baby and am overcompensating a bit.)

Friday night was date night! We had one of our favorite babysitters (the other fave is her twin sister!) come over and we went to the movies. Here is a picture...clearly I do not get out of the house enough if I am putting on make up and heels for the movies. We did get wings first, so there was the excuse, and I just cut my hair off, so I wanted to see it all done up : ) BTW we saw Ironman, very very good. Totally worth the $100 is cost us to go see it. I think.

I spent the last week painting Caleb's room. Everything in our house is the same pale yellow, which is fine except when its every single wall. I had been wanting to paint for awhile and finally settled on this nice green. He is also getting a frog mural on the blank wall...when I get a chance and he will be upgrading to a big boy bed in the next few months.

Our other project for the weekend was new light fixtures. Brandon found this one, as well as a matching pendant light for our kitchen. (Its not hung, because it got late and you have to cut the power to attach and he couldn't see in the dark!) Its an amber tiffany dome with green trim- so perfect! You can see the floor lamp from our Pottery Barn escapade from a few weeks ago on the right, and there is a bench on the front side of the table in stead of chairs. So, little by little we are putting this place together. ps- disregard the yucko blinds, they are next on the list to go! We also spent a lot of time looking at floor and counter sample so that we can redo our kitchen soon. I can't wait!

Funny kid alert: Caleb calls shoes his shoeson...its especially funny when he says he wants he shoeson off!

Sesame Place

We went on our exciting trip to Sesame Place this weekend and had a blast. The park is half dry rides and half waterpark. First, we had breakfast with Cookie monster. Caleb was a little nervous about all of the characters, but he was also really excited and couldn't eat, so I just smuggled some cereal and a bagel out in my bag. We spent Friday morning doing the rides (well, Brandon and Caleb rode the rides-I took a video) I think there should be a pregnant mommy discount, I couldn't ride anything.

Caleb had a lot of fun riding the rides, but my favorite part was the water park. We just pulled up chairs and let the kiddo splash. He crashed out on the way back to the hotel, slept on the bed for about 20 minutes, slept in the car on the way to the restaurant (I wanted a salad, but Brandon made me go to on the Border- mmm queso!) The baby woke up long enough to eat his nachos and fell back asleep in my arms.

Day two was just as fun, but we ran out of steam a little quicker. After lunch Caleb fell asleep, he even slept through the parade. Don't worry I got it all on video, and we have watched it about 10 times since coming home.

We were a little disappointed with Sesame Street. I guess I thought it was going to look more like Brooklyn. Really, it was Brooklyn painted on a mural.

Here we are enjoying Elmo's world, well Caleb was enjoying it!

The lazy river is supposed to be a leisurely ride, but it was a struggle for Brandon because Caleb just wanted to swim, which I guess in SSP you're not allowed to do. Who ever heard of that?

This is how they get you to buy their pricey photo packages.....they take away the background, so it looks like you're floating!

Our first character encounter, no tears, but no hugs either. He warmed up by the end of the weekend.

Big Bird had to have a chair, I guess that neck is cumbersome- I also noticed he wasn't in any of the shows. Guess you have to have seniority to be him, less physical activity!

Zoe used to be my favorite girl character, but now I am liking Abby. I think its the dress, or maybe the wand...maybe the wings. hmmm, I think I have found my Halloween costume. Here's a snap of the Treasure Hunt show- just minutes before our kid passed out!

Funny things Caleb does:

His favorite game is diner or concession stand. He stands at my feet and asks, "apple juice?" "apple juice?" Sometimes it takes me a minute to catch on, they I say, "yes, please" and he runs off and brings me pretend juice, then I ask for milk, ice cream, pasta, eggs, pizza, the game continues until I can't think of anything else to ask for. But, its pretty funny.

This evening, I was upstairs putting away some laundry when Caleb started yelling, "pee pee, pee pee" I should mention that he was only wearing a diaper because we were watering the flowers earlier and of course that turned into splashing into Caleb being completely soaked. So I skipped tubby time and just stripped him in the yard and dried him off. Anyway, I came downstairs to find him totally naked on my floor, because he recently become fascinated with trying to take off his diaper. Today he succeeded. I asked him if he did pee pees on the floor and he told me yes. So I was really stressing out about pee on my carpet. Thankfully, he was joking because he loves to joke about pee and poop. little boy! So, we sat on the toilet and had a discussion about peeing on mommy's beautiful carpet. Hope he was listening.

Sunny Days

The last few days have been really beautiful. The news is full of stories of terrible weather conditions and I am very thankful for where we live. We had a pool party on Thursday, which was a lot of fun and Friday we were able to enjoy our neighborhood beach for the first time. Pretty crazy that we live so close. Its not Mexico, but still a lot of fun


Caleb and I have the next two weeks off, because the girls are going on vacation. I have a huge list of things I would like to get done.....paint his room, finish varnishing my dining room chairs, shop for dryer (its still broken) But will probably and very happily spend our days playing outside and enjoying the beach as much as possible.

A super Bunny update: Caleb has finally figured out that 5 comes after 6 and we've been successfully counting to 12 for the last few days now. We are gearing up for our trip to Sesame Place and can't wait for our breakfast with Cookie Monster.

A Raccoon Family update: They are still living happily in our tree. I called Animal control to report them and I was sure that they would show up with nets and sirens. But, they didn't, just cautioned me to keep the kiddos away from the babies! Hope they move on soon, cute as they are they give me the creeps.

99 degrees and climbing

So, much excitement around here today. We were outside this morning doing the trash, when our neighbor stopped up to let us know that there is a family of raccoons living in a tree in our front yard. I called the town to come look at them- awake during the day is not a good sign. Thankfully, they are in a tree we wanted to take down anyway, so maybe they will chop it down for this.

It was almost 100 degrees today, so we turned on the sprinklers and had popsicles for snacktime. Aren't baby girl bikinis adorable? I have definitely been out of TX for a while because I couldn't take it and we were back inside by noon.

On Sunday, We went to Westport for a garden tour. It was really nice, but blazing hot. Here's one of the homes. They were beautiful, as expected, but we didn't make it to all of them. We hit the Pottery Barn instead. air conditioning!

Here's a sonogram, just a foot for all of you professional ultrasound readers! (sorry for the glare)

On the belly front, I wanted to punch a lady in the face at the park last week- Her daughter was having a baby due in July, I'm due in Oct and she was surprised, and told me as much, about how big I was. Really keep it to yourself lady...then today at the GYM! one of the babysitters told me that I had really blown up. What is wrong with people?

Caleb continues counting- He gets stuck on the number 5, so that's what we're working on. And on Saturday we schlepped him to 1/2 a dozen stores looking for home decorating ideas. He was a trooper, but would only respond to the name Super Bunny! Whatever works- but I think we've found a Halloween costume : )

14 inches and 14 onces

We had our 20 week appointment today. Actually, 21 weeks, but whose counting? Anyway, everything looks good and healthy. Two of what there should be two and one of parts you only want one of. We're keeping the gender a secret, so you'll have to wait and see!

baa baa black sheep

Caleb got some really fun Elmo overalls for his birthday..they were waiting in a package for him from cousin Carla when we returned home after our Memorial Day trip. Of course he loved them, and insisted on wearing them the next day. I snapped this picture in our garage, because it was a rainy day and that's where we play now! All was good, until Caleb discovered he couldn't get to his belly button. I had to show him how to reach inside. The belly button is very important, and we must have access at all times.

I got Brandon tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld for his birthday last month. Jill and Brian came down from Albany to go with us and we went to dinner in Mystic, CT before the show. Brandon had a requested a restaurant with a deck where he could eat oysters. I did some research and found the perfect place. They even had lobster bisque, yum! We were running late and rushing to make our 6:00 reservation. (I'm not sure why, because its not a retirement community) We finally got there at 6:30 only to find that the restaurant as well as half of the town were experiencing a power outage. We ended up at delicious Italian place across the street. The best calamari ever and lobster ravioli....yummy!

The show was a lot of fun, and afterward Brian and Brandon did some gambling. Us girls were going to go shopping, but the closed the shops up and midnight, so we ate some pie instead.

We had a quiet day on Saturday. Had the usual pancake breakfast and said good-bye to our friends. Caleb did not/ would not take a nap and we made plans to have dinner with our friends Sam and Patty (Taylor and Sydney's mom and dad) He was pretty good until it was time to leave and then meltdown! We came home where I gave in and let him watch cartoons until he passed out.

Sunday was beautiful and we went to the park. This particular park has chicken and sheep as well as a great playgrounds. When we started talking about the animals Caleb started singing what I am sure was Baa Baa black sheep. What a smartie!

He also went poops on the potty today for the first time and on Thursday he counted all the way 14 by himself (he missed 5, but oh well!) I have decided not to look at child development books to see if he is progressing as he should. I will just carry on thinking he is the smartest kid ever.

We worked in the yard for the afternoon and then had the Lynches over to grill burgers. Here's a shot of Shauna and Caleb tossing rocks at the beach after we walked to Marnicks for ice cream.

After the park, pulling the weeds, scrubbing the decks and a long walk- boy was I feeling pregnant. Speaking of, we have our anatomy scan for the baby tomorrow, to make sure everything is where its supposed to be. Wish us luck!