Trip Home to Austin

Jordan and I just got back from our first trip back home. We've only been in Abq for two months, but it felt like it could have been only three weeks with everything we've had going on. Still, it was nice to go back and see everyone (rather than wait until Christmas, which seems infinitely far away), and get away from our money-pit house!

The plane trip home was a good deal of fun for Jordan. She was a sight at the ABQ Sunport, pushing her little puppy dog roller suitcase all over the airport like a grown-up. People would just stare. She knew she was going "bye-bye plane". She seemed pretty impressed she had her very own seat for the first time, and when we headed down the runway she started to squeal and laugh and say "FAST! FAST!". So Jo's not afraid to fly. She didn't fuss once the whole way; makes me wish we could fly to the grocery store....

The first weekend at home was spent with family. Pa hadn't seen her since July and was in fits. Koo Koo Katherine came down from Ft Worth and stayed the weekend with us and Koo Koo Karen came in from Houston. So Jo got both Koo Koo's under one roof! We went to visit Poppa and Dah that Sunday and Jordan magically figured out how to propel herself on a Big Wheel. She's had a sit and push Lion since her 1st Birthday and has never been able to ride it.

The rest of the week we hung out with friends. Jo got to reunite with her playdate buddies she's had since birth. She hasn't had very many opportunites to interact with other kids since we've moved, and she was super excited to see these guys. She got so wound up, she was a wild woman the whole ride home and the crazies continued for another 30 minutes at least at Nana's house. I got to meet up with some of my running (what's that?) buddies and go to the Hike and Bike Trail, one of the things I miss most about Austin. I also had a good time shopping all afternoon with my friend LaShelle (Jo's Aunt LaLa), who took ofa few afternoons off from work to see us! And we got to see Gary and Avelyn's new house, which should be done just in time for the birth of their baby this fall!

Hurrican Ike was a little more drama than the trip needed, especially with Karen deciding to stay in Houston during the storm. But Austin was unscathed, literally not a drop of rain, Karen is fine, and our flights home proceeded without delay. Which was good because Jamie really missed Jo (and he swears he missed me too!).

Blink, She's TWO

Time flies, it's no lie. You just have to do your very best to enjoy the present, and take lots of pictures.

Jordan thoroughly enjoyed her 2nd Birthday; it was action packed. And I think she got it, a little bit, that it was a special day for her. First, she woke up in the very best of moods with a huge smile and mooned for my camera. She picked out her own clothes, and chose a girly dress (see above). Somehow, she knew.

Jamie and I stayed up the night before assembling her new play kitchen, and she fell in love with it right away: moving pots and pans around, turning knobs, "answering" the phone, arranging her cupboards. We only had time to open one other gift before Daddy went to work. I couldn't justify making her a big birthday cake (or cakes) for just the 3 1/2 of us, so I did cupcakes instead. Jordan is always requesting we draw her Elmo ("Melmo"), Ernie ("Knee"), and Bert (just "Bert"), whether it be on the magna-doodle, patio with sidewalk chalk, or paper and crayons. So, she got Sesame Street cupcakes, and she could recognize who was who and make requests on which to eat. I think she eat three that day... Oy.

After I finished cupcake icing, Nana and I took her to ABQ Jump, a huge indoor inflatable jumping gym. It was nuts, so much fun. She wore me out. You have to be at least two to go, they should maybe change that to three. In my opinion, you should also have to be under 30 and be capable of maintaining a 150 heart rate. The kids are wild. the slides are huge, and there was no way Jo could get up there by herself and no way I wasn't going to take her down the slides. So, 90 minutes later we rushed home to meet Daddy for lunch and open presents.

We got distracted by cupcakes instead; presents take a backseat to sugary food with fire in this house. Jordan LOVES to have Happy Birthday sung to her. With Jamie's help, she figured out the whole candle blowing thing. And with no one's help, she figured out how to eat cupcakes.

Somehow she fell asleep on her normal nap schedule. For Birthday dinner I made her favorite: meat loaf ("MEATS!!"). Then, more presents, more cupcakes, more gourmet creations from the play kitchen and the 20 billion pieces of plastic food now scattered about the house.

Saturday, we took her to the Aquarium and the Botanical Gardens. She liked these much better than the zoo. They have this really neat children's garden where everything is super sized. All very creative. You can walk through carrots and a huge pumpkin, ride pony-sized ants, run through a termite mound maze. And the entrance to the garden is through a castle guarded by a smoking dragon. I was impressed; it's a nice place to spend the morning and have a picnic lunch, and not at all crowded.

So that pretty much wraps up Jo's 2nd Birthday. She had a great time, loves everything everyone sent her, and when you ask her how old she is, she says "I Two!!"

New Jordan Antics

Jo has a few new tricks, most of which we find amusing, some not so much :-)

- She has finally started to say YES after months of NO. This is a huge breakthrough. Except she doesn't say "yes", she says "Aye". ?? No idea where she picked this up, but I've never heard "yes", just "aye".
- Her latest joke is that she says things are orange that are really green. I hope this is a joke, and not color blindess. But I've tricked her into starting to say "green", then she catches herself, smiles, and says "orange". Goof.
- Forget about feeding her with a spoon. And if you're using a grown up spoon and she has a baby spoon, she'll holler for yours until you trade. Also, as you can see from the latest Ofoto album, you can also forget about helping her eat her yogurt. If I so much as try to hold onto the lip of the yogurt container, I get "Eh! Eh!" until I let her hold it all by herself. Which is good for her, bad for the highchair, clothes, hair, walls....
- In the morning, all of the stuffed babies in her crib have to "ride the pony" (ride the crib railing) and fall down into the crib with her before she'll get out of bed.
- She still likes to point out all of the new piles of dog poop in the yard to us.
- I think she's coming to the age where she likes to play baby. She'll come up to me and say "ooh, aahh, aww" and expect me to cradle her and say she's my baby (which, of course, she is :-)
- She plays a game with Jamie where she grabs onto his shirt while he's sitting on the floor and runs around him in circles to spin him around. Then he grabs her and tickles and we get peals of little girl laughter.
- She loves Hide and Seek, and even covers her eyes and counts (to like 3 before she loses patience). She's started hiding behind the couch in the playroom. I heard her counting behind me last night.

Well, gotta go. I hear little miss in the room next door, just up from a nap, having a conversation about something!

Lazy Days of Summer?

Nobody said being a stay at home Mom was a vacation. And they were right. But it can sure be a lot of fun! Our routine lately has been: morning walk or backyard play, breakfast, swim lesson, lunch, nap for Jo (and chores for me), snack, errands, and then comes the late afternoon melt down while I try to make a "real" dinner. Most of this daily routine isn't too interesting reading, but here on some of Jo's favorite games of late:

- Hiding in the closet with Mama or Daddy: There has to be another participant, it's just no fun to hide in the closet by yourself. We have a really cool coat closet that extends under the stairwell and wraps around a little. It stores mostly baby gear, but also has the sleeping bags, which make for a comfy Hidey-Hole. Jo likes to sit in the dark with someone and look at the stars cast by her night light sleeping turtle Heather gave her for Christmas this past year. Pretty chill playtime, good when I'm tired, except Jo just doesn't get sick of it and you're not permitted to leave the closet until she's ready.

- Sidewalk Chalk: I'm sure you've seen all of the chalk pictures on Ofoto. This game might be on the brink of losing it's appeal though. Lately there's been a lot more chalk throwing than drawing.

- Trip to the Sprinkler Park: Again, lots of Ofoto pics. We've been on a sprinkler park hiatus with swim lessons going on. But this trip is a garaunteed good time and ensures a good appetite and nice long nap afterwards (Yay!).

- Trips to the Grocery Store (wah??): Who knew. Nana started this thing with letting Jo push the cart using the bottom cross bar. Now she loves the grocery store (and Costco, samples or no). We went to Albertson's yesterday. I have never seen a little kid have so much fun in a grocery store. She talked about all the different fruits and vegetables, complete with full-on hand gesticulations, got a paper towel from the meat department and wiped down the shelves and doors within her reach (and the cashier station next to our checkout line), picked up different cans of food to study (AND put them back!). My goodness.

Our first family trip to the Zoo

We decided to take Jordan to the Rio Grande Zoo to celebrate my 33rd Birthday. All kids love the zoo, right? And who can pass up spending time outdoors in this gorgeous weather? After all of those years suffering through the Texas summers, we just can't get over how awesome the weather is here. Zoo day was a hot one though, it may have gotten up to 90.

Jordan loves to go through a list of favorite animals and make their sounds. We figured this would be a hit. We even bought the annual family membership (hey, I love the zoo...). Well, I guess she's still a little young for the real deal. We started the trip off right by packing juice, animal crackers, an animal parade book (there's a theme!), sunscreen. Within 10 minutes that juice was spilt all over the floorboard of the backseat (yay for rubber car mats). Jordan was really good about sitting in her old-school stroller, which can get a little warm. But I think 2-yr olds are just too small and too easily distracted to locate, watch, and be entertained by slumbering monkeys, lions, etc. She did like the lion, which she recognized, and gave us some "ooohs" when we went in the nocturnal exhibit. But that's about it. She does still talk about the trip, though. When I ask, "Jordan, did you like the Zoo?", I get back "Walk! Walk!". We eventually freed her from her stroller and let her run around the zoo without having to hold hands. Now that's a treat.