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.