"ABCDEFG"

Jonah is learning his letters! The amazing part is that I haven't worked with him all that much in this area. He is just a little sponge. I recorded him the other night when we were reading before bed. You should know that this is completely candid. I did not prompt him or rehearse any of it before I started recording...there were no "do overs." My favorite part of the video is hearing his sweet little voice! He doesn't get it right every time, but that is ok. 

Apparently it is not possible to recite the alphabet (or even parts of it) without rolling onto one's back like a dog! 

Playing at the Ballpark

Jonathan is playing on our church softball team this year. Jonah and I like to tag along to the games. The ball field just so happens to be at a park with a nice playground, so we take full advantage. Jonathan likes to get there early to warm up, so Jonah and I play at the playground until game time. 

The slide is his favorite. 

But, watching the game is not torture for him:

Last week he was the BEST little cheerer in the stands. He was cheering at the top of his lungs for each and every member of the team when they got up to bat. This week, he had a little buddy to play with and got distracted, but he was still very cute and had a great time. 

After we got home and ate a bite of supper Jonah wanted to watch a little Veggie Tales. He very lovingly invited Jonathan to watch with him, and then lovingly commanded Daddy to lay on his tummy like Jonah was. 

They are my favorite duo.

Jonah Bear

I don't know if I ever posted pictures of Jonah Bear. He was Jonah's first stuffed animal. We made him before Jonah was born...and included a sound card with Jonah's heartbeat inside of him. 

Today we went back to Build-A-Bear to buy another sound card...for the new baby. 

We let Jonah bring his bear to get some clothes. He chose a football uniform (which came with a ball and helmet). 

 I secretly had hoped he might choose something "cute" (ie: a shirt with a collar and pants with a button), but his choice made him very very happy. 

I also could not resist buying a little pair of glasses for the bear. 

Tow Mater

While Jonah and I were out shopping this evening I got a text from Jonathan. He alerted me to the fact that Tow Mater was in town. Not only in town, but across the street from his work, no less. So, we hightailed ourselves over to visit Daddy at work and visit Jonah's FAVORITE character.   I let Jonah be surprised, and it was AWESOME!! He was tickled to his toes when we pulled into that parking lot! 

I could not get him unbuckled and out of the car fast enough!! 

I love seeing such delight on the face of this boy!
(I just noticed how much the above photo of Jonah resembles childhood pictures of Jonathan at his age...it's definitely in the smile)

I thought the truck was done very nicely too...it's a pretty cool replica of the cartoon guy we all love so dearly. 

And here is the sweet little guy with his stuffed Mater that was a souvenier from three of our favorite people when they went to Colorado over Spring Break. 

New Driver!

Well, the day has come much more quickly than I anticipated....my little guy is a new driver! Granted, he does have a few more skills to learn (umm, steering), he sure is cute behind the wheel! 

We had a sticker chart (that came in a package of pull ups) that Jonah got to fill in each day that he was "all clean all day" while potty training. At bath time each evening, if he had not had an accident, he got to place a sticker on that chart. We told him when it was full he'd be getting a big truck...he just had no idea how BIG it was! 

By Good Friday he had earned his last sticker...but he wasn't home that night, so we waited until Easter Sunday. It was getting dark when we got back home, but not quite as dark as it seems on the video. We let him "play" with it that night, but didn't charge the battery until after....so I took more video the next day. 

Family Night Out: mini-golf

Last night we went out as a family! Jonathan and I looked forward to it all day long. He has been working most evenings, so it was exciting for us to all spend time together. We decided to take Jonah to play miniature golf for the first time. He likes to pretend he's playing golf around the house, and has even told us his score from time to time (he always has a double bogey). I credit our Wii mini-golf game for that one. 

Let me tell you, the Wii has nothing on a real miniature golf course! (combined with our little cutie, of course)

We went to a local indoor course. The temperature had dropped through the day, and there was a chance of rain. This indoor course is really colorful and pretty, but made it difficult to get good photos. 

ALL of the photos are blurry. We tried and tried. 

The lighting (and too-excited-to-stand-still-tot) just wasn't conducive to quality photos.

 (we asked the sweet lady working there to take a family shot, but they were the worst of all...I did slip them into the video)

He got progressively better through the course. Practice makes perfect, you know. The lady who was working there could not believe he'd never played on a mini-golf course before. In the beginning he manipulated the ball to do what he wanted, but, Jonah actually made a couple of holes on par...like, he really got it in without "cheating."

We're gonna do this again soon!!

The things my kid says.

these quotes may not interest people all that much, but I want them recorded permanently....

In the car last night Jonah dropped the toy he'd been playing with. He said something like "oh no! what gonna do?" I commented back to him "Are you asking what Mommy's going to do?" To which he said: "No, not Mama. Oh nooo! What JONAH going to do?"

Yesterday afternoon he was playing golf in his room while I swept the other floors in the house. He was armed with two golf balls and a plastic bat that he was using for a club. All of the sudden he (very proudly) exclaimed:  "I got A DOUBLE BOGEY, Mama!" That's what comes of watching golf on tv and watching Jonathan play Tiger Woods Golf on our Wii.

And many of you may have seen my recent Facebook post, but some of you may not have. A couple of weeks ago Jonah was in a phase of calling me "babe." This followed spring break when Jonathan was home more than usual (since there were no schools needing substitutes). One specific example was when the two of them were on the couch. Jonah called to me in the kitchen saying: "please, may I have a drink, Babe?" We were in stitches! 

The next week he had one instance of calling me "Amy." I didn't react much and he hasn't done it since. He wasn't being disrespectful...I guess he's just making some observations/learning how his little world works.

my great idea.

This morning I had a great idea. Or so it seemed at the time. I'm testing the idea and should have results by the end of the week.

If you have read this blog regularly, you know that bedtime is a struggle at our house. Sometimes he just isn't tired, but most times he goes to bed fine, then starts screaming sometime in the night. It's getting out of hand, happening earlier and more frequently each night. 

Since the sticker chart was such a hit with Jonah for going potty, I thought I'd try making a GOODnight sticker chart for him. We went to Michael's (dangerous store, people) and got some fancy stickers.  

Near the front of the store by the registers Michael's had a display of some really big, really enticing coloring books. Jonah wanted them right away, so on impulse I bought one and deemed it the reward for filling the chart. 

We've had a routine in place for a while now, where I tell him I'll come back and check on him in a while. That usually calms him enough to get to sleep. I thought it was good enough, but this week, he's been screaming for me again. (after about 40 minutes of being in bed). Anyway, the checking on him...I would go back before I headed to bed and I'd leave his door open after checking. SO...the deal is, if his door is closed NO FUSSING. If he can avoid fussing while his door is closed, he earns a sticker in the morning. Once he fills his chart (30 stickers) he will get to have the coloring book. 

I hope he "gets" it. I hope and pray that this works. 

I sat down to type this after putting him in bed. So far, so good. I've been typing in silence!