Jonny's words

Jonny is picking up new words every day. Some words are clear and other times it just sound like chattering. Here are a couple of short videos of Jonny talking:

We've been working for a few months to teach Jonny to say "please" and "thank you" but we often have to prompt him to say "please" instead of screaming. Sometimes, the words come out on their own, like in this video, and it both surprises and delights us!

Jonny has been saying his name for a couple of weeks now. It started out sounding like "nee nee" but "gee gee" is what it sounds like now. It's hard to get him on video because as soon as he sees the video camera, he thinks he needs to watch himself on it!

A Sunny Day at the Park

We've had some beautiful, sunny days lately so when Jonny asks to go "ow-si", we generally agree. We still have piles of snow all over our yard so we spent some time in the park yesterday. Jonny played on the equipment and we fed the ducks. The park had plenty of snow and mud around, but it was so nice to be out in the sunshine!

Jonny Loves the Vacuum

Have I ever mentioned before how much Jonny loves the vacuum cleaner? There are so many things he loves about the vacuum: he loves to push the button to turn it on and off, he loves to run around and scream while it's running, he loves to put on his straw hat and walk in front of the vacuum, he loves to "help" by holding onto the handle, and he likes to help fix the vacuum when the belt comes off. He's recently discovered another favorite, too. While you are wrapping up the cord to put the vacuum away, he will hurry and run to the closet where the vacuum belongs and hide in the closet. He thinks it's so funny!

The Laundry Basket

This is how Jonathan "helps" us fold clothes! He loves to sit in the basket, pull out the clothes, tip the basket over and hide underneath. He even started carrying the basket around like a turtle's shell the last time we folded clothes. Don't you love how the truck had to be in the basket, too?

A Long Car Ride

Our trip to Grandma's house usually takes between 5.5 and six hours, but we had some fun rides this winter due to snowy roads. At Thanksgiving, we had a 7.5 hour trip and an 8.5 hour trip. Coming home from Christmas was an 8 hour trip. So what do you do when you've already used all of the books, toys and treats that you brought along and there is still more than an hour left of the trip? Hand the boy the digital camera and hope for the best!

Christmas 2010

Jonathan had a fun Christmas. We stayed at my mom's house and so did my sister so Jonathan had cousins to play with all day long! Jonathan got a stick horse, a big Tonka dump truck, some interactive toddler toys, and a ton of Chuck the Truck cars and ramps.

One of Jonathan's favorite things to do at Grandma's house is to get ice from the ice dispenser in the fridge. He would say, "ice, ice" to anyone who happened to be in the kitchen, several times a day. He even got his cousins involved, so here is a picture of the little ice-eaters!

In Memory of Papa

Sorry, everyone, for not keeping my weekly posts up to date! We went out of town for Christmas and then we suffered the loss of my dad a week after Christmas. This is one of the last pictures I took of my dad. He sat down on the couch to eat some Thanksgiving leftovers and Jonathan wanted to share so he climbed up on Dad's lap. My dad got sick at Christmas and it turned into pneumonia. He had seen the doctor and was on a strong antibiotic, but a few days later he told my mom that he couldn't breathe. She took him to the hospital and he was put into intensive care, but he died just a couple of days later on January 3. He was only 62 and we are going to miss him!