"No, mommy"

Jonathan's favorite new saying is "No, mommy."

It's not what you'd expect - this is not screamed in fits of frustration or 2-yr-old rage (well not usually anyway), rather stated quietly, calmly and in a tone of voice that says, "Oh geez, here she goes again (long-suffering sigh)."

Me: Jonathan, it's bathtime. Let's go upstairs!
Jonathan: No, mommy.

Me: Jonathan, how was your day at school!? Did you have fun playing with your friends!?
Jonathan: No, mommy.

Me: (singing along with his Music Class CD) Little red caboose, chug chug chug!! Little red-
Jonathan: No, mommy.

Annoying my kid already at the age of 22 months. That's gotta be some kind of a record.

Wyoming Trip!

We made our annual trip to Jackson, WY earlier this month and had such a fantastic time, as always. Jonathan was really able to appreciate the experience this year, including such Wyoming-specific attractions as the club pool, rocks in Grandma and Grandpa's driveway, and legos.

OK, so maybe he doesn't appreciate the amazing mountains and prolific wildlife, but he had an absolute blast. I felt guilty for taking him home.

One of the biggest highlights of the trip was definitely trips to the pool, where Jonathan was able to stand and run around in the very shallow water. He has absolutely no fear and would plunge headfirst or flop sideways while spinning at a million miles an hour only to laugh hysterically and do it again moments after we rescued him from under the water.

Another popular activity was exploring "Nana" and "Peepa's" yard. He wanted to be outside the whole.dang.time. Throwing rocks, chasing Cricket, playing basketball or tee-ball, it didn't matter as long as he was outside. I didn't mind because we had fantastic weather compared to the crazy heat wave we'd been having in Atlanta.

Jeremy and I had the chance to get away one evening and look for animals - we saw a few things, including a moose, which was my goal all along! We also saw some elk in the backyard, so I got my wild animal fix on the trip. The other non-Jonathan-related highlight was a fancy party we went to on the last night. The rich lady had hired musicians from the Houston orchestra and flew them in for her party. We got a private violin/guitar concert.

I took it easy on the hiking - just going on a 2 mile walk one day - but Jeremy and my mom went on a really long hike. Mom went 8 miles and Jeremy ended up going 10. WOW.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful time as always. Here are some pics from the trip that pretty much sum it up. Please note - I did actually have more than one shirt with me on the trip.






























And just for fun, a pic of Jonathan on the swings last year vs. this year. Last year's pic was the very first time he was ever on a swing.

Jonathanisms

Just a quick note today to talk about a few of the cute things Jonathan says:

"Shoshy"
Said when referring to himself, things that are his, and also whenever we bring out our phones or computers - because he believes that the sole purpose of those devices is to display pictures of...well, Jonathan.

"Gocka ball"
Refers to his soccer ball. Also used to describe the photo of our beloved late dog, whose picture is still hanging in our hall. We like to go through the pictures and talk about which doggy is which. Emmy, Kahlua and Oscar have become "Eee," "LaLa" and "Gocka Ball." We find this so adorable.

"Uh-tide down!"
Shouted when daddy grabs him by the ankles and flips him upside down in the air. Giggles and requests of "'gain?!" ensue.

Can I even catch up or are we too far gone?

Once you've abandoned your blog for 3 weeks, you start to think, "there is so much to update, I can't even bring myself to try."

But I'm not giving up on the blog! So, to all of my legions of readers, you'll just have to deal with the quickest three-week-update of all time. Starting...now!

Jer and I went on a Baltic cruise - the weather was beautiful, we met some fun people on the boat and saw some cool cities and cathedrals.

Jonathan meanwhile was living the life with Grandma and Papa, aunts, uncles and cousins. I knew he had a great time when they pulled out of the driveway and Jonathan gazed forlornly out of the window, lower lip quivering, sharp little intakes of breath threatening to erupt into full hysterics at any moment. He held it together though, and things are back to normal now.

Except that in the 11 days we were gone, he is a completely new, grown up boy.

Exhibit A - when we asked him if he had fun playing with cousin Maggie, he said, "I pay wif Mannie!" I swear he did. He said it twice. I have never heard him put more than two intelligible words together.

Exhibit B - "Buttball" is now "Beatball." I am not sure that is really progress towards the real word, "football," but it is a big change - he'd been talking about "buttball" for 6 months.

Exhibit C - Yes and No! He was saying "no" before like any good 1 year old, but now he will say in a quick little breathy voice, "No, no, no, no" while shaking his head and turning away. And while he still doesn't say "yes," he will smile broadly and nod his head.

We missed our sweet little boy so much. I don't ever want to be away from him that long again. Remind me that I said this when he's a teenager.

Weekend at the beach

We had a wonderful time in Amelia Island last weekend! As you can see from the pictures, swimming was a big hit with Jonathan - that is, when he wasn't talking about, pointing towards or gingerly poking at his favorite object at Grandma and Grandpa's house, the clay duck by the pool. "Hi, Duck." "Bye-bye Duck." A big hit with Jer and me were the 3 hour naps that Jonathan took EVERY DAY.

PS - Proof that Jeremy was there too in the last photo.

Bye-Bye Trunk

Here's a cute little moment from tonight that we want to remember.

He loves elephants and requests his animal books all the time, getting especially excited about the pages with elephants on them. He also loves a song from music class about elephants - at the end he likes to raise his arm and make the trumpeting noise.

But he can't say "elephant" yet. He calls them "trunk."

Tonight, after we sang the elephant song, Jonathan noticed one of his elephant toys on the rocking chair in his room.

"Trunk?" "Trunk?" He looked worried, and ran over to it to point emphatically. "Trunk??"

"Yes, Jonathan, that's an elephant who has a trunk. But now we have to say bye-bye to the elephant and go to bed."

Waving slowly, Jonathan sadly said,

"Bye-bye trunk (babble babble babble)"

"Bye-bye trunk (babble babble babble)"

"Bye-bye trunk (babble babble babble)."

Jer and I started to laugh. The harder we laughed, the more he said it and the more somber his sweet little face became.

Love that kid so much.

Catching up on some photos - Easter

We had a great time on Easter at Jim and Jo's! Jonathan, Maggie and Will raced around in the yard for "horse shows" and enjoyed the egg hunt.