Happy Birthday Countdown!!! Jonathan's 2!

Jonathan had just turned 2 in this picture. He loved the beach, he always did his most important work there. He was always industrious at the beach, very intent on working hard in the sand.

So... when Jonathan was 2, he invented his infamous troll face. So ugly it's cute!

Jonathan, 2 years old, loved to climb up and down the sanddunes at the beach.

That's not a baby doll he was holding! This was Anna's first night home, which just happened to be Christmas Eve. Jonathan asked if he could hold her. It was such a sweet moment. I'll never forget.

Now, call me crazy, but I SWEAR Anna was smiling up at him a little. They really loved each other. Jonathan never let her cry for a second. "Mama! Mama! Anna is crying! She needs you!" He always spoke for her and stuck up for her and would include her in his play. Of course, now they are older, and they do fight. But they also still have fun together.

Jonathan in his pajamas, 2 years old. My sweet little man.

So... in this picture... I was about 7 months pregnant with Anna! I didn't show too much with her until closer to the end. Jonathan would have his baby sister in about 2 months. He was a great big brother right from the start, once he got over his initial disappointment that she wasn't a baby pony. He thought the fetal monitor always sounded like a galloping horse... I guess. Not exactly sure how that confusion started. He wasn't talking a whole lot at this point.

Summer of 2005... Jonathan is starting to grow up so fast! I like this picture because in the background you can see all of his toys. They gradually took over our living room. He was always a very happy go lucky sort of baby and toddler, always interested in everything, always able to stay content.

This was Valentine's Day, 2005. Jonathan's first trip to Sea World! We have spent many happy days there since.

Christmas Eve 2004! Jonathan started walking this evening! I remember it so well because we were at Christmas Eve service and he just started walking all over! He was 14 months old.

Nona's pantry is a perennial favorite for all the kids. He loved to get in here and pull stuff out and stack it. I remember those shoes. They had marks on the rubber toes from him crawling.

This was at Thanksgiving at Nona and Poppa's house! November 2004

Jonathan's Second Halloween! His first Halloween he was only about 2 weeks old. So for his first real trick-or-treating experience, he dressed up as Blue from Blue's Clues, which was his absolute favorite show! Justine was dressed up like... Cleopatra? I think? She was in first grade, the grade Jonathan is in now! And now she is in seventh grade. Time goes by...

Happy Birthday Countdown!!! Jonathan's First Year

Happy Birthday, Little Man! Here he was, totally immersed in his first birthday cake!

Dave took this of Jonathan at the park, and we both adore this picture. He always held onto his ear like this when he was sleepy. And that expression... totally him.

Jonathan sitting by his first pumpkin! We carved it on his first birthday. I don't know WHAT was going on with that hair! So cute!

About 9 months old... This was his first hair "cut" although I don't think it officially counted since I did it with kitchen shears with him in his highchair distracted by that orange popsicle! He went straight into the bath after that! I did this the night before we left to visit New York (see him in the suitcase below!)

Jonathan was ready for his first trip to New York! He climbed inside the suitcase.

Jonathan teethed forever. It took SO much drooling to get that first tooth!

Here he was, sitting on his blanket, playing with some toys. Maggie used to come over and try to get him to play tug of war with her. She never quite understood that he was a baby. They got along well and he always loved her.

Here is him a few months later... see how the hair has started to grow back in on the sides? He was sitting up now and playing. He loved to play with paper.

He lost all of the hair off the sides of his head, and kept this long combover piece on top! It was so funny!

This was when he was about 3 months old.

Jonathan turns 7 in six days! So I want to post once each day showing some pictures from his first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth years. I am selecting these pictures at random; some of them I can't recall looking at for years. It is neat to see how he has changed.

New Hampshire, Part 2

Abe-y Baby

Mama Dooligan is in New Hampshire for a long weekend!]
I got to meet my nephew Abe today! Or as Anna calls him, Abe-y Baby. Which I think is so sweet. I can't wait for Jon and Anna to meet Abe. Hopefully someday soon. It was only a 3 hour direct flight here!

Abe with his Mom and Dad, Erin and Cory. We went out to eat and he was so calm and chill the whole time. He is so wide-eyed and watchful. He is very interested in everything around him and I am pretty sure he is brilliant. Seriously. I mean, I don't know the statistics for how many geniuses you can have in one family, but it just keeps happening for us!

We picked him up from school on way home from airport. I sat in the backseat with him. He just kept staring at me, like, "Who is this strange lady they put in the backseat with me?" He was looking at me so intently. I really think he knew it was a new face.

So I will stay until Sunday. I miss Dave and the kids, but it is really so good to be here. Also, it is nice to get a break from the heat. I am wearing a sweater as I type this! A sweater! Those of you who live in Florida can appreciate the novelty of wearing a sweater in September!

Order Out of Chaos

The kids have too many stuffed animals. Many of them are Webkinz and since they have names, adoption certificates, and virtual counterparts, it seems really mean to just get rid of them. Anyways, all on his own, Jon spent some hours sorting and classifying his stuffed animals. How many horses does he have? 5! There are several pages to his book that he made by stapling paper together, and he explained that he chose to use the sticky notes because if he gets another frog, for example, he can just lift that piece of paper off and replace it with "frog 2." Isn't that so stinking clever of my boy???? A 100 on his spelling test for the week in the row, and now he already knows how to spell all the words for Friday today. My son is so smart. Also, a little odd. Like this weekend he asked if he could turn a q-tip into a pet. He put it in a little container and then added water and some soap to nourish it. Then he added more q-tips and said they were his q-tip family. Then Anna had to make her own q-tip family box. Then they spent yesterday and today having territorial showdowns over 2 empty boxes they brought in from the garage into our living room. There is one box that is clearly more desirable, and they have had some good fights over getting time in that box. Why do we buy toys? Seriously!

Okay... as I type, Jonathan is doing his homework. Dave is telling him his words and he has to draw a picture showing the meaning. One of his words is that. He quickly drew an arrow pointing to a circle to symbolize that. Isn't that SO smart! I mean, I have had a really looong day, but if someone asked me to draw a picture representing the word that, I don't think I would have come up with that so quickly!

Jonathan's First Spelling Test!

Jonathan was so proud of his 100% on his first spelling test ever! But then,this week,when we got the next list of words,and I started helping him study, he said, WHAT! You mean I have to do THIS AGAIN???

I barely had the heart to tell him... um,yeah, like every week until 6th grade, probably. :)

Since I was Super Speller Dork Extraordinaire, I always loved spelling tests. And now, I get to help him with his lists. But like he told me when I was helping him study last week, "I just don't understand. How can someone NOT know how to spell words like these?"

Words from Wednesday

Jonathan: Mama! Today's the twenty-two-th day of school!
(getting in the car after school, talking about how he wonders if he will ever get to be student of the week... He figures he will since it is the twenty-two-th day of school and he has never had his name written in The Book. The Book is sort of like the clips of yesteryear.)

Anna: Hold on, Mama. I just have to blog on. Let me get blogged on to my account, OK?
(playing with her Leapster, and wanting to show me one of her new (virtual) pet poodles)

Jonathan: Um..., that's what I usually say to Daddy.
(I fell and hurt my right hand last week, and I have it in a brace off and on, and I was holding a Gatorade bottle out to Jon. I asked him, here Buddy, can you open this for me?)

**Speaking of Buddy, every once in a while, like on Wednesday, I absentmindedly call Anna "Buddy." She invariably replies: Who is Buddy? I am NOT Buddy. Bubba is Buddy.**

Anna

"Yesterday we went to music class and Pastor Tim showed us a lot of instruments. We learned about the different instrument families. There is the drum family, the strings family, the metal family. He showed us a clarinet. There was a trumpet, which was metal but like golden."
(referring to her music class at preschool)

"My nose kept dropping."
(referring to her stuffed up nose)

"Mama, there is only one month left in August!"
(referring to the end of the month August)

"Well that's because you wore flip flops to school instead of sneakers! You're ALWAYS supposed to wear sneakers to school."
(referring to my tripping over stairs and falling at school; she wasn't exactly sympathetic)

"I wish I had a ladder up to God so I could see him. But I could never have a ladder THAT tall. Besides how could you even find him? Where would you even look, North? South? Cause there's clouds EVERYWHERE! Ok... let me get this straight. God has a REALLY big house to fit all the died people. So we are looking for a really big cloud. That might be his house."
(in car today, looking out the windows at the sky)

Jonathan's First Day of First Grade

"I never peed all day. Is my bladder big or small? ...
I hope I didn't hurt my bladder by holding my pee all day long."
"The only reason I didn't pee all day was because I didn't know where the bathroom was."
"Daddy forgot to give me a fork for my pasta salad. So I didn't have any lunch to eat. Except my Doritos and my water bottle. But I am going to eat it right now, cause I can eat with my fingers in the car."
"Mrs. Cutshall is less strict and gives you less work than Dr. Rose did in Kindergarten. I only did 3 pages of work all day."
"I had someone from Kindergarten in my class, and I saw other people in other classes from my old school. I don't know there names but I just remember them from my old school."
"There were a hundred 1st grade car riders! Can you believe that?" (Um, yeah, since it took me 40 minutes to get from the school entrance to get Jon in the car. I got there 15 minutes before school ended. Tomorrow, I will try a half hour. At least maybe I can wait in the car loop and not out on the main road as much?)
"I only used some of my school supplies. I used my scissors, crayons and markers. I did not get to use my ruler."
"The best part of the day was when we got candy. I got Skittles and I ate them all. Only the ones who been good, Mama, got candy. Almost everyone got candy. The other best part was recess." "We went to the library but we just sat there. I had to sit there for 21 minutes, I think."
"Coleman did something kind of bad, but he didn't mean to, so it was okay. We got silly bandz from the teacher but he broke mine."
*******************************************************************************
"Mama, can you just be quiet while I am playing video games, please?"

8-9-10!!!

Anna, 4, on her first day of Pre-K, and Jonathan, 6, on his first day of 1st grade!

Anna walking in with her Daddy.

Mama and Jonathan (Can you tell he is loving the early morning photo shoot?)

All dressed and ready to go!

Shoes and backpacks ready!

Still waking up on the couch.

***The kids both went back to school today, on 8-9-10! We had a rough time getting to sleep last night (Anna had the wiggles and Jonathan "could not stop thinking about school"), but an easy morning getting ready and out the door. Dave stayed home to see them both to their rooms. Such a good Daddy! The dropoff situation at Jonathan's new school was a little rough. Traffic was a little crazy. Hopefully it will calm down by next week. His teacher seemed very nice and there was one student from his old school in his class. The boy got all excited and said "Jonathan!" and Jonathan whispered, "hi!" and quickly got to work. He was very concerned about getting in trouble, being late, and not putting his lunch and backpack in the correct place. He was not late at all. Dave and I wish we could just take his worry away about school, but I guess we should be grateful that he is so well-mannered and eager to please. We took Anna to her school next. She is entering her third and last year at the preschool, so she kind of walked in like she owns the place. No worries there. She knows the whole routine. She wanted me to take her to before care already today. She is one of only 3 girls in her class, but it is all good because she can get along with boys, thanks to her cousin Trystan and big brother Jonathan. I picked Anna up already and she had a great first day. I am waiting until I can go pick Jonathan up. I imagine the traffic will be crazy at pickup also! I wish it were time to get him already. I really miss him today and I won't feel right until I see his face again and I know that everything went okay for his first day of first grade.***

Scenes from Today

We came home from running a few errands. Guess what? It is Florida. It is July. It it hot. We stayed outside for a little while because, much to the kids' delight, a new family moved in across the street. They breed Golden Retrievers, and had four huge, beautiful dogs running around. The kids gathered sticks and threw them for the dogs. While I chatted with our new neighbor for a few minutes, Jonathan got my keys and let himself inside the house. I walked in and he had this ice pack on his head. It made me smile, because it was dorky, but also because it was a clever way to cool down fast.

I spent the entire morning cleaning our house. I basically got everything tidied, and did a little dusting and sweeping. I asked the kids to please help and they said okay (but continued to watch cartoons). I walked in the bathroom later and saw that Anna had filled the sink with soapy water and put all her bath toys in there. I think this was a good contribution to cleaning day. I would have never thought to bathe the bath toys. :)

We have a treadmill. I have said 10 times today alone, GET OFF THE TREADMILL! (We keep the electronic key hidden and up high, so there is nothing terribly dangerous about it, other than that the kids can't seem to refrain from climbing on it. I was in the other room getting ready to leave for an appointment. My Dad had come over to babysit, and I heard him say, Anna, get off the treadmill, you are going to get hurt. Then a crash,and screaming! Whadayaknow? She got hurt. I comforted her and she was totally calm when I left, but when I came back I noticed her lip was a little swollen, and I pulled it down, and she has quite a boo-boo! Poor baby. But seriously, maybe she learned to listen? I'm thinking, no. But the reason she was making this face, was that I told her she had a fat lip. She said, "I do NOT have a fat lip!" She was so insulted! I explained to her what I meant. But she still pouted and frowned.

I usually don't post bathtub pics, but I thought these of Jon in the bathtub were too cute. Only my Jonathan could give himself a bubble beard and then look so totally serious about it. When he was younger, Dave would always give him a bubble beard and call him Captain Bubblebeard. It was so cute.

So just a few events from our non-eventful day. The kids have grown up so much this summer. I can't believe we are approaching 5 and 7. Anna has learned to pick our bedroom lock. She is quite proud of herself. Jonathan figured that out years ago.

This week they are going to a local VBS. They are having fun and Dave and I get date nights. Everybody wins.

Jonathan's 1st Class at the Studio

We took Jonathan to an art lesson this morning... The first thing he said to me when we picked him up was, "Can I come back here, please?" They let him choose his color of mat and they put it in a special bag for him. He wants to come back every week and eventually cover his whole wall with his artwork.

He explained the whole class to us: the teacher had them practice drawing different kinds of shapes; then they used those shapes to draw the rabbit and other parts of the picture; then they outlined some of the lines with black marker, and erased away some of the of other lines; then they used color to fill it in. He was really interested in the idea of putting simple shapes together to draw.

He loves to spend lots of time creating and doing projects (this was the same child that refused to particpate in art projects and preschool and Sunday school) and whenever I looked in on him during the class he was totally focused and intent on his work. I love helping the kids find activities that bring them both focus and joy. For Jonathan, it has been swimming, horseback, and art. Anna, gymnastics. It makes me so happy to see their faces when they are intent on learning something new, and the satisfaction they feel when they learn that they can do it.

Jonathan has always had this focused energy about him... even when he was a baby. I wonder how he will use it throughout his life. He is calm and methodical when he is playing or creating or learning. I can't wait to see all the exciting things that lay ahead for him. He is such a gift to us everyday. Even when he acts skunky. :)