Long Overdue Jay Update

The only way I could get him to look at the camera and smile is by telling him to jump.... Driving the firetruck

Playing in the "big wheels" at the children's museum.

Playing with the Ross' during their visit up here last week.

I love this one.

Drinking water out of the coffee creamer cups.

At the greek festival, stunned watching the band and dancers.

Still not sure what in the world we brought him to.

"Can you show me how to dance?"

Now he's getting into it

We stopped at a scenic lookout on the way back from visiting Fran and Gavin.

Showing you his nose.

We finally got our new computer this week so I will be back to blogging. I don't have great pictures to show for our absence but will post what I have. With me working now, even though only 2 days, it has been hard keeping up with Jay, keeping the house clean, and making sure the boys have supper every night. So I have been slack with picture taking. Hopefully I will get a routine down and be able to keep up with everything again.

So, here is what Jay has been up to:

- He is a little over 19 1/2 months (and I am now just saying "a year and a half" when people ask because I highly doubt anyone but me really cares for any more specific than that!)

- He is very mobile...runs, jumps, climbs, forward flips (thanks to katie), walks backwards, dances, and goes up and down the stairs faster than I can blink

- He speaks chinese all day long and gets so mad when I don't get it but his new "real" words are "up", "orange", "starburst", "jake", "meow", "ball", "dog", "apple", "hot", "stop", "bye-bye", "josh", "papa", "duck", and "katie". I think he has around 20-25 words in his vocab right now.

- He is 33 1/2 inches tall (75% percentile), 26 lbs (50% percentile)

- Points to his eyes, nose, ears, belly-button, and "pee-pee"...he also says "pee-pee" to the toilet but that is as close to potty training as we have attempted....the possibility of him actually peeing in it is totally foreign to him.

- He is in love with trucks, trains, and balls. He always has to have a book to read in the car. His new favorite toy is his new lawnmower. And he has shown zero interest in our old laptop now that it's dead and we actually want him to play with it!

- I have to give him my lipstick after I put it on so he can do the same...every little boy's dream, apparently.

- He still has a horrible temper and does not hesitate to show it off no matter where we are. Probably the worst thing about him.....otherwise he is absolutely perfect. ;)

- He loves playing with kids of any age and mimics them all day long. Every week he has a new trick to show me that he learned at "school".

- He loves taking showers with Wes. This started after I put Wes in charge of bath time when they came in from playing in the dirt. Of course, now Jay thinks he should be able to hop in with me and starts climbing in if I don't shut him out. These days, the shower is the only 10 min of peace I get. I am not about to give that up!

- The sure way to get him to crack up laughing is to act like he scared you. He loves doing this any time of the day and will die laughing every time I "jump" because of what he did.

- Favorite foods: (changes with the weather, mind you) PB&J, cheese, oranges, apples, chicken nuggets, chocolate milk, starburst, grapes, and honey grahams.

- Still the biggest flirt ever....he breaks his neck to say hey and bye to everyone and if he gets someones attention for longer than 5 seconds he will bat those eyes and give them the most irresistible smile in the world. We get constant compliments on him...which makes my day, of course!

That is all for now. Wes and I are about to catch up on NCIS so I will try to post more soon. I will get some videos up next!

Fun at Moes.

Throwing away the cups for everyone.

"Jay, where's your nose?"

"Where's your belly button?"

So here's the story with the pictures. We have been going to Moes Mondays since we've been here but about a month ago we were letting Jay run around and before we knew it he was sprinting to this total stranger and leapt into her arms as if it were his long lost grandmother. She was completely thrilled as were the rest in the group and we spent the next 45 minutes playing with Jay and getting to know them. It was about 5 couples, in the same Sun School class, the men golfing buddies, and as it turned out, all go to our church. They also go to Moes every Monday. They were so nice and Jay loved the attention. He threw away everyone's trash one by one, receiving dramatic applause after each one. He was in heaven. One of the men, the one that Jay clung to the first day, gave Jay his hat that he got at the US Open last year....Dad would have been very jealous. Another one mentioned that he did photography and would bring his camera in case we came the following week.

So, the next week we showed up and sure enough, he starting shooting. Of course, I wasn't thinking when I left the house and looked awful in my old t-shirt and hair pulled back but Jay was precious and the pictures are amazing! We have seen them every Monday since and Jay, after entertaining them with his new tricks of the week, will diligently throw each and every cup in the trash...of course, resulting great applause. At church Sunday, they brought me the cd with all of the pictures so here are my favorites. It is Harold Dodson Photography here in Columbia and I am now his new recruiter as I am telling everyone who might get married anytime soon that he is the only one to call.

By the way, our laptop died last week so I am doing all of my Internet stuff on Wes' desktop from college so my blogging will be scarce until our new one comes in next week. It has taken all afternoon for the pictures to post. I will catch up once I have a computer that isn't on 2003 speed.

Jumping, Mowing, Swimming

We have been busy the last week with me starting work, all of us battling pink eye and sinus infections, and Wes working like a mad man. Fortunately, I am married to an ophthalmologist who can bring samples home from work so I can avoid another trip to the pediatrician. Jay is finally better but Wes and I still are trying to get our eyes back to normal. I am on my 2nd week of teaching and I love it! The students are so great to work with and it's nice to be back in nursing a little...and only a little! Jay likes "school" as we call it but throws a ridiculous fit every time I drop him off....but they tell me he does great after he gets over it. It is really funny to hear what he does during the day there and to walk in and see him playing like a big boy with the other kids....that is until he sees me, then he runs over and gives me the world's tightest hug...which is so precious. Today marks 2 months since Dad's death, and without spending too much time on it, I will say that I am glad the last 2 months are behind me. As much as we all hate it, life really does go on. It will take a while for our lives to "go on" but the rest of the world does, as I am realizing, and that is probably a good thing. As much as I would like for all of the world to mourn with us, if that were the case, we could never get better. And now that the sickening feeling is starting to pass, I see that we will eventually heal. It is a hard thing to go through....and with the circumstances of his death...one I never thought I'd have to process, but somehow, we are getting by. And I guess I shouldn't say somehow since I know it is only through God's presence that we aren't still falling apart. This, however, will be a difficult month. Mom, Dad, and I all have birthday's in September and none of them will be what we thought they would be this year. I have dreaded this month since he died and I am already anxious for it to be behind me. The thoughts of what should be happening will haunt me over the next few weeks just like they did right after he died. But I know that October will come and, once again, the world will go on. So if I'm not terribly cheerful in my posts this month, please understand, and know that I will get better. With that being said....here is my sweetheart (aka: daily grief therapist) :)....... Riding in his boat with daddy. He was completely fearless in the pool...he would jump in regardless if we were there to catch him...and when he'd go under, he would come up laughing. He and Papa Tim at Oren's body building competition...

Us and Oren before the comp. He placed 3rd and 4th place in his two divisions!

Oranges!

I took this the other day when he and Wes came home from Lowes...it is just like one we took when he was 2 weeks old....so cute.

At Lake Murray last weekend.

Cheezin.

Sharing the goldfish.

Talking to his new toy...a camel our neighbors gave him from their trip to visit family in Egypt.

Mowing

Wes is shooting him with the blower....he thought it was so much fun!

Jay learned to jump this week and was so proud of himself....