As if I didn't have enough animals to take care of...

Jay is now tall enough to reach my jewelry box on the dresser and spent an hour this afternoon going through each necklace to decide which ones he needed to wear. I guess we've found the next piece of furniture to clear off.

Eating yogurt (all by himself) last night. He literally had it on from head to toe....and thought it was hilarious.

Then he rubbed it in like lotion all over his chest and stomach.

Here is our new kitten.....we've had her about 2 weeks and it is a miracle she is still alive, Jay does not understand the "be gentle" part.....as you can see by the neck holding position here.

But he loves her...and gives her kisses all day. At night he kisses her, says "nite nite", and puts her to bed before heading up to his crib.

A mouth full of food.....

Holding the kitty while trying to calm down for bedtime. She is very patient with him and, so far, puts up with his "expressions of love".....of course, I'm sure that will change soon.

He is certain she is HIS baby.

Here are some new pictures finally. Things have just been crazy lately with me working, Wes' long hours, and random things we've had going on. I love my job but it does come with a good bit of extra work to do at home so nap time is dedicated to getting that done rather than the blog. We only have a few weeks left of the busy part though so hopefully I will get back to blogging more often.

Jay loves daycare now. He starts smiling and kicking until I get him out of the car and then runs in the room, turns around to me, and says "bye bye" and never turns back. It is so cute but, I confess, a little part of me is offended that he isn't even a little sad! Because he likes it so much I am going to keep him enrolled during December even though I won't be working. Hopefully, I can use that time to get some projects done around the house. I am going to teach 2 classes again in the spring semester which will start Jan 10th. This part time thing is so nice, I get some adult time but I'm still with him as much as I want to be. And he gets to socialize and have an outlet for all of his crazy energy.

As far as his milestones: he is taller than even 2 weeks ago (probably 34"), wears a size 7 in shoes, and in 24month and 2T clothes.

he eats non-stop one day and hardly anything the next. he loves fruit (still), peas (yay!), pasta, cookies, turkey dogs, pb&j, cheese, french fries, and chicken nuggets. When he gets tired of plain milk I give him chocolate milk and he slurps it down in one sitting. Otherwise, it is juice and water.

He is at the stage where he repeats (or tries to) a lot of what we say. This week he started saying "watch", "sit", "big bird", "elmo", "bath", "nite nite", "this", "that", "boo-boo", "book" and "bug." Boo-boo started when he cut his hand the other day and I put a band-aid over it. he was very concerned about that and watched it for the rest of the day. Over and over he'd look at him and ask, "boo-boo?" while pointing to the band-aid. And it was the very first thing he showed to Wes when he got home.

When we read books, I ask him where objects are and he will point to them. He knows so much more than he says and it is fun to see how much he is learning that way. He has about 4 books that we MUST read before he goes to sleep and after each one he says "done!" and we move on.

And then there is our newest little addition, kitty (at least until we name her), who Jay has fallen in love with. Kurt found some kittens at one of his construction sites and Wes convinced me that I needed something else to take care of around here! She is very cute but as I told Wes, "I already have 3 animals in my house, I don't need another one!" That didn't work and so we brought her home and Jay has adopted her as his own. And the poor thing is very submissive but is getting better at escaping from his death grip. She loves jake though so at least they can pair up and be friends.

That's my update. I'll try to have halloween pics up next week!

Family Destin Trip

Sweet boy on the luggage cart. Aunt Charlene, Aunt Gina, Granny, and Mom (Aunt Gail was with us too but she must have left by the time I got this picture).

Cracking up in the car ride home.

Kissing Mimi in the boat at the outlet malls.

Possum in hand, even on the nasty playground and sandy beach.

The boys and their TV.

Before Wes and I went on our date....Jay was not in the picture-taking mood.

Swimming!

I love this one :)

Filling up on caffiene...just what we needed, right!

Why I love this beach!

What a pose!

Playing in the sand (the 10min he was not running back to the pools!)

Jay carefully watched as Granny ate her chicken wing, then knawed on his like a dog...he refused to give it up...who knew that would be a wild toddlers entertainment while we ate.

Running around the pool and Mom and Aunt Gina try to tame him.

His favorite activity of the week.

out like a light after a hard day of playing....but not without possum. :)

Again, the most beautiful beach ever!

Floating in his boat.He has his wagon pack and is taking it to the beach...and don't worry, possum is in there!

Maybe he is tired of pictures???

"chillin out" on the balcony......with "you know who"

Here are the rest of the pictures from our trip. Jay had a great time and was constant entertainment....including several "Jay-style" temper tantrums that made his transition to "the terrible twos" complete. It was good to spend time with my aunts and grandmother even though we all felt Dad's absence throughout the week. We all still miss him so much and Destin has always been such a special place to us that it just didn't seem right to be there without him. It's a shame how some things just don't get easier with time and knowing that they will never be complete again tends to bring all of the emotions of losing him back to the surface. And seeing how we all still ache for him is at the same time soothing and painful. But in the end, we all needed to be with each other, enjoying the bond we all have-one that has been made stronger through tragedy.

Back to the trip: Jay was not into the beach this time, surprisingly. He just wanted to go to the pools so he could swim around with us and, of course, jump without hesitation into the pool whether we were ready or not. I swear this child will be the death of me! He was amazed by the birds and thought it was so fun to chase them all over the beach but couldn't understand why they kept getting away. We built sandcastles for the sole purpose of destroying them thanks to Jay and stalked the repair men around the resort as long as they had a power tool in hand. He loved riding in the elevators but insisted he have "possum" and "monkey" go with him at all times. Riding on the luggage cart was a big hit too. We even got to shop at the outlet malls thanks to playgrounds that kept Jay very busy. I'm not sure how I am going to get him to stop running around the pool though--I must have said, "slow down!" at least a hundred times and still that did not prove effective. He started saying "please" and "ouch" this week also and I confess, it is pretty much impossible not to give him what he wants when he looks at you with those sweet blue eyes and says, "preassse?" He, as usual, was obsessed with Granny's walker and pushed it around the condo as long as he could until it got "tuck" on something which would then cause a terrible breakdown. We decided with all of the attitude in his baby talk, he must be cussing at it. And as for old possum....it has been washed and is back with Jay in the crib tonight. Papa Tim and Mama Ross bought Jay that when we were at Cracker Barrell a few months ago after he picked it up and refused to give it up. I swear, it is the ugliest thing I've ever seen but he is IN LOVE with it. It is now a vital member of the family. Of all of animals in the world though, you would think he'd fall for one just a little bit cuter! I think the pictures tell the rest but all in all, Jay had a blast.....and is spoiled rotten again!

To Daddy - We miss you :)

Walking down the beach...he looks very serious. Kisses from Mimi. Trying to teach him to swim, I guess. James and Randi came to visit last weekend...Jay had a ball showing them all of his toys and tricks. He is giving Randi a goodbye kiss and telling James that he would prefer to just go home with them. :) Driving their car with James. Wes dressed Jay that morning and it was so cute I had to take a picture. Doesn't he look so old here? he ran out of cars to play with and pushed the dishwasher tray around the living room.... these start our trip with family to destin this week (other than the 3 at the top which are out of order for whatever reason). Wes is joining us tomorrow night so I am posting these for him to see for now. We went shopping and Jay found about six purses to carry around the entire time we shopped. Swimming in the pool with MiMi. Jay had a ball! He loved jumping in the pool to us. this is the kiddie pool but he did it no matter how deep it was! I am ready for Wes to get here and take over this game. There's my beach bum! Walking around shopping in Columbia, jay found some plants to jump in My little J Crew man with his hands in his pocket. He walked around like this the whole time that night.