Big Boy Bed! Corn Maze Fun!

This is how Jay decided to dress himself that day: cowboy boots, "soldier" pants, and bulldozer shirt!

Showing you his boo-boo after stepping on the hammer...thank God for tetanus shots!

Assisting Wes in assembling his new bed...

After helping with the nails he moved on to something very crucial...putting stickers in the drawers...

Back to the hammer now

"I need to help Daddy, I need to sit in your lap and help you"

So proud of working with Daddy!

"Be careful with that screwdriver Daddy, don't hurt your finger"

Wes had to talk Jay into giving him the screws...Jay was sure they were really for fixing his firetruck

Trying out the new bed!

Soooo happy

"come lay down by me Daddy"

Wes and I were getting dressed yesterday morning and Jay decided he needed some rice krispies....i couldn't really fuss...at least he put them on a plate and kept them somewhat contained.

Enjoying breakfast...

Me and Eli at 29 weeks!

We tried to get Jay to take a nap before we ran errands...but he refused...so instead cat-napped in the car between stops.

We went to a corn maze today, this is the beginning, when we were hopeful to get out quickly and easily...

We let Jay decide which way to turn each time. He kept saying, "this is the right way!"

Family picture...right before we started walking in circles for about an hour

He was pretty confident that he knew the "right" way but we were starting to doubt his navigation skills right about now

Apparently he isn't doubting his decisions

We finally made it out (after Wes took charge), then found a bounce horse that Jay LOVED!

Wes laughing at clumsy boy falling down

So fun!

We were headed to see the animals....until someone spotted the tractors....

A lot of time was spent here, as you would expect from a child crazy about tractors.

Wes and I were way more impressed by this swing than jay, he had run back to the tractors by this point.

Feeding the goats (a rigged up pulley that delivered the corn)

Driving the wooden tractor

We knew we were in trouble when Jay found the fire pole....

Wooden castle (isn't the woodwork cool?!) Jay is waving to the farmer.

Coming out of a 40 foot tube slide

laughing at Wes sliding through

Jay slid down the slide at least 30 times and was far from tiring out.

Just hilarious!

Racing ducks...

As you can tell Jay had a ball at the corn maze adventure, an easy five hours of entertainment for crazy boy. This weekend was the first one in a while that we haven't been out of town/working/etc so it was nice to just do something fun together. Jay is at such a fun age to do activities with now. Last year there were so many things we tried to do but his emotional little self just wouldn't cooperate most times. Now, we have to pull him away from the fun or he would never stop!  

Last week he started 3 days a week at "school" and he did great. I was scared he wouldn't want to go on the third day but, again, with him being a little older now, is thrilled to go and do all of the things his teachers have planned for them. And it's nice to have a day to get papers graded and prepare for the week in the peace and quiet. 

He is learning fast, as usual, and his speech is getting so clear. He talks in paragraphs now, instead of sentences. He loves to sing his favorite songs, count, and say the alphabet (all in his own versions). Riding home today he was so happy after playing in the maze that he sang almost the whole way home. He randomly switched from "row row row your boat" to "mary had a little lamb", sure he was singing them exactly right. This past week Wes and I both hurt his feelings after telling him to "just stop talking!" Wes felt bad about making him cry until I told him I did the same thing the day before. Wes said after he fussed at him to "just stop talking for 5 minutes Jay!", Jay looked up at him, eyes filled with tears, and replied, "no daddy, but i talkin', i need to talk Daddy, don't say that." He gets on a roll and will NOT stop, and when you are trying to think, it is so nerve-racking! But he makes us laugh daily with his discussions/observations/advice about everything from his bathroom habits to the "monsters" outside. 

He is getting better at walking by himself (not asking me to carry him all the time). He knows that I can't because of my "big belly", a term I started using to get him to cooperate. As I've gotten bigger this last month I have used it as an excuse for a lot of things we used to do. So on our way to the corn maze today he told me that I couldn't go in the maze because I wouldn't fit. I told him that I would fit and he replied, "no mommy, your big belly won't fit in the maze."  What a self-esteem booster. :)

He is going to be a fireman for Halloween (his choice) and has been running around the house for a week with his baseball tee as he "picks up the fire with the fire hose"....we try to tell him it is "put out the fire" but he is confident that he says it the right way. We got him a fire hat for a dollar yesterday at Target and it has not left his hands since. We had to have a 5 min conversation in the car this morning explaining that he couldn't take it into church but it would be waiting for him as soon as we got back in the car.

As far as little Eli...he is a lot different from Jay already (crazy, I know, that I say that before he is born). Here is what I mean...Jay was a kicker. I remember my ribs aching from him kicking me so much. Any time I wanted him to change positions or Wes wanted to feel him we would push on my stomach and Jay would go into full fight mode....kicking and flipping around for at least 10 minutes, then he would settle down and get into a better position. It was so predictable. Little Eli, however, is a pusher. He pushes out (towards my belly button) all of the time and it hurts!!  If I push back he just changes sides and pushes again. While he kicks and flips around a lot, he has never kicked in response to my pushing like Jay did. We will try to get him kicking at us, push and prod on my belly for 10 min, and no response. Even if we start pushing on it while he's kicking he just stops and moves away.  It is like he's in his own world and would prefer we just leave him be. The other day I said (exasperated), "ugh! he will not stop pushing me! this really hurts!"  Wes was walking over to fuss at Jay until he realized I was talking about Eli. So Wes said, "well just make him move" (easily accomplished with Jay) but not this one, he stayed right where he was no matter how hard I pushed him.

So that is it for now. I am waiting for Jay's bedding to come in (construction zone) and will post pictures of that as well as the nursery (a bear theme with the same bedding Jay had) soon.

Video summary

I posted  few videos from the week. My pictures all seem to be the same lately so the videos show more of what Jay has learned. I think we are all well aware that he knows how to throw, hit, and jump by this point. :)  As far as the videos go: He loves to pick vegetables out of my pitiful garden. I am trying to teach him when things are ready to be picked but he usually just randomly chooses what he wants. So about half of what he brings me is no where near ripened but I just put them on the counter and act like it's exactly what I needed to cook supper with. When he and Wes are working in the yard Wes helps him pick out a flower or two and he runs it inside yelling, "mama! I got a flower for you!"  It is so sweet and I go overboard about how much I love it.
When I ask him to spell his name, knowing that it starts with "J", he goes into a recitation of "J, K, L...P!" He does this on a video and then finishes the correct spelling after that.
He is also working with Wes at the table. I just thought this video was funny because we can see Wes' clone copying him write on a paper. Wes is filling out a form and Jay is drawing helicopters....

Working with Daddy

Bringing me peppers...

Working in my garden

Playing outside

Quick Update

These are picture of our trip to a national park nearby. Jay had to take a break to eat his snack.

I asked him to smile...this is as good as I got.

Watching the turtles....and feeding them some chips.

Helping daddy read the map, he kept saying "I need to look at it." as if he were a vital part of our navigation decisions.

A real smile this time. :)  Notice the strap around his shirt, those were binoculars that he HAD to use the entire time. He apparently saw kangaroos, bears, and snakes with them.

Trying to reach the berries...very poisonous berries I might add.

For some reason he had to blow on every worm, millipede, spider, etc. that he came across...not sure what purpose he thought that served but he add to "blow on it" for about 10 min each time.

This is all I have of pictures this week. The rest of the days were our usual...work, school, church, and playing around the house. Hopefully I will get some this week. As far as what is going on here...

Jay has been going to school for about 3 weeks now and he loves it more this year than last. In fact, he asks to go to school almost every day. I am having a hard time keeping him happy on the days we are are here, as I realize every time he asks me in the middle of, what I think, is a fun day if it is time to go to school. I am going to start taking him 3 days a week at the end of the month so I can grade papers and make assignments at the hospital before clinical days. And hopefully, this will give me a few hours to get housework done as well....without my sweet "helper" under my feet the whole time.

For more things about Jay:
- He is so curious and doesn't miss a thing. It is amazing to see how his little brain is working and how much of what we say, no matter how brief, sticks in his memory. I know how much he is learning due to his incessant conversation he has with me every day, all day. While I love his little voice and I don't think there is a sweeter sound in the world, I have to just shake my head and tune him out sometimes. He talks and talks and talks. Most times the things he says makes me laugh all day long thinking about it, but he loves to repeat himself and ask questions that he already knows the answer to, both of which can be so unbelievably annoying! And Wes wonders why I love complete silence in the house at night....

- Potty training is, as I dare say it out loud, pretty much completed. Last week he was in underwear at school all day with no accidents and we have gone about a week at home with none either. He still wears pull-ups at night and I think that will last for a while but the days are now completely diaper-free. I still put him in pull-ups when I know it will be hard getting to a bathroom quickly but usually he will stay dry anyway. Tonight after his bath he had to poopey and gave me a detailed narrative of the activity. "That's a lot of poopey, it's a snake poopey, i'm trying, don't touch it (as if I were the least bit tempted), there's my poopey right there, it went down the drain, monkeys poopey too, jake poopies outside, I poopied a big one!"  I told you it was detailed. :)

- I think he has Wes' sense of direction (thank goodness!). He tells me where and which way to turn every time we go somewhere. The other day I had to turn around for something and he told me I turned the wrong way to go home. When I say where we are going he knows exactly how I usually get there and if I go a different way or run an errand first he passionately explains how I turned the wrong way and that I need to go back.

- He loves talking about his grandparents. Today he wanted me to draw a picture of Papa and Mama Ross. He always has to know where they are during the day. He sees things in the store that they have and gets so excited about them. He yells, "that's papa's!  that's mama ross'!"  When he wears something they gave him he always reminds me that "mama ross gave this to me!" Mom and I moved a chair from the guestroom to his room recently and he asks every night since to "go sit in Mimi's chair" to read a book. Every time he puts on his new "soldier underwear" he exclaims that "mimi gave it to me!" When he sees a white SUV he says, "that's Mimi's car!  go talk to Mimi!" And he always specifies, "that's MY Mimi" when we talk about her. As for Papa Rich, his favorite book is still the one I made with pictures of him and Papa Rich and he asks to read it several times a week....and still loves to sing with him too.

As for me and Wes we are just working and trying to keep up with crazy boy. The pregnancy is still going well. I am 26 weeks now and am feeling every bit of it. My "belly bump" is more of a big hill now, making it a constant annoyance has I try to hop up and down with jay all day. And carrying him around is not fun. He knows that there are times that I just won't carry him around but I give in a lot. I tried to play airplane with him the other day and I just couldn't do it. I tell him to look at my big tummy and that it won't let me do things I used to do with him. He'll say, "mama has a big belly!" when I tell him no which is both cute and insulting at the same time.
Little Eli moves so much and he is now big enough that I watch my stomach move all the time. Last night he was so active I couldn't sleep. I love this part, when I get constant reminders that there is this little person growing inside of me and not just a mean alien that invaded my body. It makes all of the little "sacrifices" of pregnancy seem like an honor rather than a punishment. :)

Wes is now at the VA clinics for the rest of the year. I like this rotation because he gets home every day around 5:30 and doesn't have to be there until 8 in the morning. He is on call this weekend though and had to go in to see a patient at 5am and hasn't been home since (it's almost 10pm). So this weekend is not one of the good ones. But it's only every 6th weekend so it will be a nice break before the next one. And it's all valuable educational opportunities, right???  Well, at least that's the theory.

That's it for now. Hopefully my husband will be home soon...at least long enough to say hey and goodnight until the next eye issue rolls into the ER.

Beach Trip

I took this picture to compare it to the one I took of Jay sitting in this same place at 4 months old...what a difference.

This is his bookbag that he carries around now that a diaper bag is not necessary. He wore it around for the first week until the excitement wore off...now I am left carrying around a lime green bag with zoo animals on it...

Singing for us while sitting on his "giant rock"

Playing with his float plane

Building a sand castle, his favorite part was beating the sand as hard as he could

He is still nervous about the waves, as he's always been, and just runs away as they come up

Waving at Daddy

He kept saying, "here comes a big one, mama!" and running as fast as he could

snack time

Shooting the birds with his new shotgun....handmade by Wes

This was a big deal and still is when we go for walks. He has to take his shotgun so he can "shoot bears"

I guess he got his target

Learning to bowl

So exciting!

Jay thought he needed to show Wes how to hold the bowling ball

He was determined to roll it all by himself so the majority of the time was spent watching the ball slowly make it down the lane until it just barely hit a pin or two.

Jay was so proud of himself

Smiling at me from the lazy river

Ice cream time

In Bass Pro driving an ATV, he told Wes he needed to "sit down in the seat"

He just had to drive the bulldozer we found

And hop on the school bus. he decided arthur was his brother and kept his arm around him the whole time, then wanted "brother to go with us"

Watching "that man throw fire"...this was really cool and Jay was looking forward to this more than anything but he was exhausted that night. He still loved it and tells everyone about it still.

Sooooo sleepy

More sandcastles

And he had to take "my john deer tractor" with him everywhere that week

Break time

Poor boy was sick and tired by the last night. He had a fever here and was getting ready to fall asleep.

Only to come alive again a few hours (and a spoonful of Motrin) later. So we took him to the amusement park

Other than the type of vehicle the rides all looked the same to me and Wes, but Jay was more thrilled each time

And was amazed at the helicopter he got to fly

A truck...why wouldn't he enjoy this one?

The boat ride required his complete attention, he had to drive it around the water and ring the bell at the same time

Holding his ticket to give to the ride operator.

I will give an update later, just wanted to go ahead and get these pictures up before any more time passed. As you can tell he had so much fun and, by the end of the trip, was completely worn out. With him so entertained, cute pictures were easy to get. Not so much the story now that we are back home. :)