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August 9th, 2009 by sara

Jonah Turns Two!!

Happy birthday, Jonah!!

Jonah got to have a whole birthday weekend of fun this year. We started with some presents on Friday, his actual birthday.

Then Grandma and Grandpa showed up to visit for a few days. It was also the weekend of the art festival in town, so we spent a little time down there checking things out. Sean ran in a short race that evening, and we cheered him on.

Jonah got to share some Italian ice, and enjoyed that a whole lot! (after he recovered from the shock of the first cold bite)

Down the street, the fire trucks and ambulances were on display. One of the fire trucks had its ladder all the way up, and Jonah was extremely excited about this. This is his ‘excited face.’ :)

He kept saying, “That fire truck has a big ladder on top going way up in the skyyyyyy!”

That night, Grandma helped make frosting, and I decorated Jonah’s dump truck cake.

The next morning, he got to open some more presents. This one was really funny because he had ripped off a little piece of paper and said, “I know what this is!”

And it was a truck. He’s pretty good at identifying trucks by only seeing the tiniest part of one.

He has really enjoyed playing with pasta at his friend, Luke’s, house. I colored a little box of his own to play with and string up.

Some new puppets to talk to and tickle and kiss…

…and feed colored pasta to.

Garbage trucks on a shirt!!

We also got Jonah a little fish tank – he always loves watching the fish at the pet store, and he was pretty excited to pick a fish to bring home.

Time to release the new pet!

“That fish is swimming around in there!”

“Is he coming over to look at you?”

Time to blow out the candle and eat some cake!! He gave the candle-blowing a try, and then said, “Do you just want Dad to blow it out?”

“There is cake under my dump truck.”

Yum. Cake on a forklift fork.

We’re looking forward to our third year with this great little guy!

Posted in Birthday, Dad, Milestones, Mom, Monthly, Relatives | 4 Comments »

July 28th, 2009 by sara

Mt. Rainier and Cannon Beach

While we were out in the Northwest, we took a little road trip south and stopped to visit friends near Mt. Rainier. After this trip, Jonah started calling all big, snow-capped mountains ‘Mt Rainier’ which we think is pretty awesome.

We did a little hike around the first visitors center. “That big tree just fell over.”

Standing in a large stump

Then we drove up higher on the mountain to do a little hiking where there was still some snow around. On the drive, Jonah held some of his cheese up to the window. I asked him what he was doing and he said, “Giving some cheese to Mt. Rainier.” Then he cracked up.

We made it up to the big waterfall. Jonah really loves to see waterfalls.

“Jonah is touching that little waterfall. That water is very cold!”

I forced Jonah to hold some snow. He was not really excited about touching it or walking on it. :)

But Dad helped him build a snowman, just like in his Snow book.

Another waterfall!

Then it was off to Cannon Beach to see the ocean! That’s Haystack Rock in the background.

We found a good drawing stick. Of course, I later had to make lots of trucks in the sand.

Making buckets

Jonah gets brave enough to test out the water on his own.

Then he would run out, yelling, ‘Run away! Run away!!’

Then he got very brave.

We walked down to the tide pools to see the starfish and anemones.

Low tide was, of course, right at naptime, so Jonah had a little snooze while Sean and I enjoyed a nice (but freezing) walk on the beach.

Back to splashing in the water

Jonah wandered around, talking to the ocean. Mostly he was saying things like “That ocean is very cold.” “Are those waves coming up to see you?” “That is a big big ocean.”

Here’s Jonah about five minutes outside of town on the day we left. He was making up songs about the beach on his ukulele and fell right to sleep. The ocean just wiped him out! :)

I’ll end the west coast photos with three of my favorites from the beach.
I just love these pictures.

It was so much fun for us to get to do many new things with Jonah on this trip and have him meet lots of our family and friends for the first time. I don’t know how much he will remember about this visit in the long run, but for now, he still frequently talks about things he did while he was there. Good times!

Posted in Dad, Milestones, Mom, Outdoors, Trip | 5 Comments »

July 28th, 2009 by sara

In and Around Seattle

We just returned from two and a half weeks in the Pacific Northwest, visiting family and friends. It was Jonah’s second time flying, but the first time that he had any clue what was going on. This is now the face he makes when he’s asked to smile for a picture. :)

He even got to play some toddler games on Dad’s iPod, which made him very happy during the long flight.

When we arrived, we went to stay with Jonah’s Gran and Grandad. They were so happy to see their grandson for the first time since he was two months old, and had gotten many things together so that he would have a fun time while he was there. Jonah got to play a lot with Uncle Larry, too, and they became good buddies.

Jonah was a big fan of the cat, and it seemed like almost everyone we visited on this trip had a cat, so he was pretty excited about that.

Uncle Larry filled and refilled this dump truck hundreds of times so that Jonah could keep dumping it out. “Jonah play a funny game with Uncle Larry and keep dumping out that truck. Uncle Larry says, ‘Oh, no, Jonah!'”

We visited with Uncle Johnny, Aunt Karen, and cousin Riley, too. Jonah was very happy to see so many instruments and sang some songs for his relatives. Riley played music with him, and Jonah paid very close attention (notice the tongue of concentration).

He got to check out Riley’s fiddle.

Riley also shared many of his toys that he enjoyed when he was little. They played a little game of catch together.

We all had a great time hanging out in their yard.

The first weekend, we went to the Seattle Zoo. Jonah loved seeing all the animals and had a lot to say about them. He made people laugh when he said, “I want to go down there in the water with those hippos!” It was a cool and kind of rainy day, and most of the animals were right out where we could get a great look at them. Jonah got to see giraffes, gorillas, elephants, and even a grizzly bear swimming right up to him on the other side of the glass. The bear made him a little bit nervous, though. :)

Uncle Larry helped him get a better look at the penguins.

And kept him awake with truck books on the ride home.

Jonah got to touch starfish at the aquarium. He really liked starfish on this trip!

Then we went down the street to feed seagulls, something Sean remembers doing as a kid. Jonah was a little nervous…

Another day, we drove through Fremont and stopped to see the troll under the bridge.

Then we walked a few blocks to Dusty Strings, an instrument store where Sean worked many years ago. Jonah was in heaven with all the guitars and ukuleles. He did a lot of strumming while we were there, and was very gentle with everything he tried.

We took a short boat ride over to West Seattle and back. Jonah can point out the Space Needle in the skyline but mostly wanted to climb up and down the stairs on the boat and in and out of chairs. He’s pretty pleased with his improved climbing skills lately.

Right down the street from the boat dock, the firefighters were washing one of their trucks. Jonah, of course, wanted to go check it out. They gave him a little fire hat and let him sit in the driver’s seat.

(We don’t have Internet at home right now, so parts 2 and 3 of the trip will be posted sometime in the next few days…)

Posted in Dad, Mom, Outdoors, Relatives, Trip | 5 Comments »

July 2nd, 2009 by sara

Fun with Cars and Trucks

If he doesn’t already think so, pretty soon Jonah will assume that everyone has construction vehicles at their houses all the time. Grandma and Grandpa (along with several other neighbors) were getting a trench dug in the front yard for a new water line. This means that Jonah had some very personal backhoe-viewing time.

“I want to sit in window and hold little yellow backhoe and watch big yellow backhoe outside in yard.”

Then there were the construction vehicles at the new development that’s being built across the street. Jonah wanted to make frequent visits to the dump truck. (I’m pretty sure dump trucks are his favorite.)

He practiced riding his tricycle around the driveway a little bit, but is not a fan of the pedals yet. Mostly, he just wants to be pushed.

Jonah also wanted me to draw lots of cars and trucks on the driveway. I’m getting pretty good with my truck-drawing skills. He gets so excited walking around, pointing at each one and saying what it is!

After I finish drawing one, Jonah takes some chalk and draws on it where the dirt should go.

And just for fun, here’s Jonah checking himself out in the mirror with animals piled around his head on the ride home.

Posted in Mom, Outdoors, Trip | 1 Comment »

July 2nd, 2009 by sara

Fun in the Backyard

Jonah spent the past five days in Elizabethtown with his grandparents and Uncle David. It was a lot of fun to play around in the backyard the first couple of days.

He checked out the garden and got to pick some peas and tomatoes.

He rolled around in the grass.

He played in his little pool.

He kept filling this cup up with water and throwing it out of the pool. Then I would pick it up and toss the leftover water on him. He loved it and said, “Jonah is playing a funny game!!”