well... we're nearing spring equinox and other than some buds and flowers on the trees... (are they confused?) i see no signs of spring... the weather is still bleeecchhhhh (high 30s-40s and rain rain rain rain rain... some wind... arrgh). we've had a steady cycle of colds since just after thanksgiving... jakob gets one about every 3 weeks... takes him about 7-10 days to get over them... during which time my immune system decides it's had enough and i get them... and by the time i'm getting over it, here comes the next one... throw in an extra bout of GI virus (the 5# weight loss in 18hrs kind) for me, pneumonia 1x for j (our first urgent care trip ever), and a nasty ear infection for the first time for j followed by another cold while still on meds for the ear infection (which came from a cold) and i'm about ready to fly the coop! bok bok buh-kock!
but on the non-whiney side... j likes buying me grocery store tulips... which i love... and then when they're about ready to croak, he gets to disassemble one or two... taking great pains to investigate each petal... each part of the stamen/pistil/pollen/whatever the appropriate names are... he wanted to eat the pollen like the bees and the birds do... i told him we should probably just enjoy the honey the bees made from it... annnnnnywayyyy... he's usually fairly bummed that he can't put it back together... nor can mommy... much like post-bug squishing... soooo bummed the bug won't crawl on him anymore... or the wings won't work... ugh! i do love the mind of a toddler scientist tho... and the discovery! and i try to make sure not too many bugs are damaged... tho i did squish a spider in our kitchen without thinking... oopsie... should have let him check it out first... then escorted it outside i suppose... sigh. :)
my role as a translation specialist is continuing to decrease... his singingis expanding, as well (more songs = less repetition! whoo whoo!) ... we're working on a 3rd grace to sing so we have a few more options for him to enjoy actually singing along with when at potlucks (he still loves these) and special mtgs and etc. he's loving play doh and "shooting baskets" with the cookie cutters and cups of play doh afterwards (into the storage box)... "art time with playyyy- dohh" as he calls it... most often done after a meal while still in his dining chair. :) all our new illnesses have allowed us to get established with a local pediatrician... and since she hasn't given him any shots yet, he really doesn't mind going! they also have a water fall out front and large cement frogs and elephants... coooooool! he loves taking his new glow-in-the-dark basket ball to the park and kicking it around on the BB courts... shooting baskets = not as much fun... and the soccer ball is more for riding in the BOB. building sand castles, squishing bugs (?) after watching and playing with them for awhile, and building sand castles are all still tops.
he loves gospel mtg... not only for the workers and the wonderful msgs he hears, i'm sure, but because they use a microphone... and a speaker... and there are fords/cords... i'm noticing him sidling up closer and closer to the tween/teen boy who packs them away afterwards... and he's really wanting to help put away chairs... but for the most part, it takes all his weight just to slide one towards the big boys who fold/lift them up... so that's his role for now... when not chasing around with his 2 best girlfriends and some other kids. :)
Baking is SUPER fun! especially the dough licking part... and a small clump of "brown sugar in my hand" as he always requests with a sweet please and "fayk youuuu" after... :) he is his mama's child on this one!
we went to the local family friendly irish festival last weekend and WHAT FUN!!!!! TONS of musical options in different rooms/areas of the high school... a craft area where kids could plant clover seeds... so we're growing some right now and he's LOVING to see it sprout up out of the ground... we had to have a little lesson on fragility after he pulled several out... oopsie! cool to see their fledgling root systems tho... and j danced and danced and danced in the area where anyone was invited to try out the folk dances with a caller and also a 3-pc irish band (guitar, fiddle, flute/whistle)... j preferred solo dancing... we tried out the group dancing together but it was a little overwhelming to him after awhile... i LOVE toddler dancing... lots of hand shakin' and arm waggin' with steps and marches and kicks and jumps all thrown in the pot... he was really liking turning circles and going fwd/bkwd just like the big people doing the "real" dancing... hilarious! we also heard some really talented folks too... some more formal, some more pub hoe-down, and one just amazing woman and her 2 man back up band that was cd/performing arts center quality. OH! and we watched hurling for a bit... holey moley... like BB/soccer/lacrosse with short sticks, small hard ball, and LOTS of contact... not much protective equipment... tho i suspect there are optional pieces the "manly men" choose not to wear. anyway... FUN! if i knew how to post videos on here from my phone, i'd have ya all entertained for sure! ;)
well, due to my extreme frustration with the weather and the germs (gym child care, restaurant high chairs, shaking sick meeting people's hands, and kids at the play ground who want to share j's sand toys with their snot covered noses and hands), i decided perhaps this would be a great time to take the plunge into... FINGER PAINT! ahhhhhhh! i've been avoiding this one simply due to the high mess potential... but we had our first trial today and it was quite fun... the fun ended when he just couldn't keep it on the paper and it started migrating enthusiastically and purposefully (with an evil glint in his grinning eyes) onto the table, his kiddie chair, chin, shirt, and pants... next time, NAKED (with diaper on) fingerpainting... :) thankfully, black table, dark grey clothes. :)
notice his little cup of clover seedlings... sprouts... whatever you call them! whoo whooo! not dead yet! well, except for those sprigs he pulled out. ;)
we have some fun to look fwd to... AUNTIEREEEEEEEE is coming in a few days!!!!!!!!! WHOOOO WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and after that, GMAJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ is coming while sz is on another one of his business trips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so yeeeeeeeehawwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have a few races planned... if all goes well and i stay healthy and nuclear fall out doesn't alter the landscape personally or in the desired locations and etc... one first part of june (road marathon), a trail 50k in july, 2 half marathon hill climbs (>vertical mile hill climbs, yeehaww!) in august... we'll see about later in the fall... will depend on travel and etc. will be fun to have a solid summer of running since i finally seem to be pain free from the post partum stuff and am getting some of my speed back... we'll see how it all translates. i certainly feel better when i have some physical goals to go along with other ones... so i'm pretty psyched! i really have some fabulous running friends here... which has made 5am running SOOOO much more fun... it's fun anyway... but when you're chatting and working hard with friends, it's MO BETTAH! and i have friends that will be at all the races except for one... mostly because most of my friends do not share my love of running/powerhiking as fast as i can up long hills for hours at a time. ;) not sure why.
anyone want to dog sit for 3 weeks and 4 ish weeks for us?? our house or yours... she's 12y/o golden... sleeps most of the time... wants some rubs and love occasionally but for the most parts, likes a nice spot to snooze... is best without another animal (tho all my dog sitters have said she did great with their animal and etc... but this is NOT the case if i'm present) and only kids that aren't going to tease her or try to lay on her... 12 = old. :)
cheers!
skjhz
