Jay and the Basket Factory

Yesterday my new friend Suzy invited Jay and I to go with her and a few other women to a basket factory. We had a blast! Mike warned me to think twice before buying anything - not necessarily because of the price but because we eventually will have to ship all our things back to Spain. It was actually really good that I wasn't looking to buy anything because Jay had a terrific time running around the store checking out all the cool stuff. I just tagged along behind him and pointed things out as he went. I also snapped some pictures. My favorite was his excitement over the hanging door cover. You know those long strings of beads generally hung in door frames (think Hawaii)? He loved knocking the beads back and forth. When we went back outside Jay found a sidewalk with a ledge he could step up and down from. He was so excited that he could actually walk up and down the step rather than crawl up and down it. Every time he went off of it he lifted his leg way up high and started laughing. We could have stayed there for hours but we finally had to leave, much to Jay's disappointment. After the bead store Suzy made a tasty lunch of Hawaiian hay stacks. It was so good! It's been a while since I've had them.

Jay's been a pretty silly boy lately. He's a dancing fool now. Any time I play music, which is often, he swings his arms back and forth with a happy look on his face. He also likes to push the music button on one of his leap frog toys so that he can dance. Dancing with daddy is another fun thing to do. Jay especially loves to be spun around fast. I love watching them waltz around the kitchen together. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to know how much love there is in our home. I'm so grateful for my family!


The other day I was in the kitchen while Jay was playing in the living room. All of a sudden he ran past the kitchen making his "get me what I want before I really start to scream" whines. I followed him into the bathroom where he started reaching his arms up toward our sink and cabinet. I figured he had seen me put his binky up there and wanted it. When I tried to give it to him he shook his head and started whining more fervently. I picked him up so that he could show me what he wanted. Suddenly he grabbed my toothbrush and squirmed to get down. I watched him go into the living room and place it on the coffee table. ?? Okay. I'm not sure what prompted this sudden desire to put my toothbrush on the coffee table, but it made me laugh and appreciate all the delights a toddler brings.

Jay's become an expert at signing that he is "all done." We sort of made up our own sign for this one where he puts his hands up in the air and rotates them back and forth. I was feeding him some Cheerios and milk the other day. When he saw I had just shoveled the last O into his mouth he immediately did the "all done" sign and then ran over to the Cheerios box on the counter and pointed up to it. I don't know why it surprised and delighted me so much to see him make this connection. I guess it just comes with being a mom.

Last but not least Jay is starting to say "amen" at the end of prayers. Of course he hears us pray often at meal times and other times throughout the day but mostly he just looks at us like we're crazy when we do it. Just yesterday I heard a little amen from him after I finished the prayer. Then I heard him again today at lunch. Looks like he's learned a new word :)

hmmm... which basket can I hide in? (perhaps a little of Jig is coming out in Jay?)

I'd really like to get off this bench but mom's still taking pictures of me.

Ouch! This is Jay's nose after the fall he took at Neuschwanstein. He's a pretty tough baby.

I'm am SO good at this!