mama, Mama... MAMA!

I mentioned that I took somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pictures during Christmas, right? Do you know there are exactly 3 of me with JT (or just of me anyway). This is the best of those three.

Once again, John was chided for never taking over the camera. At some point, even a bad photo is a good photo when it's all you have. And shame on me for not handing over a camera to other family members. I had two cameras with me the whole time anyway...

So if I saw you over Christmas and you have pics of me... please send my way. Please.

And this red-headed boy I am holding in the photo? He sure loves his Mama. I couldn't even go to the bathroom without him running around yelling, "mama? Mama? MAMA?!"

holday wrap-up

Christmas came and went with a flurry of activity and traveling. We visited John's family in St. Clairsville for Christmas eve and Christmas day. Most of John's family looked like they had seen a ghost when they saw JT. They say he looks exactly like John did.



We spent Friday night with Aunt Joan and Uncle Wayne in Canton. JT spent the evening amazing them with all the tricks and new words he has learned since Thanksgiving.

On Saturday we visited with my Grandma and my dad's family in Akron. JT was more attracted to GG's tree than any others he has been around. But his Grandpa was sure to keep the tree safe...



When we got home on Saturday, we started opening all the new toys and checking them out. The fun continued into Sunday. I think by now we have opened everything and all toys are in their new locations ready to go. Here are John and JT trying out the Tonka race track:



I think I have something like 300 pictures from the holidays... will share more soon.

celebration, round 1

This morning was Christmas with my parents, brother and sister-in-law. Luckily, Santa knew where to find us today...


JT didn't want anything to do with the presents until he had some breakfast...


It took a while to get all the presents open because JT had to play with each as he opened it. Of course, once everything was opened, the combination of presents got a little awkward (well, awkward for some of the other presents)...


Grandpa also quite enjoyed his Christmas present... not sure where Santa was with the wrapping on this one... he just hid it in the back of our car!


We took a break mid-gift-opening to have some breakfast. Grandpa made pancakes for everyone... and yes, JT ate AGAIN...


Uncle Bill and Aunt Theresa got JT a big dump truck. It took him a bit to figure out if he was supposed to ride in the back of the truck or just push it around. Turns out this is a toddler-powered truck...


Finally after bugging Grandpa all day, JT convinced him to go for a walk. Grandpa found out that JT is not so much about holding your hand on a walk. He's a big boy and can walk, er run, on his own, Grandpa...

wrapping presents

wrapping presents, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

JT helped me wrap presents last weekend. He isn't very good at it. But he is a little better than he was last year. ;-)

We'll see if he is better at unwrapping them soon... this weekend is Christmas with my family. It should be a wild ruckus of a good time! Stay tuned...

need more weekend

How long 'til Christmas?, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

Let me summarize our weekend:

- Friday night had pizza with B&J.
- Put on jammies.
- Spent Saturday working on presents.
- Sunday morning, finally changed out of jammies when JT spewed all over me, him, and the couch.
- Couch still smells like vomit... putting a severe damper on the holiday spirit! *gag*

Can I get some more weekend before Monday morning, please?

17 months

At 17 months, JT

• is learning new words every day (boots, church, Jen, baby - rather than "dada").
• still calls me Mama... which I love.
• calls his hedgehog puppet "Acha". He likes when Acha reads Sheep in a Jeep.
  
• says "ish" all the time, which means "What is this?" He absolutely CRAVES new vocabulary!
  
• uses me as his translator... I'm fluent in JT.
  
• loves books. Really, we spend SO MUCH of the day reading books.
• likes watching Sesame Street podcast.
• watches the Muppets at home and Barney at the sitter's.
• can feed himself with a spoon fairly well.
• will put spoon, cup, or food on his head if he sits in his chair too long past finishing his meal.
  
• asks for a "sip" when he's thirsty.
• drinks from a straw... he had his first juice box!
  
• listens to Lullaby Metallica, Peter Rabbit, or James Taylor cds at bedtime.
• says shhh holding a finger to his lips and hiding behind our bed from Dada.
• will grab you by the finger to go see or do what he wants.
• can identify mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. Even though he taunts us by calling ears, eyes.
• is losing some stranger anxiety. Didn't cry the past two Sundays when we took him to the nursery at church.
• is best buddies with James and Bradley at the sitter's.
• doesn't care if his fingers are frozen solid... he doesn't want to come inside.
• giggles when I hang him upside-down by his ankles. I think it might be making him taller though...
• is getting stronger. You can tell when he throws a ball!
• weighs 25 pounds.
• still has Dada's red hair.
• wears larger 18 months and some 24 months or 2T clothes.
• remembers people between visits. Nana is a favorite, but he also asks for Jen and Geesh (Theresa). He calls Becka Bot and remembers that Jari talks like Elmo when you press his finger!
  
• is the sunshine of our lives.
  

weekend roundup

snow before Christmas, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

It was an awesome holiday weekend. A lot of relaxing, Christmas tree, music, scented candles, good friends, family, snow, shopping, a holiday party, and most of all... precious time with JT. He has been going through a growth spurt, so it was like getting to know him all over again!

And seriously, snow in December is to be cherished. Getting your new car dinged in a fender bender bites (yes, this happened to John - poor thing), but still... those flakes flying around are just dreamy!

decking the halls

We spent Saturday rearranging the furniture and putting up the Christmas tree. It's always a major, messy production. But this year was much easier since it's the second year with our artificial, pre-lit tree.



JT didn't actually help much with the decorating. Although, on the plus side he also hasn't been too destructive since we got it finished.



He took a THREE hour nap, even through all the noise of furniture-moving and cleaning. We really liked how pretty his hair looked when he woke up.



And here we have it... Christmas at our house.



What do you think of the furniture arrangement? I think it's cozy and more conversational. It's screaming for a fire in the fireplace. I need to get rid of a chair that we just don't need and some other clutter. I also still need to come up with a shelf storage solution to get stuff off the floor and to be better organized. AND we also want to replace the tv with a flat screen. But I think I like it this way. We'll see how it works for us after Christmas before I make it permanent.

How is Christmas coming along at your house?