Expressions

"But I don't like blue camping juice!"

"I'm not listening!"

Prep

We've been doing a bunch of things to help get Jonah ready for our canoe trip next weekend. We have a tent and camping pillows set up in the playroom. We have a few library books that give us the opportunity to talk with Jonah about all kinds of things like canoes, paddles, lifejackets, roasting marshmallows over the fire, backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, etc.

We have tried "camping milk" (thanks for the tip on mini soy milk tetra packs, Krista!) which he drank once it was chilled (that could be an issue) and "camping oatmeal" which he hated and made him cry.

I've taken Jonah on a couple of long walks WITHOUT the stroller to help him prepare for portaging. I also took him to Victoria Park, which is "a playground in a forest". Most of our time was spent in a forested area, collecting sticks for "the fire". Once we had made our pile, Jonah sat right down with a short stick to roast marshmallows! That gave me the opportunity to talk to him about how HOT fires are, and how we need LONG sticks to roast things over the fire. So, we found some long sticks, which soon became our paddles as we "canoed" out of the park.

We've also been able to get Jonah out in a canoe twice, which he LOVED! The second time we were able to picnic too. He's really going to love our trip, I'm convinced, but he's going to be hyper and happy, going non-stop most of the time. Am I going to be able to handle it?

Still wondering how sleeping in the tent will go. And how he'll do when the canoe rides actually involve him sitting in the canoe for a couple hours at a time. The lifejacket it gonna make him pretty hot. Hopefully it won't be too hot and humid, and hopefully it won't rain the whole time! That will be a whole different issue! I'm a little worried about bugs too.

Here are a few pics. Can you even see Jonah in the first pic? He's right behind me. We're out on Puslinch Lake.


I pulled the laundry baskets out today and told the boys to pretent they were canoes. They ran with the idea. The wooden spoons became paddles. Jonah found "Daddy's canoe hat" and put it on all by himself. Eventually a drum was added to the boat, which made it a Dragon Boat.


I found a sweet deal at Wal-Mart this morning. A pack of two "canoe hats" for $3.00! Woo hoo! As an aside - Jonah has a big head! We had to go to the size 4-6x section. Ummm, he's not even wearing clothing for 2-year-olds, but he needs a hat for a 4-year-old?!



And we PROMISE NOT to dress Jonah like Miles in this pic... unless we WANT to lose him.

Welcome!

Welcome to this world
Jael Honor Evans
June 27, 2006
7 lb 4 oz

My first niece
And because some of you will ask...
It's pronounced "Jay-elle"

Tonight

Tonight I am at home anxiously awaiting news about the birth of my first niece. I was hoping to post a welcome to her on here tonight... but I may just have to go to bed instead... I wonder if I will be able to fall asleep if I don't hear any news!?

In the meantime, here are two more of Jonah's second-year portraits. Thanks Joan!

Two Years! Portraits, milestones, etc

Here are two of Jonah's 2-year portrait pics. I had trouble scanning the others because they were on a white background.




Two-year obsessions...
-forests, trees, moss ("Jonah, where does moss grow?" "On trees", "on stones", and "on ground")
-water (in any form, and including waterfalls, water fountains, rivers, oceans, lakes, brooks, etc and may also include man-made things that hold water like water towers and pipes)
-drums
-for a little while he was also obsessed with the solar system. He learned all about the sun, stars, and all the planets. "Jonah, what are the rings around saturn made of?" "Bits of ice and rock!" "Why can't we live on Mercury and Venus?" "Too hot!" Of course, his favorite planet is "our earth" because it has water on it!

Two-year interests...
-garbage trucks
-construction tools
-canoes
-drawing water fountains and waterfalls
-painting
-cuddling his dog, Ivy, and pretending and imagining with her

Jonah still LOVES his soothers. Jonah still wears diapers. Jonah has a good imagination and uses multiple-word sentences -- like today while in the playroom, running around the tent he said, "Jonah see a waterfall coming down in forest!" He's a good jumper, can climb a ladder, can walk up stairs without using his hands. He knows all of his colors and most shapes, counts well, and knows many letters and is learning some of their sounds. He is in the 20th percentile for height and weight. Jonah is described by others as "nice" and "friendly" and "outgoing" and "social." He still has issues with cow's milk. He enjoys eating red pepper, cucumber, tomato, corn, carrots, most fruits, various meats and fish and egg, chilli, rice, and more. He LOVES pasta right now. His current favorite condiment is raspberry vinaigrette. Jonah will not eat cake, pie, or ice cream. We've never given him candy. Oh, he had potato chips yesterday and really liked them. For a while there he would burst with excitement for honey on bread. He would have bread after every meal with honey or jam on it. He was also on a rice krispies kick but that has slowed down too.

We plan to start giving him peanut butter this week. Why am I so nervous about it?! (Well, maybe because he once broke out because of lentils, and they are in the same family... good reason, right?)

Glenn and I, along with Dave & Jess, are going to take Jonah camping in Algonquin Park in a couple of weeks! We'll mostly be canoeing. This is a very brave (or crazy?) move on our parts, but we are convinced that he is going to LOVE it! I'm a little nervous about how he'll adjust to sleeping in a tent on the floor between Glenn and I. Will he take an afternoon nap? Will we run out of food for him? No soy milk for how long? Will we be able to keep the mosquitos away? Lots of questions and concerns, but hey, it's only a 4-day trip, so settle down!

Third Celebration of Second Birthday

Except that Jonah received & opened birthday gifts mid-week last week and also on Sunday, Saturday June 10th was the third and final celebration of his momentous occasion.

Glenn spent the morning on the Grand River canoeing with a friend. Jonah was taken down to the Grand River (thanks family!) to watch the dragon boat races. Glenn came ashore briefly to say hi to Jonah and was off again. While they were all busy, I was busy at home baking cakes, cleaning up, and decorating for the joint (we were also celebrating Glenn's 30th birthday) Bob the Builder birthday party.

The only activity involved building with boxes. The boys seemed content to putter about with the boxes, trucks and various construction tools, and pose for pics of course. We opened gifts. That took a while. The boys liked the new loot! We also spent time playing on the deck.

Here are Glenn and Jonah admiring their cakes.
Glenn's is an angel food cake - we topped it
later with strawberries and cool whip.
On Jonah's gingerbread cake is a set of Bob
the Builder legos that Glenn picked up
while in Billund, Denmark, home of Lego.

Here they are blowing out candles:

My brother took these great pics with his new camera,
although, perhaps thanks to blogger,
they're looking a little bit flattened here.

Second Celebration of Second Birthday

On Jonah's actual birthday, Jonah got to move up in the world. He had his first day in the "2 & 3 year old room" at church and did great!



When we got home, I let him "drive" our car - he's always asking to, and hey, it was his birthday after all! Note, this is the only time he'll wear sunglasses!



In the afternoon Uncle Bob & Aunt Krista came over with a gift both boys love! Water play is so much fun, and a great way to keep cool in the summer!

Te amo! (Tay-AH-moh)

Thanks to The Baby Einstein Company, I know that "Te amo" means, "I love you."

We taught Jonah how to say that a while back, since it's much easier to say than "I love you." There's nothing more precious than hearing your young child say, "Te amo, Mommy" or "Te amo, Daddy."

Anyway, for the last few days, the conversation has taken an interesting turn...

Mommy: Jonah, can you say I love you in Spanish?

Jonah: I love you in Spanish

Since he's been doing this consistently for days now, I decided to change things up. After supper I put my face right up in front of Jonah's and the conversation became...

Mommy: Jonah, I love you in Spanish!

Jonah: No, te amo!

First Celebration of Second Birthday

Anyone else having trouble believing that my baby turns TWO YEARS OLD tomorrow?

It has been a very busy weekend already! My parents came into town to begin the celebrations. Last night we took Jonah swimming. This morning Jonah received his birthday gift from Nanny and Poppy. He got sandals and a magnadoodle. He loves it and is saying "magnadoodle" pretty well already!

This afternoon we went to the Waterloo Regional Children's Museum. Jonah was very busy and serious! I have a TON of pictures, of course, so let's begin...

Want to know what Jonah wanted to build with these blocks?
A drum kit of course! (One of his obsessions!)
When I told the little boy on the left,
he helped Jonah build one!

Jonah really enjoyed playing at this exhibit.
He was especially thrilled when children moved the
slats to make a waterfall (another obsession).

Snack break!

We rode plasma cars! Very cool!

I managed to convince Nanny to get in on the fun too!

Birthday cake! Jonah LOVED this part.
We let him blow the candles out multiple times,
'cuz hey, why not? He really enjoyed having us
sing "Happy Birthday" and eventually chimed in with us.

On the drive home, Jonah played with his magnadoodle in the car. He said he was drawing water fountains (another obsession) and trees. I also heard him sing "Happy Birthday to you" a couple of times.

When we got home, Jonah showed Grandma and Grandpa the LeapFrog Fridge Phonics toy that he received from Jedidiah, Aunt Carla and Uncle Jon. He also really likes this gift. I have already heard him practicing the "hard C" sound! He especially likes hearing the alphabet song. Carla & Jon, I shot some video footage of Jonah enjoying your gift but I'm not sure how to make it small enough to send it to you by email... hmmmm....