Sandbox Boy

Photos: September 26, 2007

Autumn is a great time for the sandbox. Not too warm and, usually, not too cool. Jonas is really into driving his trucks on paths in the sand. I was World's Best Mom, at least for the rest of the afternoon, when I used the hoe to make a path around the entire perimeter of the sandbox, which included four giant hills. (Giant is Jonas' description. The hills were approx. 4 inches high. Apparently that is quite impressive by 3-year-old standards.) Sandbox time is great for wearing him out and guaranteeing a long nap.

Comments Made Easy

Photo: September 1, 2007

For those of you who would like to comment on this blog, you can now do so without having a Google account. A fellow blogger (thanks, Sarah) gave me some tips so I could change my settings to make it a little easier for people to leave comments. If you have a Google account and want to sign in to leave you comments, that still works just the same. Or you can leave a comment by doing a word-verification. Word verification is simply a way to prevent spam comments...similar to the dreaded spam email that everyone gets. If you do leave a comment without signing in, make sure to include your name so I know who is being so nice as to take the time to comment (I'm keeping score you know...)

The photo above is of the world's longest on-going bathroom remodel (technically going on for over 5 years now.) This was the day Tony and our friend Jamey (thanks, Jamey) moved our claw-foot bathtub back inside after being on our back porch for 3 years. Jonas was so excited to see that big tub he insisted on getting in it immediately and played in there for about 20 minutes. He a great self-entertainer when he wants to be. For those who don't already know, I work at a ceramic tile place where we produce hand painted tile. Over the last six years I've collected tile that was going in our junk pile and ended up using it to tile the bathroom. Kinda crazy but it was free, and free is a very good price.

Oh, and those two dark spots on the floor in front of the tub are Jonas' footprints painted on the tiles...so many cool things you can do with tile.

Oops, He Did It Again

Photos: September 20, 2007

Yes, if you are keeping score this is head trauma #4 in young Jonas' 3 short years. Just to recap:

#1 @ 18 months old; fell while walking and hit top left head on door trim, split head open.
#2 @ 2+ yrs; fell while walking and hit head on metal edge of bed frame, split left cheek open.
#3 @ 3+ yrs (two weeks ago) fell while in shower w/ me hit head on edge of tub, huge goose egg.
#4 @ 3+ yrs (see photos) fell while on toilet hit head on mystery object, medium goose egg.

Accidents #3 and #4 were just two weeks apart and he hit his head in exactly the same spot. He recovers quickly though, no concussion or anything. If someone asks if he got an owie he responds "Yep. But I'm OK!" It's interesting that all four of these accidents have occurred within 6 feet of each other, two in the bathroom. Isn't there a statistic about the huge percentage of falls/accidents that occur in the bathroom? I think that percentage is even higher simply due to our 3 year old. "I'm OK!!!"

Bandages

Photos: September 3, 2007

We've been potty training with Jonas for a few months now. He came up with his own reward system of getting a cool bandage (not band-aid, he will correct you if you say that) when he successfully uses the toilet. He also gets 3 Sesame Street stickers on his "Toilet Chart" (a piece of paper on the back of the bathroom door w/ a picture of a toilet and his name on it) which he loves almost as much as the bandage. Jonas was extremely excited when Auntie DeAnne, Big Uncle and Cousin Cody included a tin box of cowboy bandages as part of his birthday present. There were 30 bandages in the box and they lasted less than 3 weeks. As you can see in the photos, at one point he had his entire left leg covered. Usually the bandages last a day or two at the most since they come off in the bath...not so with the huge brown cowboy bandages. Apparently they were made for cowboys who like their bandages extra sticky so they stay on forever. After several days Tony made Jonas take them off which, not surprisingly, ended in tears. But, never fear, there's an infinite number of opportunities to earn more bandages. We've already been through a box of Backyardigans bandages and Peanuts (Jonas says Snoofy) bandages and now we're halfway through SpongeBob Squarepants. The best part is that Jonas always has some scrapes and scratches on his legs and lots of bandages but never bandages over the scratches...they are just for decoration, not medical purposes.

Everywhere that Mary went...the video

Video: August 2007

This is my first attempt at using the new video upload feature of Blogger. I had a better/longer video here earlier but it took a hour to "buffer" (whatever that means) and I didn't think most people would be into an hour wait for a 60 second video. So this one is super short, 9 seconds, but you'll get the idea of Jonas' non-stop singing and running with his balloon. Would love to hear if everyone can view it. Sorry about the shaking, swerving camera ...this is home video at it's best (or worst.) I hope everyone can hear Jonas singing, and panting...hilarious.

Crazy Green Diggin' Machine

Photos: September 2006

Love how this turned out...the super-bright green is my fave.