Baby J is almost 20 months old! As he rounds the corner towards becoming a two-year-old, he begins to express his opinions quite clearly: "NO!" and "No, no, no, no, no....!" Yes, it was inevitable that the sweet baby should become a stubborn toddler someday.
He is still very sweet, though. He loves reading, being outside, making car and train noises, and "me-moh" (music). His favorite things to eat are "sazzos" (sandwiches) and pizza, but he still eats generally anything - lots of fruits, veggies, plain yogurt with frozen blueberries, "guaco" (guacamole), even kale chips!
Everyday he learns more and more words. We are sad that some of his cute words are disappearing in favor of the real pronunciations. But at least "car" is still "Drrrnn-da," and it makes a "voom" sound.
He asks to "see, see!" when he wants to be picked up and see what's cooking in the kitchen. He likes to draw with crayons and paint, pour rice through funnels, press buttons on the "pi-no-no" (piano), and incredibly, he still helps with unloading the dishwasher. I love that he talks to me at bedtime about things he has done throughout the day, and sometimes actually asks for things he thinks about without any visual reminders (that I can see, anyway). Two days ago he asked for a ham and cheese sazzo, and occasionally he will ask to go for a hike!
Here he is on a trail at Percy Warner Park. Without any prompting he walked down the trail and said, "hike... fun!" He rides in a backpack most of the way, and when he gets restless, he gets to walk the trails.
This year K is home-schooling with me. We have completed 7 weeks so far, and accomplishing some great things. We do our best to arrange meet-ups with her friends from her former school, and she is also involved in a homeschool band and choir.
Her biggest excitement this year has been a One Direction and 5 Seconds Of Summer concert over the summer, and more recently she actually won tickets through a radio station for an Austin Mahone concert!
Here she is getting ready to go!
K took some photos of a Daddy-Long-Legs during our recent hike.
She enjoys the super-macro function on the camera!
J went on a chump car racing trip last weekend to the track at Sebring, FL. Google apparently has created a storybook of all the photos for me... I am slightly creeped-out! Another whirlwind trip complete with a 12 hour drive to the track, some last-minute car repairs and very little sleep! Great that he could combine it with a visit to his parents!
As for me, my free time (not much!) has been spent composing a flute choir piece. I am at the rehearsal stage with the flute choir, and making edits. So excited to record and get it published!
I have been working on cleaning up the gardens and getting compost going. J and I planned a compost bin, I cut the wood, and he put it together; I can't wait until next spring when there's a bunch of good compost to add to my garden!
Between lesson planning, teaching lessons here and there, taking care of Jake - I find it hard to keep up with photos, but I finally have added to the blog and updated the web album!
