sweet Ella girl

Ella is starting to show so much personality!  She has such a calm and sweet spirit about her, but there's definitely a fire in her, too.

The other day, she didn't seem to want to nurse, so I shifted her on my lap so that she could see my face, and she began to talk.  She talked and laughed and smiled -- for at least half an hour we just sat there and talked (so glad it happened while Jay was napping!).

I hope she'll always want to talk to me.

When she looks at me and smiles, her entire body lights up, and I feel like the most important person in the world.

I am so grateful that God knew I needed a daughter.

my prayer tonight for Jay

Lord, you have created such an amazing little boy.  He has a love for life that I have never seen in anyone.   He has such a loving and generous heart.  He loves completely and without reservation -- and he shows his love with so much enthusiasm.  Please protect his special little heart.  Please protect him from cynicism and self-consciousness.  Please make his heart strong to keep loving others when his love isn't returned.  Please give him a love for You that exceeds all other loves he will ever know.  Please continue to remind me that you love him so much more than I do, more than I ever can.  Remind me that You created him intentionally with this loving heart.  You made him this way on purpose and for a reason and You want him to keep loving without abandon.  Thank you for my son.  Thank you for his heart.

Jay-isms

Jay's vocabulary is exploding!  Every day he says something new, but we don't always know what he says.  It's a little difficult when he gets frustrated that we can't understand him.  Sometimes he'll say something I can't understand, and I try to make a generic comment like "that's great!", but that isn't good enough for him!  He wants me to repeat what he said because he desperately wants to be understood (he definitely understands pretty much everything we say to him!).

He has several "words" that sound the same (to us) but mean a variety of things.  Sometimes we can guess correctly from context, but not always:
cuh-cuh: computer, phone, helicopter, popcorn, or hot dog
chuk: truck or church
uh buboo: "I love you" or "where are you" -- can tell the difference based on inflection

Today he said "fish" for the first time!  It sounded like "shish".

He doesn't say "yes", but says "please" instead.  It is so incredibly sweet!  For example, if I ask him if he'd like to play outside, he says "please!!!"  It's also very cute that if I ask him if he got an owie, he says, "please!"

Jay likes to say "I did it!" when he accomplishes something, which is awesome because we only ever say "you did it!", but he says "I" instead of repeating the "you".

He calls Ella "Wee-Wuh" or "Tee-Tuh" (sister).

He also generalizes all people.  Every older woman he sees is "Meemaw", and he addresses them as such. We'll be at the store and he'll say "Hi, Meemaw" to every older woman he sees.  All older men are "Peepaw", all little boys are "Tad", all girls are "KeeKee" (Katie), and all other adults are either "Mommy" or "Daddy".  He's not confused as to who is own grandma or daddy is, I'm pretty sure he just thinks those are the names for everyone in that age group.

It's so fun that he can communicate so much now!

Jay at the library

We haven't been to storytime at the library in a long time, because Jay still doesn't like sitting through long story readings.  But he always loved the music and I've missed that for him.  This week we went to the pre-school storytime because we were babysitting our friend Lexy.  Jay didn't care for the books, but oh, the music!  He loved the music!  One of the songs involved jumping.  Jay can't jump yet, but he didn't know that he wasn't doing what the other kids were doing.  He was prancing.  I wish I could have captured the look on his face -- it was pure elation.  He was the very definition of happy.  He was prancing and dancing and laughing and clapping with complete abandon.  That is one of my favorite things about him right now -- he is not self-conscious.  He didn't know and didn't care that he wasn't perfectly following the directions to jump, but he loved feeling that he was part of the jumping group.

Jay today

~ Jay came out of his room after his nap, looked at me, and shouted, "Peek a boo!"

~ I was asking Jay what shows he might want to watch, or what he wanted to eat, or what he wanted to do, and the answer to every suggestion was "NOOO!"  So I said, "Do you just want to run around and shout the word "NO" all day?"  He said "Pleeeeease!"

Fourth of July and "thank you!"

We had a fun 4th!  We celebrated our friend Oli's first birthday...

And at night, Daddy set off fireworks in our driveway!  I didn't get any pictures, but when we were finished, we watched neighborhood fireworks for a while and Jay snuggled with Daddy (and soon fell asleep and slept through all of the "crack-cracks"!

Jay LOVED the fireworks -- his favorites were Daddy's! After each one, we clapped for Daddy and said "thank you!"  And for the first time, Jay said "Tay-Too!" instead of his famous "Tah-Tee", which sounded a lot like "daddy".  

our last "Jay and Mommy" week

After 21 months, this week is the very last week of just Jay and Mommy.  Daddy's in Orlando for a class this week, and three weeks after he gets home, Ella will be joining our family.  We LOVE having Daddy home with us, and we are SO excited to meet Ella, but this last year and a half has been very special, so Mommy tried to make our very last week together very special, too.

MONDAY

We went to Ocala to shop and play.  We started with the trains at Barnes & Noble:

Then we went to the fabric store to get some stuff for Ella. 

Jay was tired and hungry and didn't want to get out of the cart, so Mommy snapped a picture of the mini-fit:

Next we went to lunch at Chick-Fil-A.  Mommy managed to keep Jay's back to the play area, so he ate a good lunch of chicken nuggets, french fries, and lemonade.  He waited very patiently for Mommy to get his food ready:

Then, we played!

We miss Daddy a lot!  When we got home, we spent quite a bit of time looking out the window, hoping to spot his truck.  We're too little to understand what Mommy means when she says that Daddy will be home on Friday...

TUESDAY

On Tuesday, we went to the movie theater to see their special summer showing of "Rio".  Jay hadn't taken a nap and had refused much breakfast, so the trip was rather doomed, but he did last an hour.  Afterwards, we went to Grandma and Papa's house to eat our sandwich and play in the pool.  Mommy didn't take pictures, but we played hard and crashed in front of "Cars" when we got home:

And we ended the day with a fun bubble bath.

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday, we got up early and went to the park while it was still cool outside. 

And in the hot afternoon, we went to Inverness to play at Puddle in the Pines.

And we ended the day with a walk in the neighborhood (and discovered that an evening walk is the key to Jay getting a good night's sleep!).

THURSDAY

Our Thursday plan was to pick up Daddy's watch from the repair shop at the mall, have lunch and play at McDonald's, then swim at Grandma and Papa's house.  But as soon as we got to the mall, a thunderstorm broke out, so we ran around the mall for a couple of hours and ate at the food court.

Eventually we did make it to the pool, but Mommy didn't take pictures.  However, we did have a little adventure at the pool: a frog jumped out of the toy bucket and landed on Jay's chest.  He was not happy.

FRIDAY

On Friday, the very best thing happened: DADDY CAME HOME!!!!

Jay and Mommy had a very fun week together! And now we're excited to all be back together as a family, waiting for Ella to join us in just three weeks!

things to remember

Jay is 21 months old...

Today I found a train car that had been missing for a few days. When I gave it to Jay, he got all excited and put it with the other train car and played with them for a minute...then he stopped, ran back to me, and said, "Thank you, Mommy."  Then went back to playing.  He has said "thank you" without being prompted before, but this was the first time he stopped what he was doing because he remembered to do it.

Jay said "Amen" on his own after we prayed for dinner tonight.

Jay knows that "two" is a number, but it's the only number he remembers easily.  So when he counts, he says, "Two, two, two, two..."

Jay knows that "Sissy" is in Mommy's tummy, and that isn't weird to him at all.  Sometimes he comes up to me and lifts up my shirt to kiss her.

Jay and I went on a walk tonight without the stroller for the first time.  He made it to the stop sign (1/4 mile) and halfway back, then jumped into my arms to be carried.  I think carrying him home was the best part of the walk for me...he played with my face the whole time and laughed and talked to me.  Good grief I love that kid.

Before I forget...

Tonight, I stayed inside for about an hour while Matt and Jay played outside.  When they started to come in, I heard Jay yelling, "Mommy! Mommy!" As soon as he saw me, he ran to me with a huge smile on his face and jumped into my arms. 

Jay doesn't like to be put into his car seat, so he snuggles on my shoulder as soon as we get into the car, because he knows his mommy can't resist his snuggles.

more to come...