Table For Two: 22 months

We recently got back from our (very fun) trip to Portland, and are trying to settle back into our lives in San Antonio....it's quite a culture change. For instance, if you go to Chik-fil-a in San Antonio (or in any other city, probably) you will get a Despicable Me minion in your happy meal. If you go to Burgerville (Portland's local fast food chain) you will get.....kale and beet seeds for your organic garden. Okay.... But we actually had a fun time learning about seeds and planting them. Now if I could only keep them alive...

Thanks for buying our happy meal! Have fun with this!

So we planted them!

Getting spoiled by Grandpa and Grandma!

Out to dessert with Aunt Julia and Grandma

The Chinese gardens in Portland

If you've ever wondered what in the world moms and kids do all day long, we have been getting back into the fall routine: story time at the library on Tuesdays, Bible Study Fellowship (when mommy gets to go to a Bible study and Jackie gets to enjoy the wonderful kids' program) on Wednesdays, and our music class on Thursdays. Free time for play dates and trips to the park and grocery store on Mondays and Fridays. Saturdays are family time, and Jackie goes to Gymboree with Daddy. Sundays are busy with church. We keep a full schedule! That's why I like our mandatory rest time during Jackie's nap in the afternoon.

Toddler time at the library - "snow day" in the middle of summer

A favorite spot - the puppet stage at the library

What else would one do at Baja Fresh?

More lounging

Jackie has been so enjoyable at this age! We are seeing her personality continue to develop. I brought the book "Cinderella" home with us from Portland. It's a version I read growing up and it has beautifully drawn pictures. Since then, we have read "See-lella" before every nap and bedtime and watched the Disney version several times through. Other favorite books are the "Curious George" series and "Moo, Baa, La, La, La" (she can recite this one herself).

Roped Aunt Julia into reading to her

Practicing her cursive - could she be a lefty??

Our little "mommy" now has a collection of about 6 furry "babies" that she takes care of very sweetly - they get bottles, blankets, pats on the back, diapers changed, tucked into bed, and slid down the slide. It's fun to see that the nurturing side of girls starts so early. Also, we get to evaluate our parenting....if she sings the bear a song, pat on the back for us. If the bear gets drop-kicked across the room....not so good.

Aunt Amanda and Amanda the doll, who used to belong to Mommy!

The kids

Diaper changes all around!

If you don't have a cradle, a stool upside down will do just fine

Mamacita

Helping mommy with the dishes

Jackie's favorite two songs to sing are "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Happy Birthday" (which is usually followed by the word "cake!"). If you are reading this blog, Jackie has probably sung "Happy Birthday" to you some night before bed. Somebody needs to tell me what the "daddies" do on the bus....the babies cry, and the mommies say "shhh", and then the daddies read the newspaper? Doesn't seem right. :)

Cuddle time with Daddy

This is how she will look in 60 years

Out to dinner with Kimberly!

On a friend's tractor

Sick day means naps in the car

Possibly her favorite thing in the whole world right now is to go to the park and be pushed on the swing for about an hour or more, with an occasional break to go down the slide. We were lucky to be near a great park in Portland - finding the energy to go in the San Antonio heat is a different story.

Her favorite swing at the park

Pretty typical Jackie pose - with Aunt Dixie

Playing at Aunt Amanda's park

Someone else willing to push me!

I guess it's hard being one. Whenever we talk about friends who are about her age, Jackie will furrow up her brow and say, "Hit! Kick! Push!" She definitely does her fair share of these things, seeing how any child who comes too far into her personal space will be informed with a purposeful shove. But she also enjoys her friends very much and will talk about them constantly when they're not around. It has warmed my heart to see her hug her friends and give up control in order to share with them. We are making progress: now she looks at me with a guilty look on her face and changes her words to, "No hit! No push!"

Happy little friends eating dinner

Neighbor buddies

Got the car all to myself!

Trip to the fire station!

How to speak Jackanese:

"Happy Dee Dee!" ("Happy Birthday!")
"Whee Si!" ("Whee, slide! Take me to the park!") Another version of this is "Swee...yeah!" ("Swing - yes please!")
"Eee Chee!" ("I'm all itchy - put my lotion on!" - poor girl has eczema)
And a bunch of variations on a similar theme: "Oh boy!" "Oh wow!" "Oh shoot!" "Oh NOOOOOooooooo!!!"

Patio at Starbucks

Watching "Shaun the Sheep"

Daddy's clothes are the best!

Modeling her hair bows from Aunt Julia

We have been working on counting recently. Usually, I'll count and Jackie will chime in with her favorite numbers: "One... two... fee... foe... six... nine... nine... nine... ten.... yay!!!!" When asked how old she is, Jackie replies, "One, two!" Oh well, she's almost two anyway! Gotta go work on my birthday party decorations! :)