Glamour

Mom's shoes almost fit!

2 years, 11 months & 8 months

Dad took our monthly pictures before school today and I picked my bedroom carpet as the location. Dad also kept asking all three of us to sit still and look at the camera. At no point did we all cooperate at the same time.

The best of the bunch:

And the rest:

Notice Keillor going in for a kiss.

Slight overreaction.

John demonstrating an appropriate reaction.

Giving Keillor the stare down.

Tickling Big Sis.

Update from the month:
Johnny Jumper is a fitting nickname for my little brother. When playing on the floor he likes to hop on his butt to move himself forward. Occasionally, he gets a little too animated and does a face plant, but he rarely cries. Just the price to pay on the way to being mobile!

John is eating several solid foods now. Bananas, toast, Cheerios, avocado, peaches and pears are some of his current favorites. It's also a good way to keep him occupied while the rest of us enjoy our meals.

He has surprised all of us at various times at how fast his little hands can dart out and grab objects. I've learned to calmly ask him to let go of my hair many times (instead of yelling), Mom has learned to keep bowls of baby food out of arms reach and Dad has learned to not get too close while wearing glasses.

At several points over the last few weeks, I've enjoyed sitting and playing with John. He loves to watch me and almost always has a big smile. One of the two questions that I've asked Dad at least ten times over the past few days: "When will Johnny start crawling?" The other question I've been asking a lot lately: "When is it going to snow?"

News from my side of things: Last week I finished a 4-week session of swim lessons. Dad and I had been going every Tuesday and Thursday evening and I'm getting much more comfortable dunking my head and jumping from the edge of the pool. We've got this week off and then I start another 4-week session next week. Although there's a possibility that Dad decides to take John instead of me for the next set of lessons. In November I'll start the older kid swim classes where I'll be in the pool without Dad.

The 3 to 5-year old kids at church started Sunday School a few weeks ago and I love going each week. Dad had been wondering why I love it so much until he learned that snack time includes an all-you-can-eat buffet of some of my favorite things: Goldfish crackers, apple sauce, etc.

Mom and Dad have been impressed with some of my alphabet knowledge the past couple weeks. Obviously I've been learning some stuff at school! At random points I'll repeat a word, then the beginning sound and announce what letter that word starts with. My folks are used to it now, but they were very surprised the first few times I did it because it wasn't something they taught me! An example while watching Sesame Street the other day: "Grover! Guh, guh, guh, guh, Grover. Grover starts with a G, Dad."

My monthly interview
Favorite color this month: Green
John's favorite color: Brown
Keillor's favorite color: Black
Favorite dessert: Frozen yogurt
Favorite teacher: Mindy
Favorite friend at school: Ryan
Favorite Dad: Dad
Favorite sport: The Badgers
Favorite letter: U
How tall are you?: Way tall
How old is Mom?: No and also four

Not quite

Just in case you thought John could actually sit on Keillor long enough for Dad to get a picture, here's the original of Wednesday's picture:

Stickers

I started Sunday school this year at church so I don't have my regular time to play with stickers with Dad during the service. We made up for it after church last Sunday while enjoying my water at McDonald's!

Hi-Ho Keillor Away!

A new transportation option for our evening walks. Now Dad just needs to fashion some sort of saddle and a bridle for the pup!

Giraffe exercise

John, Dad and I went to the zoo on Saturday evening. We spent about three minutes watching the giraffes eat dinner...

...and then about five more minutes doing my "exercises."

Playhouse

A typical Sunday morning detour: Having fun with the plastic playhouse outside church.

J & K

Playing with Keillor on the big bed!

Back massage for the pup!

Bling

One parent is excited that I'm starting to get into girly things. The other parent isn't so excited, but he is getting really good at doing ponytails and pigtails!

Brainwashing

Badger football season is here! Mom was out of town on Saturday so the best option seemed to invite everyone over to our house for the game. The Badgers won by a lot so I guess we'll have to do it more often!

"Help me up, Tess!"

Dad's attempt at keeping us entertained so he and Uncle Jeff could actually watch some of the game.

Grandma Linda

Thanks for coming for a really long visit, Grandma! See you soon!

Comparison

Same crib, same age, same chubby cheeks, different kids.

Finally

We've seen our neighbor's tomato plants produce tomato after tomato recently, but nothing from our two plants. Until last week!

Of course neither Dad or I like to eat tomatoes so Mom is the real winner.

Pizza party

We went over to John and Katherine's for a pizza supper last weekend and little John was the hit of the picnic. I got to enjoy my first Fudgsicle and both John and I got to stay up way past our bedtimes!

With Ryder and Izzy.

And then Maeve joined the fun!

Sharing

The spectator map from last week's bike race was still in our double-wide stroller the other day so I was using it to give Dad directions during our evening walk.

Little brother also wanted to hold the map. I was not fine with that. So John got to hold my hand for the rest of the walk!

Dad just kept laughing at us.