Just Jumping for Joy

Dear Maya,

This last week was kind of unusual for us. Daddy had a cold, mommy and daddy each took some much-needed time for themselves, and, oh yeah, we got a new car! It is sooooo much nicer putting you in your car seat without having to stoop over and now we have so much more room. Yeah!

It's been rainy off and on this week (this year, maybe?!) so whenever we got a few moments of sun we headed outside to play. You are still very much in love with the crazy bubble-blowing machine daddy got you a few weeks ago and mommy is still very much in love with peony season!!!

 

We did our "J" studies, too, but mommy doesn't have any pictures of it. Since it's one of your favorite activities anyways, we used the key word "jump" and did things like making a paper "J" "jump" on a sheet we shook up and down like a parachute. You got the hang of this letter pretty quickly.

And, of course, yesterday was Father's Day! You worked hard on a picture with foam stickers and crayon drawing for him, plus you and mommy gave him a framed picture, chocolates, and Japanese language books for kids so that you and he can read more together. We went out for a nice lunch, took a long drive in our new car, did some window shopping at a mall (which we almost never do so it was kind of a treat), and then went to the riverfront to throw stones and play. It was a really nice day.

Well, little sweetie pie, mommy's headed to bed. Love you!

I: Ice, ice, baby

Dear Maya,

The weather this past week was all over the place--really nice early on, too cold for June in the middle, downright hot over the weekend, and now here mommy is writing this post to the sound of strong wind gusts and rain outside and it's kind of chilly again. When is summer going to start in earnest??

We celebrated your Aunt Kelsie and Aunt Bobbie's birthday on Tuesday. You took a nice long nap so mommy was able to get the food prepared and house decorated in a snap. You really enjoyed the chocolate cupcakes (surprise, surprise) and getting to see Baby Grace.

The next day we went over to see Baby Grace again so mommy could take her one-month photos. As always, you were more interested in her toys than in playing with her, but when you did finally go over and look at her for a few minutes it was so sweet--until she started to cry in your face.

As mommy had suspected in the last post, it was pretty easy for you to remember the letter "I" this week. On hot days you had ice pops and got to draw on your Aquadoodle sheet with an ice cube instead of water. On cool and wet days we did lots of reading, coloring, and drawing.

 

 

Over the weekend we had a play date with Wyatt and his friend. You loved jumping in the balls on the trampoline, playing in the big and small kiddy pools, and throwing water balloons with the big boys. In the course of a few hours there you also managed to eat about 5 slices of watermelon!

When we got home, mommy looked out the window and noticed a really big turtle in the yard. We all went outside to look at it and saw that it was a really strong-looking snapping turtle. Daddy managed to get him onto a snow shovel and drag him far away to a safer spot. Yeah, daddy!

Looking forward to another week full of laughs with you, sweetie. Love you!

H: hello hot, humid

Dear Maya,

Another week with a rough start, slow middle and beautiful end. Your runny nose has been hanging on for a couple weeks now even though your cold was gone in a day or two. But it was mommy's nose that sent us home from the library story hour early on Tuesday--I couldn't stop sneezing!

Mid-week we had another tornado warning in the area!?! And the weather was super hot and humid for much of the week, as if we just skipped spring and fell smack dab in the middle of summer. You got to spend time in your kiddie pool and playing in soil while mommy repotted plants and rearranged the deck the other day. Mommy lost track of time and ended up with a slight sunburn on her shoulders, but you just turned a slight bit browner even though you were running around in the buff!

We studied "H" this week with "hat" being our key word. You caught on to this letter much more quickly it seems, partly because you like hats and we acquired this new one recently. If it stays this hot next week, studying "I" and "ice" will be a very welcome treat!

This weekend was pretty awesome for you except for the annoying grocery shopping, I'm sure. Yesterday we went to your great-grandparents' house again and you ate all kinds of yummy foods and continued to improve your bike-riding skills. Today you fell asleep straight out of the bath, still in your monster towel, and slept for three hours! Later we did a little shopping, stopped for ice cream cones, then came home and stomped in puddles and played with bubbles. What more could a toddler want?

Well, my little miss, mommy's looking forward to another week of new words, new milestones and new surprises with you! Love you!