ONE-and-a-HALF!

Jameston turned 18-months-old on Sunday. Cannot believe he's going to be TWO in just six months! Loving this age, but wishing time wasn't going by at warp-speed. Now I am a firm believer that they do grow up so fast!

Here are some fun pictures of our little fella over the last month or so:

He's got the best little giggle in the world! If you sneeze, which I've been doing a lot of lately, he'll try to mimic you and cracks himself up!

These days, JW is into:

Pointing (at everything),Pointing to and saying where his eyes/ears/nose/teeth/mouth/fingers/toes/tongue/hair/belly button/feet/shoes/hands/head are, you get the idea :-)Playing with his Daddy (since he has been working A LOT lately) and showing him that he has a laptop, too

He's really into REAL electronics, more than his toy ones...

He is a talker, that's for sure! Newest words that come to mind are "soft," when we are telling him to be gentle, "towel," "soap" and "snack." He is also starting to say multi-syllabic words (pizza, wagon, monkey, medicine, flower...in his best jibber-jabber) and tries his best to mimic common phrases ("I love you," "Get down/up" for when he's in his highchair or wants to go up/downstairs). And we started working on "thank you and please," which sound more like "tandu" and "peas." He loves gesture songs like "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Patty Cake," "Hokey Pokey," etc. He still says "dider" for diaper and says "side" for both outside and slide

And he loves his baths, too, of course...

Funny picture, silly face (we have a little boy who often makes a "dirty," as we call it, in the bathtub. Luckily, this picture didn't produce one of those moments, but I was worried that's what he was working on...)

Have I mentioned, he LOVES the playground?! "Whee!" And, and I can't forget our dogs...He even likes to attempts to play fetch with them In his jibber-jabber, he'll mimic me and try to say "Go get it!"

Some not-so good phases we are currently in:

• The "no" stage, and therefore, the time-out stage. We do time-outs with a timer in our kitchen corner by the pantry. Thanks to consistency and a good-natured boy, they have significantly dropped over the last few weeks...here's hoping they stay that way!
• He will climb into his highchair. Scary! So we have to be extra careful and put the tray back on when we wrap up a meal

I think he's going to be ambidextrous, like his Momma :-)

Since he likes to eat with both hands (he colors with both, as well), it's hard to know which hand he will use. Lately, he seems to be moving toward his right. Who knows, they say they don't establish handedness until they are 2. Unfortunately, Jameston has become more of a picky eater these days...his current loves are anything Italian, kiwi, blueberry muffins, cheese, beans (any kind), grapes and tomatoes...oh, and he is very INDEPENDENT when it comes to eating and wants to be the one feeding himself with fork, spoon, or fingers!

Some of the "big-boy" things he has added to the list lately:

• Washes his hands (and dries them off)
• Turns off lights and shuts door...quite the energy saver!
• Finger painting, and coloring with markers and crayons
• Shows you how old he is when you ask him (his "1" looks like a Texas Tech "Guns-up"...we are so proud :-)
• Gives "knuckles," and "fives," as he calls them "nunnles and fies"
• Prays with me and his prayer bear at night...he will repeat the names I say and keep his hands folded until the end. Melts my heart!
• Organizes everything (his stuffed animals, toys, books) and puts them back where he got them. Too cute! He really listens when we say, "Let's put _____ up."
• Puts his hands up in the air (like his Mommy does) when we ask him where something is
• Blows his nose when I put a tissue up to it...been waiting for this milestone!
• "Helps" put his jacket and shoes on
• Gives the sweetest wrap-around hugs and pecks for kisses

He is a tooth-brush connoisseur. He climbs up on his step stool (which he also puts back in place...as I said, he is such the organizer these days!) and reaches for the brush and paste. Love it!He went pretty much from walking at 15 months to full-on running...he's not completely confident, but that doesn't slow him down!Valentine's day outfit (not buttoned up yet)!Crazy hair! He's got an "Alfalfa" from the Little Rascals thing going on :-)

Cute things he has started to do:

• He will walk to the bottom of the stairs and say "Night-Night" when he's tired on some nights
• Dances, which is kind of a mixture between squats and lunges. We have been known to sing "Pants on the Ground" a time or two :-)
• Blows kisses...love it!
• Roars when he sees any cat-like animal
• Makes a fish face any time we see a fish or when we ask him where the fish is
• Sways his head when we talk about trees (like the Bible Class song, "Have you ever seen a tree?")
• Calls EVERY ball a "baseball"
• Says "Ewwww!" when I put anything in the trash. Probably picked this up after changing/disposing of one of his diapers
• Holds his sippy like a football. Daddy is excited!
• Tries to lift us up when we are sitting down by walking around to our back and wrapping his arms around us. Love it!
• Claps when we say "Good job!" or "Way to go!"

Sweet boy. Loving this age, but I seem to say that at each age :-) Toys he loves right now are his dump truck and hard hat, his turtle bouncy seat, his trike and wagon, and all things books (his favorite is his Peek-a-boo Peter Rabbit book)! He has started REALLY liking puzzles these days, too. We don't watch much TV, so he doesn't have a favorite yet; when he does watch, it is a treat and he likes just about anything that is on!

Jameston, you have taught us so much in your young age. You keep us on our toes and well aware of how much you are learning these days! Parenthood is definitely the ride of our lifetime, and we could not be any more blessed!! LOVE YOU, JW

Aunt Maggie and the harmonica

My youngest sister, Maggie, has lived with us since last summer. She is not only a great sister/sister-in-law (she babysat Sunday so we could go to dinner and a movie for Brett's birthday), but she is also one awesome aunt! Jameston LOVES his Aunt Maggie (sorry Lynnlee, Kayla, Bryn, and Jessica)! I need to start better documenting with more pictures of them two, before she moves out in May, but we've gotten some great videos of them lately. Maggie has a love of all-things-music, so there are often nights when we are dancing to the radio (okay, iTunes), singing, or playing instruments. She plays the harmonica, and Brett plays the piano (I dabble a little but have long forgotten keys since piano lessons in the 4th grade); and JW loves both! Here are some videos of Jameston's new-found love of the harmonica :-) LOVE IT!!

Blog book:

Ordered and received! And the verdict it...we love it!!

So, I finally got around to selecting the posts for and ordering the "printed scrapbook" of our blog for our little fella. I found a coupon online and was able to get it an extra 10% off. So, all in all, it cost around $60...not too shabby considering how expensive (and time-consuming and messy) scrapbooking is. I do plan to make a hand-made scrapbook, too...but there was something about the ease and durability of this book that appealed to me.

It is a very high-quality printout of my (sometimes-random) thoughts on JW's 1st year---with TONS of pictures, too! They formatted and rearranged the pictures a little funky, but hey...I am kind of, maybe a little Type-A when it comes to that!

Back cover=ADORABLE! (except that I took a crooked picture)If you want to print your blog, I HIGHLY recommend this company. Happy blogging!

Park days of Winter?

Thanks to Texas weather, we've not only had some frigid temps but we've also experienced some really nice, let's-go-to-the-park kind of days, too (that's why allergies are at an all-time high these days in the Winters' household :-( Like I've said in previous posts, we have FIVE playgrounds within walking distance of our new casa. Let's just say we've worn out the pavement already around the block. Our little fella LOVES him some wagon-riding and playground playin'...

Geared up and ready to go!

We went EARLY one Saturday morning, because, let's face it, there's no sleeping in on Saturdays anymore! It was nice because JW and I had the playground all to ourselves...

Just a'swingin' He says "swee" for swing and loves to shout out "Weee!"

Waving "hi" to the camera

Has a blast on the bouncy seats

Loves to people-watch while we're there, too

Get ready,

get set, Go! Down the "side," as he calls it

Ready (to pick up the wood chips), poised for a good throw, All done...so fun! Love this pic! "Pe-uh-boo!" as he exclaims probably 20 times a day in various parts of the house, car, and playground :-) Music to my ears! Chillin' His cousin, Aspen, has joined us already! So has his friend, Camden, but their Mommies didn't bring their cameras "-( Silly boy! Another favorite! "Hi!" "Welcome to the playground. Can I take your order?" The boy never tires of the wood chips... Such a big (and independent) fella these days...gives Mommy a scare every time we go! "Can we go over there now?" We LOVE love LOVE the playgrounds and look forward to nicer days ahead (i.e., Blog readers, get ready for some more park pictures :-)

Wacky Winter Weather

So, you know, we had a "Winter Blast" oh...over a month ago! Just in case you forgot, here are a few pictures to remind you :-) We were snowed in for a few days, but this Mommy needed new tires (even more so on the icy roads)! So Jameston, Maggie, and I braved the elements and drove the 5 miles to Costco to get them replaced.

He had a BLAST in the log cabin toy houses...

we may just have to get one soon :-)

Here are the cold weather pics...a frozen creek by our house

Enjoying the snow and his gloves

Us and the dogs

Daddy was able to leave work early (although he went in every "snow day" we had) that Friday

Group shot

Kids sledding down a hill by our house

Pond that is catty-corner to our house My guys! Self-family portrait"Look over there!" "It's a bird, it's a plane...no, it's just Daddy playing with Marlie and Boomer." Winter Wonderland Jameston loves his dogs...and now we know, he loves the snow! Dogs had it nice and slept inside for several nights, which Aunt Maggie loved! Such a cutie!Backyard view We were so thankful we were able to witness a good snow in our new home :-)