Barnyard

I have made at least a dozen attempts to get a blog written with updates on Jadon over the last 2-3 weeks. He changes daily, and it is so hard to keep up...frustrating for a blogging mommy who wants to celebrate each successful milestone (accomplishments, new words, etc.). When I feel like I can't write a blog in such a way that it fully represents everything I want to say, I end up slightly frustrated/overwhelmed by the task and procrastinate :/ So I honestly have five "drafts" in my box that have never made it into an official blog entry. Well enough is enough...it's time to update, before the kid is going to kindergarten!

Here is a list of the things my pregnant brain can remember (along with very little help from Daddy...who is simply a man and doesn't recall things on command):

Animal Sounds: sheep (baa), duck (cack cack), chicken (bock bock), cow (mmmm), tiger (grrr), lion (grrr), alligator (grrr), dinosaur (grrr), anything with mean looking teeth (grrr), snake (ssss), cat (mmouw, like how with an m), dog (eouff), bumble bee (bzzz), fish (makes a fish face), zebra (zzz)...though not an animal, he can also tell you what Santa says (ho ho hoooh).

New words: carrot, bumble bee, tree (along with sign language), socks, shoes, hat, glasses, leaf, open, flowers, apple, pear, fish, "what's that?", baby, necklace, star, cracker, cereal, keys, belly, fingers, blocks, moon, ears, eyes, nose, tire, bye bye see you later...too many to list honestly!

And obviously he can identify about a hundred other words that he cannot yet say. He can follow instructions that we give like crazy (i.e. take this and give it to mommy/daddy; go in your room, so we can get dressed; put your books in your wagon; let's go play cars...put them on your table; etc, etc.

He LOVES cutting the grass outside with his bubble mower still. He could do it for hours! The same is true of sweeping the kitchen floor with his toddler-size broom and dust pan. His favorite "field trips" are to the toy aisle at Target and to Toys-R-Us (though we never buy anything at either place)...Santa is coming soon you know? His favorite foods are Kashi brand grilled veggie pizza, frozen mixed berries with Special K, NOODLES of any kind, Kashi granola bars, apples, pears, and grilled cheese sandwiches. He does WONDERFUL at sit down restaurants now (recently Sticky Fingers and Olive Garden), and is learning to color with the crayons they give him :)

He cannot go a day without watching his "Baby Can Read," "Baby Einstein," or "Praise Baby" videos. The same is true of reading his books...LOVES them! He could play with pots, pans, and kitchen utensils for hours. He understands the concept of "Ready, set, go!" And, thankfully, he is doing much better riding in the car...finally! He will now ride down the road and look out the window, identifying everything he sees. He puts it in a question form, of course..."Trees?" "Yes, those are trees." The other day he saw a billboard for the Aquarium with a shark on it, and growled ;)

Enough with the words...here is the best video clip I could get of him doing his animal sounds (minus fish at the beginning). You'll notice some confusion, when Daddy asks him, "What does the sheep say," when the flashcard has a dog on it. Ha!