Sarahnaded: JULY 2008: "With liberty and kindness...I like kindness better...for all." --Jasper age 4

JASPER (4) started camp 2 days a week and LOVES it. It's basically taylor made for him with arts & crafts, pony rides, an animal farm, swimming, cooking, and sports. On his first day they made ice cream for Science. Oh how I wish that had been a part of my science class curriculum! Some days he says he doesn't want to go, but always comes back having had the best time. We've been frequenting the library and he really likes choosing books for himeself & Hayden & being in charge of the Library card. He's so good at "being in charge" of things like his water bottle, shoes (at the beach), or things you ask him to carry. He's also a big helper with grocery shopping, the few times we go. He likes to sit in the back of the cart & organize the things I hand him. He's become a pro at getting dressed without things ending up on backwards, and loves choosing clothes for himself & Hayden. His listening and answering have really improved, which I'm very proud of! He's still working on being gentle to Hayden and other's; he's getting there. One of my favorite things he's started to do automatically is to say "Thank You" after receiving a compliment. He also took interest in the American Flag recently and asked why people fly it outside of their homes? I told him it's because they are showing love & pride for their country. I then told him about the Pledge of Allegiance & that it's said out of honor and respect. After a couple of times saying it to him he started reciting the first part himself (and adding a few words he deemed necessary), which he takes very seriously. We haven't added the hand over the heart yet. I thought nothing of it until he was running out the door the other day and grabbed a tiny flag from among his toys and said, "I want to take this with me, because I love my country." Can't say he doesn't listen! :) He loves to swim and has been taking one lesson a week to improve his self-taught-doggy-paddling skills that already serve him very well. He's a fish! He just learned how to dive down to the bottom and retrieve things and is really good at it! I'm jealous of his tan "almond" skin (as he says) but his cute face makes up for it. ;P

End of the day at Parrot Jungle in FL. Some frozen pleasure with Dora (and a very fake smile but that was the best he'd give at that point)

Going down...

And coming back up!

HAYDEN (15 months) has FINALLY started walking!!! He's a quasi-walker but a walker nonetheless! He was doing the one/two step the first week of July, where he would take one step...two steps...then plop down and crawl. Then, July 14th while we were all in NYC for a couple days, he took 20 steps down the hall as myself, April, and Wanda ( the awesome housekeepers) bribed him slyly and counted out loud as if it were New Years in Times Square! What did we bribe him with? The Vacuum. He LOVES that thing. Anytime he hears it go on he stops whatever he's doing and begins shouting "AH-BAH! AHHH-BAAAHHHH!!!!" and will cry if you don't let him sit and stare at it (or chase it) for awhile. We thought "ah-bah" was code for vacuum but it turns out that's code for anything Hayden likes lately--airplanes, the pool, trucks/cars. His words are coming but they're very much in the "babble-talk" stage and you really have to listen and remember the last time he said that specific "babble" to know what he's saying. The emphatic pointing helps, the whining does not. He can say Bubbles, Airplane (ah-bah mostly but sometimes it comes out more clearly like "ah-pin" & he only says it when a plane flies overhead), and Book. He loves "B" words (bucket, ball, bonk, bounce, bird). His latest animal sounds are "hiss" (the CUTEST), "buzzzzz", and "the raspberry-spit sound you can make with your lips" which I've taught him for Camel, 'cause they spit! :) He has also started calling me by name as "Ra-Ra" or sometimes "Ah-Ra". Usually it's from the back of the car when he needs more snacks passed back and his sign language and "na-na" (what he does simultaneously for "more") aren't getting my attention. Then I get a very loud "RA-RAAAA!!! + NA-NA! + hand gestures!!!!!" He loves to eat with a fork or spoon (yes, actually stab/scoop his food and put it in his mouth not play with) and sometimes he'll refuse to eat at all unless you give him one. By the end of the month he was quasi-walking which is him standing up on his own, walking, then squating for a break, standing again, and walking the rest of the way to his destination. Sometimes he'll walk, crawl, walk. Or I'll just stand him up somewhere & he'll walk to the nearest thing he wants or can stand and hold on to. He gets busier by the minute and now that the walking has come we're eagerly awaiting the talking! He still loves a day at the beach, and the sand I find pouring out of his diaper at the end of it is always a friendly reminder that he's living the good life! :)

15 months