Things heard around our house these days . . .

From Jeremiah:

• "Kay-kay." Cousin Kaylee, who's here for a visit.
• "Up, up, up," as we pass by garage doors on a walk around the neighborhood.
• "Me!" meaning, "I will open the door for Maggie/go down the stairs/kiss my owie myself!
• "Poopy." Can refer to a dirty diaper or the "fun" game of looking for Maggie's deposits in the backyard.
• "Jay Jay." Means, "I want to watch only the opening theme song of Jay, Jay the Jet Plane, and then I'm done." I think that of the 7,200 views of this YouTube video, over 200 of them are ours.
• "Daddy," as he points to the iron. I really do iron . . . sometimes.
• "Owie" as he points to a bit of a fingernail/toenail that needs trimmed, or as he pats my shoulder and kisses it. What a sweet boy!
• "Oh my!" Also refers to a dirty diaper. Evidently I've said this a few times as I've changed his pants.
• "Me-ma." Means "camera," which must be taken out and used when he puts on our shoes, plays the piano, wrestles with Daddy, etc.
• "Mommy! Daddy!" Heard multiple times throughout the day, but never more frequent as when he's just gone to bed.

From us:

• "Jeremiah, don't climb on that/pull that out/open the fridge/throw that toy . . ." You get the picture.
• "Yay, Jeremiah." Used for eating more than one bite of a particular food or even more recently, when he goes to the bathroom in the toilet like a big boy.
• "It's not time to get up yet, Jeremiah. Just lay in bed and talk to your puppies." Heard almost every morning anywhere from 6:15 to 7.
• "Wow, we're tired." I can't imagine why. Can you?
  

Play Me a Song

Here he is "learning" to play the piano!

Branding Pictures

Here are just a few photos of the branding at my parents' ranch last week--all taken by Jon. He's the one who got up before 4 a.m. and went on the round-up. Me? I slept in until 6 and helped with the dinner. It's a lot less smoky in the kitchen.

No pictures with this one!

I was in the middle of making pies for branding today while a very bored little boy was in the kitchen with me. After trying to entertain him with spoons, magnets, and telling him to go play with his toys umpteen million times, he finally figured out a way to entertain himself. He was able to get his shirt off, and then ran into the living room to play--or so I supposed.

After a long period of silence (which is never good), a very excited and naked little boy ran around the corner into the kitchen. I had a moment of panic when he told me "poo-poo," but the diaper he'd left in his fort was just wet. Whew!

In Daddy's Shoes

Almost every morning, Jeremiah grabs a pair of Jon's shoes (there are usually a few pairs lying in the entryway). He runs into the kitchen saying, "Me-ma" (a.k.a. camera). Then, we have to take a picture of him wearing Daddy's shoes. He would love to be just like his daddy.

A Few Photos from the Last Several Weeks

We're still here!

I don't even know if anyone will see this, since it's been over a month since we last posted. Sorry--April just wasn't a good month for our family. We're happy to have moved on to May. Our next post will just be pictures to make up for some of that.

Last Friday, May 8th, was a pretty big day for the Kroesches. Jeremiah got to take his first ride on a bus and an airplane. Amy graduated with her master's degree (and got to hear Dan Rather give the commencement address on how this economy is the worst to be graduating and looking for a job). And our new nephew Simeon Eugene was born. A pretty eventful day all around.

Jeremiah loved riding on the airplane. As soon as we took off, he asked for "More." The layover at Midway was a little tough, but Jon figured out something to entertain him--running up and down the moving sidewalks. Jeremiah really liked how fast he could go on those things, and it was a great way for him to run off some energy in between sitting for long time periods.

It was so good to see Amy and celebrate all of her hard work. And Jeremiah loved all the attention from Grandma and Aunt Amy. When we got home, he asked for "Am-ma" and Amy quite a bit.

I promise there will be another post before June!