Things I Learned Today . . .

That when you let a toddler play with a plastic knife, he can easily break it and send pieces flying all over the fast food restaurant you're sitting in.

Mimi and the Fort

Not long after Jeremiah gets up in the morning, he wants us to help him make his "fort." This just means we prop all our couch pillows against our coffee table leaving one side open. He likes to crawl under the table, then push one of the pillows aside and pop out as if saying, "Here I am, Mom and Dad!"

He also likes us to get in the fort with him. It's hard for me (and even more so for Jon) to maneuver in that small space, but Jeremiah insistently pats the carpet until we are at least partway underneath the table with him.

But the last few days, Mom or Dad hasn't been enough. "Mimi," Jeremiah calls, and then pats the carpet underneath his fort. "Mimi," he calls again, as he waits for Maggie to join him in his play space.

Yesterday, I did get Maggie to lay on the floor and kind of be in the fort with us. It was enough to satisfy Jeremiah. He got in his fort, said "Mimi," and patted her on the nose. Then he patted Mama's cheek, too. He was a contended little boy.

Cleaning out the Fridge

I was inspired by Sue's blog today (plus the odor of spilled milk that had turned sour) to clean out our fridge. As you can see, I had a little helper. And yes, that is a cell phone that you see on the shelf. Jeremiah loves to carry Jon's cell phone around listening to downloaded music--his own personal "boom box" if you will.

A Long Absence

OK, I know we haven't posted in awhile--as many of you have reminded me. In fact, it's been a month today. So, in the off chance that anyone who used to look at this blog is still checking--sorry.

Jeremiah is now in the climbing stage. I guess he always was, but now he's actually able to do it! A few weeks ago, he figured out how to climb our kitchen chairs. I knew that was coming, but I'm sad that I can't use the middle of the kitchen table as a safe place to put things anymore. One thing I have found in the middle of the table, however, is Jeremiah!

He is also big into mimicking us. Yesterday, Jon signed and put his hand on his head. His little shadow let out his own sigh and put his hand to his mouth. One of his favorite things is to wear his cell phone on his belt, just like Daddy. And today, as I was vacuuming and dusting, Jeremiah got out his own "cloth" and proceeded to wipe off the coffee table for me.

With all of Jeremiah's energy and his curiosity, every day is a new adventure around here. But we're loving it. And as long as Mama, Daddy and Mimi are here with him, everything in his world is all right.

Chatterbox

Jeremiah is a regular chatterbox these days. Oh, we don't understand 75% of what he says, but he will "talk" up a storm, as if he's having a conversation with us.

A few things we do understand are the always popular "Daddy," but not to be outdone anymore by "Mama," which once in a while slips out as "Mommy." Then there's "Mi-mi," which most of the time means Maggie. "Puppy" is heard a lot most days, as well as "baby," which refers to anything from an actual baby to Jeremiah's pictures around the house to children of any age. I'm just waiting for that 10-year-old in the grocery store to get offended when Jeremiah points and says "ba-by."

One that took us a while to figure out was "Ba-boo." It means Bible. And before you think we're super spiritual parents, I have to admit he probably picked this up in Sunday school singing "the B-i-b-l-e" song. Bath night means "ba-ba," a cow is "moo-moo" both in what it says and what it is. The dog/puppy says "woof"; the horse says "whee," and as of today the sheep says "baa." And last but not least there's "na-na." I'm not completely sure what that means, but I think it might be naked. And I reserve the right to not explain that one in cyberspace for all to read.

This probably isn't that exciting to anyone else, but Jon and I continue to be amazed at how Jeremiah's language skills are quickly progressing. It was just a few months ago that all he said was daddy. I know his vocabularly will increase leaps and bounds from here on. And not too long in the future, we'll have to watch what we say, because we'll have a little voice repeating it for all to hear.

Breakfast in TX, Lunch in CA and Dinner in OK

So, you want to be a pilot. Yesterday was a busy day for me. We started the day in Dallas, Texas and flew to Palm Springs, California. After a quick lunch in Palm Springs, where it was still 10:00 AM, we headed back to Texas. We picked up one passenger in Killene, TX and then a quick hop to Dallas. In Dallas we picked up two more passengers and flew up to Tulsa, Oklahoma. After checking into our hotel we had dinner. There you have it, a very full day. Today isn't so busy as we are just flying back to Lincoln this afternoon.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas with Jon's family in Orange City. Here are just a few pictures from the five days we spent there. Highlights included: all the yummy food (of course); a picture scavenger hunt (go to Sue's blog to the Kroesche Family Games post to see more about that, plus a special video); little boys running, laughing and playing; spending time with family; and a whole week of Jon, Jeremiah and myself being together! We had such fun, but we were also glad to get home to somewhat a sense of normalcy.