JoJo decided that painting her face was more fun than painting paper!
No matter how nice her new bed is, this is her favorite sleeping place - Daddy's lap! Ain't she adorable with those cute little arms?

JoJo's new bed. Notice her pink decorations on the wall - she wants her wall pink, and this was her first idea on how to get there!

Some fun stories to tell about JoJo.

First of all, she has named her feet: They are Ham (right) and Tom (left). She says she got the names from Jeanie.

Jeanie said today she came down from the play area upstairs at daycare with a plate. She brought it to Jeanie and said, "let's play frisbee!"

But the big news is that JoJo has a new bed in a new room! The first night she was so happy to have a new bed, she climbed up in it at 6 pm and said she was going to sleep. She said she wanted the walls pink, then green. Sheryl bought a green fabric for the walls, but JoJo taped some pink paper to the wall underneath it (pic below). She only cried when Sheryl took her pillow to put a pillow case and JoJo leaned back as if it were still there. It's the 2nd video below. By the third night - Sunday - JoJo was not so happy. She cried, "I want to sleep in my old room. I want to sleep with you." I had to hold her until she was asleep before she would lie in the bed. Tonight she didn't want to lie down either, so Sheryl stayed with her to get her to calm down.

There are so many little things happening with JoJo right now, I'm afraid if I don't write them down, I'll forget them. I'm sure I've missed a bunch already. I also don't want this to be just a highlight list, but real memories to look back on.

I'm finding we need to be careful about what JoJo hears. She sat on the couch the other day saying (rather loudly), "Shh! I'm thinking!" over and over. We asked her where she learned that, and she said, "Jeanie's house." She also kept saying, "stop being whiney-butt" (which is what I say to her when she's being whiney). It turns out Jeanie did not teach her the "Shh!" line, but she learned it from Angelina Ballerina videos. I think she's learned some of her whiney voices from there, too.

Bedtime has changed: The good news is that she is sleeping through the night - 8:30-4:30, bottle, then until 7. That is a great improvement over the last two years, and I'm beginning to remember what it was like not to be tired and sleep-deprived all the time. The bad news is that she is using every trick in the book not to go to bed: "I need blue blankie!" then "No, I need pink one!" ; "I want to sleep with mommy" ; "I didn't say night night to Sis" ; "Daddy, I want to sleep with you." The other day I was trying to get her to take a nap, and I was singing our usual "Jesus Loves Me" song, and she told me, "No Jesus Loves Me, Bible story - no take a nap!" I've sung it to her every night that I've put her to bed. It's the first indication she's given that she knows it.

It is fun to see her get excited about things. She loves coins ("my monies"). She has two coin purses, both temporarily lost, and every time she sees change, it's "I need my monies" followed by "where's my purse?" She'll put them in her purse, then into her socks, then into a pocket, then back into the purse, over and over again.

She still loves to read, and every time we're up on near Fred Meyer she asks to go to the library to get books! I love it! Currently it's Curious George, Baby Brians, and George Willy and Freddy Magee. It's funny that I have access to 3,000 or so picture books, but I go to the public library to get books for her! I think it's because I like to get books, too (imagine that)!

One last thing. I was reading a Yahoo! News article today, and JoJo climbed on the couch next to me. She pointed at a picture and said, "That's Bac Obama!" She actually recognizes the President's face. I was so impressed I called Grandpa Dale, who is a staunch Republican, so she could tell him. What a smart girl!

A few pictures from Halloween, pumpkin carving, and the pumpkin patch!

Oh, how hopeful I was two weeks ago: No progress on the potty training. It'll come in time, I know, but I'm ready to stop buying diapers!

JoJo was asked last week what her favorite food was. Her answer: "Sausage at grandma's house!"

Also, JoJo has started role playing with her baby dolls. Her baby wanted a snack this morning, needed it's blanket, wanted a book read to it. She also has one that has to be on her lap in mommie's car.

Jojo went to a halloween party today with friends from her pre-school. She went in a bunny suit that doesn't quite fit any more - the bunny hood doesn't fit on her head, but the body is cute. She'll wear it next week for Halloween. In case anyone was wondering, I will NOT be matching her like I did last year! Maybe when she goes as a princess...


Pots? Pans? Baby dolls? Forgot it. Give me power tools!






Jojo has learned how to use a zipper. Nothing stays zipped on her for very long now.

Quote of the week: "These jammies from grandma, and they are nice and nice and nice and warm."

Jojo is starting "get it" with her potty training - she went most of the day Thursday with a dry diaper. Hopefully we'll be moving on to pull-ups soon.

Jojo has spent all week with mommy, as Jeanie, our day care provider, had a family emergency. Jojo and mommy both loved it!

5 nights without mommy and sis will end tonight. Some highlights:
- three visits with grandma, starting Tuesday night
- church with 25 kids in the 2 year old room. Jojo was one of the few that didn't cry. Of course, it helped that she clung to me the entire time!
- she slept through the night (8-4:45, bottle, then until 6ish) 3 nights (daddy was happy!)
- We were reading Madeline tonight, and a page was torn. She tugged at it, and I said, "Don't make it worse." Her reply (after continuing to tug): "I worsed it daddy, I worsed it."
- Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!
- she tried riding mommy's skateboard in the garage. I helped her the first time, then told her to sit on it. She continued to try riding on it until the inevitable happened - she slipped and fell on her face. Luckily, she hit the board, not the concrete floor.
- this morning, she almost got her full-body sleeper jammies off by herself. She gets the legs but still struggles with the arms. It was the first time I've seen her do the zipper neck to foot and get a leg out.
- I heard at least 3 different people in 3 different settings say they were amazed at her vocabulary and how smart she is.
- she discovered that many of the letters on her alphabet puzzle are reversible, so now she prefers to place the unpainted side up on the letters she can. She keeps trying to get the Q and R upside down, but they won't fit.

It's been a fun few days. I know she'll be excited tomorrow when she sees mommy.

A few more stories about JoJo.

She still loves to read. I asked her last night what book she wanted to read, and she said, "Neetches Upon Thars" (referring to Sneetches by Seuss). After reading the story, she pointed to a fish and asked, "what's this?" I said, "it's a fish's tail." She said, "It's his banana - the fish's banana."

Then when we read, "The Zax," she pointed to the Zax (who are naked, but covered with hair) near his groin area and said, "that's his butt." I pointed to his rear and and said, "No, that's his butt." She said, "That's his buttom. This is his butt."

The potty training hasn't improved. She goes in the potty first thing in the morning, but otherwise she doesn't use it.

A few have commented (in person) about my decision to not post more stories about JoJo. They were disappointed. I've added a few. Funny, but I'd forgotten how much I enjoy writing them!





But don't worry, there are more pics at the bottom, too!

She's in potty-training, and we have her a little confused. Sheryl uses the term "bottom" for her back-side; I was cleaning her up the other day, and she was facing me, and I said, "I need to wipe your butt" and proceeded to wipe her front and back. Now, she walks around touching her back-side then her front saying, "this is my bottom; this is my butt; this is my bottom; this is my butt."

Over the summer she has developed a love for puzzles. She has the little 12 piece puzzles with the picture on the border and the outline of the pieces cut into the background. She has done most of them enough that she can do the entire puzzle by herself. The fun part, however, is that she likes to play with me when solving them. When teaching her how to do them, I'd let her put a piece down and I'd ask her, "does that go there?" if it was in the wrong place. Then I'd show her the correct place and probably way over-do it by showing her the matching colors/shapes from the border. Now, she does it to me. She'll take a piece that's obviously in the wrong place and say, "go here?" knowing that it's wrong. I'll say, "no." She'll do it 3-4 times before she puts it in the right place then proceeds to do the same with the next piece. We've tried moving her on to 24 piece puzzles, but I think the lack of shape/border is beyond her still.

She plays the same game with pictures in books. For as long as I've read to her, we've looked at the pictures in the book, and I'd ask, "where's the ... cat... dog... whatever" and she'd point to it. Since she started talking, it's been a mixture of that and, "what's that" with me pointing, and she would say the name of the thing in the picture. Now, she does that to me as well. "What's that, daddy, what's that?" She'll do it for a bunch of items on the page, but NEVER for something she doesn't know. I've tested her by saying the wrong thing, and she'll say, "no, (big smile) that's a ... " and say the right answer. If she doesn't know an answer when I ask, she just smiles and looks at me - then repeats the answer (and never forgets!)

She's back to Jeanie's house for daycare, and I can tell she's back into the routine because she whines less at home (having to vie for attention with 6 other kids must be teaching her patience) and she eats better! I think she's done with the high chair, preferring to sit on her knees on the same kind of chair as the rest of us, which also gives her the option of climbing onto daddy's lap to finish her meal if she wants. I don't mind, usually, but eating can be a pain when one arm is busy holding her up!

It's fun to hear her yell "daddy" when I come home each night. She demands "hold you" (although it's turning to "hold me" lately) even before I can empty my hands. I ask her every day, "did you have fun at Jeanie's?" and she smiles big and says, "Yeeees." I ask her, "did you play with Ashley?" Again, a big smile and "yeeees." I ask her, "what did you do?" The first few days the reply was "play toys," but Monday and Tuesday this week it was "cry." "No playing?" I'd ask. "No playing, just cry." "Why did you cry?" No answer. Finally I called Jeanie, and she thought it was hilarious. Turns out there's a little baby there who cries A LOT, and JoJo goes up to Jeanie all day and says, "Baby crying, baby crying." Jeanie hasn't seen JoJo cry at all. Today when I asked her she said, "No cry today. I play." I'll ask her what she ate. Dad: "Did you eat yogurt?" (big smile) "yeees." ; "Did you eat fruit?" (big smile, shakes head) "I didn't." ; "... have juice?" (big smile) "No have juice" or "I didn't." We go on and on with things I know she's eaten there in the past. Turns out, all she says "yeees" to is yogurt!

I am amazed at how smart she is; she does have two smart parents, but still! I hear comments all the time from people who are amazed at how well she speaks. She doesn't have her "l's" yet, but her sentences, her vocabulary, and her ability to say long words on the first try are pretty advanced for her age.

One last story: Her Sunday School teacher has a son in my school. I saw JoJo's paper the other day from church, and it had her name written on it twice. Turns out Tricia had written JoJo's name on the bottom of the page, and JoJo pointed to the other side and said, "No here. Name goes here" and made her re-write it. The term Tricia used was "bossy" as in "your little girl is bossy, isn't she?" She said it with a smile, of course, but she's right - when JoJo wants something, she can be very demanding! Still, it was cute that she was particular about where her name goes on the page.


JoJo loves the little stool, and she loves carries her mini-books of Winnie the Pooh. She still asks to "read book" whenever she's upset.


Size 2T jammies! I was telling the guys in my small group how I feel bad when she wants me to hold her before bed, but I'm doing the dishes. Gil suggested that I have her help me. She loved the idea and even pushes her stool up to the counter saying, "Do dishes, daddy..." Of course, she's no help, yet but it's fun to have her there wanting to be by me. Good idea, Gil!



What a cutie!

I had decided I wouldn't post more stories, just pics, but this morning I had to share. Our friends Brad and Melanie gave JoJo a wooden painted stove for her birthday. I set it up for her today. It's basically a box where one section is removed from the bottom and placed vertically in a slot to create a backdrop.

The funny part is that she calls it her "puter." I think she recognizes it's supposed to be for cooking, but she still says, "cook on my 'puter?"

These pics were taken during our visit to Wallowa Lake at the end of June. I'm a little slow in posting... JoJo wasn't too happy about wearing her life jacket, as it's still a little big on her, but she did warm up to the water eventually.

Jojo sepnt a day and a half with grandma Helene. She did make the lego structure all by herself.

We had a big birthday bash for JoJo's 2nd birthday. Grandpa Dale and Grandma Kareen came from California, and many other friends came as well.

A week later her cousins from North carlina came by for a brief visit.

We met with grandma Helene and 3 of the cousins at Peachtree on JoJo's birthday. JoJo celebrated with chocolate-coconut creme pie, which she didn't seem too fond of.

Since Grandma Kareen sent a birthday card with princesses on it, JoJo has wanted to be a princess, so we dressed her up in some of Cedar's old dress-up clothes.

With Nana at Nana's house after picking cherries.

Although school isn't out for me yet, it is for the girls, so we took our first official "trip" of the summer. Here's some fun pics from Seaside.

JoJo said, "I have to go beach" when she was close to the sand, yet when she sees sand on her pants or shoes, she has to be cleaned immediately - she was in the middle of filling a bucket with sand, and she stood, loaded shovel in hand, waiting for her shoe to be cleaned off.

She also had her first kite flying experience - you can see how it went in the video below.