getting crafty

Lately I've been trying to make playtime at home more fun. I feel like Jamie and I usually do the same thing day after day, and it's pretty fun stuff (going to the park, reading stories, making towers with blocks and knocking them over, that kind of thing) so that's okay. But he's old enough now that we can do a little bit more. Last week I made homemade playdough and we have been having a lot of fun playing with it! His attention span for it only lasts about 10 minutes, but it's an awfully fun 10 minutes.

Yesterday I made some homemade finger paints too. These were fun too but less successful. The mess was HUGE after just a couple minutes . . . and then he stuck his hands in his hair. Um, yikes. Someone had an extra bath that day!

Though not for playtime, I also finished another project today: Jamie's Christmas stocking! Just 10 months late. Oh well, he had no idea what was going on last year anyway. The stitching is far from perfect, but I decided I like it that way. Gives it a more personal touch. I really enjoyed making it for him. Thomas is jealous and wants one for himself.

And just because it's cute, this is how I found Jamie during his nap the other day.

I love this boy!

October-ness

October is more than two-thirds over. How did that happen??? I remember being surprised it was already August. This year is going by very quickly to say the least.

We have had a busy and fun month! Well, mostly fun. Jamie did have a cold for a little over a week which was not so much fun. He threw a fit every time I had to wipe his nose so I tried to make the rest of the time more fun for him. We even made a fort.

He loved it, but it only lasted about 10 or 15 minutes before he pulled it down.

Thomas's parents visited us last weekend. We had so much fun while they were here, especially Jamie, who loves his grandmothers above everyone else, including Momma. I didn't get too many pictures while they were here. I guess we were just having such a good time I didn't think about pulling out the camera.

this is what Jamie does now if you ask him to smile

eating a muffin at the farmer's market

Jamie's first game of Make-a-Million

And a little about what Jamie's up to these days. He has started saying even more words, but he has such a limited number of sounds he can make that they all sound alike. Example: He can say "moon," "more," "Elmo," and "moo" but they all sound exactly the same and really not too different from "momma" and "meow." Context is very important.

He recently has started "singing" along with me to songs that have actions like The Itsy-Bitsy Spider and Five Little Monkeys. It is unbelievably cute.

He has really gotten into trying on shoes lately.

He has become completely obsessed with Elmo. We don't let him watch TV, so he hasn't even seen him on Sesame Street, but he got an Elmo toy for his birthday and fell in love. Now when we're out and about and he sees other kids with Elmo stuff (we've seen an Elmo backpack, an Elmo book, even Elmo shoes), he gets so excited. Sometimes he tries to steal their stuff.

He spent about 30 seconds in the dryer the other day and was utterly delighted.

Thomas is at a conference this weekend, and while he was packing, Jamie decided he wanted to go too. Tough luck, kid.

I have finished making Jamie's Halloween costume! He is going to be a Jedi. We're VERY excited for Halloween this year. Last year he was so small that we didn't really do anything. We put him in his costume for a couple hours and that was about it! I don't think we're actually going to take him trick-or-treating but we do have several other Halloween activities to take part in. Should be fun!

This is actually the longest I've ever been alone with Jamie, and it's been going okay. Other than the hour or two around dinnertime, it's not too different from normal. Thank goodness for naps and sleeping through the night so I do still get some time to myself. I'll be glad when Thomas is home.

pumpkin patch

birthday weekend

The University of Tennessee was very kind when planning their academic calendar this year: they planned fall break for my birthday! I turned 26 on Thursday, and I got to have Thomas home two extra days, which was the best birthday present of all.

On my birthday, we had a fun morning together, eating pancakes for breakfast and then playing at the park. We attempted a picnic lunch, which was fun but Jamie didn't quite get it. It is hard for him to sit still long enough to eat--or do anything else, for that matter--unless he is confined somewhere like his high chair. He still had fun; he just didn't eat all that much. He particularly enjoyed taking everything in and out of the picnic basket over and over.

For dinner, we went to P. F. Chang's. Yum! We don't eat out hardly ever anymore so it was really nice for a change. Afterwards we went home for cake. 

Not the prettiest frosting job in the world, but it does the trick.

I made my own birthday cake this year. This seemed to surprise everyone, but I had a chocolate cake recipe I'd been wanting to try and I really don't have a good reason to be making cake most of the time, so this seemed like a good time for it. Plus I like baking. It turned out super delicious and super duper chocolately. Too chocolately to eat too much at one time. There's now some in the freezer, so it's going to last me a while. A little while, perhaps.

Jamie chows down on cake.

I got so many nice presents! Thomas and Jamie got me a really nice new wallet, which I desperately needed. I love it! I also got a lot of money and gift cards, some of which have already been used on upgrading some things in the kitchen. Yay!! 

It has been really nice to have Thomas home the rest of the weekend too. Yesterday morning we went to the zoo and had so much fun! We have gone several times, but this was the most fun we've had. Jamie has been really into looking at books with animals lately and knows lots of animal noises. He would excitedly point out the animals to us and make the noise if he knew it. And they have 3 new red panda cubs on display. They were SO cute, and Jamie got really excited about them. He stood peering through the window at them, and one of the pandas came over to the window and pulled up on the sill, staring out right at Jamie. I about died of the cuteness. OF COURSE that was the one time we've gone to the zoo without the camera. Oh well. I had such a fun time with my boys. :)