Just some reading

Recently, Jared and I have been trying to read more.

Can you see his lips making the horse sound?

More Art

Apparently, a crayon was left on the floor that I didn't notice.
Jared is at that age where big messes are inevitable and learning experiences for everyone. I have accepted it.

Family Home Evening

Every Monday evening, we get together and have some family time. We teach Jared stories from the Bible and then play. This is what we did a few weeks ago.

We had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner (by Ken's request).

After song (Itsy Bitsy Spider) and prayer we had a post Christmas lesson about Jesus' Birth.

Then we played with animal magnets. Put them on, take them off again and again.

Then a couple of books, a bath and off to bed. It was awesome.
Oh, and for those of you who don't know, this happened on a day when Jared put half a tub of Vaseline in his hair. It was pretty messy, but I have it on good authority that maybe it'll soak into his scalp and give him great hair forever.

The Artist

Jared got to play with some paints at Grandma and Grandpa's. Good messy fun!!!

18 month old Jared

This is my little toddler.

Jared is at a great stage right now. He loves to copy our words and run away from diaper changes. He is very particular about what he wants to do or play with and fortunately he is getting much better about communicating those desires.
He says lots of things- walk, down, up, help, bread, juice, drink, another-one, more, again, grandpa, grandma, play, rain, hot, cold, no (this is a favorite), cookie, apple, cheese, stack, spoon, fork (he pronounces this as "stick"), two, three, poop, dirty, fish, bear, blanket, spin, jump, sit, chair, play, truck, car, hat, eye, uh-oh, fall, hug, bonk, bib, all-gone, all-done, nose, spit, teeth, rub, pants, shoe, jacket, socks, stuck
Of course, the pronunciation on these are approximate, but I'll be your interpreter if you need me.
Jared is definitely a mover and runs from task to task as fast as he can go. He can climb most anywhere he wants to go. Besides hearing the word "STOP" he is quite obedient, which makes me extraordinarily happy.
Jared has almost all of his teeth, except for a pair of canines and the last set of molars. He weighs 23 pounds (30th percentile) and is 33 inches tall (70th percentile).
He loves a lot of things, namely babies, dogs, trucks, helping Mom, climbing, but most of all being silly. This morning we were out on a walk and he slipped a little on the ice (holding my hand). He thought it was the best thing ever. So he had to try out slipping on the dry concrete. When that didn't turn out he searched out every patch of ice and snow to pretend slip on for the rest of our walk.
He is great. I think we'll keep him.

In-N- Out

Playing catch

We got Jared a football for Christmas. And he LOVES it! So he and Ken played catch.

Butterfly Preserve

While we were in California, we visited a butterfly preserve. It was amazing to see so many butterflies flying around! So nice to be out in nature after a rainy week.

Jared is checking out a tiny slug (his left shoe is pointing at it).

Butterfly nearby.

Those clumps that look like ugly dead leaves are actually butterflies hanging out in the sun.