Jared, future scholar (or perhaps present scholar)

Here's Jared chilling in his new favorite chair (yes, that is the car seat we got for Curtis), kicking back and enjoying Gulliver's Travels (his own choice, mind you; he chose that one for himself and Chronicles of Narnia for Mom), all while wearing some of his favorite shoes in the world, crocs (or should I say "cocks").

Jared Speaks

Jared's vocabulary seems to be growing daily, and he's so fun to communicate with. He now says nice things like "hug," "kiss," and even "sorry" when necessary. He's such a sweet little boy, and so adorable. The recent pictures will have to wait, though, since he's managed to acquire a shiner from walking behind Amanda while she was swinging on the swing set in the back yard. It actually looks surprisingly good, almost like the black paint stripe you might see on a football player. Ironically, Amanda herself picked up a nasty bump today, but from something much less dramatic: slipping on a damp spot in the dining room. Hopefully they will both recover soon, and meanwhile we'll chat with Jared.

Jared, acrobat in training

Ever since Jared learned about tumbling, he's loved it. Now, he's decided to try it somewhere new . . . probably his idea to show off for the family visiting us this weekend for Curtis's baby blessing.

Newark Strawberry Festival

Jared loves to go places, so he was very happy to go to the Newark Strawberry Festival with the family. Above, he's looking around the picnic area for dogs to pet. Below, Dad got a cute picture of Jared while Mom & Curtis were finishing lunch.

Above, All American Jared. Below, Jared gets to hold a dog, thanks to a kind stranger.

Above, it's almost time to go home, and Jared has had just about enough of that stroller. So much harder to chase dogs when one is buckled....

18 months and counting with Jared

It's official, Jared is now old enough for nursery. He also sleeps in a big boy bed, either the toddler bed or the lower bunk of the bunk bed, whichever suits his fancy that night. He talks, too, and sometime over the past couple of weeks he learned to say "please" (which sounds like "peas," coming from him). It's so fun being able to communicate with him more. Speaking of which, here's a list of words he knows, with an approximation of his pronunciation in parentheses if applicable:

• shoes ("oosh")
• water ("wa")
• milk ("moke")
• juice ("ju")
• Daddy ("da da")
• Mommy ("ma ma")
• pasta ("da da")
• Amanda ("ma ma")
• Curtis ("kirku")
• mouth ("maow")
• eye
  
• nose
• toes
• go
• Dora ("do do Dowa")
• watch ("wa")
• coat ("co")
• shirt ("shu")
• pants ("pass")
• hi
• bye ("die")
• hello ("hewwo")
• bath ("baa")
• tree ("tee")
• sock ("gock")
• rock ("wok")
• light ("yite")
• no
• mine
• please ("peas")
• thank you ("taygu")
• banana ("nana")
• cracker ("kaakuh")
• fish ("ish")
  

The above list is not necessarily exhaustive, so it will probably be added to as Mom notices more.

Speaking of "wa" as his word for water, it rained this evening a little, so Mom went out with Jared to experience it. He was absolutely fascinated, particularly with puddles. He pointed to every puddle he saw, no matter how small, and excitedly said "wa!" Mom knew such excitement would be hard to follow, but fortunately bath time gave him more water play time. Mom is so glad to be able to spend time with Jared.

Jared in the woods

It's amazing how many places a small person can hide, especially if one's backyard happens to have its own miniature woods. Fortunately, other small people can usually find the hiding ones, and so thanks to big sister Amanda, Mom was able to get this fun clip of Jared at work in his woodland paradise. (Don't know why, but he's intent on moving all the straw out of the thicket . . .)

Working hard to fill Dad's shoes