So, now that I have a blog, and a resolution to keep a family journal, I need to start writing.
I have been a bit daunted by the task of where to start but I've decided to just pick up from where I left off with Jane's little handwritten journal. I have to say, it is crazy how much faster it is to type your thoughts than to write them down (Jevan is now having a little "I told you so" moment. He thought I was nuts to start a handwritten journal, but I was stubborn, telling him that it not only seemed more genuine and...I don't know....nostalgic/romantic to write it all down, but that also the computer could just suddenly just eat up all my writings and spit them out into cyberspace. I am now a changed woman. I also think it is incredibly funny that I used to make fun of couples who each had their little laptops and would take them to bed and work on them, side by side. Hee hee, now it's us!!)
The last time I wrote in Jane's journal was in September so I have a lot of catching up to do. It is crazy how much these little ones grow and develop in just a matter of months!
Jane continues to amaze us with her bright, dynamic personality and endless energy. She is a speedy little walker now which is always suprising to me considering the way her little bow-legged, stiff-kneed legs propel her forward with her upper body following, teetering from side to side, about to throw her off balance at any moment. Yet, she stays upright. A true feat of human engineering, literally. She loves to climb things, her favorites being chairs and slides. She entertains herself during church by climbing on and off the chair or bench over and over. If she needs help, she can now say "up" and will wait patiently for you to plop her little behind up onto the chair where she will sit for a total of 5 seconds before she slides herself back off and starts the process over again.
Jane's communication skills are pretty funny. She started out with the words "Hi" and "Dada" and then Dad started teaching her animal sounds. She has gotten really good at them and it is a real hit with people. She can do a dog, cat, cow, monkey, elephant (she spits), snake ("shhhhh"), lion, fish, lizard (sticks out her tongue) and bunny rabbit(she sniffs). Dad even taught her to make a monkey noise when you ask her what a BYU cougar says. She is such a verbal little thing - she honestly doesn't stop talking, but it is all in her own little language that she is sure you understand. She makes complete sentences with proper inflection, but none of the words make any sense. I swear she thinks she is have a conversation with you and wonders why you never have anything meaningful to say back! She has started to say words now too - so far she can say (or say well enough that you get what she is trying to say with her little sing-song voice) "mama" "all done", "uh oh", "shoes", "up" and then she makes a sound for Jasper, bathtime and apple that all sound the same... "aaapperr". A banana is a "nana". We have also taught her some sign language and she can tell us when she wants to "eat", when she wants a "drink", and when she wants "more". I am also amazed at all the words she can understand, even if she can't say them. Babies learn so quick!
Jane loves people and will go to just about anyone. She goes up to people and says "Hi" and then starts going off on them in Janerese, waiting to see what insight they may have on the certain topic she is covering at the moment. It is really funny to watch, especially people's reaction to her.
Jane is also a living tornado. She enters a room and it instantly becomes a mess. Stuff flies out of drawers, toliet paper gets torn into shreds, tupperware is spread into every corner of the house, people get personal cell phone calls from Jane when she discovers Mom's purse hanging on the door. She loves to carry clothes from room to room, put our underwear on her head, and tries to get Jasper to wear her pants. Speaking of Jasper, one of her favorite spots in our house is on Jasper's bed. If he is on it, she will cuddle up next to him and lay there talking to him. If he isn't on it, she throws herself onto it and rolls around, sometimes getting up and pouncing again.
Sometimes you can keep Jane the Tornado at bay by playing music for her to dance to, which is a treat in and of itself. She bobs up and down on her little legs, sticking out her tiny rear. Then she will march her little feet around in circles, spinning herself around like a robot that has malfunctioned and can't figure out where to go. She also loves to play pat-a-cake and when you get to the part about tossing the cake into the oven, she throws herself backward off your lap, and you have to lunge to keep her from flipping onto her noggin.
Jane's favorite toys are by far books, cell phones and toilets. She loves to sit on your lap and have you read to her while she turns the pages. If you give her a cell phone, or just a phone in general for that matter, she will wander the house with it perched on her shoulder and her head resting on it saying "Hi" over and over. Taking a shower is a trick with Jane because of her fascination with the toilet. She loves to open the lid and stick things into it, including her hands, my hairbrush and Dad's toothbrush.
Jane also loves bathtime. I tell her its time for bathtime and she repeats it in her Janerese as I strip her and place her on the floor. Then she is off and running down the hall, her little naked body teetering with excitement, heading for the bathtub. Her favorite bath toy is the washcloth of all things (she has squirter toys, rubber duckies, buckets, sprinkler toys..etc...and her favorite is the washcloth!) and loves to squirt soap onto it then wash her hair with it, then get more soap...the cycle continues.
Halloween has come and gone since I wrote in Jane's other journal. For Halloween, she had two costumes.
My sis-in-law, Becca, gave her a super cute Dumbo costume. I also found a lion costume at Old Navy that I had to get because Jane has got the best lion's roar and the costume was so cute! Dad and I took her to Boo-at-the-Zoo at Hogle Zoo and she had a blast. She also got quite a few comments which surprised me considering the number of kids that were there all dressed up as well. I think her favorite attraction was the huge elephant statue that sneezes, sings and shoots water out of trunk (in the summer it's water, in the winter it is just a bunch of air). She sat and just watched kids climb around it forever. On Halloween night, we took her to a party at one of Dad's friend's houses where she also got a lot of attention.
Jane is generally a really happy easy-going kid, except when she is sick. She has had a lot of colds lately and some of them end out giving her ear infections. She has had some pretty nasty ones that have even burst her eardrum! I feel so bad and I know they hurt. I wish I could prevent them somehow.
Thanksgiving is coming up next week and we are going to East Canyon condos with Jevan's extended family. It will a fun and chaotic weekend for all of us. I am supposed to make 2 pies and I am trying to decide if I will actually attempt making my own crust. Jevan's family is very much into making everything from scratch and I don't want to disappoint.
We also are refinancing our house so we can make some updates on it. We are going to put in a study downstairs so we can clear out the other upstairs bedroom to make room for the new baby. We are going to paint the downstairs, put in cabinets and a desk/countertop in the spare bedroom, then paint the new baby room and our room. In the spring, we are going to redo the entire backyard. I think it is very ambitious of us....we'll see how realistic it is however....
Well, I think I have written enough for tonight. That was a good catch up session. Hopefully I will keep up on this journal and not have to write any more bloomin' novel length entries!
