The Keene Family

With the entire day to ourselves JT and I spent it how we wanted. First, we slept in. Since I was still on work schedule and couldn't fall asleep until well after 3:00 AM, I was very happy that JT didn't get up until 9:00 AM. Then we ate breakfast, on the couch, in front of the TV! For some that may not seem like a big deal, but in our house, that is a holiday. Then it was off to Harley. We needed supplies to change the oil in the bike. We decided to eat lunch there and spend the afternoon looking at bikes. I tried to get pictures with my cell phone but they didn't turn out. JT would stand in front of a bike long enough for me to get the camera set, then a glint of chrome from the other side of the shop would catch his eye and he was gone. So below is the best I could come up with. JT eating his lunch at the Harley cafe. Later was dinner. And yes you guessed it, we ate on the couch in front of the TV. For those of you worried that JT is being exposed to too much TV, ...

Well I made it through my first half day on my own. With Becky in Denver JT and I are left to run the house. So far so good. We cuddled on the couch and watched Christmas Vacation together. I have to take these opportunities to show him his American heritage. Sorry there are no pictures or cute videos. This is my first blog so, baby steps. Tomorrow should be filled with rolling around on the floor in our underwear playing with giant legos and stuff. Maybe I'll get a good picture from that. Of JT of course, no one needs to see me in my boxers.

Our friends the Shucks invited JT and I to go with them to Thomasson Family Farm this afternoon. The weather was cold and wet, but it didn't rain on us until we were leaving - phew! It is tough to get a picture of JT smiling without Jim around, but we got some great shots anyway. Riding the wooden horse JT and I try to beat Brian and Asher at the water ducks game JT loved the tractor. He knew just what to do with the knobs and the steering wheel. (Kinda like a boat...) Soooo handsome. Enjoying the day with Mom Five animals... Thanks for the invitation, Shucks! We had so much fun!

Since my friend Jen has a new baby at home, JT and I invited Asher to spend the morning with us. JT and Asher have lots of adventures together, and it is amazing how much they have grown! I have a picture of the two of them in their car seats from last summer ( click here to view) and now look... they both climb into the carseats by themselves! Our first stop was storytime at the library. We are so lucky to have three libraries within fifteen minutes of our house. On any given day, you can pretty much find a storytime somewhere. JT and Asher loved singing songs and listening to stories. On the way out, we checked out a couple of books. The boys crawled up onto the bench to take a look. Next we went to Kohl's. Thank goodness they have double stroller carts! To wrap up the morning, and since we were all very hungry, I treated the boys to McDonalds happy meals. I love the new healthier options... I peeled the breading off the nuggets and got apple slices and milk on the...

We met Jim's parents and sister at The Cheesecake Factory for lunch to celebrate Grandma Keene's birthday. True to grandparents' form, they brought JT a present too. Checking out the his new lift-the-flap book Grandma shows him how it's done Oh, Grandpa, you are so funny! Aunt Jennifer let JT play with her straw :) Happy Birthday, Cathy Keene!

'Nuff said. :)

You may have read about how we got JT a new armchair. (If you missed that post, click here .) I wasn't thrilled with the fabric or color. So with Jim out of town last week, I had plenty of time for a project. I recovered the chair and am very happy with the results. Now it matches our family room. JT didn't seem to notice. :)

One sunny weekday, we went out to Carpinito Brothers' pumpkin patch. Not to get a pumpkin, really, but to get pictures of JT in the field of pumpkins. I can't believe how lucky we got to get this family picture with the camera on timer. Gotta love the Gorillapod. One with Mom... one with Dad... JT did think the giant pumpkins (giant compared to him, of course) were pretty funny. Before we left, JT got to pick out a pumpkin from the bin of just-right sized pumpkins. Here he is comtemplating his choice. And finally, you know the photo shoot is wrapping up when your child starts signing "more" (food). :)

We went to my parents' house for my dad's birthday breakfast. Just like grandparents, they got JT a present (wait, whose birthday is it?)! Here Grandpa is showing JT how to use his new train, complete with sound effects. What a great day. Happy birthday, Jim Cole!

While still a cautious child, it is fun to watch JT start to do things on his own. The other day we were at our neighborhood park and he pointed to the slide. I said, "Sure, bud. Go for it." And he did... without me at the bottom or anything. JT has also outgrown the baby swimming class. His group are all over a year old, and the instructor moved them up to the next swim class. There are no songs, no games, and no bubbles... but you do get to go down the slide. JT wears a float belt now in preparation for "water running," which is when the kids run with their legs and move across the pool. We will have to move to two days a week in November, so we may take the winter off.

Now that JT has conquered walking, we're working on other motor skills. He has recently transformed from a feed-me eater to a me-feed eater. I don't help him with breakfast at all now, and he does lunch mostly on his own. We each get a spoon at dinner so I can help get food down while he stirs in the bowl... otherwise we'd sit there until bedtime! We hadn't colored in awhile and when I got the crayons out the other day I was shocked to see him use them so differently. He is a confident scribbler now. Here is his most recent piece of art work (no help from Mom, I promise), and a little clip of him creating it. I got JT a jack-o-lantern ball at the store when we were shopping. (Side note: he thought it was soooo funny to throw it out of the cart and watch it bounce down the aisle. And actually, it was funny. But he had to stop, and I told him so, and he did.) He has been rolling and bouncing it around the house ever since. Notice Slider is conspicuously absent from this...

JT and I hit Issaquah's Salmon Days festival this weekend. I have been a few times, and JT went last year, too (one year we took Slider!). It was just as great as we remembered! Thanks to many "ohfishial spawnsors" (seriously) there are lots of free things for kids to do... not to mention watching huge salmon struggle their way up the river, up the fish ladders, and into the hatchery. Great stuff. I thought I grabbed the camera but when we arrived, it was not in my bag. My cell phone camera is not great, but I managed to get a few shots. JT and I watch the salmon come up the river and under the bridge to the fish ladders. JT takes his chances in the Wheel-o-Death for baby salmon. Checking out the salmon in the fish ladder (this is a one-in-a-million, unedited photo - can you believe that fish is real?) Getting some stroller-free time before heading home

We've been thinking about getting JT his own chair for awhile. At Banks Lake, we had his portable high chair on the ground a lot, and he would want to go sit in it. And besides, everyone else gets to sit in a chair. Then recently I had his portable high chair in the house getting ready to go somewhere, and he was so occupied trying to sit in it (and have the tray on). This was probably twenty minutes of activity that I have kindly cut down to less than a minute for your viewing pleasure. So I looked on Craig's List and found a chair just like I envisioned for a steal, right here in our town. We went and picked it up that night! It is in perfect condition. I am not thrilled with the color, but it's not awful either. I am thinking about recovering it to match our family room. JT loves it. He sits in it a lot. He grabs a book and a sippy cup and reads... sometimes out loud. Then he gets down and switches books, and climbs back up. We had the fireplace on and he looked super c...