AJ reads Hot Dog book

AJ sings for Grandma Kay

A message for Uncle Barry

nose dive

Mostly, I'm just testing this Flip video thing......

a boy and his dog

Adding some pictures of AJ and Goldie at my brother Barry's request. I think he is trying to gauge how much AJ has grown in the last year based on how tall he looks next to his big pup. It is not hard to provide pics of them together . AJ always wants to have his picture taken with Goldie.

AJ likes to cuddle with AJ when he watches TV.

More family fun

Another great weekend for AJ. A terrific fun filled time with Grandma Kay, Aunt Tande, and cousin Kayleigh. We had the opportunity to take the kids to see the Disney's Playhouse production one day. Then the next we went to Devine Farms for all kinds of activities the kids enjoyed. I was so surprised by how much AJ and Kayleigh enjoyed each other given their 2 year age difference, but they definitely did. Kayleigh is the cutest smartest little thing. I loved hearing her ask her mom to pick her up......"Hold you. Hold you." She catches on fast too. AJ taught her to unbuckle her seat belt. He just pointed to where and told her that she could push that button to unbuckle, and she did.....unfortunately it apparently happened when Tande was driving. She did, however, listen after that when her mommy told her she could only unbuckle when the car was stopped.

Ice Cream Social

Since AJ made a specific request to celebrate his birthday with my friend, Heather, he was thrilled to get an ice cream date with her and her baby Sophie. Heather's Dad was so sweet to join us and treat us all to some yummy treats. AJ wanted to know what kind of ice cream the baby was going to eat. ;)

I love you...I love you not....

We had dinner with my parents on Tuesday night before they went back to KS. AJ was being kind of hyper and moving around a lot in the booth between Dave and I. Dave told him to settle down a few times , but AJ struggled to be able to sit still and be patient. So, Dave got firm with him, causing AJ to stick his lip out and pout, but he got still in his seat. AJ looked to me to support him or comfort him, but I reaffirmed that he should have listened to Daddy. A couple minutes later, the following conversation transpires starting with when:

AJ looks at me and says, "Do you still love me?"

My response: "Of course I do. Why would you ask?"

AJ: "I thought maybe because you got mad at me then you stopped loving me."

Me: "AJ, I could never stop loving you...I will love you always, even when I get mad. You get mad at me sometimes, right?"

AJ: "Yes."

Me: "Do you stop loving me when you get mad at me?"

AJ: "Yes."

Laughter breaks out..... :)

Happy Birthday AJ!!!

Instead of a birthday party like last year, AJ said that all he wanted was to take treats into his daycare and to have grandma and papa (who came for a visit), the boys next door, and my friend Heather for his birthday. We tried to accommodate his requests. We did treats at the daycare, and then invited the boys next door to join us, grandma, and papa for pizza, then cake and ice cream. Today, we are going to meet up with Heather and baby Sophie for ice cream. Maybe we will get pics of that later. So, all in all, AJ had a good birthday. He loved all his presents, enjoyed having grandma and papa here to play with, and as always, enjoyed playing with the neighbor boys. Despite being two years older than AJ, the boys (twins) are just the best of friends with AJ and play so well together. We spied papa playing with AJ's toys too. Check out the pic of AJ trying to skate. Grandma and Papa have to hold him up. He's logged lots of time on those skates since last Christmas, but has yet to master them. The only time he can really stay on his feet is on carpet or grass, and then he is just walking in them, not skating.

AJ meets Batman

So we took AJ for Boo at the Zoo....see next post, and we stay to see the Batman show with Wonderwoman and Joker. Before the show, I see that there was a parade through the zoo with Batman heading up the parade. The parade was ahead of us. I told AJ that we would have to wait until the parade came back our way, but AJ was having none of that. He began racing to catch up. The boy raced for a 1/4 mile, but did manage to catch Batman. Not only did he get to see him, but Batman came over, shook his hand and then took AJ with him to walk at the head of the parade. AJ was so excited!

Boo at the Zoo

We took AJ to Boo at the Zoo today. Kids get to dress up in their Halloween Costumes and trick or treat at the zoo. AJ didn't really get that he could get candy. He was too wrapped up in being able to wear his costume and checking out other kids' costumes.

AJ's learning to read

The last couple of months, AJ has shown a real interest in learning how to read. He started asking me how to spell things or what certain words were that he would see written. He started recognizing words that he would see repeatedly. So, we started a word list on the dry erase board on the refrigerator. After a while, I had the idea of keeping track of the words that he learned by writing them on cardboard cut outs and taping them to the tall cabinets in the kitchen. He asked me a week or two ago to take a picture of himself in front of his "word wall". He's so proud of himself for learning how to read so many words. I have provided both phonics words (sat, mat, bat, log, dog, bog, etc.) and sight words (the, that, out, you, see, she, etc.) for him to learn, but he also asks to have particular words on his word list, which is how he came to learn how to spell words like boat and rocky. AJ currently has 52 words on his word wall and another 6 on the word list on the fridge that he is pretty much ready to have on the word wall. I've come up with simple sentences he can read from the words he knows, but I plan to figure out a story I can write for him so he can read me a book for a change. :) Dave gets a kick out of saying that his 3 year old son can read. I keep reminding him that AJ will be 4 on Monday, so he won't be able to say that much longer.

AJ meets Diego

AJ was so excited to get to "meet" Diego at the zoo a couple weeks ago.

AJ has an awesome Dad. He volunteered to wait in the 2 hour line while AJ and I alternated between waiting with him and walking/ playing around the zoo. I would never have asked Dave to do that. I got AJ close to see Diego hoping to appease him, but he really wanted his picture taken with Diego. Dave was determined to get AJ his picture.

Mister

Our beloved Mister passed away sometime during the night. He was a good little dog and we will miss him so much. When Disney died last November, Dave had taken her body away before AJ had seen her. AJ declared that Jesus had come and had taken Disney to Heaven. I know there are many who do not believe animals have souls and therefore do not go to Heaven, but as an animal lover it is hard to imagine Heaven without them. So, I did not tell AJ he was incorrect in his assumption of where Disney had gone. But I should have realized how literal my child's thinking is sometimes. So, I tell AJ this morning that Mister has died. Initially, he was sad and hugged me. Then he wanted to know where Mister was. I told him that he was still in the living room. He wanted to see, and when he did, AJ turned to Goldie and said, "Goldie, now you're the only dog left." Then he hugged her and said, "Please don't die Goldie." It was enough to start fresh tears for me. Then AJ got an excited expression and sat down by Mister. As it turns out, AJ thought that if he stayed by Mister, then he would get to see Jesus when He came to take Mister to Heaven. I felt a little drained after the conversation that followed. It's been a rough morning. Good bye sweet Mister. Rest easy now.

Ohio State Fair

We all had fun at the fair. I didn't get pictures of everything AJ rode because Dave and I both rode a lot of rides with him. AJ was braver than me on a few of the bigger rides!!

July visits and visitors

So, AJ has had a great summer. Early this month, he and Dave flew down to Missouri to visit Dave's grandmother and Dad. Aunt Tande and Kayleigh picked Dave and AJ up at the airport in Kansas City and drove them the rest of the way. Grandma Kay was there as well. I missed my boys, but was so glad that they had a great time. They were gone over July 4th, so AJ got to stay up late that night to watch the fire works off of the deck of Dave's grandmother. It's a beautiful daytime view and Dave said the fireworks were really pretty in person because they reflected off of the lake water down below. Grandma Kay took AJ fishing while they were there and with her help, AJ caught a few fish. When he came back and told me all about them, he even knew that he had caught Perch. Dave said that AJ and Kayleigh played well together and as always AJ was glad to get to visit Grandpa Eric, Michelle, and the kids. AJ has always really liked the boys.

Memaw came up from AR for 10 days recently and I'm terribly ashamed to admit that I did not get out my camera one time. We just seemed so busy doing stuff and having a great time that I didn't even think of it. I was really upset with myself when I didn't take my camera to The Wilds. I just discovered that The Wilds located about an hour and a half of Columbus is North America's largest animal conservation center. It was really cool. It was like going on a safari. We took a bus through 10,000 acres and saw wild animals in their conservation environments. It was cool to see a herd of Giraffe standing on the side of the road or having to stop and drive slowly behind a few camels that decided to walk on the road we were on. Almost all of the animals there are species that are endangered and the center is working to increase the population and then put them back into the real wild all over the world. And I FORGOT my camera!!! Not to mention that I missed a great chance to get pics of AJ with Memaw! AJ was sure loved having her here.