Singing

Jonathan has really taken an interest in music over the past few days. His new favorite is filling in the animals, sounds and e-i-e-i-o for Old MacDonald. He can also fill in lots of different sounds for The Wheels on the Bus. His favorite is "wipers go swish swish swish". Anyway, just thought I'd share how cute he is!

I've also learned he does not do well in new places without a friend. We went to the splash park nearby and he did not want to get wet until he met a little girl and played ball with her for awhile. Then when she splashed in the puddles he did, too. However, he looked really cute in his swim outfit and was definitely the most covered up kid there!





When my parents were in town, we went miniature golfing. Surprisingly he stayed interested through the 16th hole. He was in charge of putting all of the balls the last 3 feet into the hole, and he was adamant that only one ball could be in the hole at a time. He would sink one, then go to sink another, see the first one and chuck it as far as he could away from the hole. Also, his ball color had to match his club color at all times, so each ball he putted meant a new club.



This is my dad and J and the new "b" my grandmother knitted him. He took to it instantly as it was made with love by the same grandma who made his original (large) favorite blanket. This one is small enough to be portable. I guess being the grandmother to 27 and mother to 10 means she really really knows what goes into a perfect baby blanket. He LOVES his "b"s and no others will do!




We went to Cracker Barrel for Chris's grandma's birthday and J fell in love with this caterpillar. I wish I'd known how much he was going to love rocking-- not 6 weeks ago I passed up the cutest rocker for less than $20 because he wasn't interested in it at all!!



A family picture with my brother. After 25 shots or so we finally got this one and it just shows that J really is almost 2! Ironically, he willingly posed with me for the test shots 15 minutes before my bro arrived, cheesing for the camera and everything!

Test

I added some family members to an auto-mailing list that will tell them when a new post is up. This is a test to see if it works. If you get an email from blogger.com telling you Schaefer Family has posted a new message, please email me so I can confirm it is working!

Thanks!

Randi

Just a family pic from last summer at Sea World.

Piano Boy and Flagstaff Fun

Jonathan had fun practicing the piano with Chris tonight. He has gotten really good at saying his letters, so Chris used the piano to reinforce A through G. If you listen closely, he is copying Chris. He later went on to play his own little piano and even sang a little while playing the notes. Even though it bugs Chris, I like having an out of tune piano so Jonathan is free to bang on the keys as much as he likes without having to re-tune it all the time! Enjoy!




Just more evidence he is growing up too fast! We must have taken 5 laps up and down the escalator that night!

Highlights of our recent Flagstaff weekend get-away:

Robbie and J sliding and swinging together with their dads.





J trying out the exersaucer again (the first pic is right after it was set up a year ago).





He learned all about stairs this weekend and loved "bumping" down them on his bottom.

I was busy cutting the corn off the cob, when he snatched it up and showed me that he was old enough to do it himself, the big-boy way!

Is this a sign of things to come??? (No, we are not expecting :) ) Jonathan wanted stories and Robbie wanted to be held. What else is a mom to do?

For my dad

He decided his car needed a tune-up, so all on his own, he went to the living room, got his tool box and came back to work under the hood of his car. NONE of this was suggested or prompted by us! Anyway, here is our little mechanic. Sorry it is sideways. When I learn how to fix the other one, I will do this one too!

More fun at our house

As I was cleaning up after breakfast, Jonathan grabbed the paper and began giggling and laughing at all the comics. I ran to get the camera but when I returned he was doing this instead. I love how long it took him to notice I was recording him. Make sure you turn up your volume.

My parents came up with this version of swinging and he loved it! I have not been able to rotate this but I will keep trying! Until then, just tilt your head :) !

We spent Easter at Chris's parents house with the whole family. Jonathan loved the egg hunt and his Easter Basket gifts. We had a great meal and tons of laughter. Here are some photo highlights.

A train! Yea! Ok, he really was more thrilled than this picture shows.

Jonathan picking up his first egg.

Entertaining him while we set up for the family photo. Look at how high his feet are! (For reference, my brother is 6'5").

Check out my hot husband. :)

Sometimes I am reminded that he still is just a small little boy.

We FINALLY got our new table and he christened it by grabbing a piece of (fake) chicken, taking it to the table, and eating it!

We installed a 6' tall fence on the side yard to contain our dog Scout and Jonathan was a big help to my dad and Chris. He even learned what sound a drill makes- vvvrrrr!

I love having a sweet dog! Here is Jonathan walking my parents' dog Shadow around the house and later he walked Scout to the neighbor's house and back without Scout dragging him down the sidewalk!

He worked on this new skill for 4 days and finally got it!

Jonathan took a few trips around this triangle wall with me (it goes up, then down, then flat) before he was brave enough to do it on his own.

We went to our town fair and had a blast! Scout even got to come! He climbed in a fire truck, rode a train, bounced in many different rooms and even stuck to climbing up a huge slide when he was being jostled this way and that by a bunch of bigger kids. Jonathan's favorite was seeing the K-9 unit demonstrate how a dog attacks a criminal. He told everyone all about "Dog Bite" at Grandpa's dinner celebration that night.

He loved this train ride once it got going. He wasn't too sure at first. However, he did have perfect driving form from the start. Granny would be proud.



Uncle John got a kick out of Jonathan's reaction to seeing himself on John's camera. BTW, if you've ever wondered why I don't call my son Jon, it's because it would get too confusing around here with 2 of them! I spent my first 18 years that way and I'm not going through that again! :)

Aunt Kirsten drives a convertible and Jonathan thought it was so cool that he could just hop right in without opening the door. Then we gave him the keys and he wanted to drive his aunt home! We said sure! See you at home Jonathan!

March Fun 2008

Hi! I know it has been forever so here are some new pics from this month. Jonathan is such a big boy now, it sometimes takes us by surprise. His favorites are golf, cars, books and trains. I think we can safely assume he is all boy.

He is still our sweet little man, although toddlerhood is kicking in daily instead of weekly. It is really hard to keep a straight face during the tantrums because they are in slow motion. He is such a cautious kid, he can't even throw a tantrum without making sure he isn't going to fall too hard or bonk himself on something on the way down!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures and I hope to post more often than I have in the past!



I guess this really is a case of "Like mother, like son". :þ



He was a wonderful help while we were replanting our garden. He insisted on wearing his gloves even though it was 85 degrees outside. After all, Mom and Dad got to wear them!



This was the first time he had ever seen Mom on rollerblades. He thought it was great fun to roll around the house with me. Scout wasn't so sure, however.



On a beautiful AZ day, we went to the park to hit some golf balls. He can really "whap" that thing!



After learning the hard way not to taste dandelions, he bent down for an impromptu sniff.



We finally got to go to the zoo with Chris's parents and everyone had a blast. Here is J playing in a tree trunk with Grandma.



I wanted to get shot of him looking at the big blue frog, but he was way more interested in getting laughs from his grandparents with his goofy faces.



He saw a little girl sit on this for her birthday and wanted a turn of his own while we were out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.



His first, and surprisingly my first, St. Patrick's Day and the grandparents'. He even liked the corned beef and cabbage!



Uncle David: always pushing Mom's limits, but then J smiles like this and all is forgiven. :)



His new thing is dancing. His feet move so fast, I am really surprised I got this shot!



Some of you may remember he did this "what up homey" thing a long time ago. I wonder how we ended up with a "gangsta" kid?



He hadn't been in the pack in awhile so we were stunned to see his feet could touch the support bar below! He thought this was the best part of riding in the pack.



At the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. See, toddlerhood!



He loved all the flowers until he accidentally tasted one. He pointed to the next ones we saw and said, "YUCK!" and wouldn't smell any other yellow ones all day!



J and Grandpa. We figured out he could ride down the hill alone and the car would gently come to a stop at the bottom. He must have done it 20 times and everyone had to take a turn pushing him!