New Family Member

We are adopting a kitten from a friend of my brother's and we finally met her this weekend. She is absolutely adorable and so so so tiny! Her name is Smudges. She is only about 5 weeks old so we won't get her until the end of June, but I really wanted to take her home the minute I saw her. We will have to work on Jonathan's kitten holding skills though -- he likes to squeeze just a little too hard.

Can you believe how huge those DVDs and electrical outlet look next to her!

Zoo and New Skills

We haven't been up to much, besides staying cool (it hit 110 yesterday). I thought I was fairly up to date with my pictures, but here are some I missed over the last month.

We are finally all healthy again! J had a cold that turned into a double ear infection and he thoughtfully passed it on to me. Isn't that sweet? Luckily, Chris managed to escape the wrath of this superbug, so at least there was someone around to provide food and water! He was so stuffy, we propped him up on our pillows and let him rest there for an hour or two. The poor guy was so wiped out, he didn't even move once!



J has taken to shoes lately: mine, Chris's or his, anything is fine. He actually has a good eye for matching most of the time and has often brought me the right pair of shoes without being asked!





We did the zoo for possibly the last time until it cools off, and J is finally big enough to play in the treehouse over the water. He has always looked longingly at it and I think it did not disappoint him. As one of the only boys in our group, he was quite the ladies man! :)

Bye bye zoo! Hello pool! Grandma and Grandpa took him swimming for the first time this year, braving the still cold water. It took about 15 minutes to adjust, but the lure of the ball being in the water was too much to resist for both J and his Grandpa Greg!

This is what happens to your child's head when all you focus on is his adorable face as you snap the photo!



Just J and Dad reading the Sports section together on a Sunday morning. Awww, so cute. ;)



J decided to help us shop for the new kitten we are adopting at the end of June, but the cart was a little harder to turn than he anticipated.



J-Man helping Daddy in the garden, using his own tools for the first time.



Jonathan loves drawing and especially loves copying our drawings. Unfortunately, neither Chris nor I are artists, in even the loosest kindergarten sense of the word! So our "drawings" are words and photographs. To that end, Jonathan has started making his own approximations of several letters and faces. These photos show what he drew and what he told Chris each one was as he did it. Surprisingly, to his adoring parents at least, some of them resemble what he said they were, slightly. Well at least they do if you tilt your head and squint while looking through a pair of those special 3D glasses. Click on them to see the drawings in detail.

ATTENTION: NON-JONATHAN PHOTO COMING!
This is Scout at his Doggy Training School Graduation. Isn't he cute? He is very well behaved now and can even stay home alone inside for several hours without wreaking havoc on our house!

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!