Happy New Year!!

How do the holidays fly by so fast? We went from Jeremiah’s birthday right into Christmas events. I am pretty sure he will love December as he gets older. The first weekend was his birthday party; the second weekend we celebrated our California Christmas, the third weekend we were at Andy’s parents for Christmas, then there was “real” Christmas, and the last weekend we were at my family’s for Christmas. You would think the presents would be over after that, but we had to have some of them shipped, so it was like opening them all up again when we got here.

“Meremiah sang with big kids – church” which means he sang at church one Sunday evening. He did not understand the whole get in front of the church and sing, until we had watched the video a few times and got back to California. He now knows part of Silent Night and “the Shepherd song” (Go Tell It on the Mountain). He sings them at least 2-3 times a day. A little late (or early for next year)? He did stand on the stage last week when we went to get something from church during the week and sang. He was very excited.

The child LOVES music. I have a feeling we will be singing our addition and multiplication facts when he gets to that point and anything else he will need to memorize for school. He picks up on it so fast. He played the piano at Grandma & Grandpa Merrill’s house. Aunt Abby got out the sheet music for “Jingle Bells”. Now he sits down with his little piano and puts the music Andy printed off the computer in front of him and sings and plays.

We got him a Lego table for Christmas. He loves to build with it and play with his new animals and dinosaurs. He has also gotten really good at stacking up his ABC blocks. His other favorite thing is to put together puzzles. He has gotten pretty good. His spacial recognition surprises me.

We had a rough time getting to Indiana (6 1/2 hours in Chicago airport – with a 1/2 hour nap – originally into Fort Wayne – stand-by into Indy at 2:00 am was when we landed – with another 1/2 hour nap – bad weather so not to my parent’s til 5 am – with maybe an 1 1/2 nap – approximately 19 hours of travel – oh and luggage not there til 10 pm the next day). Jeremiah loved the airport. It went from about an inch of snow when we got to Chicago to about 6 when we left. He loved watching the planes and plows and snow. At least not many people were getting in, so that allowed Jeremiah to run around the airport – literally.

While we were in Indiana we had a good time. Jeremiah loved sledding. Unfortunately we did not have good packing snow, so we did not get to make a snowman. Then the ice came, so that took care of that idea. Jeremiah got bundled up every day to go play my dad’s pinball machine on the front porch (which does not have heat). He loved running around the big open rooms at both grandparent’s house. He loved seeing everybody and did really well with as many people as he met (or met again). By the end he was ready to go home though. His sleep schedule was so thrown off. There are tons of pictures on the blog under Our Pictures. Jeremiah had a blast. Oh, the trip back was much less adventurous – we may have even gotten in early.

Jeremiah got “big boy underwear” for Christmas. He was so excited to wear them (not very successfully). However last night we went from after nap until bedtime in the same pair. We kept taking him to the bathroom, so he did pretty well. Tonight was not as successful. I am so glad his friend Isaac got potty trained not long ago! It is great motivation to “be a big boy like Isaac”. At least he wants to wear them, plus the marshmallows for going don’t hurt either.

Jeremiah is doing a great job putting sentences together. He has even started to figure out questions with more than one word. We went to the Wild Animal Park today and he asked me before we went “Charlie be there?”. He is so funny when he asks a question he tilts his head to the side. It is also getting easier to understand most of what he says. Especially if you can get some clues from what is around him.

His memory is quite sharp – almost too sharp. He forgets nothing. There is no stalling with him, thinking he will forget. If you tell him he can do something after nap, he will wake up talking about it (Usually it has to do with playing with Play-doh – thanks Auntie Katie). Last night he (and Andy) wanted to know what sound a giraffe makes. So on the way to the Wild Animal Park today, I asked what animal he wanted to see. “Giraffe – noise?” (FYI – Giraffes communicate in frequencies we can’t hear – the only thing we can hear is chewing noises – like a cow)

Physically he is still a big boy. Everyone who picked him up in Indiana made a comment. He is just a solid rock! But no weight gain or loss and I am pretty sure he has grown some height wise. The other exciting news was he got his last two teeth toward the front of his mouth this month. We only have the four 2 year molars left.

Well, this quote from Jeremiah probably sums up our life right now. Setting: Jeremiah running back and forth between our room and his (usually in a diaper only as we are getting ready to take a bath) “I running ALL over place” Yep that sums it up.

Hope you are off to a great 2009. I will keep the updates coming. If you want off the e-mail because you check the blog or some other reason let me know. If not, you are stuck getting updates for another year 🙂

🙂
Nichole