Life chugs on

Can't. Quite. Reach.

All in all, not much to say. Life is good. John and Joan are over their flus now. The stomach part didn't last more than a day each, but they each had a few days of coughs and runny noses. Both Mike and I escaped, with no more than a tickle in my throat for half a day. Jer and his boyfriend both got colds, but nothing major. It may not even have been the same thing.

Joan's day of throwing up left her noticeably skinnier, but she's filling back out again. She's getting really vocal these days. She's in that cute gurgly "ga ga ga ba ba ba" stage. She still doesn't have the strength that John had at this age. She still can't sit completely unaided. She can't pull herself up like he could, and she's not creeping. But to be fair, she doesn't get the practice in. It's not safe to put her down on the floor- she'd get trampled by John.

John is doing great. He's such a good kid. He's really embraced the concept of "sharing". Except when it's sharing books with his sister. Books are sacred. But if he has a food item, he'll usually split it in half and give one of us half, saying "you want to share with me? One for me, and one for you!" It's not going to work well with our new "diet," but it's the thought that counts.

And talk about vocal! He's getting so articulate lately. I can have a whole conversation with him and understand almost every word now. There are times he still makes no sense, but those times are getting fewer, and usually happen when he's upset, because he's trying to talk and cry at the same time. He plays lots of fun games, too. He loves hide and seek. It's really funny playing with him, because when you finish counting to 10, and say "ready or not, here I come!" He'll giggle and say "Okay!" from his hiding spot - usually in the closet. He also loved charades, which is a non-stop game in our house now. He'll come up and ask "what's my name?" and you have to guess from the actions he does, what piece of heavy machinery he is at the moment. My favourite is digger (backhoe). He has the backwards scoop action down pat. He's frequently a crane. Sometimes a drill (auger). Sometimes a bulldozer. He's starting to venture into animals. Sometimes he's a baby jaguar (Diego reference), other times a snake or a butterfly or a "goldie fish". My favourite is a snail. He gets down on his knees, and shuffles forward, inch by inch, pulling with his arms. We went to staples the other day, and did it all the way through the store. By the time we got to the check-out his hands were so black, the store manager appeared with a bottle of Purel and a wad of paper towels to clean them off. As soon as he was clean, down he went, back to being a snail. He inched out the front door and all the way across the parking lot.

He's picked up these funny sayings. If he wants to do something, and you hesitate, he says "come on, mom! You gotta try it!" often followed by "you're gonna love it!"

Other favourites of mine:

"I can't believe it! I gotta drive it!" (when seeing any piece of heavy machinery.)

"Come on, guys! Follow me!" (whenever we're out anywhere)

"No Baby! You're not a lobster!" (to Joan, when she pinches him)

He loves to sing, and has his own unique versions of songs, like, "row row row your boat, gently down the street." A lot of times, he'll get them mixed up, so we wind up with black sheep or baker men rowing down the street. He's lots of fun. Hopefully, we'll get up there soon, so you can see it for yourself. If not this summer, maybe closer to Christmas, or maybe Mike's reading week. We'll see how it all goes!