Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Things we're doing

A week ago I cleaned out my pantry and discovered that I had a few cans of pumpkin that needed to be used. So yesterday, Jonathan and I made a pie! Doesn't he look pleased with himself?







Thomas continues to be intent, focused, and somewhat introverted. While Jonathan fills my day with questions of "what are we doing next?", Thomas can frequently be found flopped on the floor with a book or the computer keyboard.





Playdough is always fun - especially making a new batch!



Apparently Jonathan has reached the "if you try to take my picture I'll make weird faces" stage. It takes serious ingenuity to capture a smile that doesn't look like this one. :)



Notice what hat he's wearing, Sarah? Both boys have decided that wearing baseball caps backwards is the thing to do. We're sure that this is the precursor to open rebellion when they're teenagers.



My worries that Jonathan might be colorblind have evaporated in the past month, as Jonathan suddenly figured out ALL his colors (even unusual ones). A current favorite activity is sorting puffballs by color.



Both boys really enjoy playing the piano and "singing". Thomas sits decorously, turns pages, plays gently with his fingers, and quietly sings "la la". Jonathan, on the other hand, turns singing into an extreme sport. His "la la"s leave him as out of breath as if he had just run a race. Right about now I can relate that that gasping for air aspect of singing!



Gabe is such a good Daddy. He comes home from work each day and cheerfully plays with the kids. This day Jonathan requested CandyLand. Thomas just thought it was fun to have Daddy lying on the floor - the better for jumping on!



We've been enjoying gardening this summer, as well. Jonathan often helps me water, and Thomas thinks that pulling heads off the flowers is "helping" as well. We're working on that! I have a huge patch of daisies that provides fresh cut flowers on a daily basis. Look how cute this one is!



I don't have a photo for this one, but Jonathan's interest in coloring has exploded. He is using washable markers now, which makes him feel very grown up. He's becoming more capable of coloring within specific sections of his pictures, and cares enough to make the attempt. He's also quite imaginative, and will add "extras" to his coloring sheets. Yesterday he colored a picture of a backhoe and added plenty of extra dirt inside the bucket. This morning he informed me that he needed a picture of a dump truck to color, because the backhoe needed a place to put all that dirt!

Sometimes it seems like I spend all my time trying to come up with specific things to do with Jonathan. Perhaps Thomas is getting short changed - poor second child! But then I remember that Jonathan is, well, older. When he was 17 months old I wasn't bending over backwards doing preschool with him, either. :) I think that for the most part, Thomas enjoys just being around us, doing whatever we're doing at his own level.

4 comments:

Rachel said...

How do you make play doh?

Amber said...

What great pictures! Thomas looks even older and more mature than when I saw him a month and a half ago. The one of him in front of the keyboard is great, as is the one of both of your boys at the piano.

Gregory was giving us some cause for concern about colors too, but I realized that if I'm sneaky about how I ask about colors he is almost always right. I think he just doesn't like to be quizzed!

sarah marie said...

when we were visiting CA, Jonathan seemed to think that if he covered his eyes when I took a picture, I wouldn't be able to get his picture! He also did the scrunched up face thing. :). Great pictures. Go Red Sox!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderfully busy and fun household! Thanks for posting all the photos.