Wilsons Apple Orchard

This time of year, Wilsons Apple Orchard is the place to be! It is an apple orchard/pumpkin patch about 15 min away from us and is quite the attraction. Last year we visited the orchard when Nana and Papa were out for their visit, but this year we didn't make it to the orchard until after they left. There are still a lot of things that Jonah isn't quite old enough to appreciate about it (like the actual apple picking that you can do there) but it was still a fun little family outing anyway!

 Here is Jonah and me in front of the same tree that we took a picture in front of last year. Wow have things changed!!! (Look at the clothes too! Last year was coats and scarves, this year was short sleeves and sandals! Gotta love Iowa weather.)

With so many apple trees and so many people picking from them, there were a lot of sad little apples that got left behind on the ground. A few of them had already been sampled by people. Jonah found one, examined it (saying "ba...ba.." for ball), and then tried to eat it.  (Don't worry, my hand is just outside the frame of the picture reaching to grab the icky apple from his mouth!!)

There was a lot of area to cover so Jonah walked around a ton. He didn't seem to mind at all! I tried to help him a bit...when he would let me.

In the store at the orchard they sell fresh baked apple turnovers, pies, and apple cider. Let me tell you. It does not get any better than an apple turnover fresh from the oven, made with homemade crust and apples picked from one of the trees you sit next to as you eat it! Mmmm.

It was an afternoon of good old fashioned family fun!!

At the park

Often when Vanessa works, Jonah and I will head out to a park so he can run around and expend some of his energy—although he never seems to run out.  The other day I brought my camera with us as we headed out.

As Vanessa said in the last post, Jonah's Gramma taught him how to pick flowers and then smell them.  He sometimes blows on them instead of sniffs, but that's probably close enough.

Jonah is getting more and more adventuresome.  He loves climbing up the steps and onto the play structures.

I taught Jonah how to slide down the slide on his stomach.  Once he learned, there was no stopping him.

He's so funny some times just hanging out and "talking."

Seriously, how cute is this little kid?

Grandparents Galore

A couple of weeks ago we were blessed to have not one, not two, but THREE grandparents out to visit. It was such a fun opportunity to see my mom and Andrews parents. We have not gotten to see them since our visit to Fresno in June and won't see them again until Christmas. We welcomed their visits, short as they were, to break up that long span between visits home. We didn't get nearly as many photos as we would have liked, but they weren't really "photo opp" kinds of visits. More like doing-everyday-things kinds of visits. (We actually got NO photos with Nana and Papa....they will have to share the photos they got with us!)

When my mom came, we were there to greet her at the airport. Since it was a game day, we were of course decked out in Hawkeye gear. (We are good Iowans, ya know!) Mom had grand visions of Jonah running to greet her at the airport but he was a little more reserved than that. It didn't take long to warm up to her though and by the end of the car ride home he was giggling up a storm with her.

Trying to make Gramma laugh became Jonah's number one goal during her visit. Anything that elicited a response from her was repeated over and over again. He would do whatever it was that had made her laugh before (throwing something down, for example) and them immediately look at her and laugh at the action himself. You simply could not help but join in. Here he is trying to make her laugh while eating breakfast out at Hamburg Inn.

On her last day here we took a walk in the neighborhood by our house. It was on this walk that she taught him to smell the flowers. He would pick them, inspect them, and then "sniff" them. It was one of the simple, sweet, everyday moments that we don't get to spend together very often but in the end we miss the most.

15 Months...and 16 too!

It is so hard to stay up on Jonah's monthly stats anymore! I swear time is actually going by faster. Truly. Anyway here he is in both his 15 month photo (top) and his 16 month photo (bottom). We are finding it harder and harder to get him to sit still long enough to get any still shots, so these are really just the best we have! At his 15 month check up he was 31 inches long and 25 pounds 11 ounces.

Besides his physical changes, his personality changes and emerging interests and abilities are what really amaze me most about my growing Jonah. His vocabulary encompasses the following as of late: Mama (sometimes "baba"), Dada, Nana (don't tell Gramma), baby (all children, photos of children, reflections of himself and his own shadow), Aigon/Addiga (Addyson and all cats), ba (ball and book), a "vrooming", zerbert noise for car (or anything with wheels like bikes, rolling luggage, etc.), mmmaaaaa (cows) and "huh huh", a throaty barking noise for all dogs. He has been blowing on his food to "cool it down", even on unnecessary items like Cheerios. He is also regularly using the signs for "more, please, all done, outside, and shoe".

While Gramma was here she taught him how to say "tickle tickle" while tickling feet; which he will now do to yours and his own. He also learned how to sniff flowers with her and will still do it unprompted while out on walks. Jonah loves to "drive" just about anything around the house, whether it has wheels or not, and will do so for lengthy spans of time. Daddy and Dudey take walks and play outside daily with Jonah leading the way. He loves to explore, point out noises, and climb. He is even learning the concept of kicking his soccer ball. And just the other day he discovered the moon for the first time. So fun!

Iowa Homecoming - 2010

This past week was homecoming for the university.  There were all sorts of events going on during the entire week, culminating in the big Iowa vs. Penn State game on Saturday (which we won!).  One of the highlights of homecoming week is a parade that goes through downtown Iowa City.  We went to the parade last year, so I thought it would be fun to take Jonah down there again.  Because Vanessa had to work, I got to enjoy a little "father-son" time with Jonah.

Jonah is becoming more and more independent, so he didn't want to stay in his stroller for long.  He really likes walking around and inspecting everything.

A minor-meltdown occurred after I took this photo because Jonah really wanted the balloon tied to someone's stroller, and—being the mean dad that I am—I wouldn't let him take it.  Fortunately for me, there was so much going on that he was quickly distracted by something else.

Jonah is obsessed with dogs right now, so he was really excited when he saw the dog truck.  He even tried to walk out into the street to pet the puppies walking by.

Aside from the brief "balloon incident", Jonah did really well.  He loves getting out of the house, and the parade gave us a great opportunity to do just that.