Honey, Sandy, and the Frog Chair

LJ has had a very nice Spring Break because, with the exception of Wednesday, both RJ and I have been home this week. This means lots of play time and lots of time outside. He loves outside – so much so that one of his words is “shoe” (it sounds like “shh”, but we are pretty sure he is saying “shoe”). Shoes mean he is going outside - in the house he goes barefoot – so he is fascinated with shoes. He puts them on his hands and walks around with them…doesn’t matter whose shoes they are. He brings you your shoes when you want to put them on (it is not always your shoe and it is not always a matching pair). He tries to put his own shoes on and when he gets frustrated, he brings them to one of us.

One of the highlights of Spring Break 2006 was a visit from Grandma, Grandpa, Mom Mom (LJ’s great grandmother), Aunt H (LJ’s great aunt) and Uncle B. They came over for the day on Thursday. LJ went down for a nap around 11:00 that morning and slept until 2:00…this was a rather long nap, but that was OK with me. The family visitors arrived around noon, so they had to wait two agonizingly long hours to see little LJ. He seemed happy to see them all, especially because Uncle B brought him two dogs! No, not real live dogs (thank you for not bringing him a real dog Uncle B!), but two stuffed animal dogs. Blond Labradors – just like the one in LJ’s favorite commercial. We named the bigger dog Honey and the little puppy Sandy. LJ already knows them by name and will go find whichever one you ask him to find. He hugs them and lies on the floor with them. These dogs have been a big hit. LJ was also very excited to see Mom Mom’s walker. He wanted to push it all around – and he did. Mom Mom has a cool flashlight hanging from one handle and Grandma showed LJ how to use his thumb to turn it on and off, on and off, on and off…! There is a basket on the front of Mom Mom’s walker and LJ enjoyed putting things in that basket. I’m telling you, LJ LOVED this visit.

I’ll report one final favorite of LJ’s…he has a new chair with a frog on it. We bought it around Christmas, but “some assembly” was required, so it has been sitting in “the playroom” since then. RJ decided to assemble it and, of course, it is a hunk of junk and required so sanding, gluing, and additional screwing to make it sturdy enough. LJ was interested in all the tools RJ used to assemble the chair and this slowed the process a bit. Once RJ finished it, LJ sat right down on it and has been the king of the living room ever since. LJ usually finishes his dinner before RJ and I, so we take him out of his high chair and tell him to go play. This works with varying success, but usually ends up with him begging for us to pick him up and then he lunges at whatever he sees on the table. Since the new chair has been assembled – I turn on Wheel of Fortune or Lingo and LJ sits in his chair and enjoys the sounds and the clapping…he claps right along! This chair is great!