September 27

We are doing well. Most notably because Mike has been home at decent hours all week! He did work on Saturday, but he has been here for dinner several nights, which is so nice. Jens actually gets to play with him in the evening, which is also nice. Mike is still busy with work. The deadline for his project is the end of October. We are looking forward to a slow down in the work requirements.

Jens has been busy this week. One of the funny things he has been doing is the sign language sign for more. The reason this is funny is because I haven't been practicing it with him at all. I tried really hard when he was 6 months to do the signing thing, but by the time he was 9-10 months and showing no interest, I gave up. A few weeks ago we went to the library for story/signing time, and one of the signs they were practicing was more. So last week he was sitting in his high chair and he looked at me and did the sign for more. And now he does it all the time. I think he thinks it means "give me crackers," but we are practicing. Monday night we had brownies and I gave Jens a tiny bite, and he stood there next to me with his mouth open signing "MORE! MORE!" He didn't like cake at his birthday, but I bet he would like it now.

He has also been climbing on to the table whenever we leave the chairs out. We have to be careful to push them in all of the time. He also likes to stand on the black bench and flick the lights on and off and he enjoys jumping on the couch. He doesn't usually follow my directions to sit down, but we keep trying.

We also picked out his Halloween costume. He is going to be a lion, and he looks adorable. Here is a little preview, even though Halloween is far away.

One more cute Jens thing--he is knocking on doors now. Mike just left and so Jens is knocking on the front door because he wants to go, too. He knocks on all closed doors--the bathroom is no longer a safe escape! Sorry. One more thing. He is saying "car" now. He was real excited when the garbage truck came by this morning. He stood by the window and watched, saying "car" the whole time.

We went to the zoo last week and I think we will go back this week. It is a really nice little zoo. They have a wolf pack, two tigers, five bears, monkeys, and lots of non-zoo type animals, like raccoons and a fox. It is shady and just the right size, plus you can get pretty close to see the animals. Jens especially enjoyed the raccoons, who were being fed while we were watching. It made me think of Jessie and Doug. I bet the raccoons would have been their favorites, too.

We spent Sunday (after church) at the park. It is becoming a nice Sunday schedule. It is so nice now that it isn't getting so hot.

I had a dentist appt. yesterday--I love my cleaning person because she gives me topical anesthetic when she cleans my teeth. We swam yesterday, which Jens loved. He walked all the way to the pool and wanted to step right in as soon as I opened the gate. We stayed for an hour, which is a record for us. He walked home naked, which I think he greatly enjoyed.

September 20

First: We just disconnected our home phone number. We are going all cell phones all the time to save a little cash, so my cell is the "new" home phone. As of Friday our other number (the 358 one) will no longer work.

We have had a nice week. I took Jens in for his one year pictures last Thursday. It was a real treat, let me tell you. I pretty much spent the whole time chasing him and trying to keep him on the back drop. Luckily, we did get some cute ones for all of our trouble. He is pretty handsome! This was after we got home--it might give you some idea of his mood!

We had a quiet weekend. Here is our goofy boy up to his silly tricks. Mike worked on Saturday, so it was just like any other day. We were glad to see the Gators hold on for the win, especially after BYU lost so sadly in double OT.

Sunday I made delicious quiche and we went to the park. Casey knows the right place to hang out. Since Sunday is the only day Mike really has a chance to go outside, we try to take advantage, and luckily the weather cooperated. Monday I went to a relief society lunch, which was nice, and then Jens and I stopped by the library. There is a big pond with a gazebo and there were lots of geese, so we walked around and checked them out. Jens was transfixed. He just stared and stared at them. I was afraid to put him down, though, because there was goose poop everywhere and I was afraid he would try to sample it or step in it, plus geese are kind of scary sometimes and one of them hissed at me.

I read two interesting books this week: Rise and Shine by Anna Quindelan, which I haven't decided if I loved it or not, but it was an enjoyable quick read, and The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss, which Jess recommended. I have been thinking about that one a lot and I really liked it, but I don't know if I know which parts were real and which parts were the character's imagination.

Last night Mike and I went to the Sacramento Temple, which was SO nice. I have been looking forward to going for a while, and the nice lady I visit teach volunteered to keep Jens for us so we could go. The building is lovely and it was a nice peaceful evening.

In Jens news: he woke up at 6 this morning! BOO! He dances almost all of the time, to the dishwasher, the food processor, the radio, nothing at all. He has all sorts of arm moves that the hottest pop stars would be jealous of. He certainly keeps us smiling. Today he and I are going to check out the Folsom zoo--I hear it is small, which should be just right for us.

September 13

Bradfords, I just have to say I marvel at your e-mails. It seems like you do a months worth of stuff in a week, and all of it is amazing and noteworthy.

We have had an ok week. We had a good time swimming with a friend. Jens loves the water! He just splashes like crazy. Thursday we picked up the Camry with it's newly built transmission. Mike is pretty sure we got ripped off on parts, which is never a pleasant feeling. He is hoping to follow up on that, but he's been so busy with work, I don't know when he'll have time. On the plus side, Jens and I went up to Apple Hill afterwords and got fruit and apple turnovers. They are starting to spruce things up for the busy season, and they are starting to have lots of apples. Friday I had activity girls, and my friend Natalie watched Jens for me, so I was really able to pay attention to the girls, which made it a lot more fun.

Saturday Mike worked all day, which was a shame because first, it was Saturday, and second, it was a gorgeous day! Unfortunately, Jens enjoyed a couple throwing up spells on Saturday, with no other symptoms. We gave him his inhaler a few times a day for a few days and it has stopped. We actually watched a movie Saturday night with the Nielsens--"The Sentinel." I don't recommend it. Michael Douglas is a little too old to do action movies now. It is like watching a grandpa run for his life.

Sunday was BEAUTIFUL!! After church and a marathon 4 hour nap by Jens, we went to the park for a few hours to play Frisbee and lay on a blanket. It was so nice.I like this one because he looks so cool, walking and drinking at the same time.



And there is nothing more fun than playing in the dog drinking fountain.

Yesterday Jens and I went to the library for infant story time. You can imagine how that was. Lots of squirming, crawling, running. Jens actually stood next to the lady and watched for a while, before deciding that everyone's diaper bags were more interesting. Jens did enjoy seeing the other kids and wandering around, and I got the new Anna Quindlen book, Rise and Shine, which I am excited about.

Here are a few pictures of Jens up to his normal tricks--trying out other people's things--specifically Casey's bed and Dad's computer.


That's it from here. We are hoping to return to nice weather at the end of this week, and hoping the smoke from wild fires abates. I am also hoping the flat tire on Jens's stroller gets fixed soon--we didn't get a walk today or yesterday. :( We are also hoping that Mike MIGHT be home for dinner tonight! That would be a first in several weeks!

September 6

It is hard to believe how fast Wednesdays seem to roll around. We have had a busy week!

Wednesday we did NOT go to the prison. Mike preferred to do something outside, which is understandable since he spends an awful lot of time in a little cube. We went to Apple Hill and got treats, some divine blackberries, and let Jens play in the dirt, which he greatly enjoyed. We also dropped the Camry off to have the transmission rebuilt. This is the second time since we got the car, and we have decided this is the last big fix. If we'd known how much it was going to cost, we probably wouldn't have fixed it at all. Oh well. Hopefully it will last us another year or two. We greatly enjoyed having Mike at home. Jens finds him extremely entertaining and funny, so there is a lot of laughing at our house when Mike is home.

Thursday Jens and I went to Modesto to visit Kristin Johnson, who is here with her family for a few weeks. We stayed overnight and had a really good time, although Jens ran me ragged! He found too many interesting things at the house that he wasn't supposed to be touching, and there were stairs, which he loves a little too much. He almost fell down them once, which just about gave me a heart attack. We went to Micke's Grove on Friday, which had a pretty park and a nice little zoo. We ate lunch and looked at the animals. The big hit were the sea lions, which we saw doing tricks and eating fish. Jens was entranced.

He also enjoyed pulling Mati's pacifier out of her mouth, which fortunately made her laugh, not cry. She thought he was pretty funny. Kristin and I had a nice visit. I am always happy when we get to see each other!

Saturday we went to Ikea and had lunch. Jens actually ATE MEATBALLS! A squishy food, and yet he ate several bites. He also ate a grape and tried a few bites of my cereal in milk, also squishy. Anyway--we bought table legs at Ikea and I made a big work table for our back room yesterday. I bought a wood door, put the legs on, and polyurethaned it. I am hoping it will give us a little more usable desk space back there, and that it won't be taken over by computer parts.

Sunday we went to the Sacramento Temple dedication. It was neat to be a part of it, and I am looking forward to going. We managed to get an appointment on the 19th.

Sunday night we went camping with JP and Natalie and our HUGE tent (10 feet by 17 feet) We laughed at it a lot, but it was really nice to have a place for Jens to run around in. He slept really well and we had a good time. He found that JP and Natalie were way more fun than us--they let him poke the fire with a stick!

Jens got very dirty and enjoyed every minute of it. We went for a little hike on Monday, then came home and spent a long time doing laundry.

Yesterday Jens had a really rough day. He woke up so happy and cheerful, but things went downhill from there. The dog bit him on the cheek (I had to cancel his one year picture appointment that was supposed to be tomorrow), he fell down at the doctor's office and hit his face on my knee, and he got immunizations. He woke up from his afternoon nap VERY grumpy! This morning we are having a battle of wills over breakfast--he keeps spitting out his applesauce, so he hasn't had any breakfast yet. But we are having a little friend over to play, so hopefully things will improve!