I like to joke that the difference between my family and Jake's is that at my house you sit around and watch a lot of TV and at Jake's house you do five projects at once while 3 conversations are going on around you. Our houses are different and I appreciate the relaxing atmosphere at my parent's house but also the productivity that can occur at my in-laws (not that I can't relax there or that we never get anything done here, but if I was going to generalize...).
So Jonah and I left the Disney channel to go down south to spend some time with his grandma and grandpa last month. Project Number 1 was get sand for Jonah to play in at their house. And a sandbox. So we went to Wal-mart and after a little work we got a big kiddie pool (on clearance for $1) tied into the back of the truck. We then drove to the gravel pit and asked for a little sand. Jonah and I walked back to the sand pile while his grandma drove the truck onto the scale and after being weighed drove back to the sand pile. A very nice man shoveled it into to our pool until we said "stop." Then, here is where the smart part comes in, we ALL got into the truck (not the nice man, just Jonah, myself, and my mother-in-law) and pull on the scale to be WEIGHED. As we were driving away Cathy says, "Hmmmm, that was $5 dollars, I thought when I called a few weeks ago they said it would be about that much for a whole load." WHOOPS!!! I bet they didn't calculate Jonah and I when they were giving her a quote on how much it would cost to buy sand for her new patio!
Once we got the "sand pool" off the truck (it took some effort, ramps, and a little digging) Jonah loved it, so I guess it was worth the cost of a few more pounds of sand!
Smarter than Sand
A Series of Searches
Some say that moving is a "new start" but what they really mean is that it is a lot of searching! I am happy to say that Jake has completed the "job search" (he will be joining the marketing team at Decatur Electronics) and we have moved on to the "house search." It isn't going as quickly as we would like (but not as slow as the job search, amen!). Our realtor did inform us today that we currently hold the record for the most offers she has written on different houses for one couple. She has only been a realtor for a couple years but we did sign offer NUMBER #3 today. (Houses #1 and #2 did not work out, long stories). We hope that House #3 is "it" (but I won't post pictures or anything until they sign on the dotted line because at this rate we could be looking at house #4 tomorrow...). So then we can move on to the "church search" and the "second vehicle search" and the "doctor(s) search"...
We'll Never Learn
I have two updates since my most recent post concerning Jonah and the way that he interprets adult speech.
One- He was talking to my mom and she stopped to enter the bathroom. He started to follow her in and she asked him to wait OUTSIDE. He broke out into tears and said "But Daddy said I can't go outside."
Two- Today Jonah was trying to get down from his seat without eating any of his lunch (which is typical). So, I don't know what I was thinking but said, "Are you going to eat lunch or run around like a crazy man?" He very seriously answered, "Run around like a crazy man", like I was really giving him options and that was what he was choosing!
Literal Translation
As adults we understand the need to interrupt some things that are said, read, or seen on tv to mean something other than what was actually said. We also understand (for the most part) sarcasm and metaphors and the like. One of my favorite examples is from when I taught pre-school and we were making guacamole. I told my 4 year old student to "pop that baby out of there" referring to the pit of the avocado. I'm not sure what literary term "baby" is actually being used as in that sentence, but I do know that the little girl was very confused and looked under the table for a baby.
Now Jonah too takes things literally. At our going away party he was screaming very loudly in play and I, without thinking, said "if you are going to scream, go in the other room." Jonah took this too well (I should have know something was up) because he walked a whole 10 steps to the kitchen (which opened right up to the family room where we were all sitting) and continued to scream in fun. I asked for that.
Recently Jonah was entertaining us at the dining room table and began to "zerbert" and spit all over his food and ours. My dad calmly said, "Jonah, we don't spit at the dinner table." Jonah anxiously asked in return, "where do we spit?"
Cousins
Currently Jonah's only cousins are my brother and sister-in-law's two dogs. Just like siblings, they appear very different in personalities. Vesta is big and sweet. Harley is a small hyper Boston Terrier. Jonah isn't around dogs too often and is always a little fearful at first. But he looked forward to Harley and Vesta's (and his aunt and uncle's) visit. He kept his distance at first but soon was begging to hold a leash (usually Vesta's) and take them on a walk.
He was sad to see them go and coped by pretending to be one of them. He chose to be Harley, even though she frightened him the most, I think he picked her because he can relate most to her. My brother was constantly watching the door, cleaning up after her, and telling her to calm down and be quiet. That's exactly what I do with Jonah, so having a Boston Terrier must be lot like raising a three year old!
So our "doggie day" this week consisted of a leash (a rope tied to his belt loop), several walks where we barked and pretended to eat grass (but it was pretend grass since we took our walks in the basement), catching pretend bones, and be whistled for. Woof Woof!
You Got to Move It, Move It
(title inspired by Jonah's favorite movie theme song)
We packed up, rented a big truck, and moved to Illinois a couple of weeks ago. Jonah was a big help and loved riding in the truck with Daddy. Now Jonah can spot a Penske truck from a couple of blocks away!
We are so glad to finally be here without too many mishaps. Our truck ended up not working well and had to be replaced, fortunatly we realized that before we loaded up more than the dryer. And then we had to wait several hours for them to bring us a new one (I guess it takes some time to tow a 26 foot truck from Joplin). But that was no battle for our 16 friends who showed up to pack us up, they had all of our junk loaded in two hours!
And we are now safely settled in my parents house and our things are in Stanbery Storage (my parent's garage). Jonah and I are trying to keep busy while Jake continues the job hunt!
We can we reached at our old cell phone number so give us a call (we won't make you move our stuff)!
