Miriam's excellant June adventures

Miriam had a couple of first experiences in June and as usual I can't quite remember all the unique little things she was doing. I've been meaning to do a Miriamism page for an up to date detailing of the things she says and does.

Her first experience with foam curlers, though it didn't last through the night- her hair is still too short. The occasion of June 4 was in preparation for our family pictures we took the next day which I'll have to put some up. Curlers are an integral part of my growing up and I still use them when I want ringlets that stay.

Hey! I thought you were a big girl not a baby to sit in the bouncer seat?! June 12 means she was almost 27 mon old- much too old for the bouncer.
Miriam has been getting a hold of the camera. For some reason she loves just looking through it with it on though she still taken random pictures and videos. Here is one of her pictures of her feet. Keep practicing girl!

Miriam is one of the biggest copy cats I know. Here on June 17 she had to stand and eat her breakfast the same way as Daddy (we have a better picture but it was too dark). If somebody has or does something she usually has to follow even Aaron. I tell you what it is scary to hear the things I say come out of her mouth, really makes me pause and reevaluate how I react to different things.

Miriam is also a big help. She usually will do what we ask for which we are grateful and hope it remains that way. In this picture on June 28 she spilled or found water on the floor and quickly got the mop to clean up. Of course she has ornery moments and seem to happen most often with me but overall she is a wonderful daughter.
One of Miriam's favorite games for awhile- Ring Around the Roses. I can only guess they play it at nursery. I love hearing her sing.

Where is the best place to sleep?

Aaron has been transiting from 2 naps to 1 nap for a long time and its hard to know what to do. Do I fight him to get to sleep in the morning or just try and get the 2 of them on the same sleeping schedule? In any case he and Miriam have been wondering just where is the best place to sleep?

In the high chair? If Aaron doesn't get his morning nap or we wait too long for lunch this is become the optimal place! Even Miriam has fallen asleep over her food once or twice lately.

Whether he slumps forward or to the side and then I get to decide if he will permanently wake up if I move him or to just let him sleep in his chair. As he has also been in the transition of not easy to move without waking up. He has been sleeping in the car and in his stroller a lot while he gets used to it, luckily its getting a bit easier to move him now that cold weather is starting to kick in.
How about the bike trailer?! It is built for 2 and a sure way of putting them to sleep! We enjoyed riding bikes a lot more this summer. Twice we biked up the canyon to the Little Acorn drive through for dinner. Miriam in particular loved going for a bike ride. I even managed to the the trailer on properly more often than not!

Or how about the most common place for a sleeping child- the stroller! Miriam has always been difficult to get to sleep so most every afternoon we head out for a walk or a car ride. This was taken end of July at a cousins wedding.
The place mama loves best for sleeping is in their own beds! (Miriam has liked playing sleeping and making little beds here and there for her and her dollies lately) Nightie Night!

Aaron Walks!!

Aaron was ready for awhile leading to June 5 for taking his first steps! He was almost 10 months old in another week or so. We have another video trying to capture his efforts but he just fell down and starting crawling to me instead.This is just 16 days later and I couldn't believe how much steadier he already was. Aaron's always had good muscle control. Today it seems like he has always been walking and I'm trying to convince Miriam that Aaron is no longer a baby because he can walk and eat on his own. Hello Toddler!

Memorial Day Bike Ride

The Jones guys are very fond of riding so on Memorial Day they made arrangements to ride the Provo River Trailway. After a long and complicated morning involving looking for a new bike, confusion about locations and the necessary arrangements to get all bikes and trailors together we made it. We hade all the Jones guys except Max in the family, but Miriam and I were the only girls there. Our convoy numbered 8 bikes and 3 trailors holding 5 kids. We rode up to the lake and back the other direction. This was Aaron's first bike ride and Miriam's first long ride, we had tried before without a lot of success. It was a little complicated getting them buckled in. They seemed to do all right as they were moving. After this we went on more rides since Russ let us keep the trailor at our house.

When we got back to the cars Aaron and I left the convoy, as I was tired of riding and he needed a diaper change. Aaron got to swing for the first time at the nearby park while we waited for everyone else to be done riding. He really enjoyed himself which was better than I as I didn't feel good.

When they got back an ice cream truck had made a stop and Grandpa got everyone a treat. Miriam sure enjoyed hers getting it all over. We then went home to watch a movie and cool done.

Making Cookies

Ever since Miriam helped Eric make cookies to take to Front Site we had promised to make cookies again when we weren't rushed. We finally got to it on May 30. She donned one of my aprons and tried out all the cookie cutters the Easter bunny brought us.She loved rolling out the cookies and cutting cookies but often wouldn't press hard enough or just make one in the middle of the dough facilitating rolling it out again. It took a looong time to finish making cookies.We had lots of spring cookies like the umbrella one she is holding below. She loves making cookies and even still every time she sees me rolling something (like pies) or mixing she thinks they are cookies and is really excited. However, she doesn't really want to eat much, silly girl.

Sporting their new McQueen (or teen as Miriam calls him) pjs from Grandma Nicee, eating cookies, how much better could life get?

Show us how its done!

Thomas the Train

Every Memorial Day weekend Thomas the tank Engine comes to Heber Valley to enthrall children. As the Jones crowd has many Thomas enthusiasts we have gone many times. This was the first time Miriam went on Thomas at 2 mon in 2008. As you can tell it was a bit cooler that year. She slept right through most of the experience! We didn't go in 2009 (because of us moving?), but we went back again this year and Miriam absolutely loved it! This was our May adventure (like going to the zoo).

We all met up there, took our ride on Thomas, then explored the other activities before having lunch at a nearby park (also part of the tradition) and went home. This year the weather was warmer but there was quite a wind that got stronger as the day went on. Here we are with Grandma Delta and all the boy cousins (the girls aren't as interested so they didn't come).

Here we are on the train, it took awhile to find enough seats for us and the 3 of us ended up together. I think Miriam's favorite part was hearing the whistle blew, that was how she really knew we were on a train. They had a great time watching the scenery go by.

The event is called a Day out With Thomas and have all sorts of other activities to do which come with admission on the train. They have the typical concession stand, a pavilion to eat with all different kinds of live entertainment going on (music, magic, etc), and the merchandise tent where you can get anything Thomas you could ever want (I studiously avoided it). You could also have your picture taken with Sir Topham Hat, a story tent to listen or watch Thomas movies, miniature golf, and you could play with bubbles or chalk. The thing we did the most of the tent with coloring pages to do of Thomas (the pic on the left) and a couple of train tables to play with (pic on right top). The right bottom pic is of Miriam showing off her Harold the helicopter sticker she got. The place is always crowded, but it is pretty fun.Everyone got their fill there and we headed over to the park to eat lunch that Deb got from Subway. Of course Miriam had to play at the park even though it was pretty blustery, Aaron slept through the experience. I was amazed to see Miriam climb up this big slide by herself and come down (bottom left pic cracks me up because Miriam is leading a whole line of kids up the slide!). She also found a friend to play with. She and the little girl held ands and went playing everywhere. Needless to say Miriam did not want to leave!

Thanks Grandma Delta for the awesome day out with Thomas!!!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

As you all have probably noticed I'm being slow as cold tar on the posting! The last post that has me stuck is all of Aaron's little milestones so I'm going to try and get all caught up on him with his growing and growing. Last I wrote he was standing by himself and cruising around our house.This was May 5. He did such a good job walking around with various things such as the rocket, baby stroller, chairs, etc. We find him absolutely adorable in everything he does. When he started crawling he would sit without noticing where he was and after a couple of times doing that too close to the stairs we figured we better break down and get a baby gate. We lived with the baby gate for awhile before I thought I better try him out on the stairs under supervision instead of live with the gate inconvenience. The very first try he was going like a pro on April 8 at 8 months. It didn't take too long, maybe only a month, of having the gate up. Aaron learned way faster than Miriam how to go down the stairs too. She always insisted on walking down, but Aaron turned around and crawled down. Way to go Aaron!
He went up the stairs several times that night scaling them in 2 1/2 min!
Aaron had his 9 month checkup on May 24. He weighed in at 19.82 lbs putting him in the 33% gaining 1.87 lbs in 3 mon. He is 29 in long putting him in the 69% growing roughly 2 in. Finally, his head is 18.5 in around putting him in the 88% and it grew an inch (big head compared to the rest!).The doctor found his first ear infection so we got to try out the antibiotics. The iron count looked good (which was nice after struggling with Miriam). One of the big disadvantages of getting so far behind is I forget the little details. I was trying to remember 4 mon ago how Aaron was to give a little description of his personality and its hard to remember. I know his mobility was going up with him climbing everything and still not saying much (partially because he still isn't saying much now). He was starting to wear shoes for the first time, little size 3 sandals and could still wear a few 0-3 clothes though mostly wearing 3-6 and getting into 6-9 shirts/one pieces. Aaron's torso is definitely longer than his legs he grows out of shirts very quickly yet stays in same pants for a long time. He had caught up to Miriam in diaper size 4 (very nice to be able to buy just one size!)One of the many examples of his climbing everything. I find it very interesting watching him climb. He always looks soo pleased once he gets up too. He also was climbing the kid picnic table outside, up on a #10- can to get in the bath, Miriam's toddler bed, to name just a few of his climbing repertoire!Aaron is also a fabulous eater. He will eat most anything, though can go in stages with the different foods. The picture on the left is the first time he ate with a spoon on May 23 and he did a really good job of controlling and didn't get excessively messy. He absolutely loves spoons, forks and other kitchen utensils he always has to be carrying one around with him. The pictures on the right were taken June 24. Poor guy with an older sister he uses a lot of pink blankets, bibs, spoons, etc! He also eats a lot!

One of his favorite foods is yogurt and here on May 20 he is taking advantage of the open refrigerator to grab a yogurt. He is definitely at that stage where every opportunity that comes he is hanging out in the fridge and howling when I drag him out to close it!

This is a little better idea of where he is though there is definitely more updates to come! We love you Aaron! You are such a cute boy!