Toddler + Freshly Cut Grass = Green Feet

Playing Outside

It seems that the recent heavy rains and flooding here have finally brought in some more tolerable temperatures. Fortunately, we were one of few who only had a small amount of water in our basement. Our backyard neighbor had six inches, and another neighbor will have to gut her finished basement. It seems that this 1950s house was built with quite a solid foundation. We feel very lucky to have avoided any serious damage.

And today, we finally had some sun! A very comfortable 70-degrees to play outside all afternoon!

I can't say how lucky I am to have a job that lets me have days off during the week, a husband that's home in the summers (I slept in until 9am this morning!), and a sweet, good-natured toddler (as long as he's not tired or hungry)!!

Still loves playing in the sandbox...

Seriously, after the drought we had most of the summer, I think this is the first time he's ever seen mud!! He doesn't seem to think much of it...

Sharing a kiss with Dixie...open-mouthed of course!

Wheel-barrowing...(I've decided to use this as a verb since he's not really doing yard work or moving anything important from place to place. He's simply wheel-barrowing.)

Jonas in Action

I haven't been keeping up on posting, so this is going to be a long one! Jonas started walking at the beginning of July...took him 13 months to get there, but now he seems to be making up for lost time! It seems that he strives to be an entertainer, and is constantly trying to do things to make us laugh! One thing is for sure...he is lovin' life as a 1 year-old.

He loves to climb...on anything. At first it seems silly, but he is actually a bit safer if we provide him with a stool.

Being silly with the sun hat...
"Helping" with the laundry...yes, those are clean underwear!
His FAVORITE thing is to "talk" on the phone...he wrecked the cordless seen here by dunking it in the dog's water dish...
He is a multi-tasker -
Went through a phase in which he had to put his sandals on immediatedly upon getting out of bed in the morning...even when still wearing footed pjs.
"Driving" the car...
And combining his favorite pasttime with driving...not sure where he learned that!
The first weekend in August Ben competed in the Brewhouse Triathlon in Duluth and Mommy and Jonas went along as cheerleaders...

Of course, it was a long morning and we had to take a little break from the cheering.
We made a long weekend of it and did the tourist thing. Here's Jonas touching a snake at the zoo.
And a turtle...lots of hand sanitizer after that one!!!
And here we are taking a rest at the zoo...Mommy needed to rest sometimes because we are EXPECTING BABY NUMBER 2!!

That's right, Jonas is going to be a big brother in March 2008! Can't believe it!