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JDaniel4s Mom

growing & learning with him

The Orange Sign, The Wedding, The GPS, and the Deer

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JDaniel is so into John Deere right now. It could be because his Cousin Charlie’s room is decorated in John Deere pictures. While we were up visiting my sister Kate’s family in the country outside of Syracuse, NY we saw a lot of orange signs. The only one that really stood out to JDaniel was the John Deere signs. I know they are supposed to be a deer crossing signs. According to JDaniel it is a John Deere sign. I am not sure if that means John Deere tractors across there or all things John Deere can cross at the sign. I think it is funny that he made that association.

 

The second reason we went to New York was to attend a cousin’s wedding right on Seneca Lake. It was a beautiful time for the bride and groom to share their love for each other. The food was amazing. Seeing relatives was great. What will JDaniel remember? He remembers the piñata my Aunt Sue set up and getting to throw rocks in the lake. If he had his way, he would have thrown rocks the whole time we were there. It was one way my sisters Kate and Michelle could convince him to leave mommy’s side. Each enticed him to go with them because they would take him to the rocks. While his cousins skipped rocks on the lake, JDaniel dumped, threw, and hurled them.

 

The wedding was almost two hours away from my sister’s house. By the time I decided it was time to leave it was getting dark. My sister Kate lent me her GPS to get back to her house. She and her family would be heading back later in the evening and were familiar with the roads. JDaniel loved echoing the GPS. The GPS would say, “Turn left in four miles.” JDaniel would say, “Turn left” for four miles. He did this over and over again. I tried singing to him and chatting with him. He decided he would rather chat with the GPS. Thank goodness this new game lost interest eventually. We discovered while driving home that GPS does a great job most of the time. Sometimes it causes you to drive in a circle or a square. I was pretty sure at one point I needed to go straight. The GPS said to take a left. I followed the GPS. It said to take another left and then another. Yes, you are right it put me back on the same road I thought I needed to go straight on. As we made the final left, I saw a deer on the left-hand side of the road. (A real deer not a John Deere) It looked like he was shaking his head at me. If he could have talked to me I bet he would have said, “I bet a GPS sent you this way. It is happening on this road more and more all the time.”

 

The Adventures of Driving to New York and Back

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I really dreaded the long car ride two weeks ago to New York from our house in South Carolina. While JDaniel and I looked forward to seeing my sister Kate’s family and going to a family wedding, the hours in the car were going to be a challenge. I drove the first leg of the trip from South Carolina to Virginia without any trouble. JDaniel read books, played on his toy computer, and listened to me sing The Digger Picks up Lots of Dirt and several other variations of the Wheels on the Bus with construction equipment as the featured vehicle. We made several stops along the way one for lunch and one for ice cream. We both needed to get out and move.

After spending the night at my friend Cheryl’s in Virginia, we headed north to New York. We made two stops then too. I let JDaniel run around the battlefield in Gettysburg. Seeing a toddler running around with a bag of fruit chews on a battlefield seemed like such an anachronism. I am pretty sure Lincoln’s troops didn’t carry fruit chews into battle. The battlefield run wore him out. He ended up taking a long morning nap. That meant I could cover a lot of ground before lunch and I won’t be singing the forklift version of the Wheels on the Bus for a few hours. He woke up just in time to eat lunch at McDonald’s and run around in their play area. He was in heaven fries and climbing tunnels. After lunch, we hooked up the DVD player my neighbors lent us and Thomas the Train provided the afternoon entertainment. I learned not to stop for gas right after you start a movie or you have to go through the whole process of starting it again.
Coming back from New York and going to Virginia was a breeze. There were tons of areas with road construction. Yes, that is a good thing. Traffic may slow down, but my two years old was thrilled at getting to see his favorite equipment in action. He loved getting back to my friend Cheryl’s house. She has a toy treasure box he was allowed to explore and a wonderful pool in her community he could play in after dinner. He really thought she was the best.
After three wonderful legs of the trip, you knew something might have to happen. Well, it did. I left my purse at Cheryl’s and didn’t realize I didn’t have it until I reached Harrisonburg, Virginia. Harrisonburg is about an hour in a half away from her house. It was thanks to JDaniel wanting to listen to his new music from Cheryl that I noticed it was missing before I was further away without my credit cards and cash. It would have been hard to fill up the gas tank without them. Thankfully she was home when we got back to her house and were able to get back on the road quickly after a brief lunch to try and make it home. Since it was much later than our original start time, I decided to take a different route home that was supposed to be faster. We ended up going through three rainstorms crossing the mountains of Virginia. There were several opportunities to see construction equipment. It wasn’t as much fun this time. After many hours of watching movies on the DVD player, JDaniel decided to become Harry Houdini and slip his arms out of his car seat straps. He couldn’t figure out how to get them back in and claimed it hurt to try and put them back. This doesn’t sound that bad, doesn’t it? Well, the toughest part of the trip still hadn’t occurred yet. Just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina Interstate 77 was completely shut down heading south due to three tractor-trailers jackknifing. It was a mess. We sat on the highway now a parking lot for 45 minutes before weaving our way through traffic to get gas. After filling up, we sat on the on-ramp with the overhead light on reading books until traffic started moving about twenty minutes later. By the time we started moving it was ten o’clock at night. JDaniel then fell asleep, the heavens opened up again and we started making our way home again.
It was wonderful to wake up at home. We loved visiting family and friends, but I think it will be a while until I take a road trip without my husband. Next time I am writing out a checklist of things not to forget. My purse will be at the top of the list.

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting the Children’s Museum of the Upstate

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I mentioned two weeks ago that I splurged and went to The Children’s Musuem of the Upstate. At $12 for both JDaniel and I, the visit was a special treat.

Here are some pictures from our visit:

The water play area was really wet. I got wet when he discovered you could point the toys and other objects at mommy. I didn’t have smock like JDaniel did.


Filling the car tires and adding gas were really fun for JDaniel.

This crane was built for him. The whole construction area was greatly enjoyed.

 

Visiting Happy Cow Farm

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JDaniel loved walking over the store at Happy Cow to get ice cream. The peach ice cream we got was wonderful.

They liked checking out the cows. Each thought the cows were really smelly.

JDaniel and his friend Joe loved this game. I don’t think they were playing it right, but they had fun.


Visiting the baby cows was fun too.

The best time was taking turns getting on and off the tractor. Each wanted extended periods of time this wonderful machine.

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A Zeal and Zest for Construction Equipment!

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Do you get a thrill when you see a backhoe or dump truck on the road? Does excitement fill you when you notice a cherry picker at work? Up until a few months ago I would have said, “No!” Now that JDaniel is so into them I cheer, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
JDaniel is really into seeing them at work. We are so blessed to live in an area that is growing and has a lot of buildings. Machines seem to be at work everywhere. In downtown Simpsonville, they have been building a sidewalk along Main Street. We cruise Main Street almost every day to see if the cement mixer is downloading cement or if the mini front loader is scooping up dirt. JDaniel is so disappointed if it is close to noon and the machines are parked so that the workers can go to lunch.
A month ago I drove from Simpsonville, S.C to August, GA to see my mother-in-law. JDaniel fell asleep about a fourth of the way into the trip. I was a good mother and didn’t wake him up when I passed a convoy of dump trucks or the school being built by many wonderful machines or the road crew out to repair a section of the road. I let him sleep, but how scary is it that I thought about waking him up.
A few weeks we went to a local park to play and left after a short time. It was too hot. On our way out of the park, we passed construction vehicles working on a project. “Stop Mom!” JDaniel announced loudly from the back seat. I did stop and we watched them work from the parking lot in our air-conditioned car for fifteen minutes.
The names of all the pieces of construction equipment are now cluttering my brain. I don’t know what you are thinking about when you are out driving. Right now I am thinking about what machine we will see next.

 

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The Claw and Mini Claw Live At My House

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I am participating in the SITS Girls Back to Blogging week, and as part of day two I am re-posting something that I wish more people had read.
For many years my husband chased his nieces and nephew around as “The Claw”. He would place one hand around the wrist of the other and making grabbing motions with it as they ran from him with glee. They loved it. When we got married, several of them asked me if I knew about “The Claw”. Yes, I told them I have seen it in action.

A few months ago my husband started chasing JDaniel around the house as “The Claw”. JDaniel loved it. If he felt it was time for “The Claw” and his dad hadn’t started chasing him, JDaniel would get “The Claw” ready by taking one of my husband’s hands and place it on the wrist of the other. He would than run like crazy. Sometimes I join in as “Wife of Claw” or “Mommy Claw”.
Recently “Mini Claw” has been chasing his parents around the house. JDaniel loves getting his hand ready to be “Mini Claw” and chase us around the house. He really enjoys been the chaser who is chopping at his parents from behind.
I do have small problem with “Mini Claw”. He has joined us at the dinner table a few times. “Mini Claw” works like a grappler or front loader to feed JDaniel. The fork and spoon stay neatly beside JDaniel’s plate when “Mini Claw” has arrived for dinner. My husband isn’t bothered by it. He says it is a boy thing.

Yammering and Yowling for Mommy to Yield

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When I was little I talked my mom’s ear off. She was forever letting me know she was busy with something. I don’t know if I talked to get her attention or because I just liked to hear my own voice. Maybe I never learned to process thoughts internally. I remember her saying some of what I was saying wasn’t really important or something she needed to know. There weren’t many quiet moments for her when I was around. I seemed to be yammering about something thought or idea all the time.

JDaniel received his mother’s gift of gab. We are constantly chatting about what he notices in the world. There are many “What’s that” statements said every day. He wakes up talking to himself in his bed. Then we chat about what to thank God for in our morning prayers and what he would like for breakfast. This pattern of chats and questions continues for the rest of the day. Unless he gets busy with “work” or reading. Work is done while chatting to himself and reading in done silently most of the time.

Those times of conversation and language sharing are great! I love them. The ones that drive me nuts are the yammering or whining conversations. They are filled with “I want” and “I need”. Sometimes they are accompanied by a foot stump or two.

Yelping or yammering is also done. I think he does it in an attempt to wear mommy down. If he goes on and on about it in a demanding voice, he thinks he will get what he wants it he sticks with the yelping or yammering long enough. It doesn’t seem to work well for him yet he doesn’t seem interested in giving it up. I try to gently remind him that there are other ways to ask. I try removing myself from the area of the house that contains the object of his desire.

I am starting to understand what my mom lived through. Do you think she prayed I would have a child just like me?



JDaniel Says He is Moving to His Own Apartment

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JDaniel is moving so he has told me to an apartment. A few weeks ago he went to see the apartment his Nana is moving to. She has been living in a cottage in a retirement community and has decided to move into one of the community’s apartments since my father in-law passed away. JDaniel must have loved her apartment. (It is awesome!)

On the ride back to our house JDaniel announced he was moving. When I asked him where he was moving, he told me to an apartment with Joe. Joe is one of JDaniel closest friends. He is also two and probably not ready to move out on his own. Well, I said to him, “I think you will have to wait until you go to college.” I don’t think he has any idea what college is and that he won’t start college for fifteen years. He does know he really wants to live in an apartment. He also knows what he wants to take with him. I have found him piling the things he needs to pack for his move.

Today he announced his friend Jake is going to move in with him and Joe. Jake he told me is going to do the cooking. “What will you and Joe be doing?” I asked. “We will play,” he announced. Thank goodness Jake is moving in with them. Jake’s mom is an amazing cook. If Jake can cook like his mom, JDaniel and Joe won’t resort to eating a lot of fast food and instant mac and cheese.

Popsicle Holders: Ways to Stop a Popsicle From Dripping Down Your Arm

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At playgroup a few weeks ago my friend Valerie shared all the ways she has tried to keep popsicles from dripping down her three daughters arms. I decided I would try them out on JDaniel and he was very willing to be a guinea pig in this experiment.
The first thing we tried was an old sock. I recently drove over this sock with the vacuum cleaner and that made it available for the experiment.

The sock worked really well. It absorbs the drips and keeps your hand clean.

 

Next, we tried a cupcake cup. Valerie suggested I silicon cup, but I don’t have any of those.

This worked well too. I think it worked because we weren’t outside in the heat. A melty popsicle would probably drip down the edges of the cups when it is tipped.

Next to last we tried a paper bowl.


This didn’t work well at all. We were outside and the liquid rolled out of the bowl when JDaniel tried to finish off the popsicle.

 

Finally, we tried the plastic wrapper the popsicle came in. We don’t have a picture of this. JDaniel didn’t like the way the wrapper felt in his hand. He asked for the sock and then ended up holding it one hand while the sock was on the other.

P.S. JDaniel calls them popsissles not popsicles.

 

 

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