My Happy Holiday

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, 'cause I sure did! We had my Grandma and Grandpa Dyk here for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and Mom's family came over on Christmas morning as well. I got lots of attention for sure! As for presents, I would have to say my favorites were my new cell phone that came with a blue tooth headset and my shopping cart. We even had some snow in the late morning and early afternoon! I was sleeping through most of it, but it was nice to see snow on Christmas anyway. Definitely not a usual occurence for the NW!

It was sure nice seeing Grandma and Grandpa Dyk again and I think they were both impressed with how verbal I've become. I am learning new words every day and will pretty much try to copy anything you say, although the longer the phrase, the less likely I will get it right. I can say some two or three word phrases pretty well such as, "I see you," or "Night-night, Daddy." We are planning to go down to Texas in a few months to visit my grandparents again, so I'm sure I'll be talking even more by then. :)



Even though Grandma and Grandpa Dyk (or Oma and Opa as I like to call them) had to catch a flight on Christmas morning, we had a lot of fun hanging out together earlier in the week. Grandma Dyk, Mom and I went on a walk around downtown Gresham one afternoon and got some bagels at our local bagel shop, Jazzy bagels. Yummy! We also drove around and looked at Christmas lights one evening. Then on Saturday we all headed out to Yakima to visit my great Grandpa and Grandma Northcott. They had snow at their house so I got to play in it for a bit. I wasn't too into it, but I did enjoy giving my great grandparents high-fives, watching Grandpa Steve make bread, and also playing with the dog, Jill.





Hope this message finds you all well and that you have a happy new year as well!

Indoor Play park, Zoo lights, and more!

I have been keeping busy as usual. Last week I met Kate at the Montavilla indoor play park. There were all sorts of fun toys to play with, but I mostly hung out in a little ride-in car. Mom kept asking if I wanted to get out to play with some of the other fun stuff there, but I just shook my head and said, "nooooo, nooooo." I did finally get out and check out a few other things there, but not until the last 10 minutes. Maybe next time I'll be more adventurous. I think we will be going there quite a bit this winter. Yippee!

I also went with Mom, Dad, John and Rebecca to Zoo lights! Mom and I met Dad downtown after work and we all rode the MAX together to the zoo. And then once we got there, I got to ride another train, a steam engine to be exact, around the zoo. It was the best! I got to see some fun animals while there too (i.e. monkeys, wild cats, etc.). If you get a chance to go, I would highly recommend it!


Some of you may remember that I have a friend named Sarah who is exactly the same age as me. Yep, we were born on the same day, June 2nd, 2006. Anyway, she and her fam came to town and so we had them over for lunch and to play for a bit. I was in a grumpy mood for some reason (maybe due to the new molar teeth I have coming in, not really sure), but it was really nice seeing Sarah and her sister, Kylee, and their parents again. Hope we get to meet up again soon!

I also wanted to let you all know that I've really enjoyed reading your Christmas cards and letters you've sent to our family. Thank you for thinking of us!

Well, my grandma Dyk comes to town tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it! I won't post again until probably after Christmas. So, Merry Christmas everyone!

Love,
Jonah

These are a few of my favorite things...

I would like to tell you about a few of my favorite things. This is certainly not an all inclusive list nor are these items in order of importance. Now that we have that sorted out, let's get on with it!
I love to play with anyone who will play with me. But, my favorite playthings? Well, 'Bear' is by far my favorite stuffed toy. In case you have not seen Bear, he is really more of a blanket with a head attached (it is hard to see him well in the picture, sorry). I *need* Bear to go to sleep at naps and at bedtime and he has a magic about him that helps in most any difficult situation.

I love trains and I love my Thomas play train. Kate and I have spent hours playing in my Thomas train, so I'm really glad Mom got it for me for my first birthday.

I also love to play with phones. I have been doing this really funny thing lately where I'll put the phone up to one ear and put my hand up on the other one I guess to sort of block out other noise while I'm trying to have a conversation with my non-existant friend on the other end of the line.

I love to play peekaboo. I especially love to pull my hands off my eyes just enough to see if anyone is looking, all the while I think I am still hidden.

And last, but certainly not least, I love my dad. I love Mom too, but Dad's are just more fun to play with. Mom's get to do all the dirty work (i.e. changing diapers, feeding me meals, taking me to the doctor, etc.). When Dad is home, all is well with the world. I hate it when he leaves to go out of town for work and sometimes in the middle of the day I'll check my parents room to see if he's home yet. I love to play with my dad.

Well, that's all I can think of for now, or at least that I have pictures of to show you. Hope you are enjoying the week. Chat with you soon!

Love,
Jonah

Fun times with friends

I've been getting together with Kate a lot lately, which, of course, is fine by me! On Sunday, for example, we had Kate over to our house for dinner while her mom and dad went to dinner and a movie. We had a great time playing with my toys and sharing food. In the past I have had a hard time sharing with Kate, but I am working on getting better about that. I even gave her my beloved 'bear baby' toy, but after about a minute I decided I wanted that one back and let her have something else to play with. In the picture above it looks like we aren't having fun, but Mom just caught us at a weird moment. I had been playing peekaboo with Mom and Sara and Kate was pretty amused by it; I promise.


On Monday, Kate and Sara came over for lunch and then later that evening we went to Kate's house to play. My friend, Bodhi, was also there. I had the most fun playing peekaboo with the curtains and also had fun jammin' with Bodhi and Kate on Kate's baby grand piano.


Next week my Grandma and Grandpa Dyk are coming to town for a visit. It'll be soo good to see them again; I can't wait! I am also going to Yakima soon to see my great Grandma and Grandpa Northcott. I bet there'll be snow there so I'll be sure to have Mom snap a few photos of me playin in it. :)

More Holiday Fun

We had an eventful weekend checking out different places around the city that were celebrating the holiday season. On Saturday we went to Fairview City's first tree lighting. We actually caught the tree being lit this time! It was real wet outside so we didn't stick around too long, but I did stop in and say 'hello' to Santa who was hanging out in City Hall. I also got to see my friends, Bart and Marilyn, and their daughter, Bethany and her son, Freddie. Fairview is a pretty great city so we're glad we live close enough to enjoy it.

I've been really into the 'choo choo' train lately. Sometimes I make Mom pick me up and bring me over to the kitchen window just so I can see the MAX train. So, on Sunday we rode the MAX to downtown Portland and went into Macy's to see Santaland. They don't have the monorail running anymore since Macy's took over Meier and Frank, but they do have what remains of the train in a room where kids like me can sit in it and pretend we're riding the real thing. I'm not quite sure why I chose to sit where I did in the train, but the kids behind me said they didn't mind. After awhile, I got the whole train to myself, but I found I liked it much better when there were other kids there to ride it with. While in Santaland, I also got to see all of Santa's reindeer, which was pretty cool. I wasn't sure if they were real at first, but Mom and Dad assured me they weren't. (In case you were wondering, when I get a bit older, my parents plan to tell me the true story of Santa so I'm enjoying all this while I still can.)



Overall, I'm really enjoying this holiday season thus far. I've had fun playing with the decorations on our tree (or 'tee' as I say). Mom only put the soft ones down low where I could reach, so I haven't been able to cause too much trouble yet with that. We've even had a few flurries of snow lately, which was fun to see. I kept saying, 'No! No!' (I was trying to say snow) as it came down. Unfortunately, not much stuck on the ground, but it was fun anyway.
I'm also enjoying different kinds of foods. I was kind of stuck on the same things there for awhile, but I've decided to venture out and try what else is out there. Whenever I get something I really like, I say 'Mmmm!' Mom's planning to make gingerbread cookies sometime soon with Nana and I overheard some talk about Nana making truffles for us.... I'm looking forward to enjoying all those tasty holiday treats!

Christmastime is Here!

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year, but not on Thanksgiving day. Our plan was to celebrate with Mom's family on a different day and then celebrate with my Great Grandma and Grandpa Northcott in Yakima on Thanksgiving day, but that just didn't happen. Dad got a pretty bad cold and we decided to stay home in order to keep from infecting anyone else. In case you wondered, Dad is feeling much better now. :) I really enjoyed the pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, stuffing and turkey on Thanksgiving, but my favorite is still the sweet potatoes. Yum!



With Thanksgiving behind us now, we can focus on enjoying the Christmas season! I think I am going to learn to love Christmas as much as Mom does. Mom's already made some gifts for people and together we've had fun decorating our tree and putting up other Christmas decorations around the house. However, my favorite activity we've done so far was going to downtown Gresham for their annual tree lighting... we didn't stay for the actual tree lighting, but we did enjoy walking around Main St. (all the trees are lit up!) and I got to go in a petting zoo! There were sheep, goats, baby pigs, baby cows and a donkey! They also had pony rides there for the bigger kids.



Mom, Nana, Aunt Mary and I went to the big bazaar here in Portland this past weekend and that was pretty fun too! I think Mom may have gotten a small gift for me when I wasn't looking. Any ideas on what it could be? Oh yeah, and we ran into Sara, Kate, Grandma Jill and Grandma Rosa while there. I was really sad when it was time to say good-bye to Kate, but, we did get together last night and had fun checking out the decorations on our tree.



Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Chilly weather in November

Because it's been getting cooler here in the great NW, I've been doing a lot more indoors. Mom took me to the sip 'n play again so I could play with my friends, Bodhi and Kate, and also to play with all the cool toys they have there. I love that indoor play structure they have there!

I also went with Mom and Grandma Jane, or 'Na Na' as I call her, to the Mills End fabric store. I think I had even more fun than they did there! The place is big and open and because it was pretty empty of customers, Mom let me run around a bit. I had the most fun playing 'hide and seek' with one of the nice ladies that works there. When it was time to leave, I was pretty upset. Mom says we'll go back again, so I'm hoping it'll be soon.

We have gone outside some too. One day we needed to do some shopping at our local outdoor mall, so Mom and Dad took turns wearing me in our new winter carrier. It was so cozy!! After we did our shopping, we stopped at Starbucks to warm our insides up with a holiday drink. Yum!

Because we've been spending more time at home, I've had the opportunity to find ways to get into more mischief... I've used our little stool (which was actually purchased for Mom to use when she needs to reach things on the top shelves in our kitchen) to climb up on the dining room table and I also tried to get into the bathroom by standing on the stool. I can't quite get the handle turned enough to get it open, but I'm working on it! In case you're wondering why the bathroom door is kept closed, it's because I have a tendency to unroll the toilet paper roll and I also like to play with the toilet lid/seat, which really, really grosses Mom out.

Mom and I do get bored from time to time from being cooped up inside, so here's a goofy video we took of me having fun throwing my food on the floor while in the high chair. She doesn't usually let me throw my food on the floor, but like I said, we were bored. Sorry that it's kind of long. :)

Well, hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,
Jonah

Fun times on Halloween

I may only be 1, but I sure had fun this Halloween holiday. Mom and I carved our pumpkin (well, I watched from my carrier while she carved). We picked out a 'ghost' pumpkin at the pumpkin patch so we carved it to look like a ghost. Great idea, eh?

Later, in downtown Gresham, the roads were all blocked off so little kids like me could go trick-or-treating through all the local businesses and stores. Kate and Sara met us there and so naturally we had a blast.



Then when it got dark, we went over to Kate's house so I could trick-or-treat like a big kid. I only went to her house, but I gotta say, it was a great experience! I got a homemade popcorn ball and it was yummy! I also got a yo-yo, but I'm still learning to use that. Here's a photo of Kate and me at her house when we stopped by. Aren't we cute?!


Hope your Halloween was as exciting as mine!

Weekend outings

We had a busy weekend for sure, so here's a little update on what all we've been up to. On Saturday we went and hung out with Marisa, Brian and Bodhi over in east Vancouver and took some family photos while we were at it. I didn't really feel like smiling, but I think they turned out alright anyway.

On Sunday we met Marisa, Brian, Erika, and Bodhi at the Oregon Zoo and had a great time seeing all the animals. I still think the elephants are my favorite, but the sea lions and giraffe were pretty cool also.

We also went over to John, Rebecca, and Blaze's new home that evening. They just moved to Tigard, OR and their house is amazing! We thought we'd snap a photo of the fam while we were there. That's my friend, Blaze, in the photo with us. We think he's just the best! Yes, that is a balloon in the photo too. I am really into balloons, alright!! The next photo is of John, Rebecca, and Blaze. Oh, and Rebecca recently took a cake decorating class and made this beautiful cake for us. It even had my name on it!



Can't wait for halloween! I am going to be a cow this year. Moo moo!

Birthday celebrations!

It was my mom's 28th birthday this past weekend and we all had a lot of fun celebrating. On Friday, Aunt Mary took us all out to McMenamins Edgefield for dinner. I didn't know what to get Mom for her birthday, so it worked out perfectly that we went there the day before as they gave me some paper and coloring crayons to draw with while we waited for our food. I colored Mom this great picture you see in the picture above. On Saturday, we went to my nana and papa's house for dinner and had pizza and pie. Yum! Then on Sunday I went and hung out with Kate while Mom and Dad went out with some friends for dinner at a local Vietnamese restaurant. And finally, on Monday we had some friends over for dinner to celebrate Mom and Fred's (that's Kate's dad) birthday. It was a super fun weekend.

Mom decided it would be a good idea to have an extra stroller at the house for those days when Dad takes the car. This way we can still get out of the house. So, she'd been looking for quite awhile on craigslist for a good deal on a baby jogger (which, by the way, are originally made in Yakima, WA) and finally found one this past weekend. It's pretty sweet!

We also went to Ikea to look at kids tables. I checked 'em all out and finally decided on a white one. I think it's pretty cool that I have my own table and chair now! Oh and in case you didn't notice, I am wearing the sweater Mom knit when she was pregnant with me. :)

Okay, now here's the video that you've all been waiting for... the video of me dancing or as we say 'wigglin' it.' Mom and Dad have been teaching me some new moves and they caught it on tape for you all to enjoy. Sorry it's a bit dark. The video was taken at Mcmenamins and the area we were seated in was not very well lit. Still, you get the idea. :)


Hope all is well.

Love,
Jonah