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!