Two.One Years

 2.1 Years

• We celebrated Halloween this month. Since you are not too thrill about costumes to begin with and I wanted to get more use at of last years, I had you dress up as the Kangaroo Joey again. Since Halloween landed on a Sunday, we celebrated on Saturday by going to the church Truck or Treat. Dad took you around the different cars with the big kids while I passes out candy. You LOVED the candy. At the end, you snuck into the trunk of the van, sneaking more candy. At home, it has been hard to hide the candy from you. You will push up the stool up to the counter to climb up and get in the bag. 
• Wrestling has taken over our weekends. I didn't know how you were going to handle the tournaments, but you have had a fun time with all the food and time with Nora on the bleachers. 
• Grandma and Papa Price came for a long weekend. We went to the pool, walked around town for the story walk, had a movie night with popcorn, watch Sam wrestle, ate at the Mexican Restaurant, and did lots of crafts, games, and books. 
• At the beginning of this month, you were saying "yay" for everything. It was probably your most said word. Now at the end of the month, it has changed to "yes" and you say your "s" very clear.
• Your language is exploding. You are transitioning from one word two-three word sentences. The other day, me and you were doing errands while Millie was in school. When I have a big kid with me, I sometimes leave you guys in the car. You are also really into Minnie Mouse and will call her mouse. On our errands at each stop, you would say, "JoJo come. Mouse come." 

Two Years

 2 Years

Dear Joanna, 

  

  Happy Birthday. These two years went fast. It amazes me how much you have grown this year. From walking, talking, and now cracking your own jokes and teasing your siblings. You are picking up new things each day. Just the other day on the way home from church, you kept repeating, "Go away" in your seat. The others were laughing, so you kept sing-songing that phrase all the way home. We celebrated your birthday by jumping in the leaves at Nora's house and then walking over to Creme with the Stones for a birthday date. That night, we ate one of your favorites spaghetti. Maggie was excited to give you a heart-shape pop it toy. Sam gave you new baby bottles. Millie gave you a nice wooden puzzle. Grandma Matthews gave you this baby bath set (Millie helped pick it out so she was really excited to play with you), and Dad and I surprised you and the girls with a new barbie house. We brought all the barbies out to the play room, which you like because it is easier for you to get to them. The highlight of the night was eating you fish cake with candy on it. All before dinner, you would drag a stool over and try to sneak some of the candy. 

    Oh girl, I love you so much. You are a huge momma's girl. My favorite are the moments that you want to cuddle with me, especially reading books before nap. I love how much you like to play with my hair. It melts my heart to feel your tiny hands combing out my hair. I love watching you try to keep up with the big kids. When they wrestle, you are right in the middle of the mix. When they are relaxing on the couch with books, you will pull a blanket up and join them with a board book. You ask for your siblings often during the day. I hope you always stay best friends with them.

    You are a true joy in my life JoJo, and I feel so blessed to be your mom.

Love,

Mom

Twenty Three Months

 23 Months

• The big kids start school this month. They were excited to go, but you asked me about Maggie fifty times that first day. Even Millie is going to preschool, so I have three mornings a week with just us. We have used that time to go walking up on the track while the weather is warm, cleaning the house, and focusing on reading. You are my lastest kid to enjoy books. When you are in the mood though, it is sweet to cuddle up on the couch with you.
• I have been trying to read before nap time every day. You favorite book is the Piggie and Elephant book, "Pigs Make Me Sneeze". You will sneak up on the big bed to read it. I will hear you saying "aahhh" and "sneeze". 
• Story time has started up again. Last year was hard with you climbing all over the place, wanting to ease the board, not letting others hold you, and only wanting to sit on my lap. This year isn't perfect yet, but you have grown up so much that it shows in you sitting still at least for the first book. You love when I bring out the musical instruments. 
• I decided this year that whenever I pack a lunch for the bog kids, I would pack a lunch in a lunch box for you and Millie. It has been a big hit. The kitchen stays cleaner at lunch and you two pretend that you are school kids eating lunch in the cafeteria. 
• I let you use the mini shopping chart at Cash-n-Carry for the first time. Now I can't go in without you running over to grab one. I have only got hit in the heel once. 
• Soccer season is in full swing. This year I am coaching Maggie's team. I tried asking Sam to watch you during that hour, but that hasn't work. Sometimes, you will sit sweetly with the balls. Food can keep you still, but most time I find you playing the goal and running onto the field. When Maggie is off and can watch you, you love finding Nora and playing with her. When we are getting ready for the park, you get excited and say, "soccer?!"
• You just repeated back to me "I love you"! I have been working so hard on this one with you. I love you so much!
• Your vocabulary has increased ten folds. You are still mostly one word, but occasional you will do two/three word phrases like "Millie bath. JoJo bath."

Twenty Two Months

22 Months

• Summer Olympics are on this month. We have been getting involved in the gymnastic. One night is was cute to watch you and Millie try to imitate the girls. We even got you cheering for Suni!.
• We got a visit from Auntie Rachel, Caleb and Owen. Even though those boys are older than you, you liked playing with them, but to be honest, Auntie Rachel was your favorite. You wanted her to snuggle with you the whole trip. I don't know why you choose some people (Rachel, Kelli but not Allison). The favorite thing among these cousins was the play structure. We took them out on the raft also and  spent the whole day at Schocumchuck. 
• We also got to go to Silverwood. This year was really enjoyable with you. You were tall enough to go on a lot of the kiddie rides. Some of them scared you. You did not like the bumper boats and getting wet, but your favorite ride that you went on at least five times was the puppy ride. You sit in the puppy and have a stick that takes up and down. You could do that ride all by yourself, we you wanted to do it again while the other kids went on a bigger ride. 
• We took for a weekend in Oregon. I was looking forward to this trip. We haven't made it out to Oregon in a year, so it felt good to be back at Grandma's house. That Saturday, you got some girl/grandma time while Grandpa took Sam, Dad, and I out yard sale-ing. After lunch, we picked up Lainey and Auntie Annie and Uncle Joe and headed out to the beach. It was cold there, so we definitely did not go in the water. But we had fun collecting shells, flying the kite, and playing in the sand. We finished the day eating calm chowder and bread sticks at Mo's. On Sunday, we went to church. You got to go to nursery and did well (you often cry at ours when I take you). The Price cousins came over to grandma's house that afternoon, where we got to celebrate Annie's and Brooklyn's birthdays. Monday, we played around the house. In the afternoon, we went back to Lainey's house to go swimming in their pool. Grandma took you younger kids home for some quiet time before bed. Tuesday was our last day before going home. You really loved playing in the sand box with your cousins and eating blackberries. 
• Favorites: eating strawberries from the garden, cheese sticks (sneak them out of the frog yourself), playing with Millie, siblings in general (you let Maggie babysit you), going for walks in the stroller, making a mess, sneaking cereal from the pantry, wrestling with Daddy, and dancing to music.

 

Twenty One Months

 21 Months

• We got two new kitties this month named Smokey and Shadow. They are good, strong kitties. You will grab one by the belly and drag it all around the back porch. You call them "meow meow" more than kitty.
• Usually, June is rainy and on the cooler side, but this year it has been hot and dry. We got a really bad heat wave come through and we had temps over 100 for five days in a row. We haven't dipped much below 90 this whole month. Because of this, we have been in our swim suits for one reason or another almost every day. We have been to the river a lot, our new favorite spot being Schookumchuck. We got a pool pass. We have done lots of sprinklers, even a water balloon fight. We are in the middle of setting up a slip in slide. We have used it twice now, but if you go without a tub, bruises will be left on your hips. Water is by far one of your favorite activities. When we go to the pool, I am amazed at your strength to hang on the side of the wall by yourself. You will inch your way down to the jet, because you like the "bubbles".
• We were suppose to go Silverwood, but it was during the heat wave so we decided to re schedule and go camping up past Elk City on the Red River. We are getting this whole trailer camping thing down. We had the whole camp are to ourselves. As we were exploring, we found so many wild flowers. I had you kids go and make a "museum" of all the different types of flowers that you could find. We ended up with 19 different types of flowers. It was so cute watching you try to pick them and shove them up your nose to smell them. We did a lot of fishing in the river, but being so hot, you just jumped in the water and played (though we didn't pack swimsuits so you got to go naked!). We ended the night with burgers from Elk City. It was good to get away as a family and just play with each other. 
• Fourth of July is awesome here. We went to the parade twice. You figured out the whole candy thing really fast. On Saturday, Dad joined us for a full day of fun. We got into town just as the foot races were starting. I was able to run down the street with you. I felt that you were too little for the egg toss, but maybe next year. We walked up to the park and visited all the booths. We had lunch at home and got a quick rest in before the parade started. It was so hot that we made a last minute trip to the pool. It is always fun when Dad gets to go with us. We ate Korean food for dinner from the food trucks. While we were eating, every one of you looked tired. We planned on going to the rodeo, but we were all so tired from the day that we bought a big bag of kettle corn, brought it home, and ended the night watching Sandlot. Popcorn is a good way to your heart.
• Made it camping again to Winchester. I love having the bath tub for you to sleep in!
• We have had a few visitors this month. The first one was the Shippen family. You didn't take to them like you have with other families. In fact, you keep glaring at Sarah and Talia. It was pretty funny. We took them on a little tour around town and then made our way to Pine bar for cliff jumping. Right after they left, Uncle Josh's family came to visit. The highlight with them was going rafting down the Salmon. You got so scared whenever we hit a rapid. We called them bump bumps. You pretty much just sat right in the middle because you were nervous. The week afterwards, you kept asking for bump bumps.
• You are still mischievous. This months happenings are toothpaste smeared all over Millie's Ally doll (she smells minty now) and getting into the bandaids in my bathroom and using them as stickers.
• You love fishes and especially fishing videos with Dad. You won't sit still for Disney Junior, but you will watch a whole YouTube video on a guy fishing. 

Twenty Months

 20 Months

Your cousins came this month! It was so much fun having Auntie Janecce and the kids over for the weekend. We took them to the hotel pool, Lions Park, up the mountain for mushroom hunting and cooking hotdogs, down to the river to play in the water and sand, and stayed at home where kids played and played. Jessie was here. I loved the idea of her, but did not want her to touch your stuff. Most of the time, your naps were off, but we did have some good morning walks each morning since everyone was up and playing by 6am. 

 We have been doing more movie nights. You still do no watch the whole thing, but you feel like such a big kid by getting your own pillow and blanket out. You are very particular about the way the blanket lays just right. 

 We tried to go for a little hike as a family, but the ticks were too bad to go out, so instead, we went to the river last minute. We had no swim suits, no life jackets, or sand toys, but we still had fun. The other kids kept asking me to do something with them and I reply was always, I have to watch JoJo. Well, the water was shallow and you could walk around in it. The other kids just didn't get how easy it is for a kid to drown. Well, you tripped over in the water, landed with your face in the water, and even though the water was shallow, you were panicking and couldn't get up. I was right there so I could scoop you up, but it was a good lesson for everyone how important it is to watch you. 

 We have been going to church weekly now. Maggie is such a sweet big sister and has styled your hair for me. You won't sit still for me, but you will sit still for Maggie while she puts your hair in piggies. 

• The big kids are home for the summer and you are loving having extra friends to play with. We celebrated with drinks from Creme and making our big summer plans bucket list. 
• With the start of summer means the city pool. It was been such a warm June, that we have been there lots. It is a challenge because you do not like wearing your puddle jumper. So I am sitting down on the steps with you the whole time because you don't want me to hold you but you don't want a puddle jumper. I have had to scoop you up out of the water several times baby.
• We got kitties this month. Smokey and Shadow. They are good kitties, but you are not afraid of them. You will grab them by the belly and drag them all over the porch. This reminds me that you never call an animal by the name, it is always "meow meow", "neigh neigh", "moo moo". The only one you call by name is puppy. You love animals. One of only video that you will sit through the whole thing is Dad's fishing video. You love "fishy" and when we drive by water, you like to point out, "water . . . fishy?" 

 

 

Nineteen Months

 19 Months

• We got more chickens this month. You beg to hold them, but the moment I put them on your lap, you start breathing fast and freaking out. I will take them off, but then you are back at it wanting to hold them. 
• Drawing is a favorite thing right now. You will crawl up the stool and scribble on anything you can grab. I have a whole notebook, full of scribbles. It is adorable to watch you because you hunch over and are intently focused on the tiny scribbles that you are making.
• Another cute trend now is the baby carrier. Millie has a baby carrier she received for Christmas a while ago. You have claimed it. But instead of babies, you normally have rags stuffed in it. You crack me up.
• The weather has been great this month so we have made several trips to the park and the lake. We visited Tolo lake for the first time. Just like every other kids, rocks are your favorite and I find myself sitting on the ramp, helping you find more rocks to throw in. Also, clothing and bathing suits are the same thing in your mind. After our trip to Tolo, I had to strip you down to just a diaper to drive you home. 
• We went camping for the the first time this year. We took the camper to Hammer Creek Saturday night. It was relaxing playing in the sand, pushing you around in the stroller while Sam rode his bike around the road, and watching you kids explore the bushes. No sand Astle is safe around you though. Maggie made "Hogwarts" and I spent the whole time distracting you with smaller castles for you to destroy so you wouldn't go after hers. Once she finished, we took a picture of it and then it was gone in 30 seconds. 

Eighteen Months

 18 Months

• What a fun month for us. Grandma and Papa Price came out to visit and help out with Maggie's Harry Potter birthday party. I would say you had fun at the party, but reality is, you slept through all of it. You warmed up to Papa because he fed you treats when you sat on his lap.
• You are getting so playful. I love watching you wrestle with dad and the big kids. You will go up to Dad and "tickle" his legs. 
• You have a random obsession with rags with month. You are constantly sneaking into your bathroom and grabbing a handful of wash clothes as if they are your lovey. Then they end up dropped throughout the house, so you know how much I love that.
• Probably the best thing of the month was going to Florida!!! It was awesome. It started off really rough with you throwing up all over yourself on white bird hill and several more times along the windy road. I threw away your outfit it was bad. I thought you would fall asleep on the drive down, but you didn't, and a normally 4 hour trip turned into a 9 hour trip. The flight with you wasn't fabulous either. I finally got you to fall asleep on the floor on the plane, but the flight attendant made me take you back to the seat which lead to more crying. After that, the trip was great. We stayed right on the beach. The first half of the week, we were in Pensacola Beach and the weather was great. We met up with our friends a lot, who had two boys. We made it to a fun splash pad with us girls. We also went to the zoo where we fed the birds, goats, and giraffe. I think we hung out at the hot tub at least once, if not twice a day ( a big hit with you). Last year, you didn't like the sand, but this year, it is your favorite. The second half of the week, we were in Destin. We took the bigger kids go carting. We also rented a boat and rode around the bay. It was a colder day, but we still managed to jump off the side and see jelly fishes. We also saw dolphins! We ate a ton of seafood. I know that you will be too young to remember this trip, but you really did have fun and one of the best parts of vacations is seeing you guys experience these things for the first time. 
• Easter was this month. It was the day after we got home late, so I feel bad that we didn't do too much prep for it. You did enjoy finding the eggs, and definitely enjoyed eating the candy. We got you a new Fancy Nancy book.
• Grandma and Papa Matthews got to come up for a weekend after we got home from vacation. They watched you kiddos over night so Dad and I could have some time together in Boise. I was so nervous because we have never left you over night with someone. You did great. You loved Papa Matthews so much. The moment that they got here, you ran up and wanted him to hold you. I don't know what makes you like one person and not the other, but it made they feel so special that you choose them to like. 

Seventeen Months

 17 Months

• Your speech is finally taking off this month. Your words are super clear yet, but I can definitely understand what you are trying to say along with that you are actually trying to say new words. You know cookie, outside, thank you, Ma-Ma for Maggie, and Dad got you to almost say Sam. Your understanding is really good. The other night, I asked you to go get your diaper, and you came back with a diaper and a wipe.
• You are beginning to cuddle a bit more for books. Mostly at night, when I give you your pacifier. You like the Brush Brush book, especially when I sing the words to the tune of "Do Your Ears Hang Low". Other books that you are liking right now is Little Blue Truck because you like doing all the animal sounds. I love you cracking up each time I make the pig sound. You are really good at the sheep sound. 
• You love being outside. The weather is warming up a bit this month so we have been able to go outside more. I don't have to entertain you at all. You love playing in the rocks, drawing pictures with chalk, and just exploring the different areas. I feel like you need a change of outfit almost every time we go outside because it is inevitable that you sit in a puddle or smear mud on your clothes.
• It was birthday season this month. That means wrapping paper for you to sneak and rip up and lots of cake. Each kid had a party. I had a few moms stay for Millie's, so they were helpful watching you. Maggie babysit you in her room during Sam's party. And you slept during most of Maggie's party. 
• Grandma and Papa Price came to visit. You are always a bit slower to warm up. Grandpa worked so hard on getting you to like him. By the end, you sat on his lap for a bit and would touch his finger. Grandma snuck into your heart by letting you sit on her lap and drawing. 
• Speaking of drawing, you absolutely love to draw. You are finding pens all over the house and will scribble on whatever is in front of you. For the most part, you are good about staying on paper, but you love drawing on your body also. One morning after my shower, I found you and Millie downstairs. Millie took a pen and drew strip all over your arms, legs, face and belly on both of you. She said that you wanted to be a tiger. That one took a few baths to fully come off.
• You and Millie are becoming good friends. Sneaky friends. I find that you guys get into Maggie's lotion and hair chalk. If I take a shower, Millie will always get you a cheese stick. You two will end up wrestling a lot. I love seeing you two together. 

Sixteen Months

16 Months

• Oh boy, you are growing up so much. You are turning into quite the explorer. You figured out how to climb up on chairs, which quickly lead to getting up onto the table, which naturally lead to running around and dancing on the table. The couch isn't safe anymore. You will use the pillows as a step stool to get up and then will walk the couch and end tables like a baby ninja warrior, or find yourself perched on the windowsill, soaking up the sun like Mowgli. 
• Langauge is still behind, but both me and dad swear you say, "nah nah nah nah boo boo" to get us to chase you. I have heard you say shoe twice, but mostly you just point to stuff and grunt "uff". You understand us really well though. 
• You favorite thing right now is drawing. You will sit on my lap for 30 minutes drawing. You love the markers the best because it is fun to take the caps on and off. I love watching lean in close to the paper and concentrate hard  on the task. It is so cute. I laid out a huge newspaper end roll on the kitchen for you to draw on. Even though it was three feet wide, you still ended up drawing on the tile. 
• Church is a crack up with you. It doesn't bother me one bit that you wander around (which you do a lot). I think it is as a secondary entertainment that keeps other people awake. The other Sunday though, Dad was on call and it was just us. Right before the sacrament, I noticed you had a poopy diaper. If I took you out to change it, I would miss the sacrament. I decided that we could wait the 15 minutes. Well, that is when you wanted to wander the most. Oh boy, you were a walking stink bomb. I was so grateful that people were wearing masks. 
• List of things that you like: food-cheese, curries/asian food, marshmallow mateys; book-The Hat, Dear Zoo, Tap the Magic Tree; indoor activity-coloring, playing with the tea set and taking baths; outdoor activities-playing in the rocks

 

One.Three Years

 1.3 Years

• Christmas finally came! The day that you can ripe all the paper that your heart can handle. Obviously, you still don't really understand what the mean means, but you did enjoy the cereal and candy you got in your stocking. Santa gave you some painting activities along with some snack cups (huge hit with you!). Dad and I gave you magna tiles, which quickly got snagged by your older siblings. They were getting frustrated because you kept wrecking their creations. We had to tell them that it was your gift and wrecking them was your way to play with them. We got you some new leggings, which hopefully won't get holes in them so fast since you are walking now. We also got you a cute unicorn touch and feel book. 
• We left for Utah right after lunch Christmas Day. You were doing well in the car, just kept handing you more snacks. About three hours into the trip, I was smelling something funky, like a poopy diaper or something. Well when we finally pulled over, I went back there to unbuckle you and discovered that you had thrown up all over yourself. A piece of dried apple must have triggered it and we didn't even notice. So sorry about that. You did well during the crazy trip, though you didn't really want to see other people. You were really clingy to me. What can I say, you are really a momma's girl.
• Language is going slow with you. You still just saying mama, dada, and papa (puppy). Your are getting the hang of sign language though, which has been helpful. You can say all done, more, eat, and thank you. You understand us pretty well, so I think you are just a late bloomer is all. No worries. 
• You are super attached to your pacifier. I know we need to drop it here soon, but I am struggling with knowing when. Just this last week, I decided to take it away during the day. I have to put it in a drawer when you wake up, because if you see it at all, you start asking for it. It is cute to see you get so excited when I say, "lets get your pacifier!" You are also only taking milk in your bottle, but I love the cuddles when you wake up, so I am in no hurry to give that up.
• The other day, I took you and Millie outside to play. Every time we go outside, it is ever a walk in the stroller or I end up holding you the whole time. Today, we were steady enough on your feet to walk around and play on your own. Oh boy, you loved it. We brought out the dump trucks and played in the rocks and also brought out the chalk to draw. You still won't keep your gloves on, so we can't stay out there much longer than 30 minutes because I don't want your hands to freeze. We then headed down the hill to the play structure. You thought you were hot stuff walking down the driveway with me. Since then, I find you by the door wanting to go outside. That day made my mama's heart so happy.

One.Two Years

 1.2 Years

• I am added two photos this month because I didn't get a cute one of just you so I am added the Christmas Sunday photo of all of you. But you took a selfie of yourself, so I thought that I had to add that. You are very interested in my phone and often steal it from me the moment it gets within reaching distance. You are quick to slide it over to the photo part. There are burst of over 100 photos on my phone because of you. It is gross if you find it after eating a treat because then you leave it all sticky.
• You took your first steps!!!! After Thanksgiving, we busted out the chocolate chips and had you practice walking between me and dad. One day (Nov 29) you stood up in the middle of the room by yourself and took a few steps towards me without me prompting you. It was so exciting. I can't get you to walk whenever we want you too. It has to be on your terms. We keep telling ourselves that anyway you are just going to take off, but you still prefer crawling. At last, Dec 19, we were at the Jones's house for a piano recital. I put brown boots on, which I never have you wear shoes. During the recital, there were lots of plates with food on them on all the couches and chairs. You would walk between couches to eat all the food. Since then, you have been a walker. 
• Christmas has been fun and challenging with you. We purposely choose a spruce so you wouldn't grab it (success!) however, whenever you get a chance to be by presents, you ripe open as many as you can. We couldn't have any presents under the tree, so I kept them all in my room so I wouldn't lose them. Well, one gift for dad got open three different times. It has been really fun to share treats with you (you love egg nog) and watching you play with the little people nativity set. 
• Food has been harder this month. You either love a dinner and eat platesful (like spaghetti and broccoli) while other dinners you throw it all off your tray. Mowgli loves those days! Some things that you always love-oatmeal, bananas, applesauce, pb sandwiches, cooked peas. Those are my go-to. You have learned the word "all done" and it trying to say more. When you see food that you want to eat, you open your open like a little bird and squeal real loud. Then you are eating a food you love, you grunt "yum" the whole time you are eating it. 
• Some of your favorite things in life-mom holding you, your pacifier, wrestling with dad, making messes, sneaking into Maggie's room, baths, going to walks, and cuddling up with a bottle of milk.