Noosa Yoghurt, "You'll need a spatula"

Edward and I recently discovered how yummy Noosa Yoghurt is thanks to our friend Kadie! We liked it so much that we actually "liked" it on Facebook. Edward put a comment on their page and they responded! They said they would "definitely send some Noosa love" if he made a video about how he uses a spatula to get every last bit of yoghurt.

So that night we put together our first stop motion video of the yoghurt being eaten. We had tons of fun setting it up and were pretty happy with the results. The entire thing took us about 3 hours from start to finish. For our "studio" lighting we had a lamp precariously balancing on our half wall, with Edward's snow boots holding it in place.

So here it is--we realized after we were done and had it posted that we meant to find music to go along with it but that never happened. We're still really thrilled with it, though.



Here is their response after viewing it:

We're excited to see what they send us!

Trip to the Farm!

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Mary Beth was our awesome daycare provider when Jack was a baby (from 6 months-18 months). We still miss her (she only takes babies up to 18 months) and she got together a group of us at the farm on Saturday for a bit of a reunion. It turned out perfectly--Jack and Dylan were in the daycare together (Dylan is about 2 months older than Jack) and it was so fun to get them together again. We went on a hayride pulled by a tractor which Jack absolutely loved, then Dylan went on a pony ride. I was convinced that if Jack wouldn't even sit on the tractor seat, he wouldn't sit on a pony. But of course once he saw Dylan on his pony, Jack decided he wanted to ride also. So we gave it a try and sure enough, when we went to put him on the pony, he didn't want to. I finally realized that he had seen Dylan's mom and dad leading the reigns for Dylan and he thought that I wasn't going with him (since someone from the staff was still holding the reigns for him to sit on the pony.) I convinced him that I'd be leading the pony and then he did great! We took 3 loops around. Jack told me to slow down. ;) But it was so fun seeing my BIG boy riding a pony! It was such a beautiful day--including amazing weather.

Annual Trip to Silverthorne

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We took our 3rd annual trip to Silverthorne with the Ainsworth's in September. We've always taken a picture of the boys on the back deck in the same chair. It's so fun to look back and see how they have grown together! It was also fun this year now that they boys aren't babies and we weren't terrified of them toddling down the stairs. Our first day there was rainy but it quit raining long enough for Kadie and I to take the boys up on the gondola ride in Breckenridge. Kadie and I got some shopping in at the Silverthorne Outlets and Edward and Hahn went to the rocket launch in Hartsel one day and also hiked Quandary Peak the next. We also took the boys to the pool at the rec center in Silverthorne. They had a great time--there's a big, windy water slide that they absolutely loved. (Definitely by far the biggest slide Jack's ever been on!) It was also very fun to be able to play games and hang out all together after the boys were in bed--we don't get to do that too often these days!
Here's my post about last year's trip:
http://planterestate.blogspot.com/2010/09/fall-trip.html

Nuts About Mom

I found this shirt for Jack and finally got him to PUT IT ON today (of course I couldn't get him to look at me and smile in it). It says, "NUTS ABOUT MOM." Edward wanted to know when there would be a shirt about Dad. I told him the other shirt I looked at said, "Dad's in charge until Mom comes home." ;)

Georgetown Loop Railroad

For months I've wanted to take Jack to the Georgetown Loop Railroad. He's so obsessed with trains I knew he would love it--we had a blast taking him! Our train ride was scheduled for 10:45am. We arrived with plenty of time to be first in line to board the train! Jack was ecstatic when he realized we were actually going to ride the train. It was so fun that the conductor even came through and punched the tickets (just like Jack sees in books and on "Dinosaur Train") He did so well, even when it was time to leave. I was surprised how well he handled it when our ride was over and we had to get off the train.

Two days later we were on our way home from staying in the mountains for the weekend and Jack was getting pretty tired at lunch. I played the video I took of the train pulling into the station--and he watched it over, and over, and over again.

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Camping 2011

We went camping with the Tarplee family again. This was actually Jack's 3rd camping trip but it was fun this time since he's old enough to really enjoy it. He was SO excited to sleep in a tent with mom and dad, he loved finding sticks to play with, and sitting in the hammock. It was also fun that Jack was finally old enough to play with the other kids (Sadie is 4 and Lydia is 2).

I copied Monica's menu for the weekend (so this was her plan!) but we made cranberry orange muffins inside oranges. You hollow out the orange like a pumpkin, fill them about 2/3 full, put the top of the orange back on and then wrap it all in foil. Then you put it into the camp fire for probably 15-20 minutes. They actually turned out better than I thought they would!

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Alamosa, CO Trip

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We took Jack down to Alamosa to visit Edward's family last week. He really did so well overall with all the changes and different places we visited. We stopped in Castle Rock on our way down to visit The Tovens. It was fun to see them again--it's so sad that they live so far from us!

We took Jack to the Sand Dunes with Grandma and Grandpa one morning. Jack LOVED it. We played for a while and got very sandy! Jack did so well and had so much fun. We took this video of him and I thought it was "so Jack."



We also got to see a train engine and car that is on display in Alamosa. It just so happened that we went on Saturday morning and someone opens the gates and the train for a couple hours, one Saturday a month--and we hit it right on! Jack just walked around over and over again studying every part of the train. In the picture of him with Edward he is blowing his train whistle.

It was hard getting Jack to nap while we were there--one day I couldn't get him to nap at all. He finally had a melt-down at about 5:30 that night and fell asleep on the couch with me. (See the 2nd collage photo)

We had a great time visiting Edward's great Aunt and Uncle that live in Alamosa. They had a "Peter Sam" (Thomas) train for him when we got there. He finally opened up and had fun playing at their house. By the last night we were there, Aunt Phyllis won Jack over with Thomas the Train Fruit Snacks!

The funniest thing we learned about taking Jack on a long car trip was that he talked the entire way there and back!! (except for maybe half an hour of sleep each way--out of the 5 hours of driving). He handled the drive way better than I ever expected. I'm so proud of my sweet little boy!

Big Boy!

I told Jack we were going to get ice cream with Ami tonight and before I knew it he had rushed to the door and put his sandals on all by himself! It was pretty cute, especially since he put them on backwards. :) I was able to get this shot of him on the front steps (a one-smile shot...promising ice cream immediately afterwards).

Train Conductor

One day Jack had started wearing one of Edward's baseball caps as his "train conductor" hat. After that, we decided we needed to find a little train conductor hat for him. Less than a week later, mom and I went to a garage sale (one that we almost just drove away from!) and in a box I happened to see this train conductor hat (for 25 cents!).

When we got home Jack started to play with his trains and about a minute later he ran over to me asking for his train conductor hat. I attempted to get a cute photo of Jack wearing it and as usual, this resulted in me following him around while he played as I would say, "Jack! Jack! Look at mommy! Jack! Can you smile for mommy? Jack! Look at the camera!" All the while, he might as well not even know I'm there because he just keeps playing.

Needless to say, I finally got him to smile and pose for pictures. No, it wasn't my convincing him it was a good idea, it was him nagging me to get some water in his little watering can. I finally said, "Okay, I'll get you some water but you need to smile for a picture first." INSTANT smile. DIRECTLY at the camera. Next thing I knew, he was standing in front of me smiling again, posing with his dump truck. I realized he needed more water and was posing for his picture first. This pattern continued and he even sat on the steps of the deck just to look cute while I took some photos. Seriously, he's a pretty smart kid.

(The first collage is the pre-bribery pics and the second collage are some of his posing pics. Click them to see larger.)

On a side note, while he was posing with his little Toucan watering can, he named it "Pourin" because he "pours water." This is about the first thing he's named that wasn't just "Hippo" for the hippo's name, or "Puppy" for the puppy. I thought it was cute. We'll see if it sticks this summer. :)

A Night at the Park

We let Jack run around at the Oval at CSU after we had dinner with the Jensens. Here's some great photos we got of him while we were there!

Jack's Imagination

We've been wowed in the last several weeks to see how Jack's imagination has exploded. He's always pretending to be driving, or that his stuffed animals are eating...he talks to his stuffed animals very sincerely. He also pretends his food is a car...or a train...or elmo...or a carriage...the list goes on!

This last weekend he decided that under the kitchen table was a train. He had a throw pillow as the "door" and he would have us sit under there with him. He'd get out of the train and walk to the back and "check the fire." And he'd push buttons on the underside of the table to turn on the music.

And this week he discovered he can take the bottom cushion out of the couch and make it into a train/car/bus, etc. But the best part is seeing him "drive." (See the video :)

The other perk about the couch-vehicle is that it's much more comfortable for mom and dad to participate (instead of under the kitchen table)!

The Dreaded Finger Nails

For the first 20 or so months of Jack's life, I pretty much always waited to clip his nails until he fell asleep somewhere--in the car, on the floor, etc. Then we got to the point around the time he turned two that he doesn't really fall asleep in the car as much as he used to and his nails got longer, and longer, and longer. I finally had to start clipping them while he is awake and boy has it been a struggle!

We've tried everything--showing how we clip our nails, clipping one at a time throughout the week, holding him down crying. I always dread the day I notice that his nails desperately need to be clipped--it happens way too often!

Then this week happened. One night I laid Jack down in his crib and he said, "Mommy, clip Jack's nail." He has said this to us a number of times but then he generally pulls his finger away the second we get close with the clippers. But this time, I grabbed them and he actually let me clip his nail! Then he kept telling me which one's needed to be clipped, including his toenails! I was thrilled that he finally was desperate enough to let me clip them.

Two nights later I laid him down in his crib and he asked me to clip his nails again. So I took the opportunity to finish up clipping what I had missed before but if he asks again tomorrow...?

Needless to say, that boy is such a smartie pants.

Our Little Talker

Jack is saying so much these days--he's such a little kid now! We just can't believe our baby is growing up so much. But it's also nice that he can tell us what he wants and what he's thinking. It also amazes us all the time. I wanted to write down a few of the phrases and things we hear all the time these days.

He can count to ten and he sings parts and pieces of the ABCs all the time. He loves to sing with us so we've been singing songs like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "You are My Sunshine" and he sings along (in fact, this morning he was in his crib waking up and started singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"...He almost had it all but his favorite part is "...like a diamond in the sky."

When he asks for something and we respond with "You want {blank}?" He'll say "Yes! Okay!" when we get it right. He also adds "anymoreee" to the end of a lot of sentences. Edward told him, "Maybe when you grow up you will drive the Space Shuttle." And he responded with, "Jack no drive the space shuttle anymoreee."

He also loves it when I am free to play with him and he begs me to be done eating all the time. He also thinks when I take a sip of my drink that that means I'm done (apparently I always end my meals with a drink--LOL). He stands there and when I take a drink he says "Yay! Mommy all done!" He'll also check my bowl or plate and say "Yay! Mommy all done!"...I have to be careful if I want to refill.

He's also the most polite kid I've ever known. For months now he says "please" and "thank you" and "sorry!" or "sorry about that." Sometimes he goes overboard on the "sorry's." He'll even say sorry if you run into him on accident (he's little and gets right under my feet!) I'll try to explain to him that "Mommy is the one that is sorry because I ran into you" and he'll get a little upset and say, "Jack sorry toooo...also."

Below is a video we made to send to Aunt B while she was out of town. I thought it was a cute example of how he sounds these days. (Especially the constant "Mommy! Help, Mommy!" :)

Too Smart

Jack amazes me all the time with what he knows and says. We were out to dinner with our friends and Jack was playing with their two older girls. Sadie said to Jack, "I'm four." And Jack just answered, "I'm two, Sadie!" I knew we had played up the turning two last month but I really never expected him to answer it in a regular conversation with a four year old!
Later we realized Jack was picking things up off the floor of the restaurant (Like old skittles and crumbs) and I told him not to pick stuff up off the floor and that it's "icky." Not two seconds later Jack said to Sadie, "Pick that up off the floor, Sadie!" Wow, he's too smart!

Lee Martinez Farm

We wanted to enjoy the weather on Jack's birthday weekend so we finally took him to the farm! (One day before he was actually 2 so it was the last official time he can go for free!) He absolutely loved it. He loved the animals and getting to explore and run around. He also loved feeding the animals oats from his hand! Plus throwing the oats through the fence to the chickens.

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Come Along Little Doggie

Here's a video of Jack repeating me saying, "Come along little doggie!" I love how he is figuring out how to say "doooogie!"