January Recap

January was a fairly quiet month around here, so I thought it would be fun to cover the entire month in one post. We toasted the Near Year (Jonathan loved his apple cider and the opportunity to stay up late) and then jumped into a new month. We took all of January to catch our breath after a whirlwind holiday season. Below is a breakdown of our month:

 

Home Play Time

We had so much fun spending many of our days in our pajamas or comfy clothes and playing with all of the amazing toys Jonathan was spoiled with at Christmas. His car is still probably his favorite possession (a birthday gift from Gamma and Gampa); he spends at least an hour in it every single day. He also loves his "Dinosaur Train" friends—Tiny, Buddy, Ned, and a stegosaurus whose name I never remember. He also spends a lot of time playing with the Potato Head family. This particular day he decided to reenact a scene from Toy Story during which the Potato Heads adopt the space aliens after Mr. Potato Head saves them from flying out of the car. Notice Slinky Dog looks on. I believe Sheriff Woody was around, too. We also had some fun painting with sponges and fingers. :)

 

Nature Time

As usual, we spent quite a bit of time out on the Fern Ridge Path (probably more than ever before due to a beautiful January). Jonathan was so excited . . . January marked the first time he got to walk on the path on his own. Boy did he love it! He ran as far as he could ahead of me, played games with me (most of the time good ones), got to look through the telescope at one of the bridges, and just plain got some energy out. One day he shared his many sides with me . . . going from happy, to silly, to stinker in a matter of seconds. Fortunately for all of us, I was able to capture them on camera. We also saw some beautiful winter sights. The Three Sisters mountains were in plain sight, and the birds were visiting the wetlands more than we have ever seen. There are droves of Canada Geese landing in the surrounding fields, floating in the water, and flying over head ever single day. We were even fortunate enough to see several Blue Herons over the course of the month. So fun.

 

Backyard Play Time

What a wild weather month January was! From start to finish, Jonathan's outdoor wardrobe and activities changed dramatically. For most of the month, he was bundled up in his winter best and spent most of his outdoor time simply running up and down the yard. For the last weekend of the month, we were blessed with amazing weather and boy did he take advantage of it! He got in some trike time, running time, golf time (with an adorable Peanuts golf set from Great Grandma Bertha and Great Aunt Victoria), and even some time to wear shorts and a t-shirt. What a great month to be outdoors, and what a blessing to have a safe yard to play in.

 

Mommy Play Time

I had fun this month as well. We went to Washington to celebrate Uncle Gary's birthday in the middle of the month. What a great opportunity to try out my new food colorings and coordinating sprinkles! Jonathan and I went to work making sugar cookies (he was a great helper and still reminds me that he helped me make cookies), then I went to work decorating them. My little helper jumped in again when it was time to add the decorating sugars. We had a blast and look forward to the next excuse to make cookies. The highlight of making the cookies was giving them to Uncle Gary and spending the weekend celebrating him. A night out for Mommy and Daddy to see Harry Potter was pretty fun, too.

In general, January was a super fun, relaxing month. No big events, but lots to keep us busy. In addition to the fun pictures, we also attended library story time (an interesting adventure that led to Jonathan nearly tearing a book in half and mommy leading him out of the library as soon as story time was over), took time to unpack a few more boxes, cooked up some healthy meals, slipped in some time take care of self maintenance (doctor, dentist), time to go to traffic court (ugh), park time, and lots more. What a fun month. 

Next stop: February. Boy is there lots to share with you. We're less than three weeks into it and have had a fantastic month. Stay tuned for more in the next few days!

p.s. - One final note. Jonathan had his three-year well visit with his pediatrician. He's in the 75th percentile in both height and weight! He's less than two feet away from me and only two inches away from being able to go on Space Mountain at Disneyland!