Blueberry Picking

Keith & I live down the road from a blueberry farm, and each summer, my sister, mom, and I go blueberry picking together. We could just buy them, already picked, for not much more than what we pay to pick our own. But what fun would that be?

I don’t think we do it for the joy of working outside for two hours on a 90 degree day. Nor is it for the joy of getting smacked by the branches as we push a stroller down the narrow pathways between the bushes.

It’s for the fun of spending time together, and for popping a few berries in our mouths along the way. (Seriously, they should probably weigh Alex when we get there and when we leave, and I’ll pay the difference!) It’s for the fun of watching Deb get every. single. berry. on the bush! ;) It’s for the fun of going out to lunch together afterwards.

This year, it was extra hot! Emma came along, as she often does, and she picked almost as many blueberries as the grown-ups. Good job, Em!

My dying camera decided it needed new batteries, so Deb used her phone to get the pictures in this post. Thanks, Deb! I wish I’d thought to grab your camera and get a few pictures with you in them, too!

Max was pretty content to sit in the stroller and watch for quite a while. Deb kept him entertained as she picked. When he got bored with that, we held him while picking. I tried setting him on the ground, but that just led to a lot of grass-eating. I think Grandma held him for a while, too. Eventually, I took a break and brought him to the a/c in the car for a few minutes while he nursed, and that helped cheer him up for a while.

See? Grandma S is in this picture…proof she was there! ;)

Alex picked blueberries, ate blueberries, played in the dirt, and ate more blueberries. He at least picked enough berries to cover the bottom of the bucket, and (with a little help from Emma) he did a fairly good job of picking the ripe berries.

Emma showed Alex how to throw a blueberry in the air and catch it in her mouth. He cheated, pretended to throw it in the air, and then smacked it into his mouth.

Emma also took Alex over to the swings for a little while after he decided (with a few little hints from Emma) that it was getting hot and boring. Thanks, Em, for keeping Alex busy!

I think Aunt Deb was aiming for the perfect picture of Max, because she sent me quite a few! ;)

Afterwards, everyone stopped at our house to get cleaned up. We headed to the Chocolate Shop for a yummy lunch. Thanks, Grandma, for spoiling us with that! I think my boys enjoyed those sweet potato fries!

And now, I imagine, a lot of blueberry eating is going on in all of our homes! I only took home about 4.75 lbs of berries this year, and about half of it went in the freezer. The other half is slowly being consumed by Alex and Mama! I’m hoping to pick up a graham cracker crust tomorrow to make the best blueberry pie ever…Blueberry Sky Pie! Mmmm, my mouth is watering!

(Hey, while it’s on my mind, who wants to go apple picking this fall? Every year, I say I’ll do it, and every year, fall comes and goes without any apple picking. Anyone want to start a new tradition?!)

Today’s Facebook Status

Crazy Max – but Kim has a point – smiling is his favorite, too! So, Alex is going to be God when he grows up, and Max is going to be Buddy The Elf. ;)

Dawn P thinks Max wants to be Buddy The Elf when he grows up. I just caught him eating cotton balls.

Susan C

lol, one of my favorite movies!

Janet S

We love Buddy! We frequently quote him.

Angie H

HAAAAA!

Paula S

so Alex is going to be your handful not Max!!
(I think she means Max will be my handful, not Alex?)

Kim C

He would make a great Buddy! Isn't smiling his favorite too?

Kat K

Awwww Kim that's perfect!!! :D

Tot School – Randomness – 30 Months

I haven’t posted Tot School in several weeks.  It doesn’t mean we weren’t doing anything, but it does mean we weren’t doing a lot of structured or planned activities.

We had a garage sale, took a vacation, prepared for VBS at church, had a cousin come to visit for several days, went swimming, and found plenty of other ways to keep busy…like spending lots of time on the new playset in our backyard!

Alex has been asking me to sit and do Tot School with him, and I’ve been missing it too!  Here’s a little of what we’ve done this week when we’ve found a little time to spare.

We found Candyland, and we’ve had fun playing it together.  After 3 or 4 tries, Alex has caught on to the rules.  It’s actually kind of fun to play with him now that he understands!

  

Helping Daddy – Daddy has been working hard to build a playset for the boys, and Alex has helped(?!) whenever he can!

Alex also helped Daddy clean the siding this week.  Unfortunately, Daddy didn’t know that Alex’s cousin Kyle taught him another use for the hose this week…which means that Daddy got SOAKED when Alex got hold of the hose! ;)

Helping Mommy – Alex helped Mommy make pizza for dinner this week.  Mommy measured the ingredients, and Alex carefully stirred.  It was almost mess-free.  I was impressed!  Mommy was working on VBS posters for church, and Alex colored his very own posterboard.    

Glue – a current favorite.  I think we did 6 pages from his Pasting book today!  He is getting pretty good at following instructions (where to place glue, where to place the pictures) and also at using the glue nicely.

  

Uh, did I say using the glue nicely?  I looked away to cut out the flowers for the next page, and this is how Alex put the glue at the top of each kite string.  Oops!

“Did I do it, Mom?!”

Alex’s picks – he pulled out some of our watermelon activities.  I told him a color, and he would pick that color magnet to put on his magnet page. (Making Learning Fun)Number Practice – Mommy and Alex each had a set of numbers.  I put a number in one circle, and Alex had to put the matching number in the other circle. (Childcareland)

There’s lots to learn on vacation, like what it feels like to touch a shark.

And, at Alex's request, here are some pictures of him driving his forklift.  He wouldn’t let me sit to post Tot School until I’d taken the pictures and loaded them on the computer ;)

My Tiny Tot

This little guy (10 months old) has finally decided that he wants to stand up and to crawl.  He’s been working very hard on these new skills!  Good job, Max!

I think we’ll doing X is for Xylophone.  We’ll see how the weekend goes, and if there’s time to prepare.  I’m obviously not being too formal for the summer - I’ve decided we’ll get through Z, do random fun Tot School for whatever is left of the summer, and pick up with Letter A again in September.

Have a great week!

10 Months

Max, you are 10 months old.  All of a sudden, you’re not just a cuddly little baby.  You’re active.  You’re squirmy.  You are super curious about the world around you.  You have opinions, voiced in high-pitched squeals.  You have likes and dislikes, and even without words, you can make them known.

I remember hitting this point with Alex, and I remember thinking, “He’s not a baby anymore.”  It’s happening again…

It snuck up on me, this getting bigger stuff, and suddenly you no longer seem like my baby.   I remember telling you not to grow up.  It seems that you didn’t listen, my boy.  You’re getting bigger every day.

Each day, though, I try to cherish all your little baby moments.  You’re only small once, and it’s such an amazing time. 

I love to watch as you explore new things – what does wet sand feel like?  How does grass taste?  What happens if I pull my brother’s hair really, really hard?  There’s so much to learn when you’re little!

I love to watch as you slowly get more mobile.  You’re still not crawling, but you’re anxious to figure it out.  Each day, you spend a good amount of time rocking back and forth on your hands and knees.  It’s only a matter of time before I’m chasing two boys instead of one!

You’re rolling all over the place.  You also lay on your belly and use your hands to spin and scoot where you want to go.  You let out a triumphant squeal when you finally manage to grab what you want!

You’ve learned that food is really good stuff, and now you’ve reached the point where you want whatever Mommy is eating.  You like to try a little of everything.  For a while, I was wondering if you would be my picky eater.  (Alex eats just about anything.)   Now, though, I think you’ll do all right.

When we were in Indianapolis, you ate a real breakfast with us each day at the hotel.  I hadn’t started that at home yet.  At home, it was a tray full of Puffs and some baby food fruit.  At the hotel, you had scrambled eggs and shredded cheddar, bits of waffle, and a container of yogurt.  You were a little piggy every morning! 

Since we’ve been home, I’ve been feeding you a little more in the morning – diced pears, yogurt, pancakes, bread.  You had your first Cheerios today in the church nursery, and you loved them! 

You shriek to be fed whatever I’m eating, whenever I’m eating it.  You made a crazy scene in Steak and Shake last week because you recognized a french fry (thanks, Grandpa S! *Ü*) and you wanted it…really wanted it! 

I try to offer you a little of whatever we’re eating for dinner.  You really love diced macaroni and cheese, tiny bits of canned fruit, watermelon, breads and muffins, and kernels of corn.  You’ll try other things, too.  You seem to like ground beef (taco meat, sloppy joes, bits of hamburger, etc) but it takes you a while to swallow the meat.

We still feed you two or three containers of baby food each day, mainly fruit purees, sweet potatoes with corn, carrot-applesauce, mac and cheese with veggies, and vegetable-cheese risotta.  You really like Beechnut’s ham and pineapple baby food, too.  (That’s the only baby food meat I give you, as the rest just smell disgusting to me!) You like diced veggies, but you do NOT like green beans, peas, or mixed vegetables in baby food form. 

You’re definitely a store-bought baby food kid.  When I (finally) decided to make homemade baby food, the blender exploded on me.  So…no saving money here.  Since I hope to be finished with baby food by 12 months, buying a new blender would probably undo the savings of the homemade food at this point!

You’re doing better with a cup, but you’re more likely to steal Alex’s sippy of watered down juice rather than drinking your own sippy of water.  I often hear Alex saying, “Hey Bubby, that’s MY sippy!”  (That’s what Alex calls you quite often – Bubby.)

You have 7, almost 8 teeth now – 4 on top, and 3 on the bottom.  There’s one more that hasn’t poked through yet.  Judging by the way you’re biting everyone and everything in sight, it won’t be long.  (Seriously, boy – you bite holes in my shoulder and leave me fresh bruises there just about every day!  You nibble on just about everyone’s fingers, and you often get legs as well. Ouch!)

You’re really proud of yourself in the past week for practicing – and now succeeding in – pulling yourself to stand. 

You’ve been trying so hard, and you finally accomplished it with an audience.  Grandma and Grandpa  S, Grandma and  Papa P, and Kyle were all here when you used the Bumbo to pull yourself to stand.  You were at it again the next morning, standing while holding the same dinosaur toy that your big brother used for the same purpose.

You’ve discovered that it’s fun to show off to get attention.  You like to do “So Big”, wave hi, and clap your hands whenever you’re looking for a little extra attention.  You give BIG grins to the people who take notice! 

Daddy’s glad that you’re gaining mobility, starting to stand, and getting more interactive.  He loves when his babies reach this more active stage!  (You already know what Mama thinks about it!)

At Daddy’s request, I pulled out the Baby Signing Times DVDs last week.  We’re playing them for you a few times each week.  So far, you seem to recognize the sign for milk (which I’ve used with you for months) and the sign for more (which I use when feeding you baby food).

You’ve turned into a real water lover.  You *love* to be in the pool, the lake, the bathtub.  You scoot your way across the bathtub and take over the whole tub, leaving Alex with one little corner to himself.  I move you, and you do it again.  Poor Alex! ;)

You go to bed around 8 PM, and every night is different.  You might sleep through the night (until 5ish) or you might wake 3 times.  I just never know!  You’ve been waking at around 6:30 each morning in the past few weeks.

You nap from 9:30 – 11 AM, and you nap again from 2 – 4 or 4:30 PM.  We’re flexible with that, but you’re a GOOD napper!  I try not to mess up your schedule too much, as I really like it.  Thanks – I’m glad to have a good napper this time around!

You love to smile at other people just for fun, or to get attention, or because they’re staring at you in the grocery store.  We get comments everywhere we go about what a happy baby you are.  Whether it’s grocery shopping or sitting in a restaurant or standing in line somewhere, people mention that you’re one of the happiest babies they’ve seen.

You’re still a mama’s boy.  You’ll go to other people, fuss or cry when I walk away, and be fine once I’m gone.  You do fairly well in nursery most of the time now, unless you’re really tired.  If Mama’s nearby, though, you think I should be the one to hold you.

Baby Boy, we LOVE you!  Even if I don’t want you to grow up, I love the little boy you’re becoming.  It’s so fun to watch you as you go through each stage.  You are a special part of our family, and once again, we’re SO GLAD that God blessed us with you!