Jonna is TWO!

We very much feel that we chose the right name for our "gift of God" Jonathan.  Our little big boy is also living up more and more to his middle name, Isaac, which means laughter.  The hilarity of toddlerhood has me chuckling halfway through the day and Dave dancing with Jonathan in the evenings. 

Jonathan has started calling himself "Jonna," which is more user friendly for the toddler tongue.  His birthday was yesterday (Thursday) and we hope to have friends over for cake and ice cream on Saturday.  We opened a few little presents from Mommy and Daddy, but haven't had a chance to purchase the BIG gift, which will be a tricycle -- but don't tell him.  It's a surprise!  We still have 2 presents that came in the mail from grandparents in America, and we want to share the moment with them over a Skype video call when we all can get on the computer at the same time. 

Happy Birthday Jonathan!  He's pretty excited by the candle on his cake this year! 

He still needs help blowing it out though!

A proud mommy has to show off new skills!  We tried a couple of new things on Jonathan's birthday  -- painting with water colors.....

and peeling his own little mandaran oranges!  "More orange please!"  As you can see by the pile, he's about on his  6th one!

What a difference a year makes!

Wow, what a difference TWO years makes!

Angkota Adventure! It worked!

Well today Jonathan and I had another first -- quite an amazing one!   We have been out of cash for a few days and a trip to the bank was in order. 

An angkota is a little blue city minibus.  It travels a loop on a certain route all day.  The seating inside is benches all around and the door never closes ....EVER.  One way to anywhere is 25 cents.  (Not my picture.  I got it off the web.)

(Background information) When Jonathan was little, I used to wear him in an Ergo baby backpack.  It worked well on the angkota and he could be content in it for 3 hours at a time, with a break here or there.  Then he started getting too wiggly, bored, and fussy.  For a time I just decided not to take him to town in the angkota at all.  Then my mom got us a nifty little stroller that folds up easy-peasy.  I can roll him down to the bus-stop, fold up the stroller with one hand, heft him onto my hip with the other, get on, hold him on my lap to destination, and do the reverse steps getting off.    This required knowing the location of the stroller friendly sidewalks in town.  There are not too many of them, but I could manage from the bus-stop to the bank to the pharmacy and back across the street to catch the bus home. 

Now in advanced pregnancy, it hurts to even think about going to town on the angkota with Jonathan.  Everything seems so heavy and my pelvis just isn't as strong as it used to be.  I usually am limping the next day.  Not many of our friends have cars though and motorcycles are not an option for us either .....so on the angkota we go....just not as frequently as before.

Now that Jonathan is such a big boy, I decided to try something new and you know what?  He IS a big boy now and he did just fine!  We left the stroller at home and HE WALKED all the way to the bus-stop and around town and on-and-off the angkota several times, in and out of several stores, and all the way up the hill from the bus-stop to home!  We used his favorite red Elmo toddler harness, which he loves, but he also held my hand about half the time.  The only time I carried him was crossing the street.  It really decreased the physical burden, there was no fussing, and we both still had energy when we came home!  He even had dry pants!  I was so proud of him! 

Sorry, I don't have any pictures from today -- I haven't yet figured out how to manage Jonathan and myself and my belongings AND a camera.

But for those of you who are wondering how the belly is growing, I'll attach a picture from this last week.  Enjoy!

30 weeks pregnant with Baby Brother! 

Milestones of Toddlerhood

A quick blogpost so there is something new on here for the faithful who check!

(Sorry, Singapore plans and 3rd trimester fatigue have caused blog-neglect)

MOVE TO TODDLER BED -- a sudden change in the middle of the night, and here he is waking up in the first morning in his Big Boy Bed!

TODDLER ROOM DECOR -- time for some Big Boy stuff, glow in the dark planets and stars!

AND SO IT BEGINS -- I just hope we don't get any apple trees or bean sprouts growing up there!  (See he thinks I ought to try it too -- it's fun!)

A NEW APPRECIATION FOR STICKERS -- Yep, if you're sending us a care package, throw in a sticker sheet or two.  It will be a big hit!

BOYS and LEGOS and TOWERS -- Okay, they are Duplo blocks, but so fun!

FOOD PREFERENCES:  Loves Broccoli but suddenly doesn't want anything to do with beef stew, which used to be a favorite?  Hmmm.