Preschool science -- Avocado tree!

So we did the ol' put-an-avocado-seed-in-a-jar-and-see-it-grow experiment.  For two weeks, nothing happened, but then sure enough it DID grow!  After a while, I realized that it would need more to live on than just water, so we had a transplanting lesson the other day.  I didn't get a before picture of the avocado still in it's jar, but by the time we got around to transplanting it was over a foot tall with a good root system and at least a dozen slightly caterpillar-nibbled leaves! 

The boys are very excited to be, not only outside, but encouraged to play in the DIRT!!!

Jonathan did most of the digging all by himself.  I just had to loosen the topsoil a little bit. 

 

Of course Joshua had to sample the dirt while big brother was doing the hard labor!  

 

 The seed is almost covered with dirt.  Just another shovel or two. 

And some water...

 All done! 

Foliage 1 -- Bananas and a "basket tree"

   We have some small banana trees in our back yard that have never born fruit.  We recently discovered that one of them is growing its first bunch of bananas .....stay tuned for progress!  We're going to have to get some help from the neighbors to know when to pick them. 

 We saw this fascinating tree while out on a walk the other day.  It was rainy, so that is why the picture is so gray.  My first thought is it looked like a pineapple tree ....which I knew was impossible since pineapples grow on the ground! 

Closer inspection revealed the pineapples were simple baskets placed over the fruit of the tree to keep it safe from birds until ripe.  I couldn't help but wonder who had the job of climbing out to the very most fragile branches of the tree to apply the baskets! 

Drinking the rain!

So it's rainy season now.  The stroller never leaves the house now without the rain cover stashed along, and it gets used about half of the time we go out.  It turns the stroller into a little spaceship with the boys safe and cozy inside ...definitely better than the throw-a-poncho-over-the-top technique we used with the old stroller.  Here is Dave pushing the boys home after a lunch date ...Josh is asleep in front. 

As we live in the tropics, this is nothing like the almost freezing Pacific Northwest rain I grew up with.  This rain is warm and the temperature is never less than 75 degrees during the day ...we actually don't mind walking in it cover free from time to time.  That can be a cultural stress point, however, as the locals think it is very strange to get rain-wet on purpose....even stranger (and poor parenting) to let your children play in the rain. 

Yet, how could we resist when Jonathan was having so much fun, the good clean kind? 

""I'm drinking the rain!"

Wardrobe boost: photo shoot

 

In one week, the boys got quite a wardrobe boost.  They were gifted batik shirts from a friend, and also got two care packages in the mail.  So I got the boys all gussied up for an outdoor photo shoot -- ha ha!  They were so excited to be outdoors that I had to chase them at full speed, trying to take photos along the way!  Their clothes were dirty in under 60 seconds, but I did the best I could!

I thought it would be cute for the boys to hold hands for a picture ....uhm, this is the result.  :)

Yep, I got tackled about 1/3 of s second after this digital shutter click. 

Josh is sitting still here for a moment so he can toss freshly cut grass on his head. 

 

Yep, he's a runner now!

Well, the photo shoot ended when Joshua got bit on the neck by a nasty red ant.  You can see I finally did get them to sit still for a photo together ....seatbelted into the stroller and not too happy about it either!

   

Aunt Kristen sent matching Boise State Bronco shirts for the boys.  They've worn them several times already!  Again, impossible to get a posed shot...but here they are wearing them in the sandbox!

These last two are not the greatest pictures, but serve to show Aunt Ruth and Grandma Arlette how the last two outfits fit!  Thank you so much!  We've been having some cold weather lately, so the long sleeves have been helpful!

The Best of 2012-- Patrow family Silly Sayings

We have some friends (are you out there Suzanne MacDonald?) with 5 kids.  All year, Suzanne keeps track of the funny things the kids say and then publishes it all with the family Christmas letter.  Although it is sometimes several pages of small single spaced type, we so much enjoy reading and chuckling along!

Last year in Singapore, the pediatrician asked us how many words were in Jonathan's vocabulary.  Dave answered 10 words.  I answered at least 50.  When we came home, I started writing down his words, and quickly surpassed 50.  In fact I quickly surpassed 200 -- I guess we were at that vocabulary explosion stage!  That was only the beginning....then came phrases and sentences and then dialogue.

Here are some of the funny and endearing things overheard at our house in 2012.  (Note: As much as I'd love to have the perfect photo for each quote, these are just random family photos from our 2012 collection, for visual interest.  Enjoy!)

Toddlernesian 2012

Helkokker -- helicopter

-Merica -- America

Eatmeal -- Oatmeal (makes sense, right? You eat it, after all!)

Wowo -- world

Jofwah--Joshua

Grow-la -- granola

Peek-you! -- Peek-a-boo!

Slivers -- fwivers
Sweeping -- sleeping, or sweeping
Blinklers -- sprinklers
Eleventeen -- seventeen
Gwinting -- squinting

APRIL

Jonathan's phrase of the month "I SO love you!"

MAY

Jonathan, learning the alphabet: "A for poo-poo!"   

Jennifer:  (correcting) "P for poo-poo.  I've got to write that one in the book….A for poo-poo."  

Jonathan:  (correcting)  "No mommy, P for poo-poo."

Jonathan, for several days after head vs. chair accident:  "I have bwoosed head."  

Jonathan, seeing a large grayish-brown lumpy thing on the ground "-tato!"  (Translation: potato).   

Jennifer:  "That's a coconut."  

Jonathan:  "Coke-nut!"

During the week when 4 month old Joshua is getting a lot of praise for learning to roll over, 2 year old Jonathan rolls over on bed and says "I roll over Mommy say Wow!"

Coming up and handing over a crumpled photograph from his baby photo album, Jonathan says:  "Mommy, I folded Grandma Coral!"

Trying to teach cause vs effect. 

Jennifer:  "If you don’t stand carefully on the stool, you could fall and hurt your head bad and have to go to the hospital. "   

Jonathan runs and puts his shoes on with unprecedented enthusiasm, goes out the door and runs to the gate.  

Jennifer: "Jonathan where are you going?"   

Jonathan: "I wanna go hospital!"

JUNE

At Joshua's baptism, our entire family stood before a large congregation.  After seeing Jennifer struggling to hold a wriggling Jonathan, Pastor Kent suggests we just put him down to roam.  "We have a free range brother," he said.

We look at Joshua's baptism cake which says "Joshua Jason, Child of God." 
Jennifer:  "Jonathan can you read the letters on the cake?  What does it say?" 
Jonathan:  "CAKE TIME!"

Jonathan singing the alphabet, "A B C D E F G H I J K Hello-lo-lo P …."

JULY
At McDonalds play structure, chasing a bigger girl around. 
Girl, to Jonathan:  "Stop, you baby!" 
Jonathan, to girl:   "Stop me baby!"

Driving I-84.  Dave, taking an opportunity to give a geology lesson: "Those rocks are lava flows from volcanos…."  

Jonathan, looking across the river "No!  They not volcanos!  They windmills!"

Jonathan (spoken very slowly as he worked it out in his mind):  "When I grow up …I'm gonna be …..a grown up."

AUGUST
On the joy of discovery, while Jonathan was eating a snack of apple chunks:   "Mommy, these apples have juice in them!  I'm drinking it!" 

Jennifer:  "Jonathan, if you eat your spinach and your chicken, it will make your muscles in your arms and legs strong." 
Jonathan eats a few bites, and then earns a few potato chips as a treat, which he promptly gobbles.  "Mommy, it's going down into my legs and my feet and making me strong!" 
Jennifer:   "Chicken and spinach are better at making you strong." 
Jonathan:  "And potato chips, Mommy!"

Sunday School Teacher:  "Jonathan would you like to be Zaccheus and climb the tree?" 
Jonathan:  Falls onto all fours and crawls away shouting & roaring like a lion

At naptime: 
Jennifer "Jonathan do you want me to tuck you in?" 
Jonathan:  "Ribbet"

SEPTEMBER

Jonathan:  "Come eat me daddy!   Pick me up and frow me in your wair!"  (translation: lair)

(Editorial comment:  I treasure this next one.  Perhaps it even deserves it's own blog post.  Does Jonathan yet understand everything about sin and redemption?  No way.  On that hand neither do I!  But this moment, while providing some chuckles, is also evidence of God's working a gradual and beautiful process in his life.) 
Randomly, while eating lunch one day:

Jonathan:  "Mommy, how does God get into my tummy?"

After some thought, Jennifer:  "Do you mean how Jesus gets into your heart?"

Jonathan:  "Yes, how does Jesus get into my heart?"

Jennifer:  "You ask him to come in.  Like the song "Behold, Behold, I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock….(sings the whole song) and then you say  (singing) "Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart Lord Jesus, Come in today Come in to stay, Come into my heart, Lord Jesus." 

Jonathan:  Sings to his own tune and beat "Come in to my heart, Lord Jesus, Come in to my heart, Lord Jesus, Come in to my heart, Lord Jesus, Thank You, AAAAAMEEENNNN!" 

Jennifer:  "Did he come in?"

Jonathan:  "Yep."

Jennifer:  "What does it feel like?"

Jonathan:  rubs his hands all over his chest and shoulders "It feels…….hot…..and fire…..like an airplane!  (singing) Thank you Jesus for coming into my heart…..and my tummy!"

OCTOBER

Jennifer:  "Jonathan how old do you think I am?  How old am I?" 
Jonathan:  "Kookah." 
Jenn, thinking a bit of clarification is needed:  "Jonathan how old are you? "
Jonathan:  "I'm TWO!!!" 
Jenn:  "Okay, so how old am I?" 
Jonathan:  "Kookah."
Dave:  "He knows it's a nonsense question since he can't count that high.  So he's giving you a nonsense answer!"

(This is one of those classic moments that's probably experienced in every home!)
Jonathan, holding Dave's child-proof vitamin bottle from the USA:  "Daddy are these your pills?  Can I open them?" 
Dave:  "Yes, those are daddy's vitamins.  But you can't open them.  It's a bottle that only a grown up can open.  But you can try." 
Dave then turns around to give Jenn and Joshua a kiss before going to work. 
Jonathan:  "Here Daddy," handing Dave the open vitamin bottle and lid. 

Jonathan:  "When I grow up, I'm gonna have wings."

After watching Joshua take medicine for his cough, Jonathan asks for some too. 
Jennifer:  "No Jonathan, you are healthy now.  You don't need any medicine.  Only sick people need medicine." 
Jonathan:  "(wimper, wimper), I'm gonna cry….in just a second." 

Apparently he learned this song in Sunday School:  "Raisen, raisen, all the little children."  (Translation:  Praise Him, Praise Him).

Upon seeing Jenn with a new hairstyle
Jonathan:  "Mommy (giggle, giggle), you look like a …..a…..gurl-lul! (giggle, giggle)   (Translation: girl)

NOVEMBER

Jonathan, holding out a small dead beetle in his hand:  "Mommy, this died!"

Jennifer, inspecting beetle, "Yes, he is dead."

Jonathan: "Do you know why?  Because I put my knee on him!"

Jennifer: "Oh, well, he's dead.  Go throw him in the toilet and flush him."

Jonathan:  "Will that make him feel better?"

On a day of special need for patience...
Jennifer (groaning in exasperation):  "Patience is a fruit of the Spirit….I want to live in the Spirit." 
Jonathan:  "I want to live in America."

At evening devotions, after singing the first 2 traditional verses of "Be careful little eyes what you see," Jonathan spontaneously composed this new verse:  "Oh Be careful little bottom where you go poo-poo.  Oh Be careful little bottom where you go poo-poo.  For the Father up above is looking down below.  Oh be careful little bottom where you go poo-poo."

DECEMBER

Jonathan:  "Ow!  Mommy, I hurt my leg-elbow!"  (translation -- knee)

Look who is ONE! Joshua Jason

We are joyfully celebrating the first year of Joshua, who turned one on January 10th!  What an amazing kid!   We are so blessed that he joined our family!  

 Ankle length swim trunks are the latest fashion, don't ya know? 

 He's discovering how much fun can be had in the kitchen....here he has dumped out the garlic and shallots.

No words needed I think.  The cuteness and delight of life speaks for itself.  Okay, I will explain that strange blemish on his forehead is a piece of rice. 

Being one comes with some new privileges....Joshua now gets to take a bath WITH his brother in the big green tub!  We figure he is durable enough now to survive if Jonathan dunks him.  Jonathan is being a bit shy in this picture, but don't let that fool you.  They LOVE taking a bath together!

Now it's confession time:  I did have quite a few lovely videos of us singing Happy Birthday to Joshua and the FIRST cake eating.  I had nice pictures of him with his Birthday crown and cake all over his face.  I accidentally deleted them permanently this morning!  Argh!  I'm still grieving it, but so glad to have the flesh and blood boy in my arms and know that I can take lots more photos on other days!

Christmas Eve scenes

It's Christmas Eve here!  We are busy doing family stuff, but I wanted to share a bit of our day with loved ones who might be checking the blog!  We love you and miss you!  Merry Christmas!

We finished up our two advent calenders today.  The sticker scene, from Grandma Arlette, is seen in the background.  The ornament one, from Grandma Coral, gave us a second toy rocking horse ornament today.  Here Jonathan is showing us the both of them. 

The ornament advent calender has given us a lot of cute ornaments for our tree -- a train, a candy cane, a couple of snowmen, an angel and even a manger scene.

 We just have a little fake tree, so I'm happy to put it up high on the counter and avoid the junk stress of little hands pulling things off every day.  Joshua would sure love to get his hands on it though!

He LOVES it when someone takes compassion on him and picks him up so he can see the tree and the lights up close!

So Jonathan did a little manger scene art project today.  (Becky, this is from the curriculum you sent us. Thanks!)  After we pasted Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus on, Jonathan said "But where are the animals?"  He answered his own question...."I know!  We can make some!"  What you see here is "A turtle....a special turtle....a VERY special turtle," and a "special snake," and a "special worm," and a bird and another snake.   Who said only cows and donkeys and sheep could be with Baby Jesus in the stable that night?