Foot Massager

At work we had 'Secret Santa' and I was fortunate to have a GREAT Santa.  He brought me a Shiatsu foot massager.  I LOVE it!  I think I may be wearing out the motor in this thing already! If you ever need a good gift for yourself, (or a friend) I would highly recommend it.  I keep it under the table where I work on my computer and I treat my feet to a lovely heated, shiatsu massage.

Deep Cleansing Breaths

Tomorrow I have to go back to work....

Most people would respond with, "Well, its about time!  You had a week and a half off!"  And I can see where that response would come from, although it is so hard to get back into the groove with 8th graders after a big break.  I just need to remember to take deep cleansing breaths...

New Year's Wishes and News: From 'Double Trouble'

Happy New Year everybody!! (Or if I were actually going to say it, I would just wander around and say, "Happy, happy, happy...")

Here at the Stewart household we are a bit late on the "New Year" Wishes...but better late than never!

My sister got an entire post (actually 2) dedicated to her words and stuff...so I figured that maybe some of you were wondering what I am up to.  I am kinda lazy and almost rolling over, but I am sure in no hurry.  I love snuggles and my new favorite is oatmeal with applesauce. Yummy!  I am in the jumper in this picture--I like to bounce like my big sis.

Here we are, double trouble...

Jackson will be passing Joslynn in size and weight in no time--we are sure of it.  He is just barely under 20 pounds!  We can't believe it!  He is in awe of his big sister.  We think that's why he doesn't want to roll over; all he wants to do is lay there and watch whatever she does!  She does get jealous, but she is very sweet and helpful when she wants to be when it comes to things involving Jack.  She does a dead-on impression of him crying when she thinks that we haven't heard him; it's pretty funny to hear her do it.

They have some goofy facial expressions here, but aren't they just the cutest little pair?

Memory Card Problems

The memory card for our camera recently housed several hundred pictures.  I spent lots of time uploading them to my computer and also online to Walmart Photo so I can print some.  Since many of the pictures were old, and we needed the space, I deleted the photos so that I had room for some new ones.  Well, after doing this, the memory card proceeded to "fill up" rather quickly. Today, I transfered 10 pictures to my computer, and when the memory card was completely empty, it said that there was no space available!  It is a 1.0 GB memory card for crying out loud!! Does anyone know what I am doing wrong???

Charging Admission

If we get any more snow, I am going to start charging admission to skiiers and snowboarders for use of our snowbanks.  Seriously, there is one bank that is as tall as me!  Our house is positioned in such a way that all the blowing and drifts end up at the end of the driveway.  This is also where we have a sidewalk (so less room for snow) and we have these teeny, tiny little patches of lawn to pile all of our snow on.  This doesn't help either when we are shoveling by hand instead of blowing the snow with a blower because you have to heave the snow up almost six feet in some spots. 

Tonight, I actually pushed snow UP the driveway so I could try and fling it between our house and the next one because it was less work to do that than to try and carefully pile the snow on the tippy-top of the steep mountain that is gradually forming on the corner of our sidewalk. The other VERY annoying thing, is when the snowplow comes through and pushes in several FEET worth of snow into our driveway.  Again, since we have absolutely no more space on the ends of our driveway, I have been pushing it across the street and scooping it on top of a bank over there.  I am sooooo ready for spring!

The Total Keeps Changing....

I knew that I had missed some words from yesterday's post.  Joslynn also knows:

78. Bubble

79. Elbow

80. Knee

81. Toast (which sounds either like doste, or totes)

82. Itchy (Poor kid and her eczema)

83. Movie (which sounds like moomie)

84. Duck (She never just says it once either...It's always: "Duck, duck, duck...")

85. Beach

86. Hello

87. Bye

88. Uppo (Hippo)

89. Socks

90. Snack

91. Trucks

92. Ball

93. Boat

She IS a genius!  93 words!

Words, Sounds & Signs

I started making a list of Joslynn's words, sounds and signs that she uses and couldn't believe how many she uses now!  Many of you may not be interested in reading the whole list, but it is more of a reference for myself (Now I just need to figure out how to print it.)  I am sure that I am missing some, but here they are in no particular order...

1. Mommy
   
2. Daddy
3. Noonle (noodle)
4. Taco
5. Cheese
6. Pita (Pizza)
7. Hot (This is emphasized with a long Hhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa sound.)
8. Brrrrr (cold)
9. Cracker (she signs this also)
10. Juice
11. Wa-Wa (water)
12. Puppy
13. Neigh (horsie)
14. Bah (sheep)
15. Moo (cow)
16. Po-bo (polar bear--also her bed time snuggle pal)
17. (elephant noise)  I don't know how to type that.  She also makes a cute gesture with her hand to represent a trunk.
18. No! (of course...)
19. Hi
20. Nigh (Nice)
21. More (also signs)
22. Eat (also signs)
23. Banana (this one is really cute but hard to type it just how she says it)
24. No-ing (snowing)
25. Bowl
26. Plate (She knows where to get both of these {26 & 27} out of the drawers in the kitchen.)
27. Happy (She said it all day yesterday because they were saying Happy New Year at daycare,  so she just wandered around saying, "Happy, Happy...")
28. Up (she has finally perfected the "P" sound on that one)
29. Icky
30. Poo poo
31. Poopy (She also pats her butt when she is poopy.  That is her all around word for potty because she knows the difference between poop and pee when she is asked.)
32. Pease (Please--also signs)
33. Doot-too (Thank you--which she also signs) 
34. Baby
35. Moon
36. Dirty (which she wrinkles her nose at)
37. Stinky (she plugs her nose on this one)
38. Minnie/Mimmie (Mindy at daycare)
39. Jo-Jo (Jodi at daycare)
40. Nack (Snack)
41. Green bean
42. Pritty (Pretty)
43. Maynie (Our kitty, whom she LOVES and always tries to pet, hug or brush.)
44. Brush (She tries to open the closet door to get it to brush Maynie.)
45. Kitty
46. Book
47. Story
48. Boot
49. Shoe
50. Eye (She points to it.)
51. Butt (She pats it when she is messy.)
52. Yea! (and she claps...usually for herself if she does a good job)
53. Yeah (Yes is too hard to say with the "s")
54. Tree
55. Lo-lo (lotion)
56. Ba-ba (bottle)
57. Ear (She tugs on them to point them out.)
58. Door
59. Blankie
60. Binky (Jackson's...which she likes to steal occasionally since her teeth hurt.)
61. Owie
62. Quack 
63. Two (she tries to count but everything is "two, two, two...)
64. Doctor (I think she is going to be a doctor or a veterinarian.)
65. Laura (She said it really funny when my sister was over in a low, scary voice; we all laughed hysterically.)
66. Papa (grandpa)
67. Gamma (grandma--she's only attempted this a few times.  Papa is much easier to say.)
68. Toot
69. Choo-choo
70. Jackson (she doesn't say it perfectly, but she does okay)
71. Toe
72. Ho-Ho-Ho (She recognizes Santa and covers her mouth when she says it.
73. Uh-Oh
74. Oopt (oops)  She tried saying this today.
75. Bounce (She says it differently, but I can't figure out how to type that one either.)
76. Mmmoothie (Smoothie!--she loves smoothies.  We make them here at home.)
77. Hat (This is new...she tried to say it the other day, but she has found it easier to pat her head instead.)

• She gives hugs and kisses upon request.  
• She blows kisses and her way of saying 'sorry' is to rub that person or to give a kiss or a hug with a "sorry" look on her face.
  
• She knows what a time-out is and even put herself in one the other day.  [We have a time-out chair.] (She is getting jealous and sometimes hits.)
• She comprehends so many more words than she can vocalize.  
• Her signing has dwindled a bit since her speech has picked up, but she reverts to her signs when she can't come up with the words (or when she has a mouthful and can't say what she wants.)

I know that every parent thinks their kids are smart, but she really is!  She picks up on a word after hearing it once...now we REALLY have to watch what we say.

(Even though I typed her words as a numbered list, it is just putting bullets by the words.  There are 77 in case you were curious.)