I thought it would be a good day to try a fun activity so I made some corn starch finger paint for Jonas to try. Here’s a run down of my thought process:

This is going to be fun! What a great activity. He will love it. I’m a great mom…planning developmentally appropriate activities for my baby! I should take a picture of the steps so I can blog about it later. I’ll be so Pinterest-y!

Ok, the dog is inside and we are outside. I’m pretty smart. I know this is supposed to wash out easily, but this will still make it easier to clean up. And a black onesie so it won’t stain! Of course he isn’t sure what to do with it..this is his first time finger painting. I will just show him and then he’ll love it.

There he goes! Maybe we can even use his artwork as thank you cards after his birthday!

Oh well. I guess he is just excited about being outside and he wants to explore. It’s hot out here, though. We should go in.

Even better idea! We can finger paint the bath tub! He’ll love it!

Well. I guess he isn’t interested in finger painting yet. Time to wash the tub. At least I TRIED to do something entertaining! (Also, Look at that face!!)

And NOW he is fascinated!

Haha, so in a roundabout way, we did end up doing a fun, sensory activity. I guess it doesn’t matter that it’s one we do almost every day!

On July 29, Jonas and I flew to Washington, D.C. We spent the night with some cousins. Jared had an exam on the 31st, so he flew to Baltimore on August 1 and spent the weekend with our friend Wes before driving down to West Virginia.

In DC, Jonas had a great time with his cousin Olive, who is three, playing music and crawling around. The next day was my birthday and we spent a lot of it on a 6 hour train ride to West Virginia.

When we arrived, my mom and Richard met us at the station. Richard had flowers for me and when we got to her house, my mom made a delicious dinner and brought out a pineapple upside down cake– the cake she has always made me for my birthday. It was all delicious. She also had presents for me– an infinity scarf she crocheted for me herself, some LUSH hand putty, and a beautiful change purse and bracelet from their trip to Vietnam.

The next day was my mom’s 60th birthday. We went blueberry picking! Jonas loved the fresh blueberries and kept saying “BLUE!” the rest of the trip when he wanted some.

The man at the blueberry farm took this picture for us. Jonas wasn’t looking at the camera, but I didn’t want to ask him to take another one, because he didn’t seem too happy to be doing it. Maybe because there was a sign saying not to eat the blueberries without paying for them and Jonas’s face was covered in them, haha.

My aunts surprised my mom by driving down from New York the next day, in time for the party we threw for her on August 2. The party was great– a potluck with so much great food and great people.

Mommy in her birthday crown looking at the memory book I made for her.

Jonas loves Bubby. She got him a Batman shirt and they were Batman and Robin!

He had a lot of fun playing with Grandpa, too.

In that picture, the living room looks deceivingly organized. Don’t be surprised! Jonas took Bubby’s clean house and moved EVERYTHING onto the floor to play with!

On August 4th, Jonas took three steps!!!! He was standing at the coffee table, let go, took a step toward Bubby, then paused. He looked at me, changed direction, and took two steps toward me!

That evening, Jared and Wes drove down from Baltimore. Jer, Wes, Amelia (my step sister, in from Ireland, who I hadn’t seen in 8 years before this trip!!!), Mommy, Richard, Jonas, and I had a yummy tempeh stir fry dinner and the grown ups enjoyed wine and lavender mojitos.

Reunited and sleepy

Jonas missed Jared before he got there. One night in his sleep, he was saying, “Dadada.” He was playing with one of Bubby’s old cell phones and I asked who he was talking to and he said, “Dada.”

Bubby got Jonas a cool pool to play in and he loved crawling in…

and out…

over and over.

I hope we can more spend time like this, especially in the summer, in West Virginia as Jonas grows up so he has awesome wild and wonderful experiences and memories!