I am clearly more permissive when it comes to having a second child and dirt. Earlier this week I took Jordan to her brother’s baseball game. It’s rained a lot around here, so the kid play area was covered in puddles. But that didn’t stop Jordan and her friends from playing and playing and eventually sitting in the puddles. By the end of it, she was a muddy mess. And she loved every minute of it… She didn’t even complain when I cleaned it all off later that night!

It’s refreshing to have a child who is happy to just go outside. Last night she spent 45 minutes or so playing out in the slightly muddy backyard. She spent time on the backyard treehouse and swings. She returned covered in extra dirt in her pretty pink dress… But I won’t complain. I appreciate a girl who is willing to dress pretty and get messy.
By the way – that hat is a dinosaur she decorated at school. Very cute.

Jordan and her brother had a busy day as usual. We made a trip to church where the kids got to go to their choir practice. The choir leader says Jordan was really into it. She listened and even tried to sing along. I love that.

The day started out cool, but it was perfect for playing outside. The kids had a great tacklefest with their Dad. And they both took an increased liking to hanging out in Dudley’s dog house.

Jordan also got a couple of cool new things at the toy store: a baseball glove and roller skates. I know. I know. They’re both things that are a little too old for her. But I thought the roller skates would be a really cool experience and maybe help build a little less fear about rolling things. The baseball glove is from her recent interest in the game since her brother is playing a ton of t-ball games. She even tried to hit the ball off the tee tonight. It was super cute. Every time she got the ball off the tee, we cheered and she would run and run.

Just when we had the day rolling, Jordan and I suddenly spent the day at home while her brother sleeps. He wasn’t feeling well… Bad enough that I decided to not drag him into the car just so I could take Jordan to school. So we’ve let him sleep and she’s let me take conference calls and do some work. Unfortunately, this means Jordan missed her second occupational therapy appointment today. Hopefully we’ll be able to reschedule for later in the week.

So what has Jordan done today? Well… She’s played cards, played with blocks… And I’ve let her watch TV. I know. I know. I try so hard to not spend that much time with TV… But I’ve let the rules relax since the day isn’t going as planned.

Jordan is enjoying a snack and learning about animals with Zaboomafoo right now. We might find a show that talks about colors — we need to work on that.

Jordan had a ball egging her brother on today… They ended up playing pretty well right before bed time. But the big moment was when Cameron jumped onto the little toy rocking horse that sits in the living room. Jordan has been wary of it… Until now.

With my help, she got on and had a BALL! She was obviously proud. Check out that smile in the picture. It wasn’t long ago when I tried to get her on that horse and she was not going to risk it. She felt really unsafe. Tonight, when I was taking her upstairs, she kept calling “Horse! Horse!” thinking I’d change my mind and let her ride it one more time before bed.

Nope. I’m a sleep nazi.

Anyway. I’m happy to see her continuing to be brave. It’s awesome.

We had a pretty darn great Thanksgiving. Jordan got to enjoy a feast thanks to the hard work of her uncle’s boyfriend, Erik, who created a heck of a meal. Her Uncle Jon helped with awesome mashed potatoes and her dad to made his famous family corn bread dressing. All in all, we ate well. Jordan was mostly interested in eating more turkey (or as she yelled “Moh two-kee!”). It was fun to see all of my pots and pans and stove and oven put to the test by an expert. I was worried I didn’t have the right stuff, but Erik made due.

Thanks Erik!! It was a great meal.

Cam and Jordan are playing a little more with each other. Jordan is really willing to copy anything her brother does — Other than jump. She hasn’t really figured out how to jump yet.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving… I want to make sure everyone knows I’m so thankful for my family and friends. I’m very thankful for the little network of friends I’ve developed online.

I know this picture is blurry… But I love it. Jordan was about to tackle me. I took the kids to work. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but work is near a cow pasture. (yeah) As we drove in, Jordan started yelling: “MOO! MOO! MOO!” She was really excited. So after we were done with the newsroom, we played outside looking at the cows. Then we (Cam and Jordan and I) tussled out on the lawn. The cows were freaked out.

Anyway. It was a sweet little time with the kids… It was cool out, but not cold. The sun was just starting to set and no one was outside except us… And the cows.

This was one of the few weekends where we didn’t have to GO GO GO! We spent most of the weekend playing outside. The highlight is still the dog wedding… But the rest of our time has been running up and down our backyard hill and getting very sandy in the sandbox.

Miss Boo got to walk with us from church to the nearby coffee shop… She did a pretty good job crossing the street while holding my hand… She walked along the sidewalk without us needing to guide her very much. She’s growing up so dang fast! While we were at the coffee shop we started talking with a mom and her two and a half year old son. They’re from the UK and are moving back in 6 months. Her son was adorable and we had an interesting conversation… It’s a conversation that most parents wouldn’t normally talk about. But she kindly asked us about Jordan’s arm without any discomfort… But then she mentioned a young man who works at the nearby pet store. I saw him earlier this week. His face is badly disfigured. He must have had a massive tumor or a terrible accident where he lost most of his nose and his face is kind of caved in a bit. When I talked to him I made sure I looked him straight in the eye and didn’t stare. But this mom admitted that when her son made a comment to this man’s face, she tried to change the subject and ignore her son’s reaction. I tried to politely suggest that her son’s comments give her permission to ask him what happened so her son understands what happened. I hope with my experience with Jordan, I’ll be more sensitive when she or my son asks questions or act not-quite-so polite.

Fun and exiting weekend for Miss Jordan. She got to play in water, with bubbles and we restocked the sandbox… So she went CRAZY with that.

Unfortunately, she also learned that throwing sand with her brother leads to a very unhappy bathtub experience. It may take days to be sure I actually get all of the sand out.

She had a ball though. Her grandparents were in town so she had more people to kiss and flirt with. And the words! Oh my gosh the words. I discovered this weekend that she knows the word ‘bubbles’ and ‘MINE’ and she can sing “row row row…” when you sing Row Row Row Your Boat. She rocks back and forth and sings “row row row!” It’s adorable. She’s never joined in on singing a song with me before. I love it. I swear she’s trying to repeat sentences like “I love you” and “I’m going to get you.” It’s fun. The hard part: She’s starting to get into little battles with her brother. As her grandparents and I said today: It’s ON. The challenge of brother versus sister is ON. Heck, Jordan was telling Bubba the dog that the toy he was sniffing was “MINE!”

Yesterday I had this awesome moment. I was smiling and enjoying the day to my inner core. Suddenly I had to think about what day it was… I had this amazing and peaceful realization that it was Saturday. We had one more day to play. I was so excited that I grabbed Randy to set up our big tent in the backyard. We slept out in the backyard with Cam while Jordan and her grandparents slept inside. We’ll experiment with Jordan camping when we actually get to the campgrounds. It’ll be great — Maybe not a lot of sleep, but it will be great!