Goober #1

Little J's level of silliness has been increasing exponentially lately. His new favorite thing is hiding around the house and trying to scare us (he's only succeeded once). The giggling usually gives him away. He also likes to put everything on his head and call it a hat, including shoes, newspapers, bowls, books, buckets etc.

He's also recently started making "yummy" noises when he eats. If he's eating something he thinks is especially delicious (like chicken) he'll take a bite and then go "MMMM!! MNOMNOMNOM!" Case and point:

He was also getting a kick out of drinking water out of the cap of an old chapstick. I don't know what it is about kids and tiny things, but he sure thought it was hilarious.

A Grand Adventure

These past few days have been wonderful. Epic, even. Big J's sister and her husband flew into town and we all went up to the Grand Canyon together. None of us had been.

I was pretty excited. Excited is putting it mildly, actually. After studying geology in university, and never having been to the Grand Canyon, this was like a pilgrimage for me. And while I didn't bring any rock hammers or hydrochloric acid to leave on a stone alter, I did feel extremely humbled after seeing it.

But first, let's start with some of Little J's shenanigans.

Yes, one of the shoes is on backwards. He's a goober, ok?

And NOW we're on to the Grand Canyon. We drove up to Flagstaff Friday afternoon and had dinner at a fantastic delicious mouth-watering gastronomically astonishing Thai restaurant called Pato. We then made the quick drive up to the Grand Canyon village and checked in at our hotel.

Mather Point. Our first interaction with the Canyon.

To say that the Canyon is beautiful is an understatement. In fact, I don't think there are adequate words to describe its majesty. I found myself a bit misty-eyed looking at its vastness, and trying to comprehend the age and scope of it. I know, I know, I'm waxing a bit poetic, but seriously, it's awe-inspiring.

See? Proof that we were there! Also,  I'm pregnant, if you can't tell. Shhhh!
Don't go getting all excited yet! We're finding out the gender in 9 days, and
THEN you can get excited.

We decided to hike down into the Canyon on the Kaibab trail, and I'm so glad we did. Even just going down a 1000 feet into it helps you understand its scale better. Plus, so many people go to the Grand Canyon and don't ever go into it. It was almost a relief to hike into it, because from the rim, it doesn't look real. Well, it is definitely very real, and very steep. I had Little J on my back on the way down, which was fine, but thankfully, our brother-in-law carried him the way back up, because, as you can see, it was a bit of a grind.

Hiking down just 1,120 feet into the Canyon, we spanned ~5
million years. WHOA!

Apparently Little J didn't find it that fascinating and instead took a nap.

We went back up to the rim and walked a bit along it until we found a bus back to the visitor's center. It was a bit breezy, and Little J was acting like a sloth baby the whole walk, which was fine by me. He was cold and needed mama-snuggles, and I happily obliged.

I swear there's a toddler in there somewhere.

We had some lunch and the kid had a blast playing with a granite cougar. I think he rubbed off several millimeters from the ears he was petting them so much.

He wishes he had one at home.

After lunch we headed out to the Tusayan Ruins to check them out. They were indeed amazing. We also went out there to see a friend of mine, Maci who works as a ranger in the park. Getting to catch up with her was wonderful, and she even let me wear her ranger hat. I can't tell you how much I want one of those. 

She told us that the tribes in the area consider the Canyon sacred (obviously) and that the ruins were from people who came to visit the Canyon, and not make a living there. Farming is near impossible with the tough climate and lack of soil, so they must have come to be close to the Canyon. I can totally see why they wanted to do that. It's an incredibly spiritual place to this day, and I can't imagine how it must have been before all the cars and busses sidewalks and tourists.

Our last long look at the Canyon was at a viewpoint not far from the ruins.
From every angle it looks so different and with the clouds and sunshine
rolling across it, it almost changes by the minute.

After saying goodbye to Maci we headed back to Flagstaff, enjoyed another delicious dinner and checked into another hotel.

All the wildflowers along I-17 are blooming, and it was GORGEOUS! Yellows,
reds, oranges, blues! It was like driving through a paint aisle at a craft store.

We took the scenic route home and drove through Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona and it was the best choice I've made, probably ever. I don't have any pictures of the drive because I was too busy rubber-necking the entire time.

Only serious literature for this kid.

Little J did great the entire time. Despite not taking any serious naps, he was cheerful and energetic, and was great at entertaining himself in the car, as you can see. I think he was just happy to be outside for an ENTIRE day.

I need to go back again. Just spending a day there is not nearly enough. The Louvre has nothing on this place. I would love to go down to the bottom and look up. The draw is almost magnetic, and maybe in the next couple years, we'll have a chance to really plumb the depths of this magnificent place.

Quoth the toddler, "Wa wa!"

Guess what! Little J talks now! Well, he makes noises that remotely sound like words in the English language, but I'm totally counting that as talking. Here's a list of words with the accompanying noises he makes in parentheses:
Waffle (wa wa)
Truck (bruck)
Car (ga ga)
Ball (ball) Boo ya!
Teeth (eeth)
Shoes (ssszzz)
Banana (nana)
More (mo) And he still signs it.
Hi (ha)
Bye (ba)
Mater (from the movie Cars) (mama) I'm not sure how I feel about this.
Grandpa (boppa)
Amen (ah ma) He also says it repeatedly throughout the prayer.
Hot (Hoh)
Hat (Hah)
Tractor (Tra ta)
Cactus (tac tac)
Doc (also from the movie Cars) (da)
Door (doh)
Keys (jeesh)
Bowl (boh)

Only 4979 more words until he's considered fluent in English!

Also, we've been having more adventures in the desert, and with some friends at the zoo. Here's proof:

This winter was exceptionally wet, so the wildflowers at
our local desert hangout spot are looking really beautiful!

Just look at how green(ish) that is!

A lovely little lupine.

Although he doesn't look enthused here, Little J actually had a great time
looking at the lions. He even made lion noises at them. Hopefully he didn't
say anything rude.

There's something super adorable about a kid drinking
out of a water bottle that's the same size as his torso.

Check out that Galapagos Tortoise!

Apparently this is comfortable.

Checking out some cool poop.

There was a goat petting zoo area, but I think Little J thought it was a
playground. He ignored the goats and climbed all over the stumps
and all over the goat toys.

Driving a giant tra ta.

Heffalumps and woozles!

I couldn't think of a better title for this. Deal with it.

We have been busy busy lately! The weather has been beautiful, so we've been spending a lot of time outside. Although, I think my blood is already starting to thin. When we go outside in the mornings and it's below 50 degrees, I'm wearing a sweatshirt, and my jacket and I'm still shivering. I'm turning into a wuss.

Lots of pictures to see, so let's get started!

We went to visit the Lost Dutchman State Park out east of Phoenix. It was a beautiful day! Sadly, Little J fell down and scraped his head right before I put him in the backpack, so we only hiked for about 2.35 minutes. So basically, I paid $9 to comfort a sad toddler. Oh well. It was worth it. The views were amazing, and James had a good time playing in the car.

This is the last cookie we had from our friend's the Saids.
It's a butter cookie from France. It was a struggle to
not eat it myself.

Apparently there's a lost gold mine up there somewhere. I just think it looks pretty.

The ground was covered in little green plants! The whole desert was carpeted
in grass, and it was quite pretty.

Another thing we spend a lot of time doing is playing at the park. Little J is old enough to appreciate the playground now, and he has a pretty good time. He's just recently started going down the slide by himself and thinks it's the most fun he's ever had.

He also likes to climb on things he's just slightly too small to master and give
me heart palpitations.

The poor guy just needs about 1.7 more inches.

Look at those happy Js!

Yesterday, Little J and I went on an off-roading desert adventure to the south and west of Phoenix in the Sierra Estrella mountains. It was a total blast.

Yeah, we're probably going to leave it like that for a while so people think
we're really cool.

We found a beautiful mission church.

Little J had the time of his life playing in the sand.

Some little birds had a dance party here.

The desert is actually quite beautiful. Especially this time of year. We've
gotten more rain than usual, so everything is lush (for a desert) and green!

Little J made sure to sniff some of the rocks he picked up.
I almost peed my pants laughing at him.

You can almost see them in this picture, but Little J is getting tiny
little freckles across the bridge of his nose. It makes him even cuter,
if that's physically possible.

And now, here's Little J being a goober.

Everything is "uh-oh", "oh-no" and "ow" these days.

When the Parents Come to Town

A couple of weeks ago my parents come to town for a visit and we had so much fun! Little J remembered them from when we lived in Oregon with them, and he loves them SO much. 

The temperatures were perfect. Right before they arrived, we had had a few weeks of really cold weather! The lows were in the 30s (heaven forbid) and it only got up into the mid-50s (the agony) during the day. Luckily, my parents brought the Central Oregon sunshine with them and we spent our time outside without jackets in 70 degree weather.

We spent most of our time birdwatching, as both of my parents are avid birdwatchers. We found a GREAT park called the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert, and it was filled with all sort of wonderful little (and big) avians. We also visited the Hassayampa River Preserve run by the Nature Conservancy just outside of Wickenburg, AZ. It would have been more fun, but the birds were so-so, and I was coming down with a stomach bug. That, and we got caught in rush hour traffic on the way home. Never again.

Since both of my parents are also photographers, we got some great shots while they were here. The first shot of the heron is my dad's and the rest were taken by my lovely mother and her massive Canon.

Papago Park adventures:

A green heron we spied at Papago Park.

Little J pointing out all the Ring-Necked ducks to
his grandpa, Big Old J.

Little J has rarely been so happy as to be toted
around by a doting grandpa.

A gorgeous verdin. 

These were taken at the Water Ranch in Gilbert.

There's a flock of peach-faced lovebirds that live
at the ranch that look so incongruent! 

If there's a puddle in a 13 mile radius, Little J
will find it.

Just look at the beauty and grace of this little
Mourning Dove! She deserves an a sash and a crown!

A female Boat-Tailed Grackle. Look at that beady little eye!

There was a great little walkway where Little J and I spied some ducks. A
very gracious woman shared her birdseed with us, so we fed them too.

Don't you think this picture of a Little Egret
belongs in a National Geographic or something?

That face is pure joy.

Only one picture from the Hassayampa River Preserve:

One of my favorites. The work of a grandparent is never done.

My mother and I also visited the Arizona Desert Sonoran Museum down in Tucson. It was a wonderful museum, and all three of us had a great time!

Little J giving the Barn Owl the stink eye. Also, the rivets on the guy's hat 
make it look like it's smiling. Heh heh.

I'm hoping to impress Little J at a young age to be interested in minerals and
other rockish stuff.  I mean, who WOULDN'T want to get their hands on those?

They had a great little aquarium, too! In the middle of the desert! Crazy!

This is probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. That nest was no bigger
than a thimble! Can you imagine the eggs and young? TINY!

KAPOW! That cardinal is a total knockout!

This is Little J's favorite book. Luckily, I don't mind it either, seeing that
we read it 15 times a day.

It was so great to have my mom here while I was sick. I was only out for a few days, but the thought of being a mom while sick made me even sicker. She was so great with Little J that I'm not sure he even noticed I wasn't around much.

The best Nana award goes to this woman, hands down!

You also might ask yourself why there are no pictures of Big J here. Well, we did all the adventuring while he was at work! It would have made it a million times more fun if he had been there, but somebody has to bring home the bacon.