I am exciting

This morning when Jonathan had quiet time in his room, he asked for the box of old wooden dollhouse furniture to be in the bed with him. As I closed the door on him, he turned to me with a smile and whispered, "I am exciting!"

Yesterday when he was playing with the same toys during quiet time, and I was feeding Anna in the next room, I heard him saying, "...and Daddy is here. Gordon, are you here?" (Gordon is Opa's name). Here Opa reads the Cat in the Hat in Low German - something we very reluctantly endured when we were kids. So of course now I do it with my own kids and think I am the awesomest parent in the world. :)


And Anna is sick - vomiting during the night and this morning, and now just kind of limp all over. This photo is not from today, but the facial expression is similar.

Then and now

From 2000-2004, Ramont worked with MCC in Bangladesh (and a brief stint in India) on soybean experimentation and other projects. For much of that time, including orientation in Akron, a guy named Joel Ward was close at hand. They worked and lived closed to each other and became good friends. The first photo shows them in those years, in Bangladesh: young, carefree, single, and adventurous.

And here they are today. Definitely not single and carefree, at least. Joel is married to Tabitha, has two kids just a bit younger than ours, and is teaching at Bethel University in the Twin Cities this year. They all came to visit us in Mtn. Lake this weekend, and we had a good time with them - especially watching Helen and Jonathan play with each other. What a great thing, to have folks from our "former lives" drop into our lives again.

And what a difference 10 years makes!

What the little guy is up to

This blog tends has tended to feature a lot of Anna recently, likely because at her age there are so many new milestones reached (walking! yesterday! all evening!). But lest it seem that we focus only on her, let me reassure everyone that Jonathan does not allow the limelight to shine on her only. He is, in fact, the one that keeps everything moving at home. He is now 2 years and 8.5 months old. He talks all. day. long. It's all in Low German, so it makes for some pretty funny moments. I won't even try to capture them here; suffice it to say that he's a pretty keen observer of what's going on around him, which people talk with their hands in their pockets, and where all the combines in this area are parked.

Here are a few photos from the last few months that feature some key characteristics of Jonathan at this moment:


Tractors (and combines, manure wagons, sprayers, and especially disks) are what makes the world go 'round for this guy. He can spend hours laying on the floor staring at the toy tractors, moving them a few inches every so often. It's pretty clear that this fixation comes not just from his pa but also from another generation back (with Opa Harder below).

This wagon from Grandparents Schrock continues to be another all-purpose machine: filling it up with leaves, pulling Anna by hand or by trike, taking rides with Anna around the yard (just call me a horse), hauling "manure" with it (somehow manure wagons are a huge interest of his), etc.

Jonathan has SO much energy: one of his favorite games is to play ranne und hoopse (run and jump) with daddy. Here he patiently waits his turn after Anna's. We often note how "sparkly" or full of light he is, and what a daunting responsibility it is to make sure that light is not dimmed by us (esp. when I get a wee bit exhausted by the 900th "what, mommy?" of the hour). The amazing flip side of this verve is his capacity to be alone and quiet much of the time, too. He practically runs into his room each morning for an hour of quiet time; he reads books, plays with his mini tractor and manure wagon, or just lays in his bed and hums and (presumably) thinks. It continues to amaze us, and we keep our fingers figuratively crossed.

Did I mention trucks? That's another big obsession. Here he's driving (on the arm of the chair) to Kansas to see Uncle Doft, Tante Rachel and the two babies in her belly. Next he jumps off, fixes the wheels (chair legs) and off we go again.

Above: Canoeing with David Bucklin and friends.

What a lucky little guy, to have not only grandparents but greatgrandparents close by! (All that's missing are grandparents Schrock :) "Grandma Great" Harder, as he calls her, reads a new book to him (above), and the next day Oma repeats it.

Potty trained or no (mostly no), these little boxer briefs from Grandma Schrock continue to be pretty exciting.