Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Portrait Weekend

Grandma, Gramps, Mommy, Daddy, Smoochie and Uncle Matt met at Portrait Innovations in Mayfield Heights on Saturday afternoon, May 16. They were there for a family portrait. Numerous poses and pictures were taken. Photographer’s name was Alisha who took some terrific shots of Smoochie. This was not easy. She got him to smile but it lasted about a second. She had to be quick. We finally got finished. With digital pictures, we were able to chose the shots we like and pictures that we wanted. Mommy, Daddy, Smoochie and Uncle Matt left while Grandma and Gramps waited for the prints. Grandma and Gramps decided to head for the Tekavecs with the new pictures to show everyone. Gramps and Smoochie played while the grownups looked through the pictures. Grandma and Gramps went home to rest up for Sunday.

Grandma, Gramps, Mommy, Daddy, Smoochie, Uncle Matt and Auntie Sandy met for breakfast at 5th Avenue Deli. The little guy gave everyone big hugs. We ordered breakfast. Gramps and Blondie went off to wash hands. They had to wait while a maintenance man finished cleaning the room. They finally got in to wash hands. 5th Avenue now has an automatic towel dispenser. With clean hands, Gramps got the paper towels. Smoochie dried his hands and was going to throw away the paper towel when he discovered that the maintenance man had taken the waste basket leaving only the top. Jason tried to put the paper towel under the top. Gramps fetched the waste basket so Smoochie was able to put the paper towel in the waste basket. He liked this waste basket since the top has a swinging lid. He pushed down the lid on one side and the other side swung around and hit him in the back of the hand. He liked swinging the lid. After two washes and dries, the two went back to the table where breakfast was waiting. When breakfast was done, Smoochie and Gramps went back to wash hands. No incident but Jason waved his hand in the automatic dispenser to get the paper towels. After two washes and dries, Smoochie and Gramps returned to pay the check. They went out on the sidewalk to cruise. They walked backwards, sideways and jumped.

Uncle Matt went home but everyone else went to the Mayfield Heights park. Smoochie climbed over the equipment and slid down the slides. He and Daddy went down the big metal slide together. Young Jason had the playground almost to himself. He eventually went onto the swing. Gramps pushed for a while then Daddy pushed. Initially, Jason did not want to go too high but he got braver and was swinging over Gramps’ outstretched hands. Mommy got a call from her friend Sarah. It was decided that Mommy visit Sarah and Daddy would get the overnight stuff and Smoochie stop at Grandma’s and Gramps’ house. Jason and Gramps kicked the soccer ball. Jason helped Gramps pick up tree limbs. The three of them went for a walk. Grandma made lunch for Jason of peanut butter sandwich and brown (chocolate) milk followed by grapes which Smoochie shared with Grandma and Gramps on the patio.

Jason wanted to go in the house and play. He and Grandma played with the cobblers bench. Jason found he was able to push the pegs down with his thumb. Grandma got out the Matchbox cars which originally belonged to Smoochie’s uncle and Daddy. The little guy loved those. Then Grandma brought down the play set for the Matchbox cars. Smoochie adored that. He parked the cars in the two garages. He moved the cars up and down ramps. He had the cars get gas. The cars went on a lift. Daddy finally came to take Jason to pick up Mommy and then go to the Tekavecs for dinner before leaving for home. Jason did not want to go in Daddy’s car. He said, “Gramps car. RED CAR. RED CAR.” After hugs and kisses he got his meow piano and left with Daddy. He slept all the way home. Grandma and Gramps will have to visit this coming weekend.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Easter Outfit

 
Posted by Picasa

Swing and Slide

When Smoochie woke up on Saturday, April 25, he told his Mommy, “Grandma, Gramps red car go bye park.” He is getting to be quite verbal. When he went to bed the previous night, Mommy told him that Grandma and Gramps will visit the next day and take him to the park. He met Grandma and Gramps at the door when they arrived. He wanted to leave immediately for the park. Grandma said that she wanted to visit his Mommy and Daddy first. Gramps and Smoochie went to the nearby field to kick around the little guy’s soccer ball. They had fun kicking and throwing the ball for a while but had to return sooner than they wanted because a seam came apart on the ball. When they came home, Smoochie showed Grandma the ball and asked, “Grandma fix?” Debbie gave Jaci a needle, a thimble and dental floss. Jaci threaded the needle and started to sew the ball with a fascinated spectator. Blondie probably has not noticed a needle or thimble before. He was all set to help. He desperately wanted to hold the needle and thimble but Grandma was performing the operation by herself. It was not easy to sew when a little face is inches away. Grandma eventually finished. In a short time, Grandma, Gramps and Smoochie left for the park.

On the way to Columbus, Grandma asked original Jason if he wanted his parents to pick up burgers to grill that night. He said, “NO.” He and Debbie wanted Grandma and Gramps to have dinner with their grandson so that they had time by themselves. On the way to the park, Grandma and Gramps stopped at the grocery store to pick up sandwich fixings. They also got some bakery chocolate chip cookies. Grandma, Gramps and Smoochie arrived at the park to find it quite crowded. The swings were full so Blondie started on the slides. He no longer fears the big slides. He went down both big slides although he preferred the twisty green slide. The safety swing became available so we went over to the swings. Up to now, Jason had limits on how high he wanted to be pushed. No more limits. He was happy to go as high as Grandma could push. At one point, he was singing and smiling as he did what Grandma calls “cherry bumps.” He might have spent all afternoon on the swing but another young person wanted to get on so we went back to the slides. Jason found a new way of getting on the slide structure. He climbed up the rungs which are kind of like a ladder. He later got on the structure by walking across two rails. Grandma, Gramps and Smoochie broke for dinner. During dinner, Jason noted that Grandma’s juice had bubbles that went up. After dinner, Smoochie went back to the swings and slides. Grandma got a thorough workout pushing the swing. Eventually, Grandma, Gramps and Smoochie left.

Gramps drove to Graeter’s. Smoochie was quite mellow on the ride. He made it through the day without a nap. After the car pulled into a parking space, Jason saw where he was. He perked up and said, “Eat ice cream.” While Gramps paid, Grandma and Smoochie sat on a bench on the patio eating their ice cream. Jason made his way through his ice cream while dripping ice cream all over himself. They went through a huge number of napkins. Before the ice cream was finished, Mommy and Daddy showed up. They all went back to Mommy and Daddy’s. Grandma and Smoochie sang songs and danced. Grandma and Gramps had to leave. Grandma got to kiss and hug a sweaty and stinky boy. There were three tired individuals after that fun day. Grandma and Gramps crashed the whole next day.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Easter Candy Yum

 
Posted by Picasa

Two Year Old Sense of Humor

On the day Smoochie became 2 and one-half, Saturday, April 18, Grandma and Gramps are met at the door by Smoochie who checks to make sure that Grandma, Gramps and the red car have arrived. Since Smoochie and his parents did not come to Cleveland on Easter because of his cold, Grandma and Gramps brought some gifts for the little guy. Grandma knitted a ball bag for him. He opened the ball bag to find what is in it. He pulled out a soft soccer ball. He was all set to play with that. Grandma told Blondie to keep looking in the bag. He pulled out big boy underwear which he handed to Mommy and promptly forgot about. He took out a book. Grandma told him that there was one more object. Jason kept grabbing and finally pulled out a package of M & Ms. At this point, Blizzard was interested. Smoochie is well aware of M & Ms which were put aside to remove temptation from the dog. Gramps then showed him a box with a Bubble Mower. Gramps and Smoochie put the mower together and took it outside with Grandma. Smoochie pushed the mower around without many bubbles. The mower needed to move faster to get the bubbles out. Guess who got to push the mower? Grandma pushed the mower and the bubbles flew out. Jason chased the bubbles. Then Gramps got to push the mower. Smoochie chased more bubbles. After a few minutes, Grandma and Gramps had enough of the bubble mower. Gramps told Smoochie to get the soccer ball and they could go kick the ball. Blondie and Gramps walked over to a nearby field and kicked the ball around.

On the way back to Jason and Debbie’s house, Smoochie picked a dandelion and gave it to Mommy when he got home. Everybody decided to have steaks for dinner so they all went off to Costco. Jason and Debbie went in their car. Smoochie went with Grandma and Gramps in the big red car. Jason put on his sunglasses while in his seat. He put them on upside down and off center. Blondie and Grandma sang B-I-N-G-O and the ABC song. He refers to himself more as Jason and not as “you.” At Costco, the family picked up bacon wrapped filets, green beans, diapers, dessert and other stuff for Jason and Debbie. Original Jason decided to fix garlic mashed potatoes to go with the steaks and green beans. Smoochie had no problems sitting in the cart looking at all the bright objects. In the middle of the store, he said “Mommy bunk!” He then laughed. Debbie said that is a new term for him. Debbie had called Blizzard, “Shminky bunk.” One day Smoochie said “Mommy bunk” and thought it was a great joke. For the rest of the time in Costco, we heard, “Mommy bunk. Daddy bunk.” Debbie told Smoochie, “Jason bunk.” On the way home, Jason and Debbie stopped to pick up a cylinder of propane. Smoochie got real mellow on the ride home. For the first time since Grandma and Gramps arrived in Columbus that day, he had his binkie. He worked on that while his eyelids were at half mast. It was a quiet ride back to Jason and Debbie’s.

We all helped prepare dinner while original Jason watched the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game. Grandma started the green beans. Original Jason fixed the mashed potatoes while Gramps grilled the steaks. Grandma and Smoochie danced the Hokey Pokey. Smoochie knows all the Hokey Pokey moves. The family sat down to dinner. Smoochie is not a steak person. He is not a complete Hoagland male, yet. For a change, Mommy had to work on him to finish his green beans and potatoes. At one point Mommy told him that he had to eat five more bites of beans and potatoes. Smoochie said one more but Mommy prevailed. After slowly working his way through the beans and potatoes, Blondie was given dessert. Suddenly, his had no problems eating. When dinner was finished, Grandma and Gramps took Smoochie off for a bath while Mommy and Daddy cleaned up. Bath over and Smoochie in jammies, Grandma and Gramps had to leave so that Jason could go to bed. Grandma kissed Smoochie’s face off. The little guy needed a binkie while saying goodbye. Grandma and Gramps left with still more memories including “Mommy bunk.”

Friday, March 27, 2009

St. Patrick's Outfit

 
Posted by Picasa

Overnight in Columbus

On March 21 and 22, Grandma and Gramps got to Columbus. They left Cleveland after Grandma’s work so they arrived in Columbus while Smoochie was napping. His sleeping habits have been off lately. Gramps got a big hug after waking the little guy up. Mommy and Daddy left to go to a restaurant to have time of their own. Smoochie knows that when Grandma and Gramps show up, fun times follow. No problems with Mommy and Daddy leaving. Grandma and Gramps decided to go to the Noodle Company for dinner. Borrowing Mommy’s garage door opener, Grandma, Gramps and Blondie left by way of the garage. The little guy made sure that the garage door closed. They arrived at Noodle Company and put in their orders and sat down at a table. Gramps and Smoochie went to wash hands. The men’s room was dark. Gramps turned on the light. Smoochie pointed to the ceiling and said, “two lights.” The little guy and Gramps washed hands. The paper towels were in reach so Smoochie and Gramps took two each. Blondie wanted to wash again. They repeated the process. Gramps decided that dinner was coming to the table so they left. Smoochie turned off the lights when they left. Jason is getting more used to silverware. He ate his mac and cheese with a fork without much help. The top level was cool but Smoochie put his fork all the way in. Grandma stirred the meal to cool it off. The three finished their meal and Jason told Gramps that they needed to wash hands. Off to men’s room they went. Smoochie turned the light on and announced, “two lights.” They washed hands and Blondie and Gramps used two paper towels each to dry hands. Smoochie needed to wash hands again, so the process repeated. Gramps took one paper towel, so Smoochie got him another. Smoochie was all set to do it one more time when Gramps said it was time to leave. Jason turned off the lights as they left. Outside Noodle Company, Jason and Gramps walked up and down the walk, backwards and sideways. They ran back to Grandma. The car stopped at Graeter’s for ice cream. Smoochie got a vanilla ice cream cone and Grandma and Gramps got bowls of ice cream. Jason knows how to lick ice cream from a cone. Lots of napkins were used. Smoochie ate his ice cream with a little help from Grandma and Gramps. Grandma had to take the paper wrapping off the cone so the little guy could finish. Towards the end, he started from the bottom of the cone. This was fun for the little guy but required more napkins. Grandma and Gramps were lucky they were not charged for the number of napkins used. When finished, Jason and Gramps went off the men’s room. They washed and dried hands twice. Gramps decided twice was enough. Smoochie wanted to turn off the light but Gramps said it was on when they entered, so it stays on when they leave. Gramps and Blondie walked backwards and sideways on the sidewalk at Graeter’s, entertaining people in their cars. They ran back to Grandma. Jason and Grandma sang songs on the way back to Mommy’s and Daddy’s house. They all trooped through the garage to get in the house. Grandma and Jason sang and danced. Smoochie’s favorite songs are the Hokey Pokey and the Fishy song. Mommy and Daddy came home and Smoochie went off to bed.

Grandma and Gramps slept in the living room on the air mattress. Smoochie woke up twice in the night so Gramps and he snuggled while he calmed down. The family got a late start on Sunday morning. They headed to First Watch. Grandma, Gramps and Smoochie had to leave through the garage. While waiting at First Watch, Jason, Daddy and Gramps walked and ran up and down the sidewalk. After they were seated and given their orders, Smoochie and Gramps went off to the men’s room. They washed and dried hands twice. First Watch has an automatic towel dispenser, so Gramps got the towels. Next time, Jason will be confident enough to get the towels. After breakfast, Grandma, Gramps and Blondie went to Friendship Park. They started off with the swing. Jason told Grandma to push. His confidence has grown on the swing, since he had Grandma push him higher than before. They did the slides and other play objects and it was time to leave. Gramps had to pick up Jason and carry him out. They made it back home. Gramps and Jason decided to go for a walk. Gramps, Smoochie, Blizzard and White Doggie went for a long walk around the development. When they returned, they had to walk to the back to put the poop bag in the garbage. Smoochie stood in front of the garage door and said, ”open garage.” Gramps said that he did not have the garage door opener. Gramps had to pull Jason to the front door. Smoochie took his lawn mower out front. Grandma and Gramps decided to leave. Smoochie hollered, “NO GO. NO GO.” Grandma told him that if they do not leave, they cannot return. Smoochie knew there was something wrong there but not sure what. Grandma and Gramps eventually left and look forward to the end of tax season.