Saturday morning in Renton

Been a few days since I blogged but I did post on Facebook. I'll repost several of the photos  here. Gonna have to go through all my picture folders this week so I can delete duplicates and keep just those I want.  So easy to have them pile up quickly when you're able to take all the shots you want with a digital camera or cellphone.

Not sure how long I'll be "Gramma on-site" but I needed this hands-on period anyhow.  Won't lie to you--babysitting for a 20-month-old is a challenge at times; especially when he doesn't understand that I can't pick him up to go up and down steep stairs. We've already had one meltdown about that but I can deal with it.  Probably one of the hardest changes for me to adapt to is that I can't plop myself down in front of the computer whenever the mood suits me.  Nope!  Mr. Jake thinks that's an invitation to climb onto my lap and pound on the keyboard for me.  He also gets that the mouse can do magic things.

A couple days ago I had him on my lap to watch videos on YouTube.  I found semi trucks racing and various Sesame Street stuff but what really held his interest was the videos I shot of him!  It's 7:30 a.m. right now. Andy and Hunter are still trying to catch some Z's upstairs but Mary, Jenni, Maddie, me and Jake are all up and starting our day.  It's noisy in here and I'm being distracted from concentrating on writing. (It's always about ME)  ha ha

Anyhow, getting back to why I'm here.  Andy & Mary were having problems at the daycare Jake was attending. Kept getting calls at work to come get him as he was biting. Their policy was not to bite back (of course) but they didn't even believe in timeouts!  How's that gonna teach anything?!  I have definite opinions on this subject. I also know that kids often go through a biting period --sometimes out of frustration of trying to learn to verbalize.  We're noticing his vocabulary seems to be growing day by day.  'Truck' being his favorite word although it doesn't actually sound like truck all the time; more like tuck.

Uh-Oh is also something we hear daily.  Yesterday when I went to retrieve a broom from the garage for some dirt I had spilled in a potted plant, he saw me walk through the room and yelled "UH-OH!"  That made me laugh.   He also likes to say "VA-ROOMMMM!"  Loves playing with cars and boy stuff. Stuffed animals not so much. He's a huge fan of getting to "drive" the steering wheel in big peoples cars.  Has a fit if he's taken out before he's done.  Yesterday when Mary and Andy returned home with a carload of groceries, they let Jake play in the front seat and 'drive' while they unloaded. When they finished carting sacks back and forth and wanted to retrieve him and go inside, he stubbornly said NO!  Stuck his hand out the window and requested the keys.  Really!  Mary gave them to him and he went straight to the ignition to try and put them in.  She was shocked but then he watches everything they do.  He'd already discovered the horn, turn signals, and flashers.

Being outside is the thing that makes him the happiest. No matter what the weather. Yesterday when it was coming down in buckets, he kept pulling my finger wanting me to take him out.  Won't wear slippers or shoes in the  house (or socks) so I was hesitate to even go on the front porch.  But we did.
He promptly left the porch to the sidewalk and grass.  A little canal of water had accumulated between the edge of the lawn and sidewalk so he thought it might feel pretty good to wiggle his toes in it.  Then he stood there in the rain with just his jeans and t-shirt.  Didn't bother him at all that he was getting wet but I figured the neighbors might think a crazy woman was babysitting the kid next door so I made him come back inside.  Ha!

See how easily I'm distracted when I start writing about Jake. Again...back to why I'm here.  Mary & Andy have decided to start interviewing for a nanny.  The drive to the daycare can be 45 minutes each way somedays depending on traffic and while he seemed to do  fine there most of the time, they figured he would probably do better not having to leave the house everyday.  The nanny can take him to the park and other functions in the area and he can eat, nap, and play in his own territory.

The day Mary called asking me to come babysit until a nanny could be hired, I was on my way back from Port Townsend where Sue and I went to work on a couple of tombstones overgrown with brush.
Today I plan on relaxing in front of their big screen TV to watch golf.  The whole bunch of them are going to Bellevue Square to shop.  The teens need school clothes and Jake needs pajamas. Maddie has a date tonight with a boy she met at the running camp at Fort Flagler a while back. He lives in Bellevue.

Catie came over last night (she lives a couple miles from here) and cooked us this yummy dish she saw online.  Bowtie pasta with a delicious cream sauce. Catie's coming over one night this week to cook again -- and bringing Brandon.  New boyfriend we have yet to meet.

Tomorrow morning she's coming to pick me up and taking me to Muckleshoot Casino to hook up with Mary Gaboury.  The three of us will play bingo from noon to three and have lunch there. I'm excited. Been quite a while since I played bingo.

Well, guess I'll start posting my pictures, get dressed, and then browse Facebook to see what I can see.

 the before and after photos of the Blanchard & Westergaard gravesites that Sue & I worked on. Both of us were exhausted after the three-hour work party. Thankfully, my brother, Les, came out with his truck to pick up the brush I couldn't get in my car to cart away. Even had to make two trips. Linda Pedersen came by too and brought Sue some books she wanted to read. Plus drinks for us.  Thank you Linny Lou!

 Blanchard name carved in cement border around tombstone. Lillian Blanchard Nisbet was the adopted mother of my mom. She died in 1942 before I was born so I never got to know her or her husband, John, who died in 1946.

 Next time we'll work on John and Lillian Nisbet's grave as it was completely hidden here.

 A little car Sue found among the bushes.

 Before and after of Westergaard gravesite. Edna Westergaard was the sister of my grandmother, Lillian Blanchard Nisbet.

 The week before the cemetery cleanup, Maddie and I drove to PT to visit Mary and Jake at Adelma Beach. After leaving there, we  stopped by my brother, Dana's place on Four Corners Road.

 Love this shot of Jake getting to drive the boat.

 Maddie and Jake walk the beach. I had brought my walking stick and he thought that was pretty cool

                                        This was taken yesterday on the back deck.

 Jake & his dad are trying to drown moles with the hose.  Andy spends a lot of time making his yard look nice so he gets irritated to the max when he gets up and sees moleholes.

 As sweet as he is, Jake still has his moments when he thinks I need to do everything he wants. I was sitting in a chair with my legs up and he wanted them DOWN!

 Yesterday was garbage pickup day and he did enjoy watching them come down the street.

 Obviously, he enjoys snuggle time on mom's lap.  Ha!

 Last night in the kitchen. He has his own step stool so he can climb up to wash his hands (and sometimes help with the dishes)

Jake was thrilled to wake up and find Maddie asleep on the couch. Didn't take long for the place to be in an uproar as they chased each other around and around.

And that's about all I can think of for now.  My car sits at Cousin Cindy's house in Gig Harbor for my duration as I continue to have my distaste for driving on I-5. Sure was glad I wasn't driving yesterday. It was HORRIBLE!