“Today we had an early Halloween celebration at the Church. AJ got dressed up as a Tiger. AJ wasn’t sure what to think about the celebration, but he learned he really likes cotton candy. Also included in this update is some pumpkins John carved.
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“Wow!! We are all up way too late, but I am impressed at your rapid comments! This is a picture I took about a month ago, as part of a staged photo shoot. I was looking for some pictures to print out and send to Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Jackman. I don’t have quite the same set up as my brother, so my backdrop is somewhat lacking as a backdrop (but it helps keep us warm every winter evening.) AJ is really excited because I just threw him a stuffed bear. He had three favorite toys, (in ascending order) anything soft and stuffed to cuddle with, his playschool piano that talks to him when he hits the keys, and most favorite of all? Any sort of ball, both for chasing and bouncing.
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As we’ve mentioned before, we have started a multi-year quest to collect all the national park stamps. Today we got the one and only stamp in the city of San Diego, the Cabrillo National Monument. The park has a split personality, it honors both the first lighthouse of the San Diego Bay and Juan Cabrillo, the Spanish explorer who was the first European to see the San Diego Bay.
We were lucky enough to catch a presentation by a ranger who does a living history presentation about the clothing and equipment of the marinero at sea with Cabrillo, as well as their wives back in Guatamala.
Of course we discussed the clothing of the rich (officers and their wives). Let’s be honest, the clothing of the poor is borring! Afterwards I got to try on one of the outfits. The lighting was less than optimal, so I’ve skewed the color, it’s not great, but it’s better than it was, trust me!
What’s not extreamly apparent here is all the extra padding on my hips. I know, I know, EXTRA on the HIPS. It was a crazy world in 1542!
AJ and I enjoyed the short walk to the lighthouse.
John obviously caught me in mid-sentence. Lets be honest, that’s not exactly hard to do! Here is one last picture of the restored lighthouse itself. Feel free to check out the more professional pictures on the official web site.
One last, note. As a favor to me, would the readers of this blog please put some sort of comment below? I promise I’ll respond when applicable and it helps me to know people are actually reading what I wrote. As a bribe I’ll say that the day I get five comments is the day I add a new picture of some sort (probably AJ) to the blog. I even promise to keep that up all next week, 5 comments, one picture. Cruel cruel bribary I know.
Have fun commenting!”
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Saturday October 18 we went out to an event ran by the American Diabetes Association, Step out for Diabetes. Unlike our usual 5Ks this even wasn’t timed, and as we figured out when we came home, it wasn’t exactly a 5K either. We both took more time than usual, so we checked it when we got home. By our best figuring on Google earth the course was 3.8 miles. (A normal 5K is 3.1)
The above pictures are before. We weren’t crazy enough to take red faced after pictures!
There was a lady with Jazzersize warming up the crowd, AJ wasn’t sure what she thought about her.
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Overall, AJ decided that any day you can get a free Rite-Aid frisbee is a good day!”
“On October 4th we went a San Manuel Pow Wow on the grounds of CSUSB (John’s Alma Mater).
We got there in time for the “”Grand Entry””. It was a fabulous spectacle. There were many different styles of costume, but two of the most interesting were the jingle dresses worn by some of the women and the men’s costumes that included, for lack of a better term, tail feathers.
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There were many different styles included, just fabulous.
After the grand entry we walked around the booths selling interesting things, and then came back to watch some of the dance competitions. AJ enjoyed the dancing.
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It was a fun afternoon.”
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First, on the serious side, the Santa Ana Winds are whipping through California, and so are the fires. Living here in the National Forest we are always very aware of fire season. There was a small little fire down the hill that started last night that was quickly put out. There is a second fire going down in the San Bernardino, this one isn’t a wild fire it’s a major structural fire, including a paper manufacturing plant, near the 215 freeway. Neither of these fires had any chance of reaching us, but the second fire affected John’s commute this morning. Since we burned last October we really aren’t expecting any fires this year, but it’s something to keep an eye on. Note: the above picture is of “”our”” mountain on fire, but is very old. It is from the fires of 2003, shortly before we started looking for a house up there. The photo shows, roughly, the view you would have seen from Redlands.
Now, on the lighter side, but just as dangerous, a yarn shop has opened here in town! AJ and I had to go check it out this morning. We found a little pattern booklet for toddler hats (he’s out grown last year’s infant hats) and a skien of super soft blue varigated yarn. Wish me well on my efforts to finish a project in a reasonable amount of time. Here’s the pattern booklet, I’m trying to decide between the hat with the earflaps, the striped rolled brim (that I’d do in a solid color) or the pink one on the bottom right, minus the flower, of course!
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“This past Sunday we had a chance to get together with family, the Cannons, Hutchings, and Jackmans.
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Savvy was playing with this toy car most of the afternoon, and usually AJ was right there. Her reaction to his interferance was to get up and walk off, carrying away the car. He’d follow her and then she’d move again. This pattern would continue until an adult broke it by either distracting Savvy or AJ. (Once she set down the car, he’d look at it for a few seconds and move on. AJ was only interested in it because she was, not because of its inherent qualities.)
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AJ and Harper meeting and getting their heads together.
Then on Monday we took the chance to go to Disneyland and meet up with friends.
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AJ and Gary got along famously
I couldn’t resist taking a ton of pictures of AJ with Disneyland’s beautiful fall folige.
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In the fall Disneyland also has a petting zoo.
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AJ has a skull painted on his cheek in celebration of Dia de los Muertos.
And in closing, a family shot. See you next week.
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”
“Taking advantage of a special Super 8 was running (hotel rooms for $8.88) we took a quick weekend trip to Yosemite for my birthday.
First we spent Sunday evening at Gramps and Grandma Jackman’s house. Here AJ is having fun with Gramp’s hat and Grandma’s toy box.
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At the park we saw…
… some exibits.
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…some wildlife, but no water in the falls.
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And we did some horsing around!
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On the way home we stopped at Bravo Cheese Farms, a nice tourist trap in the tiny town of Travers, CA. AJ wasn’t sure what to think of his corny parents!
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While there we did buy some of the yummiest sage cheddar mozzerella cheese, yummy yummy.
Now we’re home again, home again, jiggity jig! (And planning our next adventure!)
–Denise
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“I think AJ looks a fair amount (though not exactly like!) his Carlsen cousins. For comparison here are three pictures. The first is of Ryan Carlsen at about age 2, then a recent one of AJ and then one of Wyatt Carlsen near his first birthday. So, what do you think?
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Yep, that’s right. AJ prefers to drink his bottle upside down! He’s happiest on his back, but if I hand him his bottle while he’s still in his Bumpo this is what happens. He takes two sips, comes back up (to avoid too much head rush I suppose) pauses for a moment, then bends back again. Strangely enough, he’s getting better at drinking (without toppling over) while sitting up on the floor. He’ll still do this in the bumpo though.
We saw the doctor on Tuesday for a routine check-up, no shots this time. The vital statistics: AJ is 27.75″” and 18lbs 2oz. He’s grown 3/4 of an inch and about 2 pound in the last 3 months. Everything else is good.
AJ is also trying hard to keep up with his (younger) cousin Harper. So after the doctor’s appointment we went to get a jumper. We got one that goes in the door way though. <%image(20080912-004a.jpg|336|448|null)%> He’s neutural on the subject. He uses his feet to twist to left and right, and smiles at me in the kitchen.
I saved the best for last though, AJ has mostly figured out crawling! He has a blue ball he likes and occasionally it gets away from him. This has forced him to figure out some form of locomotion. His technique is very low to the ground using elbow and knees to push along. This is actually a picture of him in motion, in the far right of the frame is the tiniest spot of blue, because he is going after his ball. <%image(20080912-010a.jpg|448|269|null)%>
Success!!
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And one more of the upside down baby!!
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Despite any upside down things that may come your way, we hope you have a successful day!”