Our little Plattler

For those of you who said it couldn't be done.... well, there actually aren't any of those, but anyway.... we are beginning to see that Jamey is understanding us in German as well as English. We ask him to do things like "Drum" or "Point to a tree", and he does it. I can ask him in German "Where is ...." and he points to it, no problem. And lastly, we see that he uses the same hand sign for Please whether we speak to him in German or in English, showing us that he understands that it means both Bitte and Please.

To up his Germanic type influence, he is beginning to do some our group dances. Keep in mind he gets no instruction, but that hardly matters. Just look at Christopher dance and that will tell you. Let me preface this story by saying that in our group, we do a dance called "The Miner's Dance." In it, our men are all carrying small hammer and chisels. The setting for the dance is a salt mine and throughout the dance, the guys make music using their hammer and chisels and tapping them together.

So, the other day, I was sitting on the couch when Jamey came to me and began making the sign for "Please." This usually means he wants me to do something. I looked around to try and figure out what he wanted, but there were no clues to be seen. Then I noticed that he had a toy hammer and screwdriver in his hand. On a whim, I began to sing the Miner's Dance song. His face lit up and he began to tap them together and move in a circle. At times, he would put down the tools and begin to plattl, slapping his hands against his thighs, just like Daddy. It truly is amazing to watch him begin to dance just through observation! Here is his performance.

Jamey's New Desk

In the past two weeks, Jamey has had an endless stream of visitors. First, it was Grandma V, Granddad and Aunt Gini, who had never met him before. Then, the day they left, Aunt Lindsay came to visit, armed with some gifts for Jamey.

As Lindsay's boys have gotten older, they have begun to give away their old things. Ben, her youngest, decided that Jamey might like his old Buzz Lightyear desk for his room. And like it, he certainly did. The moment he saw it, he walked over and climbed up into it. He would drag a book up into the chair with him and sit at it, reading his book. Just like in school. On top of that, when he is done, he pulls his books off his desktop and stores them in the chair of his desk.

Great gift, Ben! Thanks a bunch!!!!!

And the following weekend, after getting through 103 fevers and double ear infections, Jamey visited with Hoopapa and Grammy, along with cousins Susie, Amanda, Melissa, and her Baby Ian. Not to mention all the Boswells and Aunt Joyce. It was a great November birthday celebration and a lot of fun for Jamey, as he begins to play well with his cousin Isaac!

Halloween, Argh!

For Jamey's second Halloween, we wanted to find an awesome costume, and wanted to go around as a family one more time. At Party City, I found a $10 costume and a little plastic sword that fit perfectly. It would allow Glenn and I to find easy accompanying costumes to use. And the final touch would be that we would build a pirate ship out of Jamey's plastic car.

In the earlier part of the day, we ventured to Cox Farms, with the help of a Westfield student who gave us a free pass to get in. There were slides galore, which Jamey loved, and every one kept giving him candy. It was all capped with a hay ride, on which it started to rain, and the driver pretended to get stuck, scaring me to no end!

When it came time to really go Trick-or-Treating, we met up with Jaeda and Caden from down the street, and took off, hoping the rain would hold off some more. It sprinkled off and on, but it was still a good time. Jamey tried to go into a few houses, but still enjoyed going up to the doors. He didn't hold his pumpkin to get candy, but Mom took care of that for him. After all, I will be the one eating the candy. I may as well pick it out!

When we got home, I went to the center of the room, turned over his pumpkin and let the candy cascade out. This elicited from Jamey, a loud "Ooooohhhhh!" And it taughth him a new game. Whenever I tried to put the candy away, he would pick up the pumpkin and dump it right back out!