"JJ's turn"

In JJ's world, he is the owner of all the cars at home, at daycare, in stores and anywhere he sees a car. They can be cars we drive in, pictures, on TV or toys... they are all "JJ's vroom vroom." He has just started to say "car." I think it has to be frustrating to not be able to say the name of the thing you love the most in the world.

JJ's arch-nemesis at daycare is Colin. Colin is a nice little boy who happens to like cars. Colin playing with cars is not part of JJ’s plan. Two year olds are not very good at sharing. If you ask JJ about Colin, he will say, “JJ’s vroom vroom,” and will start muttering about books and cars and everything else that is JJ’s. We have been working on sharing, and this week JJ finally understands.

He now understands that when it is someone’s turn, he cannot reach and take the thing the other person is playing with. This does not mean he politely walks away and waits his turn. He will stand next to the person and say “JJ’s turn” until it is JJ’s turn. I guess it’s an improvement, right?

Moira is fully crawling now. What started out last week as uncoordinated movement is now up on all fours crawling! She is exploring her world. She is so cute. She even likes JJ’s cars J He is learning to bring her a toy to trade for the cars she is taking. He will tell her “JJ’s toy” when he takes the toy. She can sit by herself for about 5 minutes or more. She loves to babble and giggle.

They are wonderful precious children. We could not have asked for anyone better or different!

I’m getting closer to finishing my master’s degree. I’m five weeks away from giving my capstone presentation. A thesis is typically a scientific study. A capstone is like a thesis, but includes policy recommendations so the name is different. I didn’t know this before I got involved in this program. My hypothesis that Army Community Service at the Presidio of Monterey will experience an increase in customer contact among first-term Service Members and their Families with the active use of the Army Family Team Building (AFTB) Facebook page. I am having a lot of fun using Facebook to interact with Military Families.

I’m happy to be finishing my program. This final class is actually helping me get through Jeff’s upcoming trip. Honestly, I’m heartbroken, so these last few weeks of staying focused on the capstone and studies is helping me.

No more definite news on Jeff. He is still going for training at the end of this month and then off to lands far away shortly after the training is complete.

We are enjoying our time together as a family. Much love to everyone!