She's talking a blue streak now, Jack!

Most people know the exchange rate of dog years to people years(about seven), but very few people know how to convert to ball python years(about three) or how to convert one-year-old years(about 50). Recently Alixa stole Jenna from her daddy to go galavanting across the western United States for two weeks. You might think that two weeks is no big deal, and in Alixa’s case you would be correct. She came back pretty much the same person she left as, only now she has a new, loudly decorated piece of luggage thanks to some less-than-tender handling of her old suitcase on the way out. Jenna, however, returned as a very different little person. The most noticeable difference is in how much she is now jabbering. When she left she was just starting to babble a little and could do a few animal noises. She now talks or sings almost non-stop, and some of it is beginning to be coherent, which is pretty fun. She can say mama, dada, kenna, and Jesus, opa, and gramma, and understands who those people are. She can identify other people who weren’t considerate enough to have simpler names (I’m looking at you McKenzie.) Her repertoire of animal noises has also increased to include cow, duck, snake, fish, dog, elephant, and giraffe. She has also decided of her own accord what sound a mouse makes. Apparently they scrunch up their nose and breathe really hard. I’m not sure when she has ever seen a mouse do this, but it is fairly hilarious. She also learned where all sorts of body parts are, and will happily poke you in the eye just to prove that she knows where it is. Her favorite thing to show off is her tongue, which she will regularly stick out and wiggle just because she enjoys it.






Things have been pretty busy around here since the girls got back. The moratorium on Alixa’s home improvements expired, and her first project was to redo the master bathroom. This involved changing the light fixture, painting the walls and the vanity, and installing a new medicine cabinet. The results are fabulous. Next she made some curtains for the windows in the family room, and they also look great.

Before

and after

Jarom is just happy to have his girls back. It turns out he isn’t very good at being single. He loves playing with Jenna, which gets more and more interactive every day. She is very aware of her surroundings and does a great job following directions. You can send her to get a diaper, or tell her to go upstairs and she will do it. She is also good at sensing others’ moods. The other day Lix was being a little bit whiny so Jarom asked Jenna “where’s daddy’s grumpy wife?” She quickly pointed straight at her mom. Such a smart girl. She also loves to play games, and will chase mom or dad around the house until the turn and charge her, at which point she will run away from them and try to find a chair or something to hide behind. Her other favorite game is to give fake kisses. She will lean in and almost give you a kiss and then turn her face away and laugh and laugh. She will do this over and over until your self esteem has been completely exhausted.

Brushing up on her spanish with some headphones as a necklace

Such pretty ladies

We’ve also been doing a lot of dancing lately, and Jenna has made some pretty serious advancements. Until recently, Jenna’s dancing consisted of a simple squat move where she bounced her butt to the beat. Her dancing recently evolved from an up and down theme to a twirling theme. This began with an elbow throwing motion, akin to Dwight Howard after grabbing a rebound. It has progressed into a full body spin, which is occasionally accompanied by one or both hands being raised above her head. This is very cute to watch, especially because she will do it until she gets dizzy and will then fall over sideways while giggling. I’ve included some videos below to get an idea, but we have so far been unable to capture anything on film that truly demonstrates the hilariousness of it all.

This first one includes a train that used to be Jarom's. Jenna loves pulling it around the house.

This film was directed and produced by Nate while he and Jarom were babysitting the rats. It's short, but funny.