Sweet JT

Today we went fishing and to the park in our neighborhood with our friends. Mom, dad, Audrey's best friend and his little sister (3).

At one point, Audrey, her friend and his little sister were playing soccer, and JT decided to play with them. He sort of followed Audrey's friend around... even running with him to get the ball when it went in the trees :)

Perhaps the sweetest thing I've ever seen was when Audrey's buddy's little sister was sitting down on a step by herself. She was away from everyone else, and she had just proclaimed to her mommy, "I have no one to play with!" JT was following Audrey and her friend, but he saw her sitting by herself. And he went down the hill, sat right beside her and looked at her little face. And smiled. It was absolutely precious.

JT's talking surprises me a lot - I could have NEVER dreamed of the progress he's making there! But I think that this was a bigger surprise. He wanted to make her feel better... such a sweet boy.

Back to School!

It's that time of year again... time for back to school fun!

Audrey started first grade August 25, and JT's first day in PreK (his last year) was September 2.

Both of them are happy - wonderful teachers (JT has the same awesome ladies from last year :) ), good friends and just good times.

College football starts today, the weather is slowly (and I do mean SLOWLY) getting cooler (hey, I think we're out of the 90's 3 of the next 10 days!) - fall is almost here! Best season ever...

Now, if I could just avoid the dreaded 30th birthday I have coming up in a month...

All kinds of surprises...

JT is busy talking away. He talks SO much that sometimes I forget that not long ago, he didn't talk at all.

Some new and interesting developments...
JT is scared of monsters. Really scared of them. In fact, if Audrey (or anyone else) mentions a monster somewhere, it's enough to send him screaming. Sometimes he'll come get me, upset, and tell me 'it's a monster' and point (usually upstairs or in my walk-in closet).
He's drawing moons. Like, really trying to draw, and really drawing them. And 'happy' - happy faces.
He tells me what he wants when he wants it. I never thought I'd see the day when I wouldn't have to guess what he wanted in some sort of mad dash - but it's true. He is very certain about what he wants, and tells me exactly what it is. Using words. Amazing.
He holds my hands when we go places. When he lets go, he doesn't run away. Have no clue when this happened, but it's fantastic. He may go a few steps ahead, but he also stops when I tell him to. Crazy!
He knows all his letters and the sounds.
He can spell and make words. So far, using The Hubs's iPhone and a letter game (where you just drag and drop whatever letter you want) he has spelled STOP (he always proudly says, "A SIGN!" haha), POP, POPOP (papa is his grandpa's name :) ), MAD, JET and CAT. In fact, he got his alphabet blocks C A and T, and a toy cat, and carried them around last week. Pretty cool! We have no idea what else he can spell, but he can sound ANYTHING out. I love it!
He loves 'mine' and 'yours'. Everything is 'mine' or 'yours'. If it's 'yours', he will hand it to you. Cute.
He misses his grandparents. Sort of sad, but when we go to the grocery store and we see someone that remotely resembles my mom (nanny), my dad (papa) or stepmom (ginny) he will yell out "It's nanny/papa/ninny (ginny)". It's precious and heartbreaking to have to tell him it's not them.
He's talking on the phone (with my dad). Super funny.

I'll have to update more later. I'm just making a list of my favorite 'new' things in JT-land.

School starts in less than 2 weeks - I am SO excited for his teachers to see all the cool new things he's learning!

Summertime

Wow... it has been WAY too long since I've posted!

Summer is a very busy (aka hectic) time around here. Between no school and visitors, we've been really busy!

My mom and her roommate came and stayed several days with us in mid-July (right around Miss Audrey's birthday).

Then, my dad and stepmom flew in last Friday and didn't leave until today.

We are going to be very lonely around here now... with no planned visits anytime soon :(

School starts for Audrey next Wednesday (1st grade!) and JT the following Thursday (it's his last year of preschool). They are growing up WAY too fast!

Why Demand Media Works For Me

Last December, Demand Studios asked for writers to submit a short summary on 'Why Demand Media Works For Me'. The responses were to be used on the Demand Media blog (under the same title) if chosen.

Guess what? Yesterday, mine was chosen :)

Here it is:
Why Demand Media Works For Me

I love Demand Media/Demand Studios. A wonderful company, a great experience and I've learned so much.

Happy 6th Birthday, Audrey!

Love my little princess... you're growing up to be such a wonderful person. I'm so proud of you :)

Virginia Beach

The Duzan family had a wonderful time at the beach... even if JT preferred looking out from the 11th floor balcony to sitting on the beach while Miss Audrey practically turned into a dolphin!

Here are a couple of pics from our awesome adventure: