Fast forward to 2010

AJ has a sister! Her name is Mari and it seems that DC is treating us well.
Mari is now 15 months old and at 4.5 years old, AJ is now the consummate big brother. Right now, they are running around the house, making a mess playing with their toys and listening to their favorite Michael Jackson tunes.
Aw life. It moves to fast for me to blog about. And now, I look back at my three pitiful posts and I'm glad to have anything that documented my little son's development.
Life is more challenging with two little ones. I still work full time and the baby (if you can call her that) is in daycare, while AJ finishes up his second year in preschool. I'm tired now-a lot. I don't get to read for pleasure unless I'm on a business trip and if not for the DVR I would never see my favorite TV shows. I tried for months to lose that baby weight but after dropping the early ten pounds I've given up again. Oh well. Exercise--well that's not happening.
The best thing that's happened lately is my love for the kids show Yo Gabba Gabba! Please someone interview DJ Lance and have him explain where all that crazygood psychodelic energy comes from :)
OK. Enough for now. At least, Mari is on the blog map.

The nation's capital welcomed us

So September was a long time ago...again I said, I'm not so good at blogging. We moved to Washington, DC in January and we LOVE it! AJ loves his new room and that we have stairs. He took a while to adjust to the new daycare and frankly it's not as terrific as what we had in Providence but it will do until we start preschool in the fall.
Meanwhile, AJ continues to talk, walk, run, and grow. He just got a tricycle so he can perfect his pedaling skills.
Here in DC he has two new friends in Imani & Jamal--my childhood friend, Yvette's twins. And while we spent six weeks away from daddy, he has moved down too. Things are good. Mommy's new job requires a little more travel but AJ is actually enjoying that too. He loves airplanes. But we miss grandma 'Retta and Nana Marcia, Greatgrandma and big Nana...oh and Pop Pop too. Life comes at you fast. But we are running towards it.

Rapid language development & that scary Oprah show on autism

I guess I really suck at blogging...;-)
But oh well.
Over the last three months, I've been absolutely amazed at AJ's language development and how quickly his little mind catalogs words, phrases, and experiences. He's memorized several books including the Very Hungry Caterpillar, Goodnight Moon, and his current favorite --a book I found on some bargain table that came with a CD called Rock-A-Baby Band.
We also listen to the Toddler Favorite CDs and sing songs like I'm a Little Teacup, Pop Goes the Weasel, ABCs, and Mary had a little lamb. All are very popular and he loves hearing them again, and again and again.
But really, he is very verbal. He says funny things like, 'Sun is in the eyes' when we're in the car and the sun is bright. He plays asks questions like, 'Color?' "What happened?' and 'Where'd it go?' about a wide variety of objects. He loves to call out to me 'Hi Mommy' as if we are just now meeting, and in the mornings after he's fully awake, he will walk around the house chiming, 'Good morning, Mommy' playing back the sing song diction that I use on my grumpiest of mornings to ensure that I don't take it out on him. He likes to wake me up on weekend mornings by softly patting my face and saying, 'Wake up, wake up.' And his favorite tv show is PBS Sprout's Calliou with Bob the Builder as a close second.
It is amazing because I can't keep up with him and I don't know what I did right but he is absolutely brilliant. I feel so lucky.
I guess that's why I cried when watching that alternately horrific and inspiring show with Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete about children with autism. Now I'm afraid to take AJ to his 2-year-old check up and get the scary vaccinations that dampen the light that shines in the eyes of little boys pre-autism onset/diagnosis. Information is powerful and scary.
But for now, I'm basking in the glow of a really smart kid who sometimes takes his baby for a ride after feeding 'goldfishies' to Elmo.

Let's get it started! AJ is alive

So we are late to the blogging game, but we didn't miss the party.
AJ, or Alan Jones, Jr as his daddy calls him, and me--his mom Heather--are ready to share our lives with the world.
We want our friends and family across the globe to know exactly how we're doing. We plan to share photos, videos, and vignettes of AJ's world so you don't miss a second of the handsome boy born on October 17, 23005. Enjoy and come along for the ride. You have a lot to catch up on! He's already 15 months and three weeks old.