February--Fun, Festivities, Family and Feats

Hi Everyone!

Let's start with the "Feats" not to be confused with "feets." Feats is defined as a noteworthy or extraordinary act or achievement, usually displaying boldness, skill! While I'm still working on the potty training piece (I'm now wearing big boy undies a lot of the time) my latest "feat" is sleeping in a big boy bed! Mommy and Daddy took down my junior/crib bed yesterday and put up my "new to me" very old and cool big boy bed. Mommy says this is a very special bed. She slept in it when she was little and her grandpa (my great grandpa) slept in it when he was little. Wow--it's old!! Get this--it's a 3/4 size bed. Not exactly sure what that means. All I know is it's way bigger than my crib! I love to go up to my room and read books on my bed. Mommy and Daddy are hoping that I love it so much I will go right to bed at night and stay in my bed throughout the night. I'm working on that!

February has been full to say the least. It started off with a visit from Mr. Neil and Tait. Mr. Neil is my mom's college roommate's husband. Tait is their son. They were visiting because Tait was auditioning at Eastman School of Music. I enjoyed Mr. Neil and Tait's visit!

Then shortly after they were here Oma and Oma came for a visit. They were in the area because Oma graduated from the Royall Conservatory in Toronto in mid February--even with her BM and MM degrees she wanted to get this special degree from the Royall Conservatory.

Way to go Oma!!

The next big event was celebrating cousin Hayden's first birthday and Uncle Paul's 43rd b-day. We all gathered on a snowy Saturday morning for breakfast--we kind of looked like the Waltons. It's hard to believe that Hayden is already 1! He's walking and saying a few words. Soon we'll really be able to play together!

Checking out Hayden's new baseball toy. It is pretty cool!

The final visitors of the month just left Saturday morning. Aunt Lucy, Timmy and Sarah came and spent their February break with us. We did a ton of things. How I love playing all day long with Sarah and Timmy. We went shopping, bowling, had a February picnic (roasted hot dogs and made s'mores in our living room wood burning stove), played hockey, played with my train, played with my blocks,went sledding on Hayden hill in our backyard, had a birthday party for Sarah. We had such fun!

Hockey anyone?

Check out my bowling ramp. It was a big help! See "Uncle" Pete in the background. He was able to hang out with us this week a bit too!

I won my lane--for real! It was Sarah, Mommy and me. I bowled a 128!! Okay, so there were bumpers and I used a ramp--but I really did earn my 128!

Happy 11th Birthday Sarah!

It's a picnic!

Hayden hill in our back yard. Timmy gave the ride a 7 out of 10!

Tomorrow begins the month of March! Hard to believe. Daddy's birthday is just around the corner too. Well, I've got some blocks to stack so I'd better sign off. Hope you enjoyed my February review. It was a very full and fun month!

Love to all!

Jamee

HUGE News!

Hi everyone!!

Guess what . . . I went poopie and pee pee on the potty this week! On Tuesday I went poopie at Aunt Susanne's and then today I went pee pee at Aunt Susanne's--not one time, but six times!! Can you believe it?!

I was so excited that Aunt Susanne let me call Mommy at her office. She wasn't there so I left her a message. Mommy told me that she would keep the message forever!

Aunt Susanne invited Mommy to take her potty home (I call it Jamee's potty). I have a different potty at my house, but I don't like it. Aunt Susanne's potty is much more posh! Well, Mommy brought the posh potty home and I tried to go before dinner. I sat there reading books and playing with my Matterhorn mountain snow globe for 15-20 minutes and then finally gave up. No luck with the potty this time. Mommy was still proud of me though because I sat there like a big boy and tried.

I had a good night tonight--I put my train away before I got out my play food, I watched American Idol a little bit with Mommy, and I colored with my markers. Before I knew it, Mommy said it was jammie time. She said, "let's try to go potty one more time." I wasn't sure if I liked the idea at first but decided--okay, I'll give it a try. So again, I read a few books and played with my snow globe and before you know it . . . Mommy saw a look on my face . . . and then music to Mommy's ears pssssshhhh psssssshhhhh--I went potty! My first time ever at my house. Mommy and I were so excited. I got to put a sticker on my Jamee's potty chart and Mommy even gave me a sticker to wear on my jammies.


(Proud Jamee after going potty)

Since it was almost time for Daddy to come home, we saved the goods to show him. When he walked in the house I took Daddy's hand and walked him over to the potty and showed him what I did! He was really excited too! Mommy helped me take my potty pot to Mommy and Daddy's potty and dump it. Daddy came too. Then I flushed it all by myself--I really enjoy doing the flushing!

Well, I wanted to tell you all this HUGE news! Mommy and Daddy say I'm growing up--I'm a big boy!


We got some more snow last week. On Saturday, Mommy, Daddy and I went sledding in the backyard on Hayden Hill. It was lots of fun! Thought I'd throw this photo on this blog even though it has nothing to do with my news!

Love to you all! Here's to no more diapers soon!

Jamee

Happy New Year

Hi Everyone!


This is what Daddy and I looked like at 7:00 a.m. on Christmas morning!

Well, much has transpired (how's that word for a 2 year old's vocabulary?) in the last month. I am now 2 and I can say "I'm two!" I'm pretty proud of that fact. I feel like such a big boy now.

A few weeks back Daddy discovered that I could crawl out of my crib. So, Mommy and Daddy converted my crib into a toddler bed. Now I can get into and out of my bed whenever I want. It's great (though I don't think Mommy and Daddy like it). I'm pretty good about staying in my bed at night and for my nap. Sometimes, though, it takes a little bit of encouragement for me to stay in bed.

Well, back to the festivities of the past month. The up side of having a birthday on December 22nd is that I get to celebrate it twice. Once at my house on my birthday and then again at Mimi and PaPa's when I get there to celebrate Christmas. Not a bad deal! Mommy and Daddy are a bit concerned that I might have gotten to the point that I expect to get presents every day--since the birthday and Christmas presents have been flowing since December 22. I don't think that happened--but it was a lot of fun. Now I have to wait for a whole year until it starts again.

Here is my December 22 birthday cake--it was a chocolate marble cake. There are three candles because Mommy thinks I need one to grown on.

Here is my birthday cake at Mimi and PaPa's. It was a homemade yellow cake--yum yum. Sarah picked out the sugary decorations. I liked how sweet they were.

Well, soon after the birthday party, Christmas was upon us. We had early Christmas morning at home and then went to Aunt Susanne and Uncle Paul's for our Birthday party for Jesus breakfast.

Opening presents from Santa (I call him "Anta" at 7:05 a.m.). I got a new train board (the green thing I'm sitting on) and a wooden Thomas the Train set--I love playing with my new train!

Eli waiting for the Birthday party breakfast to begin. The whipped cream was mint flavored--that was a first for me!

Uncle Paul was the master chef of the breakfast. We had everything--scrambled eggs, waffles, pancakes, monkey bread . . . it was all very tastey!

I got to help Arin open some of her Santa presents. I had fun watching them open their gifts!

After breakfast we went home to relax--I took a good long nap and Mommy, Daddy, Opa and Oma had a chance to open their stockings.

When I woke up I got to help with final preparations before leaving again to go back to Aunt Susanne and Uncle Paul's for Christmas dinner. Here I am in my birthday outfit from Oma and Opa and my new Christmas apron that Santa brought me. I still love helping Daddy do the dishes.

Che Che, Uncle Mike and baby Hayden came for Christmas dinner (we missed seeing Caleb this year!). Baby Hayden is becoming quite adventerous. Next year we're both going to want to open everyone else's Christmas present--but this year, I had the monopoly on that front. Actually, I behaved myself pretty well--but my cousins were very kind to invite me to assist them!

Here's Hayden waiting to open the biggest gift!

Having fun with Obi. I felt VERY TALL!

All the Western New York cousins minus Caleb (Uncle Mike was playing the part of Caleb). We are posing here with our new books from our Great Great Aunt Janet. Thank you Aunt Janet. I love my new Garbage Truck book--it's the best!!

Saying good-bye to Oma and Opa the day after Christmas. I like having Oma and Opa visit my house. Gabi came this time too and I always enjoy her visits! Pipi and Lala don't like it when Gabi visits!

Playing with my new train. I love putting it together--and I can do it all by myself. Mommy and Daddy think I need help (actually they just want to play with my train too)!

New Year's Eve, Mommy, Daddy and I headed to Mimi and PaPa's house. On New Year's Day we had Christmas with the Hoffman side of the family. It was great to see Mimi and PaPa, Aunt Lucy, Timmy, Sarah and Uncle Steve. I love playing with Timmy and Sarah!

Aunt Lucy and I take a pretty good picture--don't you think!

Keeping up with Timmy and Sarah wiped me out. I couldn't even finish my lunch. I needed a serious nap!

While I napped, Daddy made the famous Vetebrod and it was yummy, yummy, yummy. I can't wait until he makes it again.

Mimi let me help her open some of her presents.

Mimi is always so good about reading me another book when I say "again." I say "again" a lot too!


On Sunday, my Great Uncle Steve, Great Aunt Pat and Great Uncle John came over for brunch after church. Daddy and Mommy made a triple batch of Swedish pancakes. Mimi made a delicious fruit salad and cooked up some sausages. It was a feast! Can you see the big stack of Swedish pancakes in the center of the table? There were actually two heaping plates full of pancakes. I think this brunch should become a tradition.


Poor "young" Uncle Steve was put with Sarah, Timmy and me at the kids table. We were honored to have him sit with us. He was very helpful when it came to passing that huge plate of Swedish pancakes. Besides, I just like to hang out with Uncle Steve!

Well, my birthday and Christmas were a lot of fun. I think that the presents have finally stopped flowing. As much as I enjoy the presents, I especially love seeing all my family!

One other special event I wanted to mention was that Mommy finally finished Mimi and PaPa's 50th anniversary quilt. Mimi and PaPa have now been married 52 years--yep, the quilt took a while (of course I was born shortly after Mommy told them she was going to make a family quilt--that may have contributed to the delay). Members of both the Hoffman and Kellogg side of the family contributed messages on fabric squares and then Mommy arranged them in the quilt. Below is the picture of Mimi and PaPa with their new quilt. They have it hanging in the sun room (still in progress). Mommy said it was a fun project. Everyone seemed to enjoy reading what people said on the quilt squares.

Happy belated 50th anniversary Mimi and PaPa.

As always, thank you for reading my blog. I love hearing from you! I should note that my blog is a little later than I had hoped. I got the stomach bug and had my first ever fever. It was 101.4. I stayed home from Sunday school and church today so as not to pass on my germs. I am feeling much better today though. Tomorrow I should be 100%. Here's hoping.

Love to all!

Jamee

Thankful and Waiting!

Hello Everyone!

It's December! Thanksgiving has come and gone. Today the snow is falling and Advent--the time of waiting is upon us. I love this time of year. I do have so much to be thankful for. Life is so much fun--except when I get put in time out and when I get my diaper changed!

What I'm thankful for:

My Daddy and Mommy, grandparents, aunts, uncles and all my terrific cousins!

Milk!

My teddy bear and the Cat in the Hat

Choo Choo Trains

Garbage Trucks

Blocks

Hockey

My Sunday school class--Leah, Danielle, Matt, Luke and Sean

My friends in the nursery at church

Pillows and blankets

Cooking

Washing dishes with Daddy

Door knobs I can open

Happy to's

Football

Kisses

Health--most of the time (see below)

Cookies

Baths--Mommy doesn't think this will last

Dogs

Books

Words--Mommy and Daddy are starting to understand me.

Jesus--Happy to Jesus on December 25!

Every night, since the first Sunday of Advent, Mommy and Daddy have been reading a book and letting me open a door and then they read what's behind the door. I love opening the doors! We also have an advent calendar--I open a door on this too and guess what--there's chocolate behind the door. I look forward to doing both the book and the calendar every night. Sometimes I can hardly wait to open the door. Mommy and Daddy say it's kind of like waiting for the coming of Jesus' birthday. I have a lot to learn.

A few weeks ago I went to Ohio to visit Oma and Opa. Che Che, Uncle Mike and Hayden were there for part of the weekend as well. It was a very fun long weekend hanging out with Oma and Opa and spending time with Che Che, Uncle Mike and Hayden. We also got to go visit my Great Great Aunt Janet. She's wonderful.

Hayden and me playing with Little People and a truck!

Visiting Aunt Janet in her apartment. She read me a book!

Before our trip to Ohio, I came down with a full body rash. It was not fun. Mommy took me to the doctors and they said it was not a food allergy, but could not identify what caused it. They gave me some cream and that helped a lot. I hope I don't get the rash again.

Check out the rash.

Well Christmas is coming. I've been seeing this chubby old man in a red suit all over the place. Not quite sure what this is all about. Mommy and Daddy have started closing the guest bedroom door--hmmm, I wonder what is in there! I do know I like this time of year. I bet I'll have lots more to write about after Christmas. I also have my birthday coming up on the 22nd. Can you believe--I'm going to be 2!

Love to all!

Jamee

Let's Move Backwards through October!

Happy belated Halloween everyone! This was my very first time actually trick or treating. I can actually almost say "trick or treat." Mommy and Daddy can at least understand me. I was an orange Crayola crayon. And guess what . . .

Mommy and Daddy joined in on the fun too. Mommy had to move my Crayola logo to my back because I kept pulling it off.

Well, trick or treating was lots of fun. I made out pretty well on the candy front. Mommy took some of my candy away because she was afraid I'd chock on it. I still have a lot of candy though. We went to our neighbours and to our church's Fall Festival. Then we went to the Kurtz's to check out their costumes.

Sydney was Kevin from the movie "Up," Obi was Kermit the frog and Eli was Ratatouille (Mommy had to help me spell "Ratatouille)! They looked pretty cool. We did not see Arin--she was at a party at church. They said she dressed up as the Swine Flu--hmmm--I'd like to see that costume! Anyway, I thought trick or treating was very fun!

A few weeks ago, Mommy, Daddy and I took Obi to the Adirondacks for his "Birthday Date." We stayed with Mimi and Papa which was great and did a ton of things during our weekend visit. We did a mountain hike. Obi's a great mountain climber--I think this was his favorite part of the weekend.

We also went to Lake Placid and saw some of the Olympic venues. Check out the following picture. Picture it now . . . 2026 Winter Olympics. James Robert Hoffman Gold Medalist in the bobsled! The following picture might help you get there!

How cool is this! We also saw the ski jump. I slept through the ice arena--bummer! We also took the ferry to VT and climbed another mountain--part way. We had beautiful weather--chilly but very pretty. We saw the sun set on the ferry ride home.

When we got back to Mimi and Papa's house after the ferry ride, we had a yummy dinner and then played a few rounds of Bananagrams. It was a great visit. Sunday after lunch we headed back to Rochester. I loved spending time with Obi--in fact, I learned how to say Obi right this weekend--I used to call him Bobby!


Obi was so sweet to me the whole weekend. Mommy and Daddy say he's growing up into a fine young man!

Even though Obi is growing up into a fine young man, he is still my fun and crazy cousin. Check out the glasses Obi put on my face. I felt pretty cool! Yo dude!!

I thought I'd through in a few photos of my newest interests this month. I love to pretend to go nite nite. I pull out all the blankets and pillows in our living room, I dive into them and then I say nite nite--until someone pays attention to me. It usually doesn't take long.

I also love stickers. I thought this t-shirt was a little dull so I took care of that problem. Perhaps I have a future in fashion design. Who knows!

In the middle of October, Mommy and Daddy and I took our yearly trip to the apple orchard to pick apples. We picked a ton of apples--Mommy and Daddy did most of the picking, but I picked a few and attempted to eat a few too. We got to ride a "train" out to the orchard. It was a lot of fun. I hope we do it again next year.

The week before the apple trip was Mommy and Daddy's 6th anniversary. It was a fun day. We went out for breakfast at Simply Crepes--that was yummy yummy yummy! Then we went for a nice hike in Phelps, New York. It was a beautiful fall day.

Here Mommy and I stopped for a break. Daddy did too, but someone had to take the photo. After the hike we went home, cleaned up and then I got to spend the evening at the Kurtzes while Mommy and Daddy went out for dinner.

A few days before Mommy and Daddy's anniversary, they were not sure if we were going to be able to do anything. I had a first--the stomach flu! Let's just say it wasn't fun throwing up 10 times in one day! Poor Aunt Susanne got the brunt of it as it all started at her house. She told Mommy that I looked very confused at first--like "what is going on here?!?" I had no idea food could come back out once it went down. The photo below is me on the floor in the living room with my "bucket" at my side. Mommy was afraid to put me upstairs by myself. I even got to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room in my Pack-n-Play that night.

I felt better the next day, but it took a few days before I was eating normally again. I hope I don't ever get the stomach flu again!

Here's me "feeling better" on day two!

This was the day before I got sick--at Strong Museum of Play. I love going to the museum, but I do ending up getting sick every time I go. This is my favorite spot at the museum--the trucks and rocks. I love trucks and I love rocks.

It's been another full month. We had our first snow yesterday on Halloween--so winter is coming. Mommy Daddy and I have been madly racking leaves, but they keep coming down. There are a lot of leaves on those trees. Today I watched the leaf sucking truck suck up the leafs in front of our neighbour's house. That was fun to watch.


Thanks for reading my blog. I love sharing my pictures and stories with you! Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I have much to be thankful for--so stay tuned for the Thanksgiving blog.

Love to all,

Jamee