Jumperoo...

Hi, Everyone,

We tried a new toy today for Gus, Kate and Claire. It is called a "Jumperoo" and was given to the babies by their Poppa and MaDJ (most of you know them as Wayne and Jill). The Jumperoo is a little contraption that the babies can sit in. If they move their feet and bend their knees, they can safely jump around. It is really cute!

I have mentioned before that the babies are all so different as far as personality types. The Jumperoo actually helped to prove my theory. Each baby's reaction to the toy was completely different (and so funny...but, let's not forget that I am easily amused)...

Gus shuffled his feet, tippy-toed, bent his knees, hopped, and boinged. He was all over the place!! His little face was so intense...his little mouth was in a perfect "o" and his brow was furrowed because he was concentrating on doing his very best moves. His little feet at times looked like he could be part of the Riverdance group (Michael Flatley...Lord of the Dance)...you know...his feet pointing, shuffling, moving and wildly dancing around, while his upper body remained perfectly still. At times he also reminded me of a guy you might see attempting to fast-dance at a wedding reception. He's doing all of his best moves: The water sprinkler. The running man. The lawn mower. But, he just can't pull it together. This was my little Gus Man...my wild little dancing man! I thought the child was going to sling-shot himself out of that thing! Thankfully, that is not possible.

Kate was very methodical about her Jumperoo experience. First, she sat and studied the new contraption for a while. She really took it all in. Then, she confidently and daintily hopped and rocked back and forth. She bounced up and down, squealing and giggling. There were a few times that I thought she might sling-shot out of the thing, too. I had to keep reminding myself that this just wasn't possible...if you watched the babies in the Jumperoo, you would start worrying about the sling-shot effect, too.

After watching the other two babies in the Jumperoo, I didn't quite know what to expect from Claire. I placed her in the seat. She looked at me and smiled and put her little thumb in her mouth. She blew a few spit bubbles. She looked around and studied the Jumperoo very carefully. She gently shuffled her little feet a few times and then just sat there and smiled shyly as if to say, "Did you put me in here just so you can look at me and see how precious I am? Because I AM precious, you know!" That's all she did...she just hung there and smiled...and slurped her thumb and blew spit bubbles. Bless her.

Can you tell I had fun today? :o) I videoed Gus in the Jumperoo, and all you can hear is me laughing and the sound effects of the Jumperoo going "Boing...boing...boing...boing!!!!" So funny!

I posted a picture of Gus, concentrating and trying to figure out the toy on the front of the Jumperoo. The baby with the bow is Claire. The one without the bow and still in pajamas is Kate (she was the first one out of bed and into the Jumperoo this morning).

The babies are all oh-so-sweet and oh-so-funny. We are having good days together. It is so nice when the sun shines because it shines right into their play area and really bathes everything in light. It really lifts the spirits!

Love and miss you all....still counting the days until Spring is here!

Leslie