It has been another month of growing, learning, playing, talking, and exploring with Jonah.
Growth: No new measurements, but he can now reach the lever door handles throughout the house. FUN!
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| He likes to get Mommy's keys and pretend to open the door |
Sleep: Overnight from about 8:30 or 9 pm until 7 am. Wakeup has become quite pleasant, as he awakens around 7 and plays with his stuffed animals and "reads" to himself in the crib for 15-30 minutes. He has been napping about 1-3:30 or 4. At school they made the transition from crib to cot and we were nervous that he wouldn't go for it. His teachers said they put on his sleep sack, he tried to walk around in it at first, then they put him down on the cot and he closed his eyes and went right to sleep with no trouble. Somebody is growing up, bit by bit. At home, however, he still craves Mom's special powers to fall asleep. We will work on making that transition in the next several months possibly.
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Checking out the new striped wall in Mommy and Daddy's room.
The best part was having Poppy here working and playing with his tools. |
Eating: When we are done getting ready in the morning and ask Jonah if he wants breakfast, he replies "nana," and we head downstairs and get him just that, a banana. He eats 3 good meals and 1-2 snacks and is open to try just about anything. We pledge not to say "you probably won't like this..." regarding any food the two of us are eating. We are still holding off on meats besides fish and he's getting a great balanced healthy diet of all kinds of things. Lately he has had a lot of falafel, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, beans, milk, whole wheat waffles, pita and hummus, salmon, goldfish crackers, cheerios, veggie burgers, and so on.
Personality: Jonah just loves books, sticks, peek-a-boo, climbing, stacking blocks and knocking them down, stairs, dancing, playing outside, splashing in his water table and putting the toys down the slide, watching cars drive by, pushing things around, swinging, sliding, listening to you sing, waving flags, kitties, "awowow"s (dogs), his family, school, balls, his friends and family, tickles, lego duplos, stroller walks, bath time with books and toys, and playing the ukulele, drum, and piano. He has designated a chair as his official ukulele-playing spot, so he sits there and motions for us to bring him the instrument, which he gently strums. His favorite book at the moment is "Tyler Makes Pancakes," a picture book by Tyler Florence, in which the little boy Tyler and his dog Tofu make pancakes; it's not exactly a short book, and he will sit contently on your lap enjoying every word cover to cover, then reach it to someone else and ask "EH!" to have it read again. At Mimi and Poppy's, his favorite toys are the vaccuum, rings that stack, a "rollercoaster" of beads and things on tracks, the swing, the tiny kitchen, Bella, chalk, books (10 Little Ladybugs and Watch Harry Grow, last I heard), the toy stroller, and Fisher Price popper. Lindsay is so happy that they kept so many of her toys and books in such good condition and it is a joy to see Jonah playing with that classics. Too bad he won't likely appreciate the My Little Ponies, Ginny dolls, and American Girl collection upstairs. Maybe someone someday...
Milestones: He can get himself mostly wherever he wants to go, and goes up the stairs with "standby assist" and going down needs one hand held and the other on the railing. He is doing some running, which is super cute. He can reach the lever door handles and operate them sometimes, so we had Poppy install a lock he can't reach on some key doors. He is also big enough to reach the desk and will run into the office and come back out carrying Julian's keyboard or track pad.
He can find lots of things and animals in his books, including elephant (his favorite), giraffe, gorilla, ladybug, ball, book, banana, giraffe, dog, cat, baby, star, moon, sheep, chicken, and lots of others we are probably not thinking of right now.
He can throw a ball now, and had lots of fun playing with cousins Ainsley and Jillian. He would throw the ball, and they would giggle and chase it and give it back to him to throw. Over. And over. And over.
He is getting more words in his vocabulary, and can now correctly identify and say the following words: Mama, Dada, Meimei (Mimi), Papa (which is Poppy, whispered), nana (banana), Alala (Alana, which he does with his tongue hanging out to make the "L), Lawa (Lauren), awowow (dog), arara (gorilla), awowa (umbrella), shh (shoe), chhh (cheese), Aaaa (ABC book), bih (bib), boh (block), and buh (book).
I guess this is a milestone, but we'd be fine if he skipped it- Jonah likes to see if we really mean "no" when we say "no." Yeah. We try to reserve the word for true "no" situations, like climbing up the bannister, throwing food on the ground, and hitting Mommy on the head with her iPhone. Ow. He looks at you, shakes his head no, smiles, and repeats the behavior. We'll stay consistent and hope for the best.
Events: Jonah graduated from the Bumlebee room at daycare and has moved up to the Rainbow room for toddlers. His teachers put together a very nice graduation ceremony where they had food, prepared photo gifts for the families, and talked about each of babies. Beverly said Jonah was very smart, sweet, and gave all the kids hugs, even when they didn't want one. He enjoyed a week off playing with grandparents, and now is loving the activities, toys, teachers, and friends in the new room. They do lots of art, play outside and in the gym, celebrate Shabbat, read books, sing songs, and all kinds of good stuff.
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| First day in the Rainbow Room |
Jonah went with us on his first trip to Put-in-Bay. He enjoyed the lobster bisque on the Boardwalk, got a shout-out from the Danger Brothers and was featured on the big projection screen, played in the park, danced to the music, rode the carousel, played drums and keyboards on stage with Poppy, and rode the Jet Express. He was a rockstar sleeper in the car and it was a great trip.
We squeezed in a few more fun playdates with Michael, Carmen, and Ella. This summer has been unforgettable, with the two little cousins playing on the playground together at Jeffrey Park, splashing in the back yard, going out for "coffee" and Piccadilly, an indoor play cafe, noshing, and playing together 1-2 times per week. We are sad to see them go back to NYC, but knew it would happen. We hope to take Jonah on his first trip to the big apple before long!
We've also had a couple of fun visits with Grandma and Grandpa with lots of reading, tea parties, and music time. We celebrated Julian's and Judy's birthday and his participation in cake baking involved licking the beater. Jonah helped Grandma celebrate her birthday here, and GG and GG came in from New York. He loved playing and reading with everyone!
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| First time licking the beater. Signing "more" |
We had been waiting for a day off work with good weather and low crowds to visit the zoo and finally hit the jackpot. Jonah seemed to most enjoy the gorillas, elephant, and flamingos.
