Jonah Nicholas, 24 Months

He did it! He turned 2! But more on that later.  With all the birthday celebrations, we decided to give the birthday its own blog post.  Indulge us as we ramble about Jonah's last month as a 1-year-old.

Growth: Jonah went to the doctor ("buddy doca kesas") for his 2 year appointment, so we have some quantitative updates on his growth!   He weighs 26 pounds, 12 ounces which places him in the 30th percentile, and he is 33 inches tall, which is the 15th percentile. His body is finally catching up to his head, which is 48.5cm, or 50th percentile!
He's certainly looking like a big boy to us.  He got a haircut at the salon alongside Mommy and has more of toddler look to him overall.

He has clearly outgrown his old booster seat
 which he has rediscovered as a toy

Sleep: We keep counting our blessings that Jonah has become and remains such a dependable and enthusiastic sleeper.  When we are approaching nap or bedtime, we prompt him "Jonah, it's time go to upstairs, go potty, brush teeth and go...to..." and he smiles and exclaims "bedtime!!!"  He likes his same routine and is good for about 1:00-3:30 or 4 nap, then sleeps overnight about 8:45- oh, anywhere between 6:45 and 8.  6:45 is reserved for weekend mornings and days we could really stand to sleep in.  For some reason, he was getting up 8 or even later on work/school days (ONLY!) for about a week.  Puzzling.  It's alright though, because he's so easy to watch after when we are getting ready in the morning. He loves to "go find Mommy!" and comes into the bedroom asking "In the closet?...no. In the bed?...no.  In the bathroom!!!" He then happily sits with a toy, iPhone, or helps Mommy with makeup. Lately he stares up at the shower curtain rod and asks "monkey bars? no showa curtain rod."

Ovil blow bubble!

Alton blow bubble!

He put this together on his own while
 Mommy and Daddy got ready

Eating: Not much has changed here. He's still on a big apricot kick, he likes his strawberries with the "trees off" (no leaves), has completely ditched the bib unless Mimi or Grandma don it for him, and has been known in recent history to eat 4 (small) tofu hot dogs for lunch at school.  This month with the weather warming up, he has discovered the grill. He gets very excited to see "Daddy cookin' 'sausage' on a fiya.  Jonah want to see oven. See grill."  He continues to eat a wide variety of foods, but gets in the mood for one thing or another from time to time. Then again, we all do. He has started commenting on his food with descriptors like crunchy, tasty, or spicy.

He is very interested in all manners of cooking, not just the grill. He wants to see what's on the stove or in the oven, and he has started to understand that food does in fact need to be cooked before being eaten. He likes to talk about something being frozen and how Mommy or Daddy will cook it. He mimics these cooking activities in his own creative play with his kitchen and flips things over with his "chopula." When we're baking, he likes to see the mixer "spin around around" as ingredients combine.

He insists on having bagels made
out of Play-Doh

Personality: Jonah is getting more and more independent-minded. He almost always wants to open and close doors (house, car, you name it) by himself, and will make a big fuss if you don't let him climb into the car seat by himself. He also is starting to take an interest in getting himself dressed, starting with his shoes.

He loves his toys, especially things with wheels. He has started getting more into his trains and loves putting together the tracks Mimi and Poppy gave him for Chanukah with the new bridge GG and GG got him for his birthday. "Train go down the slide!" "Choo choo chuggaga!" He really enjoys playing with and seeing school buses and fire trucks and can hear the latter a mile away. "Wee ew weee ew!"

His manners are getting more honed. He says "please" and "thank you" without being prompted more often than not. He is getting good at saying "excuse me" either when trying to get by someone (or something) or when passing gas or belching. He has said "bless you" after sneezes and has used one "Gesundheit."

Some Jonah-isms of the month:
"So proud of you!"
"Ball in the basketball hoop."
"Very good baseball player!" (said, of course, while playing basketball)
"Crush it. Throw it in the trash."
"Good tryin' Jonah!" (after an attempt at using the potty)
"Jonah soooooo precious!"
"Love you sooooooo much!"
"Say no thank you!" (his polite refusal)
"Pickooup!"

Checking out his favorite puppets at arzeeum

First time gardening!

Unda da beanbag!

New playground skill

Milestones: Jonah just keeps excelling at everything. He routinely puts together sentences of 7-8 words ("Go watch Danel Tigeh on da compueh!"). He has started grasping prepositions and is starting to get some issues with verb tense and pronouns. He knows genders and many nights at bedtime tells us, "Mommy little girl. Daddy little boy. Jonah little boy." He can identify all of the letters by sight, but every combination together still spells "Jonah!" His mouth coordination is getting better as is manifested by his proficiency at blowing out birthday candles, and the fact that he can now blow bubbles all by himself. He has learned some new shapes including rectangle and oval (which still occasionally is "circle go squish"). He is starting to get light and dark colors. On the piano, he can find high notes and low notes. He can do this with his voice as well and is starting to put inflection into his sentences, knowing to end questions with a rising inflection. He does loud and quiet as well and talks about inside voice vs outside voice. He has started to play some new instruments as well. He loves Aunt Lauren's viola and is actually quite good at getting sound out by playing the bow on the strings. His motor skills are improving as well, largely manifested in playing outside. He can now successfully throw a ball through the basketball hoop  at about 4 feet high (airballs are still "So close!"). He's working on his catching skills but isn't quite there yet. His upper body strength keeps getting better and better and he can hang on the monkey bars for quite a while without getting tired. Another manifestation of his grip strength is his first time on the big-boy swings!

Events: We had the finals of our pizza taste-off; Jonah was on cloud nine with all of the pizza these past months! We've been taking advantage of the nice spring weather to explore a number of local playgrounds and parks. The major events of the month have been birthday celebrations. We had birthday parties for Aunt Lauren, Mimi, Aunt Alana, Mommy, and, of course, Jonah! (He had no fewer than four separate celebrations, several of which were attended by Grandma, Grandpa, GG, and GG, which is why they will get their own post soon.)

Baby Sister: Lindsay's pregnancy is still going very well.  Jonah is excited to talk about baby sister, play in baby sister room, and tells us she is a little guwl.  Everything seems to be on track. Lindsay had a 30-week appointment today with all good news.  The hardest part is keeping up with Jonah, work, and life's necessities while entering the 3rd trimester.  Even with a nice relaxing lounge period on the couch during Jonah's naps, it can be a bit draining.  We are having fun getting the nursery together and imagining what she will look like and all the ways our lives will change.