Jonah Nicholas, 37 months, Tessa Rose, 11 months

It has been another tiring though joy-filled month as happy little Tessa has taken off and sweet Jonah plays his days away.

Growth:  At Jonah's 3-year visit, we learned he is in the 20th percentile.  He now weights 30# and Tessa 22#.  They're doing great.

Sleep: Tessa earns an A+ with sleeping easily and at appropriate times: mostly 9p-7a, 10a-11a, and 2p-4p (or so).  Jonah's wake up time keeps getting earlier and lately he has been rising in the early 6:00 hour.  We are hoping he can start sleeping in until 7 at least, but other than that, it's all good.  He is agreeable for most of the bedtime routine, but has a lot of requirements, including such minute details as "I want to chew on the floss after you floss my teeth" to "I want to use the basting brush to hang up Tessa's hat. Pick me up." He has been having Julian stick around and "sleep" on the floor next to him after he gets tucked in and yells at him when he tries to go, but eventually he will relent.  At this stage anyhow, Tessa gets teeth brushed, nurses till she passes out, gets placed in the crib with a pacifier, situates herself comfortably on her tummy or side, and passes back out.  Aaaaaah.  

Eating:  We've got some good little eaters.  One is a little faster and eats more than the others (achem, Tessa) but Jonah gets it done eventually with some prompting.  She nurses just the same, and has discovered water.  Oh boy.  She sees a cup coming, gasps, eyes wide open, arms flapping, and reaching for the cup.  She will suck the water in, but then spits most of it back out.  After some practice, she is managing to coordinate the swallowing  

"I made a letter 'H'!"
Then he turned it sideways and said it was an I.

I was packing sandwiches, so Jonah made one too

Front porch dining

The post-lunch march through the yard. Rain or shine.

The first and last time Tessa gets a chocolate muffin for breakfast

Jonah delights in pushing down the french press each morning.
One day, he asked for tea, so we brewed a cup together and he
was allowed to try it.

Personality:  Jonah has given up the shy side recently for the most part and we now have two kids who are outgoing more often than not.  He loves Tessa very much and finds comfort in doing things with her, or talking about her when strangers ask him questions.  He likes to teach her things and include her in his play.  Unfortunately, he also likes to hit her and knock her down.  We haven't been able to figure out why he does this since she isn't doing anything in particular when he acts this way.  We remove him from the room she is in and he quickly calms down and comes in to tell her he is sorry.  Lets hope that's a short phase.  He has been very into imaginative play, asking endless questions, and making up songs and words.  In the spring weather, he has been enjoying his fire truck and bicycle in the back "yard" and has started requesting to eat lunch on the front porch, followed by playing in the front yard. There are no toys involved; he just keeps himself well entertained marching along the stepping stones, looking at animals, and doing somersaults.  

When he runs in place up the slide he calls it "drubbling"

Our little gymnast got himself  like this for the first time 

He made a tail out of pipe wrap and swept the floor

Jonah asked Mommy to wrap him like this

First time using the water table together

Feeding the squirrels

Yep, still fits

He asked for it

He marched into Tessa's room like this and told me these blocks are boots and mittens

Don't worry, he was closely monitored

Tessa is, as Jonah will tell you, a flappy flappy chick.  She is easy-going as can be, very rarely upset, and highly sociable and happy.  More than ever, she has become very funny!  Our silly little girl loves to squeal, flirt, and flap her arms and legs, smiling at everyone she meets. She studies Jonah and enjoys playing with him.  She gets particularly excited about water, food, and people running. Her favorite things to play with are shoes, catalogues, shakers, and cell phones. 

So pretty

Making teapot noises

Maybe she'll try drubbling soon

Baker in training

Jonah asked me to do it

So, maybe she isn't ready for markers

Girl love being upside down

Enjoying a piggyback ride at an early 4th of July celebration
with Allie Smith before 2 years in the peace corps

Milestones: Jonah has completed his third year at the JCC and has graduated from the Teddy Bear room with Leslie, Marie, and Betsy, to the Sea Turtle room for camp this summer.  

Last day in in the Teddy Bear room

First day in the Teddy Bear Room

Goofy little camper

Tessa has made great motor advances this month! She can crawl all around, including over someone's legs or under a chair, and when she reaches something she can grab onto, she pulls up to standing.  She can walk with someone holding her hands, but hasn't figured out how to cruise, nor does she stand hands-free for more than 2 seconds.  She's not all braun, she's brains too!  We are amazed how much she is listening to what we say, even when we are speaking at a normal speed and addressing someone else.  For instance, I ask Jonah to open big to floss teeth, and there's Tessa, mouth gaping open roaring her zombie noise "Raaaaaaa."  She can say "dada" and tries to say "mama" but it often comes out "baba" with her lower lip tucked under her upper teeth.  She loves waving at people and cars, and busts out a wave when she senses a conversation is ending and someone is leaving, sometimes with an accompanying "buh-buh."  She is spitting up much less and has learned to drink water from a cup, though not efficiently, resulting in just as many outfit changes as back in the spit up days.  She also had her second molar poke through, bringing the total to 10.  Both kids slept at Mimi and Poppy's for the first time.  It was very strange not having any kids at home, but that didn't last long since Tessa still nurses as soon as she wakes up.  

Got into that position all by herself

Comin' at ya!

She's getting pretty steady in high kneeling

Soon, she will learn she can push the cart, not just stand at it

She has made it up one step

Events: Our friends, the Evanchan family, are moving away.  For now, they're here and we are trying to squeeze in lots of fun first.  

Tessa and Adelyn

Tessa, Adelyn, Jonah, Garrett, Carter

We got to go hear Poppy play with the OSU Alumni Marching band. Jonah marched along with the drum major for script ohio, er, script U. The watched intently for about a half hour before getting antsy and playing in the park. 

 Jonah and Mimi have been talking about going shopping at Trader Joes where he can push his own shopping cart for weeks.  During the week off between school and camp, he got his chance!

We took a trip to Cedar Point with Mimi and Poppy. Jonah, of course, remembered all about his last trip there and was very much looking forward to his favorite rides as well as some that he just became tall enough to ride.  With 3 kids areas, he never slowed down and rode everything he could with wild abandon.   He was in his element!  Tessa enjoyed looking at the rides and got to go on a couple of things, like the carousel. 

Getting some nourishment before hitting the park

Roller coaster!!

"Carouselfie"

We ventured to Slate Run Historical Farm, which Lindsay hadn't been to since childhood, and we all saw animals, learned about the real working farm, and had a picnic.  We also discovered that Tessa has an intermittent fear of animals. She's hit or miss with the dogs she knows, loves her cats, and evidently is intensely afraid of farm animals.  Every single one, even the baby lambs and ducklings, induced red-faced, tear-filled, cries of terror.  It was almost laughable.  

We celebrated Poppy's birthday with dinner at Buca di Beppo.  The kids were kind of a handful for some reason, but for the most part we had fun and much calamari was eaten.  Poppy also wished for a zoo trip for his birthday, so off we went to see the new Heart of Africa exhibit.  It was raining all day, but we stuck it out and saw some animals up close and personal.  Apparently an adult male lion is not nearly as scary as a little lamb by Tessa's standards since she watched the animals from the stroller calmly.  Jonah loved climbing into a retired propeller plane with two lions sleeping on the wing.

We had a few nice trips to Columbus Commons this month already.  They do a kids day on Fridays which includes inflatables and games. On Thursdays there are food trucks.

We spent some time downtown at the Arts Festival.  We imagined the kids would tolerate checking out the art then enjoy eating and playing, but they really liked the art part too.  We tried to move from booth to booth, but Jonah wanted look longer and talk about what he saw.