Author: Jodi

In his fifty-second week, Jonas is: cutting two more teeth; enjoying fall-ish food (like homemade chicken soup and sweet potatoes with cinnamon); adding another word (“out”) and several signs (“help”, “fan”, “pet”, “sleep”, and “thank you”) to his vocabulary. 

We love and look forward to our annual tradition of hanging out at the Chandler’s house on Halloween night. They live in one of those neighborhoods that goes all out…practically every house is decorated, every door is open, and every child is out on the street in costume. We enjoy trick or treating with the Chandler Family and the Barefoot Family, seeing the children’s costumes and how much they grow each year, snacking on roasted pumpkin seeds, tucking into a warm bowl of crock pot chili and a cup of apple cider, and cozying up and watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”.  

Here’s one of us as a family, and one of us on the way out to trick or treat, where we found Darth Vader roaming the street. HaHa!!!

Here is Jonas in the AWESOME Yoda costume his Aunt Sherri made for him for his 1st birthday.  🙂  And here is one of my favorite Yoda-isms that kept coming to mind every time I looked at him in it (aside from the fact that he is just SO adorable):  “No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.”

At fifty-one weeks, Jonas is: walking all over the place; figuring out how to make a motor noise with his mouth and change the sound with his hand; laughing in a new way with his chin tucked to his chest, his head shaking side to side, and his eyes all squinched up (the sound of his new laugh is EXTREMELY reminiscent of his Uncle Darren’s); and looking forward to a cold fall night out this Halloween weekend with Mommy (Princess Leia) and Daddy (Luke Skywalker) as Yoda.  

In his fiftieth week, Jonas is: surprising us by going from a sitting position to a standing position without holding onto anything or anyone; adding a few more words (“Eta” for Petra, “gotcha”, and “bye-bye”) to his vocabulary and a sign (for “music”) to his signing repertoire; and really becoming quite the little walker.

Yesterday afternoon, we took advantage of the first few days of sunshine in what seems like a month and went out to Walden Farm for a fall visit with the farm animals and the pumpkins.  Jonas loved all the new sights, smells, and sounds and enjoyed picking out a few pumpkins for our front porch to help bring in the new season.  

At forty-nine weeks, Jonas is: taking four, six, eight, and ten unassisted steps here and there; walking from one thing to another thing (instead of walking from one thing to Mommy and Daddy); trying cheese and whole wheat bread; saying “MaMa” (sometimes) and “dat” for that; not letting his socks, shoes, hoodies, and beanies stay on for any length of time; learning how to turn light switches on and off; walking from one side of his crib to the other (so waddly and careful); and pointing to things he likes/wants.

At forty-eight weeks, Jonas is: trying and LOVING yogurt and joyfully welcoming Petra back from training camp (when he woke up from his afternoon nap the day of her return…instead of saying “DaDa” or “NaNa”…he was enthusiastically patting his leg, which is the sign for dog, and saying “dah”).

In his forty-seventh week, Jonas is: becoming more and more verbal (venturing out to to say “ah duh” for all done, “up” for pick up or get down, “wow”, “heh” for hi, and “Heh, Da” for Hi, Dad); starting to go straight ahead instead of straight down when he takes a few steps towards open arms; and initiating his own game of peek-a-boo with blankets, books, and balls, by raising them up over his head and smiling and waiting until we say, “Where’s Jonas?”

(Photos courtesy of Rachel Jonas)

For more pictures, click on the “Family Vacation: Montreal/VA” page to the right…

At forty-six weeks, Jonas is: trying out a few new foods (black beans, rice pasta, and cauliflower); experimenting with the use of his two bottom teeth for chewing; adding three words to his vocabulary (“ca” for cat, “boo” for book, and “ba” for ball); and cracking us up with his current favorite consonant/vowel combination (“da-da-da-diguh-diguh-diguh”) that he repeats over and over again in all seriousness and with much gusto.

In his forty-fifth week, Jonas is: setting a new record with his hands-free balance time at 10 seconds (while clapping at the same time); trying lentils and asparagus (they both get the “meh” Jonas rating); continuing to practice his first words (“DaDa” for Daddy, “dah” for dog, and “NaNa” for Momma); waving like a champ (especially when it comes to saying goodbye to Daddy in the morning); laughing out loud all the time; feeding Petra Cheerios and cracking up at her puppyish antics; and amazing us with his newfound dexterity of (gleefully) walking behind his walking toy without much assistance.

Jonas loves his new big boy car seat (and even though he looks really serious in this picture, he REALLY loved playing with the cardboard box it came in).  🙂

Petra is getting to be such a big girl.  🙂  She is off to training camp for three weeks; and, although we’re going to miss her (Jonas especially…he looks for her every morning and asks for “Dah”), we are super excited about the return of a better behaved version of the newest addition to our family.

Yesterday was such a sweet day for Tom and I with Jonas.  He sent Daddy off to work with a big boy farewell, in his new favorite rocket ship pajamas with one hand holding on to the baby gate and one hand straight up in the air waving back and forth.  And when I went into his room to bring him downstairs to play after his morning nap, he stood up in his crib, held on with one hand, waved at me with the other, and said, “NaNa”.  He wins my heart every day, over and over again…just like his Daddy.

At forty-four weeks, Jonas is: making the signs for “dog” (and paying special attention to that picture and word in his first words book) and “change diaper” (he’s still making and perfecting the signs for “eat”, “drink”, “milk”, and “more”); babbling up a storm; enjoying games of reverse keep-a-way with Petra; crawling like Thor, with one hand flat and one hand in a fist; working on his balance; clapping and waving; and giving kisses and love pats.

Here is a picture of the J-Man with the wonderful toy box that his Daddy made for him!!!  Jonas loves standing up beside it, peering over the edge to look inside, and pulling out his toys one by one (thus the temporary baby-proofing necessity of the yellow pool noodles).  🙂  

In his forty-third week, Jonas is: enjoying finger foods from the melon family (cantaloupe and watermelon); trying his hand (and his foot) at climbing; figuring out how to go from a standing position to a sitting position without plopping down (holding on with one hand and doing it very gingerly and deliberately); getting a very determined look on his face for his home-exploring missions; continuing to balance (hands free) for a few seconds at a time and to take one or two steps on his own every now and then; and entering into a whole new arena of cuteness, as he learns how to clap and wave.