Author: Jodi

At forty-two weeks, Jonas is: loving his new tropical fruit (mango); getting very adept at rolling away from the diaper change (much to his mother and father’s dismay); and taking his first steps (super wobbly but still).

So, Jonas took his first steps yesterday!!!

We drove out to Gallatin to spend some time with his Great Aunt Jean.  I was loading up the car outside after a wonderful afternoon of catching up over lunch and playtime, and Aunt Jean was hanging out with the buddy while he was showing off his pulling up skills.  When I came back inside, she said that he had turned loose of the couch and had taken a few steps towards her (heading down as we went…but still).  He did it again that evening, letting go of the window sill in our living room (his new favorite place to stand) and taking a few steps into Daddy’s arms.  

Yay, Jonas!!!

As a forty-one week old, Jonas is: meeting another vegetable he loves (zucchini); hitting a major growth spurt with all that that entails; greeting his awake time with amazing bursts of jabbering and crawling energy; figuring out that DaDa is the “dada” he’s been babbling about; shaking his head no with great understanding; making the signs for “milk” and “drink”; giving us things we ask for (sometimes), to our amazement (his pacifier, as it’s only a naptime and bedtime thing now, and his favorite toys); working on his balance by standing with both hands free for a few seconds at a time; and asserting his strong will and discovering his independence.

So, this is the cuteness that greets us these days in the morning and after naps…

On my last visit to the dentist, the hygienist encouraged me to brush Jonas’ teeth (with water and a baby toothbrush) when they came in (glad she told me because I’m so clueless on a lot of these first time Mommy things and might have ignorantly waited until he was several months older to start).  So, we busted out his toothbrush a few days ago, and he thinks it’s the coolest thing ever.  He loves brushing his teeth with Daddy in the mornings and as part of his bedtime routine in the evenings (you can tell by the look on his face that he knows he’s doing a big boy thing and that he’s so proud of himself).  Just when I think he can’t get any more adorable… 

Here are a few pictures from Jonas’ summer visits with his Great Aunt Carolyn and his Great Aunt Sheila (Grandma Connie’s sisters).  We were so blessed to have them visiting from West Virginia and Ohio respectively and to get to spend some precious quality time with them.  We were thankful for our time together and were reminded once again of the priceless gift of family.

In the first picture from left to right is Jonas, Grandma Connie, and Great Aunt Carolyn. In the second picture from left to right is Cousin Patrick and his daughter Shelby (Jonas and Shelby had so much fun playing together), Great Aunt Sheila and Jonas, and Cousin Philip and his wife Lindsey.  Yay for family!!! We look forward to Great Uncle Bobby’s visit soon…

So, I had to post these precious pictures up…

The first one is of Jordan and Jonas, taken during a family game of Apples to Apples several weeks ago when Darren and Marina were visiting.  Jonas was sitting in my lap and was ALL ABOUT the cards.  His Daddy gave him a create your own category or something card that we weren’t ever going to use and, of course, it went right in the mouth.  All of the mommies at the table were concerned about paper cuts. So, I opted for a little bit of pacifier protection and was considering taking the card away to preempt any injuries. Daddy, who is very attuned to what delights his son’s heart, took the card and turned down all the edges and gave it back to a very happy Jonas.  It was so cute to watch him, holding his card up like a trophy…enjoying with ever fiber of his being…just being a part of the family Apples to Apples game.  If you look really close in the picture, you’ll see that he’s still holding his card.  🙂

The second one is of Jordan and Dylan sitting on our neighbor’s porch with Petra a few weeks back when Aunt Julie brought them over for a Sunday afternoon visit with the babies.  

In his thirty-ninth week, Jonas is: learning how to give hi-fives and kisses; enthralled by anything electronic; becoming a fast crawler; standing up in his crib with one hand waving free; trying to pull up on things other than Mommy and Daddy; continuing to explore his environment with keen interest; crawling with a toy in his hand; discovering his first favorite green vegetable (broccoli); exhibiting such skill with his pincer grasp that we are making the transition to all finger foods; and beginning to understand object permanence and to not be deterred if desired objects are placed out of sight.

At thirty-eight weeks, Jonas is: experimenting with more finger foods (peaches rolled in crushed Cheerios and egg yolks); enjoying Mommy’s creativity expressed in pureed fruit mixes (he’s still not into vegetable mixes); trying his darnedest to stand up from a crawling position; cutting another tooth; continuing to get super excited whenever he sees a dog (especially Petra); deciding to enter the consonant/vowel babbling world with gle-gle-gle and guy-guy-guy (he’s a very verbal little mister and has been entertaining us with his own version of talking and communicating since he was born) ; and finding new and improved ways of rolling away from the diaper change.

Jonas is quite the naturalist.  From very early on in his life, he has always seemed to enjoy going for a nice stroll around the neighborhood.  Being outside has a way of calming him down…he just looks around and takes it all in.  There are a few places on our morning and evening walks, where he reaches his hand out when he sees tall grass or plants up ahead (it reminds me of the Gladiator and the field of wheat).  He’ll often come back from his walks with a leaf or a piece of grass in his hand, holding it like a prize.  One morning, he went for a walk with Daddy and brought me this flower from our yard.  🙂  And here he is with the most beautiful crepe myrtle on our street.

Jonas’ thirty-seven week gigs include: crawling; sitting up on his knees to pull himself up; trying and loving cherries and plums; delving into big boy finger foods with diced bananas coated in crushed Cheerios; and cutting a second tooth. 

At thirty-six weeks, Jonas is: cutting his first tooth; getting really adept at going from a sitting position to a crawling position and back again; adding blueberries (what a MESS by the way…I actually stripped him down to his diaper for this one on Daddy’s wise recommendation and still ended up having to just put him in the tub afterwards…here’s picture proof) and nectarines (the first food he’s ever tried that had him smiling after the first bite) to his fruit repertoire; breaking out into a sweat with all of his playful floor activities and new skill honing; and perfecting his crawling jag (he has been getting really good on advancing forward on his knees…he’s still figuring out how to involve his arms, although he has managed to get one in there for a lopsided crawl a time or two…I’m sure it won’t be long and he’ll be putting on the turbo). 

Jonas cut his first tooth on Friday.  🙂  He was nursing and started bawling, so I rubbed his gums which always seems to make him feel better and was surprised to feel the telltale ridges of his very first tooth!!!  Here he is with two of his three favorite teething past times: the mesh feeder with ice cold yumminess inside (sometimes with ice and sometimes with a frozen fruit or vegetable cube) and his second favorite plaything ever (Turtle, the bath toy).

Jonas loved getting to spend some quality time with his Uncle Darren and his Cousin Marina (as did we all), who came for a wonderful two week long visit from Norway.  🙂  It was the first time I had seen Darren in six years and Marina in nine years!!!  We had great fun with family visits to the Grand Ole Opry, games of Apples to Apples, rounds of frisbee golf, shopping outings, long walks, fabulous meals, and catching up on lots of laughs and good conversation.  We look forward to visits with Jonas’ cousins, Reuben and Kaia, from Norway as well in the coming years, enjoy so much our blessed annual Christmas/New Year visits with his Uncle Kerry from Taiwan, and long for the day when we can all be together sitting around the kitchen table eating and laughing like old times.

In his thirty-fifth week, Jonas is: warming our hearts with the resurgence of his crinkled nose smile; tasting two new fruits (prunes and apricots); figuring out how to pull himself up in his crib and play peek-a-boo over the bumper pad (which never fails to dissolve him in fits of giggles); moving himself forward once with the right knee and once with the left knee in a valiant crawling attempt (he’s still trying to figure out what to do with his arms); continuing to crack us up with the intense curiosity he shows for his environment; going from a crawling position to a sitting position with a bit more familiarity and ease; and absolutely loving hanging out with his Uncle Darren and his Cousin Marina.  

In his thirty-fourth week of life and living it to the fullest, Jonas is: checking out the new and improved view from his big boy tub and shopping cart seat cover; trying and loving two new fruits (pears and peaches); cracking us up by tilting his head down and to the side when he’s investigating something; showing a sudden very strong preference for standing instead of sitting; taking his downward facing dog yoga pose to the next level by flattening himself out into what looks like a pretty serious push up; pulling himself up from a sitting position to a standing position (using Mommy and Daddy’s hands as leverage); maneuvering himself into a sitting position from a pseudo crawling position (he’s only done this once but it was really exciting to watch); coming close to crawling backwards by getting onto his hands and knees and pushing himself back with his arm; and averaging 7 hours of sleep at a stretch at night (with a few 10 hour stretches gloriously tossed into the mix).

I had to chronicle the carrot zerberting fest…and, yes, those are carrots IN his nose.  🙂