Please help us welcome to the Seyfried family, Petra. We found Petra through a rescue shelter called Proverbs 12:10. We got her on a foster to adopt situation which gave us a week to see if she would work with our family. After a week we knew she was a match for our family. She loves Jonas already very much and they are great friends. They are always both very excited to see each other. Petra has a very sweet spirit. She was the runt of the litter but certainly has a big heart. She is a predominately yellow lab with something else mixed in. We are very excited about this new addition and look forward to many years of playing and yelling “No Petra”.

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. 

So last week Jonas began crawling. Here is the first video. Jonas crawling

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.  🙂

This week Jonas has been: dipping his head down to investigate things like his shadow and his reflection in a mirror; trying oatmeal (which he LOVES so much he reaches for the bowl, kicks his legs, opens his mouth so fast after a bite that it’s hard to believe he’s swallowed the first one, and gives you the feeling that you can’t shovel it in fast enough to suit him); trying his first fruit combination (apples and avocados…wacky but he likes it); pressing both of his lips together for a comical and determined expression; saying “mmm” when he eats something he likes; and extending his legs and making it REALLY hard to get him into his car seat, stroller, and high chair.

So, today Jonas met his Aunt Heather and his cousins Val and Annabella at the Nashville Public Library Children’s Theater for his very first storytime (of course, Mommy had a moment and started to cry).

Thirty-two weeks finds our little man: windmilling his arms when he’s happy and playing; grabbing his hair and hitting his head when he’s tired and fighting sleep; kindly raising his hands up when we go to lock his high chair tray into place; pulling his bib off/wiping his face with his bib/crying/smiling at the “all done” sign when he’s done eating; smiling at the “eat” and “milk” signs and doing his own versions of those pretty regularly; lifting his hands in the air when he wants to be picked up; saying what seems like “hi” sometimes; moving backwards (in a crawling sort of way); adding bananas and apples to his repertoire of solid foods; feeding himself his very first melt-in-the-mouth puff; trying to figure out the whole object permanence thing; getting really good at turning the pages in board books; and continuing to assert himself with grunts and other vocal protests.

Jonas was trying hard to figure out where the other baby in the building blocks was.CLICK PICTURE FOR MOVIE

Jonas had a big day today…he figured out how to balance himself on his hands and knees and rock back and forth!!!  He hasn’t started moving forward yet, but it looks like he’s close to launching himself that way soon.  

It’s amazing how, in just a few short days, he seems to have gotten heavier, longer, and stronger all at the same time.  I’ve been looking at him sideways and smiling, thinking, “Jonas Seyfried…you are such a big boy.”  He is so much fun and is really becoming so mobile so quickly.  

I had an inkling of it when I was pregnant with him because he was super active in the womb, but that’s nothing compared to the inklings I’ve been having lately about what a mover and a shaker we have on our hands.  🙂