Jonah Bear Turns 1

It constantly amazes me how time flies.  Can my Jonah Bear really be a year old already?

This time last year I was so relieved to finally be done being pregnant.  With a belly as huge as I had I felt like a beached whale, not to mention I couldn't breathe.  Then, a little before 8 in the morning I had my little guy... who, surprisingly, was huge, had a head full of hair, and looked a lot like a little old man.  Over the past year I got to see my little old man turn into an adorable baby- full of mischief, vinegar, and always full of food. 

Jonah is all boy.  He is rough and tumble, has that little boy chuckle, and loves to get into everything he's not supposed to.  He gives this one look that just reeks of trouble.  He tucks his chin down, but looks up at you with his big, blue eyes, a big, mischievous smile pasted on his lips, and that gleam in his eyes.  Oh, is gives me shivers.  To this point, Jonah has shown no fear.  He is strong-willed and assertive.  The word "no" only makes the conquest all the more desirable.  He lets you know, very loudly and clearly, when he is not happy... and he tends to be unhappy with just about everyone outside his daily clique.  He will stare at people or look at them out of the corner of his eye if he is unsure of them.  To many he just looks like a grumpy little guy.

Thankfully, Jonah adores his mommy and daddy.  With nursing done with as of last week, he has been a little more clingy to his daddy.  I think that he's a little upset with me.  In fact, after feeding him a bottle this evening, he pushed away from me, arms held out to Erik, and snuggled right into him, pushing me away.  Apparently, he wanted daddy to give him his night time cuddles instead of the customary mommy cuddles.  I was only a little heart broken.  The fact that my two boys looked so cute together helped make up for the fact that Jonah Bear didn't want me.

There is no one as funny as his big sister, Cairo.  He adores her.  He loves to roll around and wrestle with her.  Not to mention, he likes to steal her toys and hold on for dear life.  She brings him constant joy and can cheer him up with one giggle.  Cairo loves to boss him around and tell us when he's being naughty.  I think Jonah is up for the challenge.  You can see that little gleam in his eye and know that he will do everything he can to stand up to her and out-wit her.

Jonah also has a special affection to his Bapa.  In fact, Jonah warmed up to my dad quicker than my mom... which I find kind of weird because my mom has this baby thing where all babies love her. Grammy is making some good headway with him, though.  I think that she still thinks she can win him over and make him as obsessed with her as Cairo and Xander are (Xander walk around crying Nummy often).  Auntie Ta-ta is also making some headway.  Jonah no longer cries every time she holds him.  :o)

Fell asleep holding his prunes

Jonah is a goofball.  He laughs often and talks and yells a lot.  He loves to cuddle with any pillow, blanket, sister, or cousin he comes into contact with.  When you ask for a kiss he leans in and puts his head on you.  Last week, he started to blow kisses good-bye to his Bapa.

Developmentally, Jonah is moving along.  He still isn't walking, but he is making very good progress in that direction.  His main mode of transportation is still scooting around on his tummy, though he occasionally does short sprints on his hands and knees.  Jonah is getting much better at putting things together and stuffing items into the small spaces they go.  Over the past few weeks his vocabulary has been developing.  He says da-da, dah-dah (dog-dog), dis (this), uh uh (uh-oh), hi/bye (though they sound the same), and lately he has been saying something suspiciously like "thank you" and "shake, shake, shake".  With these words/phrases it is the voice inflection that is most notable and they are always used in the right context, the pronunciation needs some work. 


 He has eight teeth, a big, round, muffin-topped belly, a cute gap between his two front teeth, big round blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and a rockin' Mohawk.  He looks more like me than Cairo does and he seems to be acquiring my disposition as well.  What a cute kid, right?

Jonah's greatest love is his food.  Oh food.  Erik, my dad, and I went to a buffet recently and we decided that if Jonah saw all that food and all the selection we had at our disposal his head would explode.  That boy can pack away the food.  Even if he just completed an adult-sized meal and he sees you eating something different, he will point at the food, urgently saying dis, dis, dis until he gets a bite.  He knows what he wants, too.  If you open the fridge, his little pointer finger comes out and roams around until he finds what he wants, and then he urgently points at his selection.  He's only one and he's already eating us out of house and home.  What will he be like when he's a teenager?

J Bear started his birthday opening a few presents.  Next, he went onto a yummy breakfast complete with a biscuit in the shape of a J.  Cairo had soccer (though she wasn't feeling well and didn't play), so we went there and came back home for a birthday celebration of In 'N Out.  Ta-ta, Paul, and Xander came out after lunch to help us celebrate.  J opened more presents, played with his fun new toys, and went down for a much needed nap.  Later that day and after dinner, Jonah blew out his candle and enjoyed his red velvet (Cairo's pick) birthday cake with homemade whip cream frosting (Erik's pick).  Needless to say, Jonah very much so enjoyed his cake.

Jonah Birthday J

Cairo helping Daddy make the birthday cake

Jonah playing with his new lawnmower- complete with bubbles!

Playing with his new train set

 Birthday Cake!

Taking a page out of Mommy's book

Family Photos

Birthday Cake Time!

This would have been a nice picture....

Marshmallows and Brooms

Today I asked Cairo to draw a Marshmallow.  She said, "But I can't, I can only draw scribbly lines."  Good point. But to be fair she can draw some pretty good circles too and a circle could be a marshmallow.

Jonah had the kids broom, but Cairo decided that we were done sweeping and wanted to put the broom away.  Jonah got a very determined look on his face and Would Not Let Go of it.  He is a strong little boy and does not give up.

-erik

A Bad Dream

Cairo had her first nightmare a few nights ago. Apparently a "naughty Winnie-the-Pooh-Monster" grabbed her hand in the night.  Scary.  She had some guts, though.  She made her way all the way down the long dark hallway on her own to wake me up.  She ended up in bed with us.  This wouldn't have been much of a problem except for the past two weeks Cairo has been completely done with diapers and she still has an occasional wet night.  I just made sure she slept on her daddy's side as much as possible.  Come the morning, Cairo was still dry... but naughty Winnie was NOT forgotten.  Come on Cairo, you have monsters all over your room and it's the cute, cuddly Winnie-the-Pooh that scares you?  Looks like Winnie is going to be demoted to the closet.

Dog-dog

Jonah's first word was Dog-dog, though he says it more like "Dah-dah."  Every time he sees the dogs he gets all wiggly and says dog-dog over and over again.  Of course, to Jonah all animals are dog-dogs.  Lately, Jonah's favorite activity has been to stand at the bay window in my parent's living room and watch the "dog-dogs" fly by.

Wrestling Around

Jonah is getting bigger and stronger and joins right in when a wrestling match is going on.  Sometimes he even starts them up himself.