Nov 12, 2011

Adios, baby!



My Jonah turned one at the beginning of the month. He's officially bid farewell to infancy. These pictures pretty much sum up the past year. I have to say, the last few months have been my favorite so far with him. I always say that this is the golden age. Babies between about 9 months and 15 months are so fun and playful, they (usually) sleep pretty well, and they don't really have tantrums yet. Well, scratch that last part- Jonah has mini tantrums all the time. He is a very passionate child.

During the week that he turned one, he got three new teeth, took his first steps, got really sick, and started saying Mama and Dada and hi. That boy sure changes fast! He loves to babble, he loves to climb, he loves to fight with his brother, he loves to clap, he loves the bath, he loves his Daddy, he loves to have his feet kissed, he loves to play in the toilet, he loves to eat, and he loves to sleep with his bum in the air. He can be quite sassy, but he's mostly a very happy boy.

Some highlights from the past year:
1. Bringing him home from the hospital to sunny 60 degree weather in November
2. Discovering his double dimples
3. A little incident that involved the park, an explosive diaper, a hungry baby eating the contents of it, and a big brother getting sick all over from witnessing the fiasco
4. Swimming at the splash pool
5. Going crazy from lack of sleep (ever read The Bell Jar?)
6. Sleeping through the night!
7. Lots of walks in the double stroller (bless you, Joovy!)
8. Field trips to the zoo, the aquarium, the farm, etc.
9. Grocery shopping with two kids- yikes
10. Going a whole year without anybody ending up in the hospital. A pretty big feat in our house.

Sep 1, 2011

10 Things



















Since Jonah is a whopping 10 months today (wait, wasn't it just last week that I was laying in that hospital bed, watching When Harry Met Sally, thinking the contractions were actually going to kill me?), I wanted to commemorate the day with a list of some special things about my JoJoBe.

1. His big brown eyes- he refused to make eye contact with me for the first three months of his life, so now when he looks at me I really pay attention
2. His dimples
3. He is obsessed with climbing
4. He has the cutest gap between his top teeth
5. He is fiercely independent, and doesn't like to snuggle very much
6. His hands remind me of puppy paws- they are so big, it's kind of an indication of how much he needs to grow into them
7. He loves music and will dance anytime he hears something with a beat
8. He has the same crazy, fluffy hair Miles had
9. His raspy laugh
10. He's mine, and that is enough

I love him so much. I never could have guessed that having him when I did would be one of the best things that ever happened to me, but it ended up being perfect timing and I'm so proud and grateful to be his mother!

Jun 24, 2011

We love summer!

Our summer so far










Playing in the grass














Lots of walks=lots of sunscreen+cute oversized bucket hats














First taste of sour patch kids














Even though he did not enjoy his first pony ride at the time, he's been talking about ponies ever since!














A little identity crisis- cowboy or pirate?














Summer haircut














Indoor sledding











Diaper buddies

Mar 29, 2011

lately



It's about time for a new post. That last one was really bringin' me down, man. And just to clear the air, that post was really about me working out some very personal thoughts and feelings and getting a wake up call to not take my man for granted. It was so very VERY not intended as a judgment on anybody else's choices, so I hope it was not seen that way.

Whew. So now what? Let's see, Jonah is almost 5 months old and I have never written about him. Isn't that sad? I realized that some time in the last month or so was the beginning of me actually enjoying having two kids. It is just such a smack in the face, bringing home another baby when your first is so young. I thought I knew what I was doing because I'd been through it once before, but it is sooo different raising two at a time. I know it's not this way for everyone, and some people think it's just hunky dory, but I'm not gonna lie- it was really hard for me in the beginning. I felt like I was losing my mind the first two weeks from sleep deprivation. With your first baby, you can sleep when they do, but not so with number two. You have another one that needs your attention, and honestly I think I needed him as much as he needed me. One thing that was really hard for me about having another baby was feeling like I was betraying Miles by letting someone else into my heart. It's taken time and patience, but I finally feel like I can love them both completely without taking anything away from either of them. This is a good thing.

And just for the purpose of journaling, here are a few of the things that Jonah is up to lately: rolling over (only three times so far), laughing, being cute and chubby, growing (87% for height), playing with his toes, sleeping a little better at night, taking three naps a day, sucking on his fingers a LOT, working on taking a bottle, sitting in a highchair at the kitchen table while we eat (and loving it), growing a sweet mohawk, gurgling and cooing, and too many other adorable things to name.

As for Miles, he is cute as ever but becoming more challenging every day. I thought I might escape the tantrum throwing stage with him, but no such luck. They are occurring at least once a day, usually a few times, and they happen most often out of jealousy or just general grumpiness. It's funny because we called Jonah a curmudgeon for the first three months of his life, but there's been a role reversal and Miles is now our lovable grumpy old man. If he even sees Jonah out of the corner of his eye, he yells "NO" and throws anything within reach. Or if there are no inanimate objects lying around, he will just punch me. Good times. I do love him so much though, and he makes up for all of his tough moments by being a complete doll face every other moment of the day. The other night I was putting him in bed and after I left the room he came to his doorway and called out to me. I came back and he said "mmm....kiss?" so I gave him a kiss. Then it was "mmm...squeeze?" So I gave him a hug. Then "mmmm...'nother kiss?" I'm pretty sure he was trying to put off bedtime, but I didn't mind too much.

He is a very smart little boy with great verbal skills. I think that's why he hasn't been so bad with tantrums until just recently. He's always been able to express his feelings using words and gestures, so he hasn't had a reason to get too upset. But now he's dealing with very complex emotions that he can't put words to, like jealousy and separation anxiety and the like. He's been missing his daddy a lot lately since Matt's been working so much. On the bright side, Matt's extra work necessitates me cutting back my work hours, so I will be able to spend a lot more quality time with my babies. When both of us were working from home it wasn't too hard to take care of both of the kids between us, but trying to do two by myself while working is near impossible. So I'm looking forward to warmer weather and having more free time to do what we want.

At this point I am way too tired and incoherent to think of an appropriate conclusion, so The End.