(not) Talking, Letters, Shapes, Sleep

Seven weeks! I have obviously been slacking, because even though I keep thinking I need to post on here, it has taken me seven weeks to actually do it.

Jonah has turned into such a little toddler lately. All the traces of the baby he used to be are disappearing. It's great that he's growing up and maturing like he's supposed to, but it is certainly bittersweet.

Not only is Jonah walking confidently, he has started trying to run. It's really funny when he's holding Peter's and my hands and he puts his head down, out in front of his body and starts walking quickly - like his big head will help pull him along. He is still not speaking many real words. His intelligible words consist of mama, dada, up, ice, what's this (still sounds like washish), and bob. At his 18-month checkup the doctor said that Jonah does have a "slight language delay." He should theoretically be saying a lot more words, but we're not worried about it. He understands a lot, and certainly communicates. He's even started picking up several baby signs, without us really trying. The words will come.

Jonah has started recognizing some letters. I think this is mostly because he asks "what's this?" about a lot of letters in books. Right now he definitely knows S, G, and O. There are a couple of others he may know as well. He loves books, so I suspect it won't be long before he's recognizing a lot more.

One of Jonah's favorite activities right now is shape-sorting. He is becoming quite the pro at figuring out where all of the shapes go in his various shape-sorting toys. He seems to have a couple of the toys memorized, and turns it straight to the shape he needs.

Thankfully, Jonah has continued to sleep well. We have noticed that whenever we go somewhere different, he doesn't sleep well the first night, but then gets better the next nights. Luckily, he goes right back to his normal routine when we get back home. He has actually slept in the past three mornings since we've been home from the beach. He's still sleeping around 11 hours at night and usually about 1.5 hours at nap time, although sometimes more. I am very grateful for this consistent sleep!

Bracelets, Snuggling, Moon, Words, Happy

Jonah is a boy who loves his bracelets. A couple of months ago, we found him in his carseat wearing "links" as bracelets. He started putting them on in the carseat and taking them off when he got out. Then he would keep them on and wear them around wherever we were. Then he started wearing them around the house. He napped in them a couple of times, but I nixed that because they were leaving deep indentations on his wrists. He wore them every day to Vacation Bible School, he wears them to the grocery store, the pool, everywhere. I believe that his record is wearing 16 at once (and I think 11 of them were on one arm). He actually seems to be getting away from this a little bit in the last couple of days, but it has certainly been an amusing fixation.

He still likes to build towers with his blocks. When he cannot make them any taller on his own, he "asks" us to pick him up so that he can continue building. He also enjoys soft things. He has several stuffed animals and soft puppets. He loves to wear the puppets on his hand. It's very cute when Jonah snuggles with his soft animals. He smushes them up against his chest or face and gets a happy look on his face. Sometimes, if one of them is on the floor, he will just plop down and lay his face on it.

Jonah is a little bit obsessed with the moon right now. He likes to read books that have pictures of the moon in them and gets very exited when we get to those pages. He also likes the real moon, but doesn't see it as often because he is usually asleep by the time the moon is visible. Although we saw it during the day yesterday and he recognized it. It amazes me that he knows it's the moon whether it is full or just a crescent.

I feel like Jonah is on the cusp of speaking a lot more words. He has been making a few more animal noises and some different sounds. I think he has been taking everything in for so long and is about ready to start spitting that knowledge back out.

Jonah has continued to sleep reasonably well since we Ferberized him. He typically screams at some point in the middle of the night, but we don't go into his room and it usually only lasts a minute or two. Most days he will go down easily for a nap around 1:00 and sleep for an hour and a half. I think that this better sleep is probably contributing to the fairly good mood he has been in for the past few weeks. He still has his moments of whining and clingy and being difficult. But overall, he's a pretty happy toddler.

Walking (for real), Mama, Climbing, Towers

Only posting every three weeks seems to be my new normal. I feel like Jonah has grown up tremendously in the past few weeks, and is becoming more independent. I think it is unrelated to the fact that he went on his first big trip, involving four airplanes and three hotels, but that was certainly memorable as well.

Just this week walking independently finally clicked for real. Jonah used to walk all over while holding our finger, but on Monday he just walked off on his own. He has probably done it a hundred times since then. He seems very proud of himself and I doubt that I can express my pride eloquently. Yesterday I just watched him walking back and forth in his room thinking how perfect that moment was. I know this skill means that he can escape from me much more quickly (and already experienced this at that pool), but it brings me joy because he has been trying to master this skill for so many months. I am proud that he has achieved this goal. (Also, just tonight, he figured out how to stand up on his own without holding onto anything.)

Jonah also seems to be developing a slightly wider vocabulary. This has been a slow process, but he is saying a few more words and making some new sounds. He is slightly fixated on "mama" right now, saying it often, even when he is alone. I obviously like hearing it, but it's also really funny.

We seem to have a climber on our hands quite suddenly. He hadn't been trying to climb onto a whole lot, but had recently figured out that he could climb into Peter's chair. While we were in Indianapolis, he figured out how to use an ottoman to climb onto a bed, which seems to have emboldened him. He has been climbing much more since then and is able to get up onto our couch.

Jonah has developed a new skill with his blocks, starting to build towers with them. He builds them as tall as he can, making them slightly taller than himself, and is happy to see them fall over. He finally seems willing to play on his own for short periods, like he used to be. I appreciate this when I am trying to get ready in the mornings.

I'm looking forward to what developments the next few weeks hold!

Sleep (finally), (not) Walking, (not) Talking, Baths

I seem to have let three weeks go by again. It's crazy how fast time seems to be moving. The most exciting change that seems like it might be safe to call "normal" is that Jonah is sleeping through the night. I talked to the doctor about Jonah's sleeping at his 15-month checkup and the doctor basically told us to "Ferberize" Jonah. I hadn't wanted to do this because it seems mean, but we gave it a try and voila, he sleeps! It was a little rough at first and included him throwing up from being so upset, but he has finally gotten the hang of it. He goes to sleep easily again and is consistently sleeping from around 8:00 pm until almost 7:00 am. He is also napping about an hour and a half most afternoons. I like it. I don't know if they're related, but he has become incredibly clingy in the past couple of weeks, so he could be compensating for not falling asleep in our arms any more. We also dropped the final breastfeeding meal around the time we started Ferberizing him, so that could also be contributing to the clinginess. I'm sure it is a phase though, and will pass like phases always do, and maybe I will start to miss it (maybe).

Jonah walked reasonably well on his own for a couple of weeks, although he still required encouragement to do so. And in the past few days, he seems to have stopped. He will rarely walk on his own now, even with lots of encouragement. He loves to walk while holding someone's finger though, so maybe he just likes the company.

He's still not talking much. "What's this?" continues to be his main vocalization. He can also say mama, dada, mmm (moo), sheesh (cheese), and ice (yes). I know that soon enough all of the information he's been soaking up from asking "what's this?" will coming pouring back out at us. Until then, I will try not to get frustrated by his whining because he can't communicate his wants and needs (he's been whining a lot lately).

A cute thing that seems to have become normal happens at the end of Jonah's bath. It used to be that he loved the bath, but didn't seem too upset by having to get out. For the past week or so, he has actually stood up and indicated that he is ready to get out and is actually kind of excited about getting out. I'm pretty sure this is because he knows that he gets to brush his teeth after the bath and he absolutely loves that.

Such a boy, Pretending, Confidence, Sleeping, Mother's Day

I can't believe that three weeks got away from me since I last posted. I have felt very busy lately, although there is not one particular reason for this. I will not attempt to "catch up" on what has gone on with Jonah for the past three weeks, but simply look at what is "normal" this week.

In the past week or so, he started making "motor noises" whenever he plays with something that has wheels. He has a number of trucks and cars that he makes the noise for, but he also does it with his highchair, because I would make that noise when pushing him from room to room in the chair. I never really thought about it, but clearly, Jonah has learned that is what you do when you move the highchair. So now when I start pushing it, he will start making the noise. He's such a boy!

Another cute activity that Jonah picked up from me rather quickly is one of his first encounters with the world of pretending. We've been keeping a sippy cup of water in his room so that we can offer it to him in the middle of the night when he is screaming, in case he might be thirsty. One night, when he was refusing to take the cup, I offered it to one of his stuffed animals instead and made a sucking noise, as if the animal were drinking. The next night, he took the cup and held it up to an animal's mouth. Soon after that, he started making the sucking noise himself. Now he likes to give water to all sorts of things, including tables and his highchair tray, always while making the noise. He learns so quickly!

Just this past week, something clicked in Jonah's brain about how to walk. He had been walking some, but not very confidently, and only with much encouragement. On Tuesday, I walked into his room and he was walking across the floor by himself. He seemed very proud. Later that day, he continued to become more bold, letting go of my mom's finger to walk across my parents' living room. Since then, he seems much more stable when walking. It has been almost two months since his first cautious step, but I think he's finally got it. (He also climbed up onto our futon for the first time this week, so I think his confidence is spilling over into other areas.)

Jonah is still not sleeping that well. I would have said that he is almost consistently napping for about an hour and a half every afternoon, but this past Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, he pretty much didn't nap. He's doing slightly better at night since I stopped breastfeeding him in the middle of the night when he would wake up. It still regularly takes half an hour to get him back to sleep when he wakes up, but it's typically only once a night. Hopefully it will get even better soon!

Today is Mother's Day, so it seems like I should at least mention that. This is my second Mother's Day, and it still feels weird when someone tells me "Happy Mother's Day." I'm guessing this is typical and it will eventually feel "normal." I spent 26 years saying "Happy Mother's Day" to other people, and to be on the receiving end of that for the past two years just takes some getting used to.

Knowledge, Sleep, Easter eggs, Pushin' a truck, (not) Walking

If I could only share one aspect of what is normal for Jonah right now, it would be how much I feel like his knowledge is exploding. He still asks "washish?" about many things. The obvious connections he is making astound me. Again, I know this is normal, almost all babies do it, and if he were an adult learning the same information, no one would be impressed. I've said it before, but it is the fact that I am watching the learning happen that amazes me. One day he might not know what a closet is called, and the next day he will point to his closet when I say the word. There are so many objects that he has learned recently. Maybe he's known them for a while and is only now able to express his knowledge through pointing. I love that he is soaking up his world!

In regards to his crazy (not) sleeping that has been going on for 4 weeks, it's still happening. He has been going to sleep for naps more easily the past few days. But he's still not sleeping well at night, waking up 2-3 times and taking an hour-ish to get back to sleep, with lots of help. We're almost done weaning, and I'm hoping (perhaps for no good reason) that it will get better when we're done in a week or two. He has been really cute lately snuggling his bear when we're trying to put him to sleep. I don't know if it helps him sleep, but it's adorable. He's still clingy with me during the day, though maybe not quite as bad. It's difficult to get ready in the morning when he won't let me out of his sight or sometimes out of his reach.

We pulled our Easter eggs out a week ago and Jonah was instantly intrigued by them. He has loved playing with them, and is able to find them when Peter hides them. He also "hides" them himself sometimes, putting them in random places. Speaking of hiding, the other night he hid some of his corn in his high chair. He likes corn, but I think he had had enough on that occasion, and I watched him stuff it down in his high chair. It was hilarious.

One of Jonah's current favorite activities is to push vehicles around. It started with his concrete truck. He crawls around on the floor, holding the truck with one hand, pushing it along so that it is facing him (so the truck is going backwards). He pushes it back and forth across the house. He has even figured out to "steer" it by redirecting it before it runs into something. He has branched out and started doing this with a recycling truck and a small truck known as "Mark's truck." I believe I have seen him do it with a school bus too. He is very focused when he does this, clearly on a mission. Maybe he is concentrating on not falling down, because I would think it would be difficult to crawl while holding onto something with wheels.

Lastly, Jonah still doesn't seem interested in walking on his own. He is a pro at walking while holding our hands/fingers, and has taken a couple more steps on his own this week, but mostly he seems content not to be more independent than that. He can get anywhere he needs to by crawling, so he just doesn't have much incentive to walk. I know it will come eventually though and I'm not worried about it. For now, I have fun trying to get him to walk to me because he laughs at me when I try.

New normal, Cows, Biting, Washish, Repetition

Unfortunately Jonah's "normal" of last week has stuck around. He got over his fever from last weekend, isn't quite as cranky, and is eating better. However, he's still very clingy making it difficult to get much done and he's not sleeping well. Oh, how I miss the days of reading to him, singing to him, and laying him down in his crib, letting him drift off to sleep on his own. He has not done that in two weeks. He is fighting sleep like a champ. He only falls asleep breastfeeding or in our arms. Even if he's been asleep in our arms for 10 minutes, when we try to put him in the crib, he knows. He arches his back, kicks his legs, and starts screaming. Then we have to start the process over. He has been waking up in the middle of the night around midnight and staying awake for 1-2 hours, while we try to put him back to sleep. This is not a good long-term situation. I keep thinking it has to get better soon, but it really has become his new normal. I know that he's still teething, and may be mad about being weaned, and probably has a cold, but I don't think that warrants being awake for that long in the middle of the night. Luckily, he mostly sleeps pretty well after that, going 5-6 hours without waking up. When I write about this, it feels like I should be writing about a newborn, not an almost-14-month-old. He should be able to sleep through the night. I'm not exactly sure what went wrong and I don't know how to fix it. But I do know that it will stop at some point. He's not going to be 15 years old and still waking up for an hour in the middle of the night, insisting that we help him get back to sleep.

Jonah likes cows. I don't know if it's because cows are one of the first animals he learned, but he really does seem to be interested in them. I don't think he's seen a live cow since he has learned to say "mmm," but he moos at the cows in the Baby Einstein DVD, and when he sees them in his book. I think it's funny.

A habit that I wish were not normal is biting. Jonah has begun to bite (hard) both when he is mad and when he is excited. He has left teeth marks on our arms, legs, necks, whatever he can get to. And it hurts! This must be innate, because he's never seen or felt anyone bite. We consistently tell him "no biting," so hopefully it won't be normal for too long.

My favorite new "trick" is when Jonah says "What's this?" It sounds more like "washish?" but I'm 97% sure that he is asking what objects are called. He started a few days ago and has gotten into a routine while I change his diaper. He goes from object to object, pointing and saying "washish" to the monkey on his wall, the leaves on his changing table, the cow on his dresser, the bush on the side of his dresser, and (recently added) the smoke detector on his wall. He varies it and points to them in a different order each time, sometimes pointing to the same one over and over. He's very emphatic with his pointing, and really seems to enjoy this game. He also does it in the middle of the night with the things closer to the glider chair where we sit with him.

Jonah is definitely liking repetition. He does it with asking what things are called, as well as with books. He has me read the same book over and over and doesn't get bored. The other day, he handed me "The Foot Book" and sat while I read it. I gave it back to him and he handed it right back to me, making a noise that indicated he wanted me to read it again. We must have repeated this 10 or 15 times before he moved on to something else.