Books, Molars, Standing, and Cheese

Jonah has been showing an interest in books for months now, but lately he is very interested in them. He will pull all the books off of his shelf, and sit amongst them, flipping through the pages rather quickly (I think he's a speed reader). Sometimes he sits with one book for a while, other times he goes through a number of books in a matter of seconds. Occasionally it seems like he is looking for a particular book and is content once he finds it. He will sit like this for 15 or 20 minutes (although I haven't actually timed it) without moving much or making a lot of noise. There have been a couple of occasions where it seems like he would rather be left alone during this time. He just wants to read in peace. He "reads" like this at least once a day, sometimes more often.

We had two nights last week when Jonah screamed in the middle of the night (one night for almost 3 hours and the other night for 1 hour and 45 minutes). He was getting his first set of upper molars. Apparently these hurt a lot, because he has never screamed like this. We tried everything and nothing (even Tylenol) seemed to help. Those molars had poked through by the time I spotted them on Wednesday evening. I can see the bottom molars just below the surface of his gums though, so hopefully we're not in for another round of this.

Last week Jonah started standing on his own for a second or two. I would get him standing, let go, and wait to catch him. The falling was his favorite part. On Saturday, something clicked in his brain and he figured out what he was supposed to be doing. It was like I watched the light come on as he began to have a particular stance for this game, spreading his arms out and bending his knees. He was instantly much more stable and can stand for 10 or more seconds on his own now. The best part is how proud he seems each and every time. Once he is standing he gets a big grin on his face and kind of chuckles. This makes me happy. Eventually he will lose his balance or I think sometimes he falls over on purpose, because he enjoys this part of the game. So do I.

I think Jonah is a little bit in love with cheese. He has been eating cheese for a month or two, but he seems especially excited about it lately. I'm pretty sure he is saying a version of cheese when I say it or when he spots the cheese and wants it. It sounds similar to "shish," which is his word for most things, but his "cheese" sounds more like "sheesh," so I think he knows what he is saying.