12 months have never gone by so fast in my life!! It is crazy to me to think that this time last year I was terrified and overwhelmed at the same time by how much I was falling in love with this tiny little being that was mine to care for. Jonah needed so much more from us then than he does now and it makes me sad already just thinking about it. While he still cannot do very many things for himself physically he can do so many more things than he could back then like hold his head up, sit up and put his pacifier back in his mouth. I am loving teaching him and seeing him learn new things every day though!
Here is what he has been up to since last month:
Personality:
Jonah's personality has exploded so much over the past month. He is still a busy little guy as long as he is awake. He is very observant and always looking above himself at lights and pictures and pointing to them. He will make a little noise like "uuhh, uhhh" like he wants you to let him touch it. He is definately figuring out what works to get our attention and tell us what he wants. He does fuss sometimes (fake) when he wants us to help him with something he hasn't figured out how to do yet, like pull up to stand. We usually just ignore him and he satisifies himself with something else or figures it out. He is a happy boy most of the day and loves playing with his toys and watching Mickey Mouse or the Sprout channel. He has gotten into mocking us when he hears us laughing or a crowd laughing. This past weekend whenever we laughed (not always at him) and he heard us he would do a little cackle himself like he knew what was so funny. It's too cute! He is also learning what some of the words we say to him mean. He understands the words, "drink, outside, bath, eat, bite, no, clock, picture, lamp, close it." He is a smart cookie and learning new things everyday.
Play:
Jonah's world of play has widened a lot over the past month now that we can get outside more and get in the pool. He loves the pool!! Whenever he sees it he fusses to get in. He just splashes and splashes and doesn't care if it gets in his face. He doesn't seem scared of it at all....which is good right now. He loves to play in the floor still with his floor toys and since his birthday he has gotten a lot more. We got him a buzz lightyear ride on toy we keep in the living room and it has handle on the back. He loves to push it across the room but hasn't figured out how to back up or turn it around yet. So that is our job for now LOL! He loves to cruise along the furniture and can even cruise along the walls with his hands!! Definately time to baby-proof better! We think he will be walking in another month! He still does not crawl but will get on his hands and usually one knee and then go onto his belly. He pushes with his legs but doesn't push up with his hands so his head just goes across the carpet....but he gets where he wants to go at least. I am not sure he is ever going to really crawl....I think he will go straight to walking. He loves to ride in the stroller and now wagon. Nana and Papaw got him a Radio Flyer wagon for his b-day and he would let us pull him in that thing all day I think! I also should mention that he still loves books! We are so glad he does like them and when you pull out a book his full attention goes to it and he wants you to read it to him. He also loves to turn the pages on those thicker board books.
Eating:
Jonah is still a good little eater and we still do the baby food at every meal. We have started doing regular adult oatmeal at breakfast which he enjoys and doesn't seem to miss the other. But we still do the baby cereal at night. We stopped for a few days and tried just doing table food mashed up. But he was waking in the middle of night and we were thinking it was because he was hungry. We added the oatmeal back in at night and the wakings stopped....so my intuition was right. We are still offering him table foods as often as we can but have not fully replaced the baby food yet. He always wants to try whatever is on our plates even if he has already eaten so we let him usually and he likes most everything.
Sleeping:
Jonah is still sleeping about 10 hours a night and we are grateful for that. He usually is asleep by 8:30 at night and up around 6:30 every morning. He is still an early riser but I figure he probably always will be. Michael has always been an early riser so he must get it from him. He still takes 2 naps a day of at least an hour and usually one is an hour and a half which is great to give us and Nana a break or two during the day. He has gone some days when we are off our schedule of not having an afternoon nap and done very well. But at his age he still needs those 2 naps a day so we try to not schedule anything that will interfere with his naps.
We are just so thankful that this year has been one of happiness and healthiness for Jonah. We are so blessed that God has watched over him this first year. He has not been sick hardly at all (knock-on-wood) besides the occasional cold or teething-induced fevers/pain. He has grown just as he should and gained weight steadily. He is precious little boy and we love him more each day!
Here are some pics from this month.
At 11 months (below)
Playing with his truck
After his first "official" haircut
