October 2008 - 13 months

Last year at this time we were still wondering when we'd get to sleep more than 2 hours at a time and if Jonathan would ever quit nursing every 1 to 1 1/2 hours! What a difference a year makes!

He really is becoming quite a character - he does his tricks for pretty much anyone who asks and we get lots of smiles from other shoppers at the grocery store and Target (sometimes shopping takes twice as long by the time we stop and talk to all the grannies in the store... but it's sweet :)

Jonathan loves going to Bible class on Sundays and Wednesdays - he's even starting to "sing" a little with the teachers. He recently picked up the hand motions for "The wise man built his house upon the rock"... it started on day while I was changing him and the song was playing in the background - he started doing the "rain". The next day he heard the song again and did the "building" motions - it's become a necessity during diaper changes as he's in a bit of squirmy stage.

Jonathan also loves bath time! We now say the word and he runs toward the bathroom (we find ourselves spelling the word if it's not time so we don't up dissappointing him). He also has started signing the word "diaper" and going to his room when we ask if he needs changed. It cracks us up.

Halloween was fun - we just did the grandparent circuit since he doesn't really need the candy (and neither do we!). He loved his monkey suit and we just about got him to make a monkey sound (we say "ooh ooh ahh ahh" and he just does the "ahh ahh", but we know he knows what we're talking about).

Our toddler has become a bit more picky about what he eats and really doesn't want us to feed him. He tries to use a spoon or fork, but he usually ends up pushing the food around and then picking it up with his hands. Within a week of turning one he had 4 molars coming in at the same time - 2 are pretty much through and 2 are still just poking out, so maybe that's contributing to mounds of snot we've been wiping up and extra drooling...

It's been a good month and we just continue to love our little chunky monkey all the more!

One Year!

Well, we made it - Jonathan turned one year old on September 23rd (at 2:10am). He continues to amze us as he grows and changes. He is really interactive and just such a joy. He never ceases to make us smile (well, except for when he's trying to roll over in the middle of a diaper change or putting things in his mouth that he's not supposed to!).

Besides eating cake for the first time (that we know of), Jonathan also has had his first Happy Meal, popsicle, whole milk (he's down to just nursing before bedtime) and pretty much eats anything we put in front of him. His sign language is becoming even more clear and he's using it to communicate (as opposed to responding/copying when we sign something) - for instance, when I cut out his afternoon nursing and tried to give him a bottle, he drank a little and then began to fuss... he signed "milk" and I told him the bottle was his milk. He took another drink and fussed and signed "milk" again and then tugged at the collar of my shirt... he wasn't quite ready to give up nursing at that time! :O)

At the beginning of the month Jonathan figured out how to stand up on his own - which has eliminated a lot of frustration for him. We're starting to get more bumps and lumps now that he is getting so adventurous. He loves to look at books and pictures. He likes pushing his cars around and "talking" on a phone (or anything that looks like a phone). He teases - acting like he's going to let you hold him and then turning away, with a big grin on his face... he'll pretty much let anyone hold him, though.

It has been a crazy year, but we are so blessed to have this little bundle of joy in our lives!

YouTube videos (too cute not to post!):

11 months and counting

What happened to 10 months? I don't know - but we totally missed posting anything (I didn't even do an at-home photo shoot like I usually do in the months we don't go to the studio...) Oh well - you get 2 for 1 this time!

10 months

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Well Jonathan didn't crawl when Kyle was gone to Taiwan in June, but he did start crawling while Kyle was working down at Spring Mill Bible Camp in July, just before he turned 10 months old. He also started saying "ba" when he would see or hear a dog (he also says "ba" when he sees his little stuffed lamb that he sleeps with... but it has a little different tone... :o)

We also decided to see if we could help Jonathan sleep through the night (since he wakings were becoming more frequent!).. It really only took one night of giving the pacifier and letting him cry for a bit and we were back to sound sleeping (and now when he wakes up, Daddy can get up in the middle of the night to pop in the paci too :O)

11 Months

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Jonathan took his 3rd plane trip - back to Texas to see new baby cousin Lyla. He loved playing with the boys, Noah, Silas & Jonas and wanted really badly to play with Lyla too (we had to explain that she wasn't big enough yet). Jonathan did great on the flight, despite the cancelled flight and choas that ensued when NW tried to re-book us.

He's turning into a real little person - showing emotion, hugging his little lamb, putting his head on our shoulders when we hug on him, pointing, shaking his head "no" when we ask questions, using inflection (even though most sounds are 'ba' & 'da' - it sounds like he's really trying to say something!). He is eatinig all kinds of food (even eating all of the chicken off of a drumstick when he was out with Gramaw & Grandpa). He gets into EVERYTHING and we're really having to watch him. I often find him under the table or pushing the chairs around. We've designated a cabinet with safe things for him to play with...but he still wants in the one with the glass bakeware!

But the biggest development this month (drumroll).... STEPS! Just in the last week or so, he's been getting adventurous and has now been able to put some steps together. I guess we now have a 'toddler'.

take a look at our Picasa web album for more photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/kyleandcheryl/JonathanGrant

...so tired...

This was too cute, I just had to post it - Jonathan was fighting sleep the other night and when he does he'll often sit up or stand up in the crib. We found him folded over after he fell asleep in the sitting position... it made us laugh.

9 months

Jonathan had his 9 month well-baby check last Friday. He is weighing 24lbs & 5oz and is 29 1/2 inches long - which finally put him "on the charts" but he's still in the 95% for weight and 90% for length. Everything looked good and we have a clean bill of health.

Kyle had to travel again at the beginning of June and we were afraid that Jonathan was going to be crawling before Kyle got home... but the only 'trick' he started was doing a push-up.

Eating is getting more interested - sometimes a battle of wills over who controls the spoon (usually he ends up with one and I end up with one). He loves fruits and tolerates the veggies we feed him. He loves picking up Cheerios and banana pieces to feed himself.

About 3 weeks ago we noticed 3 teeth breaking through his top gums at the same time. He doesn't seem too bothered by them. It also appears there may be another coming in on the bottom. These new chompers haven't caused too much problems for nursing...although I'll wait to further comment until they're really grown in.

We enjoyed making Kyle a Father's Day gift (a DAD tshirt with Jonathan's handprints on it) and Jonathan even gave him the card!

It's becoming obvious that we really need to get our baby-proofing done now that Jonathan has started pulling up to standing and army crawling. He can also sit-up on his own and we found him sitting up in his crib the other morning so Kyle lowered the mattress. He's becoming a daredevil with these new skills - falling straight back for us to catch him and leaning back to get upside-down when we're holding him. (see the video included here)

Achieux

Jonathan's 8th month has been filled with several first - including his first cold and a trip overseas! His sweet personality continues to grow and we find ourselves laughing along with him.

In May we took our annual anniversary trip - this time to Paris & Croatia. We know that people saw us getting on the plane and thought "Oh great! A baby to cry the whole 9 hours on the flight!" - shows what they know! Jonathan did really well and slept for most of the flight (we had adjusted our schedule by 4 hours starting a few days before we left, so the long part of the flight hit during the time he would be sleeping anyway!). The only problem on the flight over is that we had several diaper accidents and not enough changes of clothing! But that wasn't the baby's fault!

We found that having a baby was actually pretty nice in France - we got to cut to the front of the immigration line and on later flights, the ground crew made sure we got to board in front of most of the other passengers. Everyone on the subways smiled back at Jonathan - and at the Eifel Tower, he must have had people from 4 or 5 different countries pinching his cheeks and taking his picture... He was a big hit (it helps that he smiled a lot). Jonathan made lots of friends and even picked up a few grandparents on our bus trip to Normandy.

Perhaps that's how he got his first real cold - by the time we got to Croatia, Jonathan was running a fever and was not his usual chipper self. It was hard to be so far away from home and not sure what to do, but it broke after 1 day... but then the drainage started...and the sneezing... and the coughing...and all of that led to some not-so-restful nights. We managed and despite the cold we had a great visit with our friends from the church in Varazdin.

Other firsts this month: Jonathan has been 'waving', shaking his head 'no', trying to get on all fours (he slides backwards, though), he peeks around corners to play peek-a-boo, and is enjoying picking up Cheerios to put in his mouth by himself.

7 Months

It's hard to think of the new things Jonathan has been doing because we've had a bit of regression in his sleep at night (so I'm a little distracted by my own lack of sleep). But despite waking up at night, he continues to be such a sweet boy during the day!

This month he's be practicing "ma" & "da" but says them randomly - we try to reinforce them when he says them to one of us, but for now it's just babbling. No new teeth as of yet, but he continues to chew on almost any toy if he can get his mouth on it, and that on top of the sleep issues, probably means he's working on it.

We've enjoyed many walks with our other stay-at-home buddies. We're loving the great weather. Although Jonathan did get his first little sunburn (very mild) because his socks slid down and his pants inched up during one long ride in the stroller. He never seemed to notice, so I only felt bad for a day or so. Now that we've been taking him outside, we've noticed that he loves the wind blowing. At our trek to the outlet mall a few weekends ago, he squealed as the wind blew in his face - we were grimacing as dirt blew in our faces - but Jonathan didn't seem to mind.
We're still slowly working in solid foods - he's tried graham crackers and carrots so far - and no real issues that we've seen.

Jonathan had his first trip to the ball park this season, which prompted me to try a new game - catch. He seems to like it (or maybe he just likes eating it! ):

6 months

Jonathan's 6 month appointment was last Friday. It confirmed our suspicions - he has outgrown the 'pumpkin seat'... we were getting a little tired of lugging him in it anyway. He's up to 22lbs, 90z and it just about 29 inches long (that's off the charts for his age group). He also had shots, which he cried about briefly but then smiled at the nurse when I picked him up (he's such a sweet baby!).

He now sits pretty well by himself (I still put a pillow behind him for fear of him konking his noggin when he falls back - which tends to happen when he picks up heavy toys and tries to put them in his mouth!) He is still rolling all over the place. He's starting clasping his hands together and putting them to his mouth. His feet are still endless entertainment and now socks seem to go flying since he pulls on them if he can't get his feet up to his mouth. He's resumed blowing raspberries and smacks his lips in a kissing sound. Just this past week he's been exercising his vocal cords - yelping out and laughing at the sounds he's making...

We tried rice cereal a couple of times - it didn't go over so well. Nothing went flying, but he just didn't seem to like the flavor or texture. We've also tried some small pieces of banana and a bit of potato... those seemed a little more acceptable. We've not been too aggressive with the solids since his weight gain is still so good and he's not seeming to want to nurse any more often... plus Daddy's been traveling and we don't want him to miss out on the fun food adventures! We've given Jonathan a sippy cup with some water which he likes to hold by himself - he chews on the rubber spout and could care less about the water inside. It's good practice for him, though.

Jonathan attended his first Easter Egg hunt - he did spot a red egg that he was able to pick up by himself... we're sure that next year he won't settle for just one!

Breakthrough!

It might be hard to make it out, but there are 2 little teeth poking through the bottom gums! We noticed them this past Monday morning and sure enough they poked their way through by the end of the week.

Not too much is new besides that - Jonathan still rolls all over the place (we put our safety plugs in the outlets already!) and is starting to sit up pretty well on his own.

Here are some other cute pictures from the last couple of weeks:

his first bath in the tub, playing in the snow, waking up cross-wise in his crib, chewing on his lambs ear while he's sleeping, & his '5 month photo' in IU gear

5 Months

Well - the big task this month was transitioning Jonathan from sleeping in his carseat (which we put in the crib) to sleeping flat in his crib...I was dreading it because I was just sure that we were going to be up all night and having to nurse every few hours... Thankfully, I was wrong!

The first night we put him down around 10pm & he woke up at 1:30, 3:30 & 5:30 - each time we just put the pacifier in and he pretty much went back to sleep. The next night he cut out the 1:30 waking...and each night he slept a little longer. Friday night he slept the whole night through! We said it was because he's such a big boy since he turned 5 months old the next day... It's been 2 weeks that he's been sleeping flat and he's pretty much still sleeping through the night. (the pictures were taken Saturday morning when he first slept all night in the crib)

This month we had a reunion with the other families from our birth class - it was so nice to see everyone again and here about their birth stories and how things are going now that they have their new additions. Evan was born in August, then Jonathan in September & Danika in November.

Some other firsts in February included: rolling across the living room floor, putting his feet in his mouth & patting our faces (one of Mommy's favorites! :o) He's also come back to blowing raspberries, which he hadn't done in about 2 weeks.

March started with what we thought might have been his first cold - lots of sneezing & a runny nose, but it only lasted for about a day. Accompanied by ongoing drooling & chewing, perhaps it was related to cutting teeth, but we can't see anything yet.

More 4 month firsts

Jonathan got to take his first plane trip last weekend when we went to Texas to visit Kendall, Vivi & the boys. He did REALLY well. The timing worked out that he fell asleep just as we were taking off and he didn't seem to have any problems with his ears hurting! We had several people who got off the plane before us who said, "I didn't even know there was a baby up here"... I'm glad we could keep everyone happy! He was his usual cheerful self, smiling at the flight attendants, gate agents and anyone else he made eye-contact with at the airport. Having him be in such a good mood sure made the trip easier for us too!

The flight attendant gave us a certificate for his "first flight" as well as 2 stick-on wings (one to wear and one to scrapbook). The pilot was sweet and let us take a picture of Jonathan with him in the cockpit.

On the way to Abilene, we stopped at a Sonic to eat (we cried the day the one in Bloomington closed... well, not really, but it was a sad day :o) No tater tots for Jonathan just yet!

We had a great visit with Kendall, Vivi, Noah, Silas & Jonas - Jonathan adjusted well to living with a fuller house over the weekend -although he awoke at about 4am each morning. The boys loved on him and took turns holding him. He giggled & smiled while they played with and around him. We went to church with them in Hamlin, where Kendall has taken a job as a worship minister. It was nice to see him in his element... of course I missed most of the service because Jonathan: 1)needed to nurse when we first arrived, 2)spit his paci on the floor before spitting up & 3)poo-ing enough to soil his clothing... so goes the life of this mother! ;O)

Another first for Jonathan was that he has successfully mastered the art of rolling over from his back to his belly. He did it the first time the morning after we came back from Texas. He now roll both directions, but tends to roll over his left shoulder more often...He also has been moving his legs and getting his bottom up in the air - just a matter of time before he'll be crawling!! Break out the Pack-n-Play - it will be the only way to contain him!

The same day he rolled over, he began blowing 'raspberries' when Kyle was holding him at dinner (at least he saved one new activity for Kyle to witness firsthand!).

I'm not sure we can handle many more firsts this month, but one more we are tackling is putting him in the crib at night to sleep. Sunday night was our first attempt. He did fairly well, sleeping about 4 hours before crying out enough for us to wake-up, and he went right back to sleep after we popped in the pacifier. After that he woke again at 3:30 & 5:30, but I didn't have to nurse him to get him back to sleep...so we'll count that as a blessing. We'll see how it all turns out.

One thing he has not been doing as much of is "talking" - he used to babble non-stop when we sang to him, but he now seems to be studying our faces more...so maybe he's soaking everything in and concentrating too much to babble?...

We are loving this stage as he grows & changes!

Dancing Baby

We'll post more about our trip to Texas, but here's a cute little video of Uncle Kendall doing "dancing baby" with Jonathan that I just had to post!

New Moves

Kyle had a business trip to Japan last week...so of course that's when Jonathan decided to try out some new moves. During the course of the week he started grabbing his feet (especially when we're about to change his diaper...which is sometimes helpful...and sometimes not!) and his big accomplishment was rolling over from his belly to his back for the first time! Fortunately, with Mommy being at home with him, we were able to video tape this momentus occasion! Jonathan even showed off for Daddy when he came home Friday afternoon. He continues to roll to his side when he's on his back, but he still hasn't figured out how to get his arm out of the way enough for him to roll all the way over.

We had a lot of company during the week - spending most of Sunday with Grandma & Grandpa, visiting with Great Grandma Ruby & Papaw; Grandma & Lauren spent the night one night and Memaw came by for some visits too.

4 Months

It's hard to believe that it has been 4 months since Jonathan's arrival! (Don't we start every post that way?! :O)

He had his 4 month well-baby check-up this morning... and those dreaded shots! But he did pretty well and sacked out in the car on the way home. He is now 27 inches long and weighs 20 lbs, 4 oz. (which puts him in the 97% for baby's his age). His weight has slowed down a bit - for awhile it seemed he was putting on about a pound a week. He's just gained about one pound since last month.

The doctor was very pleased with his development. He is grasping things (of course, they go straight to his mouth!), smiling, babbling, rolling from his back to his side, and just this week he has starting really giggling and trying to grab his feet.

Here are a few more pics of him from this past month:

Here's Jonathan on his side & arching his back - commonly seen when he's trying to look at the TV. It doesn't seem to matter what direction we turn him - he can always find it!

This was his first time in his high chair, sitting at the table while we ate dinner... he loved it! We've just started putting him in it when we eat now because he likes to be right up there with us.

With Mommy on a Sunday morning

4 month photos we did at home