Jonah Chat

I wish that everyone could enjoy all the funny conversations I get to have with Jonah. He cracks me up multiple times each day. For example: this morning when I served him his toast he said (in a very sweet voice):"Prehaps we could eat in there...?" (pointing to the living room).

Yesterday I turned on the camera...I just wanted to get him talking, just to have a recording of him. He seemed a bit camera shy, so I started asking him questions to get him talking. 

I want you to know...NONE of this was rehearsed or coached or edited in any way.

Big & Little

We had our regular Tuesday photo shoot today. I included Jonah this time. Taking pictures of two moving targets is not easy. Especially when they are not synchronized!  But, I am always glad I have the photos. I am happy to capture whatever kind of moment we are having. 

Birthday Boy

Today our sweet guy is THREE! 

Gosh, I can't believe it. I sure do love this sweet treasure. 

He lights up each and every day. 

He is truly one of the most delightful people I know (big or small).

We celebrated his birthday a bit early this year, but I waited until today to post the party pictures. We had a great time with our family (and a few friends).

 I had much bigger visions for the "pit stop" table, but that was before I factored in having an infant. And I am ok with that! 

Thankfully Pamela pulled off a FABULOUS cake! The cake more than compensated for my "thrown-together" effort.

Jonah and his buddy, Mac painting race cars!

Thanks for the fun gifts!

While going back through pictures I sadly noticed I didn't have any that included my dad & sister. Then I remembered that they were up to something...

12 Weeks

Twelve weeks! Wow, what a whirl! 

These past six have been much better than the previous six. Really, the last three weeks have been pretty great. I feel like we're finally hitting our stride.

This collage is not my favorite/best work. But, it will do. (the 10 week photo is my favorite)

Today, when I was taking pictures I clicked one that immediately reminded me of 

one of my favorites of Jonah. 

So, I dug through my files and found it. Isn't the comparison amazing! 

I love that they are making nearly the same expression. 

 He was two weeks younger when his photo was taken. I sure do love these beautiful kids! 

little guy, little bike, big words!

Jonah and I were out "riding" his bike today. I was going to just snap a few photos, but then he got to talking so I hit *record.*

He cracks me up. 

I want to save this video forever!

i love his little voice. 

Rise and Shine

For most of Jonah's toddler life he has been pretty good about sleeping in. For a long while his wake-up time was between 8 and 9am. On several occasions he'd even sleep till 10! There were days he'd wake around 7:30, but they were rare. 

Recently (like since Elizabeth was born and we are up in the wee hours anyway) he has made 6am his new wake-up time. NOT COOL, kiddo. Not cool at all! 

To every problem, there is a solution. Now, I don't know if this is our final solution, but I came up with a plan. We will test it tonight/in the morning. 

A friend suggested that I teach him how to read his clock, and teach him to stay in his room until a certain time. Well, I don't trust him to stay in his room until the clock reads "7" just by teaching him to wait for the 7. I'm afraid he'd read 5:37 and think it was the right time to go find mom. 

So....I made a "7" for his clock and all he has to do is wait for the number on the clock to match right above it. 

We also rearranged his furniture. It is finally placed the way I'd envisioned since we moved him into that bedroom. 

"ABCDEFG"

Jonah is learning his letters! The amazing part is that I haven't worked with him all that much in this area. He is just a little sponge. I recorded him the other night when we were reading before bed. You should know that this is completely candid. I did not prompt him or rehearse any of it before I started recording...there were no "do overs." My favorite part of the video is hearing his sweet little voice! He doesn't get it right every time, but that is ok. 

Apparently it is not possible to recite the alphabet (or even parts of it) without rolling onto one's back like a dog! 

Jonah Bear

I don't know if I ever posted pictures of Jonah Bear. He was Jonah's first stuffed animal. We made him before Jonah was born...and included a sound card with Jonah's heartbeat inside of him. 

Today we went back to Build-A-Bear to buy another sound card...for the new baby. 

We let Jonah bring his bear to get some clothes. He chose a football uniform (which came with a ball and helmet). 

 I secretly had hoped he might choose something "cute" (ie: a shirt with a collar and pants with a button), but his choice made him very very happy. 

I also could not resist buying a little pair of glasses for the bear. 

New Driver!

Well, the day has come much more quickly than I anticipated....my little guy is a new driver! Granted, he does have a few more skills to learn (umm, steering), he sure is cute behind the wheel! 

We had a sticker chart (that came in a package of pull ups) that Jonah got to fill in each day that he was "all clean all day" while potty training. At bath time each evening, if he had not had an accident, he got to place a sticker on that chart. We told him when it was full he'd be getting a big truck...he just had no idea how BIG it was! 

By Good Friday he had earned his last sticker...but he wasn't home that night, so we waited until Easter Sunday. It was getting dark when we got back home, but not quite as dark as it seems on the video. We let him "play" with it that night, but didn't charge the battery until after....so I took more video the next day. 

A Sporting Good Time

I first uploaded each of these pictures individually, but it wasn't as enjoyable to look at. So, I made one of my fun collages! Aren't you excited!

If you have met Jonah, then you know he loves to play ball. Any ball, he's not picky. But, he doesn't limit himself to just balls. He likes anything that is done outside, or anything athletic (although he doesn't yet know the word or meaning of 'athletic')

above you see Jonah:

• wearing a bike helmet (the way he thinks it should look)
• sporting BEN's tennis racket (it had to be Ben's)
• with his fave....the basketball
• ready for swimming

• being Joe Cool
• playing t-ball with Molly
• drying off after swimming

below you will see Jonah playing his own little made-up game...

Football on the Hammock, or "weeep" 

(since that's what I call the word he keeps repeating):

I did not put the ball on the hammock.
This was all Jonah's doing...no form of weird parental torture! 

some days are like that

Some days there is only one way for me to get anything done around the house. Now, don't let that fool you. There are many many days that very little is even attempted. However, there is the rare occasion that I MUST get a bit of housework done and my little sweetie just can't comply. SO, I work around it.

Do you see his pitiful runny-nosed face? I want to reach into the picture and wipe his nose. 

As you can see, Jonah wasn't feeling the best yesterday. So, I strapped him on and went about my work. He soon grew tired of the sling and decided he didn't need to be held anymore. 

He and I are both getting bigger (yes, I think I'm finally growing a baby belly). So, I know the day I can no longer lift/hold him is coming quickly. Until that day, I will work in all the holding I can. 

New Year's Medical Extravaganza!

Well, this year we celebrated New Year's Eve (day) much differently than anticipated. And I hope to never do it again. 

We usually spend the holiday near Kansas City, MO with Jonathan's family. The night before we planned to leave Jonah started showing symptoms of illness. (well, just a 101.7 temp). He seemed miserable. We decided to travel anyway. We figured we'd treat the temp and see what happened. 

Oh, he also stopped eating, which is very unusual for our boy. 

We made it to the Atkins house by early afternoon. Jonah was doing pretty good...pumped full of alternating doses of Tylenol and Motrin. Then, we let the meds fade out through the night. BIG MISTAKE. We decided at 4 am that we would be seeking out an Urgent Care as soon as possible. The no-eating made me wonder if he might have strep.

*time lapse for attempted sleep and then some breakfast*

Because of where my in-laws live, we had to travel 45 minutes to the nearest clinic. On the way there, I looked back to check on the sweet boy. I was curious to see if he was still awake. He was. And the lower half of his face was covered in blood. I told Jonathan to pull over now!

We battled a very major nose bleed, called his sister (a nurse) who waylaid our fears by saying the dry air mixed with the Motrin was the likely culprit of a nose bleed. 

We continued on to Urgent Care, waited on a very nice leather couch, and then were called back. Amid all of the chaos and unfamiliar medical people Jonah freaked out, started crying, and bleeding again. I tell you, this was no minor nose bleed. The word spurting is all I can think of to describe it to you. Apparently spurting noses do not please the medical community. Neither do low oxygen readings on the pulse-measuring-finger-clamp device. The nurse said we needed to go to the ER. And not just the one across the street. They told us we should go to Children's Mercy in the city...because the oxygen reading was SO dangerously low.  

So, we sojourned on. 15 minutes later we were all checked in at CMH. They were very prompt to get us in. They had to take his temp....in his rectum. Poor kid. It doesn't take any time to figure out that stickers are a very poor exchange for having a device shoved in certain crevices!   Suffice to say, the nose bleeding started up all over again. I can't tell you how many gauze pads we went through. OH, and they re-checked his pulse/oxygen and it was FINE.

THEN, we got to see the Dr. *cue angels singing.* She was the perfect blend of professional/caring. I immediately liked her manner.  She assured us that a nose can bleed a LOT from being dry. She gave us some creme to put in his nostril and it hasn't bled at bit since then. She said the Urgent Care must've used a less-than-accurate device for reading oxygen. Whew! 

So, the question still remained...WHAT was wrong?? 

She checked his ears, they were very clear.  They swabbed his throat. Nothing unusual. 

We ended our visit with a chest x-ray. They saw one spot that could be pneumonia. So, the Dr. prescribed amoxicillin. 

Whatever was wrong is definitely better. We may go ahead and schedule a follow up with our family Dr., but PRAISE THE LORD our boy is better. It took a couple of days, but he is eating again and playing and making messes and making us laugh like normal!  

Eye Eye, Matey.

Well, here we are setting sail on yet another adventure in the Atkins' household. It came about rather suddenly, without much warning, but we're fully committed to it now.

You see, back in early November Jonah had a regular two-year-old check up. The nurse was different that the one we've always had. She also noticed something no one else ever had. She asked me straight off if I'd ever noticed Jonah's lazy eye. I hadn't. 

When the Dr. came in he checked into the matter. We chatted about it, but I didn't feel like it was a major thing. 

When I left the exam I went to pay. The receptionist asked if I preferred any particular medical group in Springfield. This caught me off guard...WHY oh WHY was she asking me that question?? Well, much to my surprise the Dr. recommended we see a specialist. 

{skip ahead to yesterday}

We finally got into the pediatric ophthalmologist. We immediately liked the Dr. and felt like he really knew what he was doing. Through a series of activities/exams/observations he determined that our little guy is FARsighted. Jonah can see things in the distance pretty well, but when he tries to focus up close he sees double and THAT is the reason for the lazy eye. He's turning it to eliminate the double image. 

So, we are the proud new owners of an eye patch and are soon-to-be owners of 

BABY GLASSES!!!

 The ones he tried on for the fitting were very cute. He will be one stylish dude! 

*here's hoping he will keep them on* 

Growth Chart

I recently created another craft idea I saw on Pinterest. I actually "made it my own" using a few different ideas. 

I didn't take any "before" pictures, but just imagine a very plain straight-from-the-lumber-yard piece of plywood and you can imagine it for yourself.

Here is the after.

After I decided on a layout.

After I painted and sharpied.

After I kept Jonah out of the middle of all of it!

I used foam letters to spell out that quote I found. 

I used a fancy metal yard stick, fancy ink pen/marker, and a plain sharpie for the lines. 

I hung it so that the bottom was 18 inches from the floor, to ensure that the "2ft" mark was in the correct place. 

I plan to always use that orange marker for Jonah. Then, if we have any other children I'll choose a different color for each of them. In 20 years we will have a very colorfully filled  height chart that can move to any house in which we might live. 

BirthdayWeek with a Vomit Bug.

I was just thinking yesterday that I didn't write a celebratory blog post. I had planned to write something birthday-ish each day this week. I've made a change in plans. Why? Because little man has a vomit bug and we are spending all our free time dealing with that rather than writing for the ole blog! He woke up with it this morning. He isn't alone in his misery. Two other kids we spend lots of time with are sick with the same thing (only no fever for them.)

This picture was taken around a year ago, and this is just about what he's doing now (as well as a good portion of the day.) Poor fella. He's added on a touch of fever tonight. I'm gonna go check on him now. Hopefully the next B.W. post will be happier!

Five for Friday: hodgepodge edition

disclaimer: i do not have any cohesive thoughts today.  next week isn't looking so hot either.

1.Well, Friday has rolled around again. Have you reached a point in the week where you could use a good laugh? I am not one to love tattoos...but this one is pretty clever and made me chuckle. 

2.I might need to chuckle a bit more to burn off the calories from this new recipe I tried out yesterday. Unfortunately I didn't have any toffee bits nor pecans to add. We ate it on graham crackers. It wasn't the best thing I've eaten in my life, but that doesn't mean I walked away from the bowl quickly...at all! 

3.Fact: We do not own Horton Hears a Who on DVD. (gasp)

 Jonah saw part of it for the first time today. 

 He really likes Horton's silly moves. Every time Horton did something funny, Jonah said "adin (again)" to the t.v.

4.Oh, and a little BIG, flashy update for the Man of the House. 

Jonathan registered today for the American Board of Certification for Teacher Excellence.

That probably deserves an entire post. I'll work on that, but you can pray for him to study hard and pass the test at the end!! I think he will make a swell teacher!

5.Next week's Five for Friday post will be all about this guy:

since he will be turning TWO!! 

That's right...this coming Sunday kicks off BIRTHDAY WEEK. 

stay tuned.

(aren't you glad I didn't commit to a top ten list on Friday's...I know I sure am!)

To Sleep or Not to Sleep.

How about NOT.

Our sleep pattern has been a bit "off" lately. A few weeks ago nap time became very tricky. I'd been having Jonah nap in the morning because we leave the house everyday around 3. He'd nap from 11:30 or 12 until somewhere around 2. It worked out great.

And then, it didn't. Naptime became a battle.

We fought the battle.

Then, bedtime became a battle.

Two battles a day? No thank-you!

So, I ignored my inner "mommy" voice telling me he was too young to give up naps. And we started keeping him up.

That has been working out fine. Bedtime is still tricky, but here's why...he falls asleep in the car around 3.

WHAT to DO??? (this is one of those "insolvable problems" we are just going to have to struggle through)

Oh, and just to throw another kink into the pattern...HERE's what he's been doing this week:

on the couch, watching a movie ("rest time")

(I think he's growing)

Meanwhile, I'll be brewing up another pot of coffee! 

Happy Wednesday Afternoon!

How To: get your sink clean...sort of.

Do you struggle with keeping the bathroom sink clean?

My new method doesn't involve any cleaning products.

All you need is a change in perspective.

First:

Get the sink REALLY dirty.

How did that sink get dirty?

before

after

Oh, just a little haircut for this sweet boy.

Final step: 

Wipe & rinse sink clean. 

It will appear more clean than it did before. Promise.

Oh, one more step...guess you could call it the 

"After the Final Step" step: go play with that cute boy! 

Interview with a Toddler

We recorded a recent conversation with Jonah. 

Happy Tuesday!

Fake Sneezes

Location: our living room, early morning
Scene: Jonathan sneezed, Jonah laughed.

Jonah tries to re-create the sneeze, we all laugh.
Jonathan starts faking them...so does Jonah...
I grab the camera and capture what I can.