Happy Birthday Week!

 October 3, 2009

Family Pictures

This is the beginning of Birthday Week around here! Can you believe our baby boy is almost one?? Do you all remember the great anticipation of his arrival? I sure do. Monday, October 25, 2009 was my due date. I was not even close at that point. I began my maternity leave that day and sure hoped I'd get a baby soon so I could start "maternity-ing!" On Tuesday evening Jonathan and I went up to Springfield for some last minute errands and a one-last-date-before-children. I savored that evening, but it still seems like I should have gotten more out of it. People tell you it will never be the same again. I fully believed those people...but I couldn't fathom the difference before I lived it myself. We have gone out without Jonah, but it just isn't the same. I can go out alone and not worry one bit about my child. I've never left him with someone who caused me anxiety...but there is still a lack of the true freedom we had before he came. Please don't misunderstand me...I'm not lamenting. Our life is much richer with Jonah here, but this is a flashback blog post, so I'm just being real.  Birthday Week is likely to become more sentimental before it gets celebratory!

Is this how you do it, Mommy?

(today's post is from jonah)

In one week I will be one. I have been watching Mommy and Daddy every day. I think I have it figured out..

this is how you do this, right?!

 

* a note from Mommy: there was no coffee in this cup at the time of filming. No babies were given caffeine in this home! Oh, and isn't his too-big-for-him denim jacket SO cute!

Watch me Go!

I want to be careful not to get you too excited. This isn't the "big" milestone, but it is really cute! But, then, when is Jonah un-cute...ok, sometimes he is downright un-cute...but, today is not about that. Today is about Jonah walking around the kitchen! It is just a little snippet, but you can replay it lots! He would push the step stool until he met an obstacle. Then, I would reposition the step stool and we'd do it all over again.  Enjoy!

Let's EAT!

Do you know the ASL sign for "eat?" We sure do here at the Atkins house! Jonah has made the sign on a couple of occasions. It is pretty cute...well, here, see for yourself!

My dear sweet sister likes to tease us about our sign language. Well, I'm proud to say it is finally paying off. (you know we DO feel a little silly signing at every meal...only to have Jonah give a blank stare, or laugh at us!)

Anyway...you may be wondering what it is that Jonah eats. I'll tell you. In a word, EVERYTHING! Here you see him eating his daddy's nose.

And then, here he is eating his own hand...silly baby!

This next one was taken in the summer...I can't remember when exactly. I don't even remember what he was eating. I know it was some kind of simple baby food. We first offered him baby food when he was about 7 months old. At that point I gave him only one container/small serving a day. Then, probably around 9 months, I progressed to feeding him baby food only for one full meal. The next progression was lunch and dinner both totally baby food. We slowly got away from nursing. Now he is totally done with that and just this week started on table food!

He does great. The only thing I've found he doesn't like/can't tolerate is peas. I have only offered peas 3 times. Of those 3 times he vomited every time. So, I figure he can live without those for a while! (I know I sure can live without the side effect!) Jonah has pretty good eating habits. Today was the first time he has ever rejected food. At lunch today we gave him some baked potato and he nudged it out of his mouth with his tongue. Hopefully he doesn't make a habit of that behavior.

Tonight I gave him some yogurt...in the cutest little container you have ever seen! Just look how cute (oh, and note the fit he's fussing because I'm not giving it to him...)

There's my happy guy! That's what a little yogurt will do around here! I also gave him raisins tonight (some might call it nature's candy)! He LOVED them. I was careful not to give him too many. The diapers are strange enough these days!

I Scream, You Scream, WE ALL Scream for.....

ICE CREAM!!!  (ok, technically it it frozen custard, but you get the idea) Somebody had his first taste of this frozen treat last week! Emily and I took the kids and their dog, Toby, to Andy's Frozen Custard on Friday. Andy's is unique in that they serve "dog cones." So, this was a special treat day for Jonah AND Toby! I just so happened to have my camera with me! (now, if you've ever gone to an outdoor eatery with 4 children and a dog, you'd know the 1st priority is NOT taking pictures...these are by no means award winning)

I was getting my camera out to capture Toby eating his "dog cone" but got distracted and couldn't find it in time...you can take my word for it....he LOVED it!

And then there is Jonah! We all love Jonah!

We had a great time on our Friday Fun Day!

What is Jonah doing?

Well, I thought I'd keep up a little bit this week. Bet you have missed those current pictures of the baby. Right now he is reading to himself. Well, he's spreading books around the floor and babbling, so I call that reading! He makes the cutest little sounds, but you are just going to have to take my word on that. Any time I turn on the camera, he stops whatever cute thing he was doing.

Anyway, I caught him at some more mischief this week. I'm not sure he realizes it is mischief. I'm betting he thinks he is just exploring his world. Take a look and see what I mean:

 

You may see a mess here. I see a future opportunity to teach him his colors!

 

Hmmm....practicing his organizational skills. He rearranges diapers on a regular basis!

 

And here he is learning how to file papers. (um, well, maybe he is un-filing) 

 Can't blame a boy for checking out the kitchen gadgets. Did you know a baster can be a really great drumstick!

"OOOh...Mom! Thanks for the toys! But, what does the bottom of the basket look like?"

(he did go on to investigate)

 

Oh! Back to the sharpies. He likes to hang out near the desk. I guess he just wants to know how everything works. Here he is in his really cute pj's. You can't really tell, but they are CUTE!

Look-Alike Contest

Hi! We are having a look-alike contest today! A Jonah look-alike contest. I could tell you which one is Jonah, although I'm sure you will know. Then I am going to post baby pictures of Jonathan and myself. We will see who he favors the most. Some days I think I know, then other days I change my mind.

Now that I think about it, the word "contest" is too strong. So, let's just call this a look-alike comparison!

 

 

 I think we have a winner, but I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for reading!