Side by Side

Well kids, this is it.  The last of the weekly posts.  Hopefully it’s been something that a few people have enjoyed reading.  It’s definitely been a blast for us… looking back at older pictures and seeing how much and how quickly Jonah changed is very cool.  It was a wonderful, adventure-filled, educational, exciting, and joyful first year.  I know, “Just wait, it gets harder.”  Yeah, but I’m not into those doom and gloom predictions.  People tried to “warn” us about the perils of childbirth, and while it wasn’t a walk in the park, it was an incredible, emotionally intense experience with an explosion of joy at the end.  Another example… being a skinny guy all my life, people keep telling me, “Just wait… it’ll catch up to you when you turn 20.”  Then it was 25… then 30… now people  promise I’ll be a slob by 40.  Well maybe so, but I don’t plan on it.  So while I anticipate difficult moments, difficult days, maybe even weeks in the future, I know that the overwhelming majority of those moments, days, and weeks will be filled with wonder at what God has done: used us to create another human being who is beautiful, and who we have the privilege of teaching and loving and ultimately discipling.  So hit us with your best shot, Jonah… we’re ready.  :-)

There are certainly a few noteworthy details to share with you since I last wrote.  The most exciting news of all: we have a full-fledged walker on our hands!  The day after his first birthday, he just decided he was ready… he started by walking between two things, but now he’ll walk through an entire room.  I’m pretty sure he got the confidence he needed from a push-from-behind walker thing with wheels that Gram and Gramps gave him for his birthday.  Anyway, he’s pretty funny… he walks with his hands up in the air and looks so excited and pleased with himself (go HERE for some video clips of him on that first day of walking).

Jonah had his one year appointment with his pediatrician, and he weighs about 24 pounds and is still consistently in the 75th percentile for most measurements.  He has definitely started to show preferences in the food he eats.  He’s not a picky eater by any means, but sometimes he loves bananas, sometimes he doesn’t… sometimes he loves sweet potatoes, sometimes he doesn’t… etc.  He had lamb for the first time today (Happy Easter, by the way!!).  Also, we’re just beginning to have to impose a little discipline on the kid.  He frequently opens the drawers in our kitchen (yes I know dear, I need to install latches on them), and we’ve started giving his hand a little pat.  Wait, can I even say that these days?  I feel like people go to jail for that stuff now.  Oh well… please accept my collect calls if you don’t mind.  Anyway, he gets a nice little attitude when we say “no”.  We often laugh when he does because it’s genuinely funny… but I guess I should consider not laughing at my child when he’s obviously being very serious with me.

Ok, so that about wraps it up.  Definitely keep checking back, or look for new post announcements on Facebook, or subscribe to the blog so you’ll always know right when I put up a new post (just click the “Sign Me Up” button on the left).  The blog isn’t going away… I just won’t be posting on a set schedule anymore.  But I hope to keep giving you all updates and posting photos of what we’ve been up to and whatnot.  Check him out at ONE YEAR OLD!!

Howdy!  Since I’m late again, I’ll post details in the next post.  But this is just about it… he’s almost a year old!  We’re all getting ready to celebrate!!

Ok, so “gifty” isn’t a word… but A) if it were, it would apply to Jonah… and 2) I didn’t want to use any of the other three words that rhyme with fifty (nifty, shifty, thrifty).  Although they would most likely apply as well.  He is a shifty fella if you think about it; one day he’s his good ol’ happy self, and then the next day, he fakes you out and gets all cranky and uninterested in sleep.  It took us a few days (and nearly sleepless nights) to come to the conclusion that he must be cutting the largest tooth known to man.  So we loaded him up on ibuprofen for kids and presto chango: we had our Jonah back!

But back to “gifty”.  Jonah has definitely shown an increased interest in walking lately.  He’s a pro and will walk all day if we hold his hands… he even walks pretty well just holding one hand.  But sometime last week, we were outside doing some work in the hoop house.  Jennifer and I sat across from each other, and one of us would hold Jonah’s hand while the other encouraged him to walk towards us.  Well he definitely took three steps on his own more than once!  He looked very determined (we have video of it).  Will he be running around on his own at his first birthday party??  We’ll see!

Another rather amusing trick Jonah has learned, and something that he does almost constantly now, is turning his hands upward as if to say, “I don’t know.”  For awhile now, whenever he throws something, we say, “Where did it go?” and do the same thing with our hands.  I guess he thought it would be fun to copy us.  Other tidbits: he now says “mama” (occasionally) and not just “dada”… he gives high fives with great enthusiasm… he had a fun visit last weekend with Grandaddy, Babu, Uncle Tom, Aunt Julia, Cousin Luke, and Cousin Anna… he harvested spinach from our garden, ate it, and then threw it up (also on video)… he loves being outside on these exceptionally warm March days… and he’s still by far the most amazing baby in the world.  Although look at this photo, I don’t know how much longer we can call him a baby… he looks so OLD!

We’re in the home stretch folks!  Week 52 will be the last weekly photo we take.  Keep your eyes peeled for a video of some kind incorporating all 52 photos.  Here’s week 49… info coming in the next post (which I’m writing right now).

Sorry for the tardiness again!  This photo is from two weeks ago tomorrow.  I’ll post last week’s and tomorrow’s photos, along with all the gory details, sometime this weekend.  Enjoy!