One Year Judah Update

• Was in 50th percentile for weight (22.5 pounds), 75th for height (30 inches), and 30th for head circumference (18 inches)
• Says buh-buh (for bubba, bye bye, and ball), dada, mama, banananana, and bopa (Papa)
• Not super chatty (always wants his paci)
• Waves to signal hi and bye
• Runs (or walks so quickly he almost trips) when he has something he knows he's not supposed to have
• Loves to play hide-and-seek around the house
• Dislikes baby food, oatmeal, and formula
• Starting to take a bottle/sippy (only spitting half of it out now)
• Goes up, but not down stairs
• Climbs toddler slide and goes down by himself on his stomach (or stands up, both of which scare his mother to death)
• Looks at books, turn pages, and plays with toy cars and balls
• Whistles
• Grunts and growls for every animals sound except elephants (for which he buzzes his lips)
• Points at and chase birds (especially seagulls on the beach)
• Puts everything in his mouth (most recently tasting any shell he found on the beach)
• Uses stools and toys to climb up on furniture
• Loves to randomly hug, snuggle, and open-mouth-slobber-kiss his mommy
• Has longer hair in the back and shorter hair on the top and sides
• Laughs at his daddy hysterically

What's up with Joel

I wanted to jot down a few things that Joel has been saying/doing so I don't forget.

• Replacing c and k sounds with the t sound in the middle of a word (pancakes are pantakes, camera is tamera, etc.)
• Asking for a pwiss instead of a kiss
• Asking to go to Pardees instead of Hardees (sometimes confuses us as makes us think, "What parties?")
• Replacing the plural ending -ves with -us (wolves is wolfus, elves is elfus, etc.)
• Adding an r sound or ch sound to words with the ending -sage (sausage is sausarge or sauchage, message is messarge or mechage, etc.)
• Not going to bed until he's told someone a "messarge" (usually about having "pantakes in the morning")
• Pretending to be Pharaoh, Flash, Spiderman, Batman, or "Dark Fader" on a regular basis
• Sweetly complimenting my clothes, hair, and shoes when I'm actually dressed like a normal human being (except the other day, when he said, "Mom, sometimes your hair looks a little crazy. You tried to brush it, but when you put it like that, it sort of looks like a pumpkin. I don't know what you're trying to do, but I know what it looks like.")
• Working on spelling family members' names
• Writing several easy-to-write letters
• Drawing stick figures
• Planting, watering, sniffing, touching, and waiting on his vegetables to ripen
• Recognizing numerals 1-10
• Counting to at least 20, still mixing up some of the numbers in the teens
• Enjoying the ocean, water balloons, slip-n-slides, and sprinklers (he recently "taught the waves a lesson" by butt-busting them as they came in)
• Reading and sounding out short words randomly (haven't made much progress in this since my last update)

Water Table and Park Fun (June 2016)

9 Months

Little J turned nine months old on Thursday. At his doctor appointment, he weighed 20 lbs 4 oz, and was in the 50th percentile for weight. He was in the 75th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for head circumference. It's funny to compare the weights of our boys. Joel weighed the same amount 4 months sooner when he was a baby.

Developmentally, Judah is currently free-standing, cruising, and walking (or should I say driving?) with a walking toy. His favorite mode of travel is definitely crawling, which he does very efficiently. This is different than Joel, who did a slower crab crawl and preferred walking as soon as he could stand. Judah has also started to wave to people when they wave at him.

Although he doesn't chatter too much, Judah likes saying dada, buh-buh, and mama. Those were his first words, in that order. A few times, we've though he's said buh-buh towards a ball and yea in response to us. It's a little too soon to call those words, I think.

Judah enjoys clapping his hands, playing peek-a-boo in tunnels, squealing, attempting to climb up the toddler slide, unrolling toilet paper, watching the toilet flush, eating paper, looking out the screen door, being outside, tackling his brother, and stretching his arms high when we say, "Judah is SOOOO big!"

We figured out that little man doesn't enjoy many baby foods. He has liked finger foods, though, and is thankfully now eating a few more veggies. He still can't do big chunks because he only has two bottom teeth.

Judah wakes up between one and three times a night. We have been trying to get him to drop his first wake up, but it creeps back in when we travel or when he gets a stuffy nose. Judah still loves and needs his momma very much. He is cuddly and clings to me a little more than his brother. This is probably because he gets less attention as the second child. Whatever the reason, I like it! He will often try to sleep sitting in my lap or propped up on my chest at nap/bed time. Those are definitely moments I try to cherish!

Six Month Update

18 lbs 8 oz, sitting up, pivoting on his stomach, rolling over to move across the room, army crawling, second bottom tooth finally broke through, trying new foods but only liking fruit

He Is

For my Valentine that I didn't get a card for ... 

He is the assertive to my passive,

The “live a little” to my penny-pinching,

The even keel to my hot and cold,           

The five minutes early to my five minutes late,

The always trusting to my occasionally questioning,

The big picture to my list of details,

The “get er done” to my drag it out,

The six hours of sleep to my eight,

The quick wit to my slow wit,

Our servant leader,

Our hark-working provider,

Our patient listener,

Our spontaneous singer,

Our tickler and tucker-inner,

Our daddy, lover, and friend.

Fun in the Snow

 

3 Years Old!

Over a month ago, our big guy turned 3! Needless to say, I'm behind in writing down all of his developments. At the end of December, he was 38 inches tall and weighed 34.25 pounds. I didn't pay attention to what percentiles those measurements were in, because I was too busy trying to hold him still for his physical exam. As much as he likes to pretend to be a doctor or patient, he didn't really enjoy being there.

The past few six months have been a whirlwind, so it's been hard for me to sit down and reflect on what Joel is like at this point. All I could come up with was loud, energetic, and talkative (because that's how I perceive him some ... okay ... most days). We are a lot alike, and honestly, that has made the twos and early threes difficult for me. With that said, I don't always take time to sit and enjoy the unique things about him.  Anyway, Adam was quick to come up with a more accurate description of Joel. Here are a couple of things that he shared.

• Joel is resourceful and imaginative. He can play with anything and turn it in to a grand adventure.
• He is a storyteller, and he often lives his life out through story. "This is like the time when .... You pretend that you're such-and-such, and I'll be the other character."
• He has a good sense of direction. He often asks what town he's in and where we are in relation to places that he's familiar with.
• Joel genuinely cares about his baby brother. He frequently attempts to make him laugh. He loves to wrestle, snuggle, tickle, and kiss him. He is very good about helping out with him, too.
• He like to help in the kitchen. He enjoys mixing, cutting/chopping (with help), throwing things away, washing, wiping, and taste-testing! He also likes getting to use his step stool to do those things.
• Joel seems to be musically inclined. He can carry a tune and stay on beat when banging on pretend instruments, marching, or dancing. I'm personally excited to see how this one plays out in the future!

Once Adam got the list going, I was able to come up with a really long list of things that I've noticed about Joel lately. Here are several.

• He's been saying, "I love you," without being prompted. Melts my heart!
• He can dress himself, at least most of the time.
• He can take himself to the potty and yell when he needs to be wiped.
• His memory is insane. He remembers things from 1.5 - 2 years ago. "Remember that time when ...."
• Joel enjoys going to the library to pick out books. I think the real reason he likes to go is because he gets to paint on the computer, though.
• He is detail-oriented, especially when telling Bible stories. He will test us on those details, too. "Mom ... who saw the Holy Spirit come? John or Joel?" (That one was easy.) "Mom, where was Jonah going when he got on the boat? [Me: thinking] Tarshish!" The next one was tough! I had no idea what he was talking about. "Who was David's son that got his hair stuck in the tree? [Me: Huh?] Absolam!"
• He's started recognizing numerals, but still has a difficult time counting objects on a page (past 6 or 7). He definitely does better counting when objects are in his hands.
• He seems to be geometrically-minded. He likes patterns and puzzles. Then again, it may just be that he's detail-oriented. He's recently been in to picture finds and puzzles that ask you to find differences or things that look out of place.
• He can write his name unassisted, but it definitely looks better when traced.
• He is very independent. He does not like to be talked into anything. I've especially seen this with reading. If I try to get him to sound out a word, he gets frustrated. If it's his idea, he'll attempt and ask you lots of questions about it. "Well, what if I add this letter? What's it say now?" [Sidenote: He did this on Skype the other day with my brother and sister-in-law and spelled "A-N-U-S".] I've backed off of the whole reading thing lately. I was trying to pursue it because he seemed interested, but it needs to be fun and totally his idea. We'll just stick to me reading and him retelling for now.
• Joel's started to draw stick figures. They currently consist of a body and head with two eyes. Usually, the figures are named David and Goliath. Surprise, surprise!
• Joel likes opening doors (especially electronic ones). He can also carry light bags and packages. I am excited that we're getting to the point where Joel can help carry in the groceries!
• Joel is getting to the point where he can do small chores. He's pretty good about putting his dirty dishes in the sink, and he likes helping with the dishwasher. One of his newest chores is putting away the clean silverware. 

I'm sure there are other things that I should be remembering to write down, but that's all I have time for now. Writing these things has been good for me. I know that I know this, but I need to act on the fact that I sometimes only have 15-30 minutes a day with just Joel. I need to be making the most of that time and enjoying what is unique about him!