Once they got those hats on, they didn't stand a chance. Arrrrr!!!
Pirate Fever
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Cuz Noah started the pirate fever with his pirate themed birthday party back in January. But soon the fever spread to the other cousins...
Once they got those hats on, they didn't stand a chance. Arrrrr!!!
Once they got those hats on, they didn't stand a chance. Arrrrr!!!
Gentle
Monday, May 24, 2010
"Gentle" is a word that is being said a lot around our house these days. As Jonah becomes more mobile, he is drawn more often towards his two "sisters". Luckily Addyson is incredibly patient with Jonah and acts very gently towards him as well. He loves to pet her, in his own special way of petting, and as long as he doesn't yank her tail she is a-ok with it. We could not have asked for a better cat for a curious little boy. (Jonah always looks to us for approval when he interacts with Addyson. "Is this ok Mom/Dad?")
I'm 11 months old..."Mama"
Thursday, May 20, 2010
On May 14th Jonah hit the 11 month mark. Eleven months!! I can't believe it. Besides starting the countdown to his 1 year birthday (party prep underway!), this past week has seemed to unveil a whole new crop of things that this little man can do.
Jonah has started to clapping his hands in praise...usually of himself! It started with eating time, trying to encourage him when he would decided to eat the food rather than throw it. "Put it in your mouth--Yeah! Good job Jonah!" {clapping}. The clapping is now beginning to accompany the word "yeah" or "good job" no matter what they are in relation to. The funniest clapping timing is when he claps along to the song "Father Abraham". This timing is funny because he deemed it an appropriate time to clap without our prompting. I occasionally sing "Father Abraham" to him here and there because it is a fun song. One day I was singing it to him to distract him while being changed and he just started clapping along to it. (For those of you who don't know the song, at no point do the words "yeah", "good job", or "clap" show up in it.) Now, whenever I sing that particular song, he just joins in with the clapping!
The day after he turned 11 months, Jonah said his first word! He actually said his first word while we were with Nana, Aunt Louise, and Great Gran Bartlett in Wisconsin. While Nana held Jonah she asked him where his mama was. Deliberately, and clear as a bell he said "mama" and then smiled at our boisterous response. Up until this point I had never thought that it counted when he said mama because it still seemed so indiscriminate. But in a room full of witness, and with the clarity with which he spoke, we all agreed that that one definitely counted!
Jonah has also begun to enjoy it when I chase him. Often now when he is getting into something he shouldn't and I say "Jonah Eli..." he looks at me, smiles, and takes off crawling in the opposite direction. It is so hard to stay mad at him when he is laughing/panting/shuffling away like that. More often than not he suckers me into chasing him and it's onto my knees I go for the high speed crawling pursuit.
Jonah has started to clapping his hands in praise...usually of himself! It started with eating time, trying to encourage him when he would decided to eat the food rather than throw it. "Put it in your mouth--Yeah! Good job Jonah!" {clapping}. The clapping is now beginning to accompany the word "yeah" or "good job" no matter what they are in relation to. The funniest clapping timing is when he claps along to the song "Father Abraham". This timing is funny because he deemed it an appropriate time to clap without our prompting. I occasionally sing "Father Abraham" to him here and there because it is a fun song. One day I was singing it to him to distract him while being changed and he just started clapping along to it. (For those of you who don't know the song, at no point do the words "yeah", "good job", or "clap" show up in it.) Now, whenever I sing that particular song, he just joins in with the clapping!
The day after he turned 11 months, Jonah said his first word! He actually said his first word while we were with Nana, Aunt Louise, and Great Gran Bartlett in Wisconsin. While Nana held Jonah she asked him where his mama was. Deliberately, and clear as a bell he said "mama" and then smiled at our boisterous response. Up until this point I had never thought that it counted when he said mama because it still seemed so indiscriminate. But in a room full of witness, and with the clarity with which he spoke, we all agreed that that one definitely counted! 
Jonah has also begun to enjoy it when I chase him. Often now when he is getting into something he shouldn't and I say "Jonah Eli..." he looks at me, smiles, and takes off crawling in the opposite direction. It is so hard to stay mad at him when he is laughing/panting/shuffling away like that. More often than not he suckers me into chasing him and it's onto my knees I go for the high speed crawling pursuit.
Cedar Rapids Kernels
Friday, May 14, 2010
On Tuesday the 11th we went with a couple of our friends to Jonah's first baseball game! We went to see the Cedar Rapids Kernels in...you guessed it...Cedar Rapids. Notice the spelling of the team name...Kernels. Not like an Army Colonel, like a kernel of corn! When their team logo stands alone it is just a corn cob with the husks peeled away to form a letter "K". Their mascots name is Mr. Shucks. Genius.
We got the chance to go with two of our friends, Erik and Jen, who happen to actually be "baseball" people. It was also Erik's birthday, so it was doubly nice to get to hang out with them. The game didn't start til 6:30 and the field was a 1/2 hour from our home, so we knew we wouldn't be able to stay for the whole thing. We figured that a little bit of time was better than nothing though, and we were right! We hung out, talked, ate ballpark food, and let Jonah take in all of the new sights. Though we were pushing the boundaries of bedtime and it was only 50 degrees outside (in May mind you) Jonah did awesome!!! He laughed and snacked and was just enjoyable to be around. He even garnered some attention from a local celebrity!
Jen and I returned from getting our food to find a woman with a microphone sitting next to Andrew and Jonah and having her picture taken with them. What?? Turned out she was a local DJ and the MC for the game that night and was taking pictures from the game for website. (The photo below is actually from the site.) During the next inning change she included Andrew in one of her trivia questions over the loudspeaker and then introduced Andrew and Jonah to the whole stadium. Everyone clapped when she said it was Jonah's first Kernels game. It was too funny and such a weird little experience to have thrown into our game night.
We got the chance to go with two of our friends, Erik and Jen, who happen to actually be "baseball" people. It was also Erik's birthday, so it was doubly nice to get to hang out with them. The game didn't start til 6:30 and the field was a 1/2 hour from our home, so we knew we wouldn't be able to stay for the whole thing. We figured that a little bit of time was better than nothing though, and we were right! We hung out, talked, ate ballpark food, and let Jonah take in all of the new sights. Though we were pushing the boundaries of bedtime and it was only 50 degrees outside (in May mind you) Jonah did awesome!!! He laughed and snacked and was just enjoyable to be around. He even garnered some attention from a local celebrity!
Jen and I returned from getting our food to find a woman with a microphone sitting next to Andrew and Jonah and having her picture taken with them. What?? Turned out she was a local DJ and the MC for the game that night and was taking pictures from the game for website. (The photo below is actually from the site.) During the next inning change she included Andrew in one of her trivia questions over the loudspeaker and then introduced Andrew and Jonah to the whole stadium. Everyone clapped when she said it was Jonah's first Kernels game. It was too funny and such a weird little experience to have thrown into our game night.
My First Mothers Day
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
This past Mothers Day was my very first, well... with Jonah on the outside of my tummy that is! Approaching the "big day" I had a rumbling of anxiousness inside of me, not unlike the feelings of an approaching Christmas when I was a little kid. I knew that it wouldn't be a big day by any means, but I was excited for it none the less. I was very aware that the tables had been turned, so to speak, and I was going to celebrate the holiday from now on from a new perspective. I would not only be buying a card for my mother as her child, but I would also be receiving a card from my child as his mother. It was very surreal.
My only "want" for the day was to have brunch out in the sun with Jonah and Andrew and maybe a little play time at the park together. The days leading up to it made that desire look like nothing more than a pipe dream. Cold blustery weather, tons of rain, and a fully booked restaurant tried to take away my hopes of what the day would look like. But...on Sunday we woke up to blue skies, weather in the high 60's and an opening to eat brunch on the patio at one of my favorite restaurants! Woo hoo!!! After brunch we even got to head to the park for Jonah to blow off some steam after he sat so well at the restaurant.
As if that wasn't enough I came home from our morning out to presents from my boys. Jonah "made" me this Happy Mothers Day painting and "signed" a card. Andrew gave me a lovely card and had our first year of family blog posts bound into a book as my gift. It is the first in what will one day be our family library of our life together. It was all very sweet and ended up being a just right Mothers Day for me.
My only "want" for the day was to have brunch out in the sun with Jonah and Andrew and maybe a little play time at the park together. The days leading up to it made that desire look like nothing more than a pipe dream. Cold blustery weather, tons of rain, and a fully booked restaurant tried to take away my hopes of what the day would look like. But...on Sunday we woke up to blue skies, weather in the high 60's and an opening to eat brunch on the patio at one of my favorite restaurants! Woo hoo!!! After brunch we even got to head to the park for Jonah to blow off some steam after he sat so well at the restaurant.
As if that wasn't enough I came home from our morning out to presents from my boys. Jonah "made" me this Happy Mothers Day painting and "signed" a card. Andrew gave me a lovely card and had our first year of family blog posts bound into a book as my gift. It is the first in what will one day be our family library of our life together. It was all very sweet and ended up being a just right Mothers Day for me.
Happy Mother's Day!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
In celebration of Vanessa's first mother's day, I wanted to post a few pictures that highlight the bond between mother and son. I always enjoy watching the two of them interact because you can plainly see the love she has for him. In short, Vanessa is a wonderful mother. Jonah and I are both so lucky to have her in our lives.
Happy Mother's Day!
Playing at the park
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Last weekend Andrew, Jonah and I went to a small park in Cedar Rapids. We’d been running errands for much of the day, so we wanted to do something fun with Jonah. There wasn’t anything special about this day…we just decided to capture our time together as a family. Andrew has been trying to take Jonah to the swings more often since it is one of his favorite things to do these days. He and I also thought that the pictures were very telling about the different ways that we interact with our little man. Holding him upside down… versus sitting and looking at flowers. At least he will be well rounded!
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