New Bike

Biking is really big with people out here in Iowa. There are tons of trails and a bike "race" called RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike Race Across Iowa) which is a pretty big deal in the biking community. The combination of those things added to the stark contrast in weather from winter to summer each year, equals a lot of people biking around. Being as athletic as he is, biking appealed to Andrew so he asked for a bike for his last birthday. We laughed that it was the birthday list of an 8 year old boy! Andrew didn't want to ride alone all the time, and we know that Jonah enjoys talking walks, so we decided a bike trailer (a pedal bike version of a sidecar) was needed. A couple of weekends ago Andrew assembled the trailer and Jonah got his first peek at his new toy. Good times certainly lie ahead for Daddy and Dudey.(Notice how he again looks like he's "helping". Then he has to try it out, make a weird face when he gets frustrated, and get strapped in for a test run!)

Mama's Helper

I am so lucky that I have a little man who like to help around the house! Every time I turn around, Jonah is busily working on something to "help" me out. What a good man.

Cleaning out the pantry. (Or was he gathering ingredients for that nights dinner?)

Stirring the laundry with a wooden spoon. (How else can you tell if it's dry?)

Getting out a Ziploc baggy. (In case we needed to pack a lunch quickly?)

Going through a Kleenex box. (He is a stickler for quality control. Is there REALLY 100 sheets in here?)

Pudding Painting

On Tuesday one of the moms in our playgroup volunteered to have all of the kids over to her house to do pudding painting. We thought she was CRAZY to volunteer for such a thing, but it ended up being a lot more manageable than first anticipated and tons of fun. All of the moms brought pudding for the kids to use as "paint" on paper, themselves and each other. The family dog even got a little splattered! The benefit of using pudding is of course that the kids can eat it as they go and that the parents don't have to be on "No, No, NO!" patrol the whole time. After the messes were made we hosed off the kids, literally, and then let them play in the kiddie pools and sprinklers. Since Jonah LOVES the water, the pools were obviously his favorite part of the whole day!

Here is Jonah getting used to the "paint" with his friends. First touching it and then tasting it. Mmmm. Finally... the end product. Well, what ended up on Jonah at least.   

Jonah's friend Trevin took the brunt of the pudding painting that day. He was such a good sport as all of the older kids made him their very own craft project. He just stood there happily eating pudding while they painted!

Time to get hosed off! Jonah gasped at the cold water from the hose, but didn't really complain at all. Next it was off to plop him in the pool. Ahhh. Happiness. First the baby pool for some alone time and then playing with Jacey in the "big kid" pool. (Jacey is so sweet. She always run over to "Baby Jonah" and gives him a big hug when we go to play groups. Her little brother is just a month or two older than Jonah so she is all about being the big sis.)

Jonah loved getting in-and-out and in-and-out of the pools. He looks so big to me here! How does he look pudgy and have his ribs showing all at the same time?

A little hanging out and a little lunch (kidney beans and string cheese with a few swigs of milk) and we were ready to head home. I am so thankful for this group of ladies. Not just for the fun activities and friends it provides for Jonah, but for me too. Amazing.

Any day now...

Any day now we'll have a walker on our hands.

Funky Faux-hawk

On the 4th of July Andrew decided to have a little fun and actually "do" Jonah's hair. That's right...Andrew, not I, gave Jonah his first faux-hawk complete with big boy hair product. It didn't last long since the day was humid and rainy. Plus Jonah is blessed with our combination Reed/Smith hair which is notoriously fine. Luckily Daddy snapped a few photos before Jonah's hair-do fell flat. Andrew says the last picture is of Jonah's rock-and-roll face.

4th of July

Every year during the weekend of the 4th of July, Iowa City hosts their annual Jazz Festival. Each year we have gone out to the festival to get out of the house, eat food from the local vendors (mmm...Indian appetizers and funnel cakes!), and listen to the live jazz music. The city blocks off a few of the streets downtown, which is the norm for these sorts of events, and sets up several stages for local jazz talent to play. There is usually one for high school bands and then another for more established local performers. In front of the Capital building there is a larger stage set up for the more notable names in jazz music that the jazz aficionados actually recognize! Tons of people come to set up lawn chairs, picnic, read, and do whatever while they listen to live music. It's pretty groovy. Here we are in front of the Capital with the main stage and the crowd behind us. It actually rained on and off all day so people just popped open their umbrellas when they needed to and then put them back down again! Not as many people as past years, but the faithful were still there.

Jonah will hate me one day for doing this to him. After reindeer antlers for Christmas and bunny ears for Easter, I felt like I had to do it though.

Jonah's buddy Trevin (and my buddy Shonelle) came out to the festivities with us. These two boys were all over the place...and rarely in the same direction.

We spent a little time practicing our walking since we had so much wide open space. Jonah is still far more comfortable with his bear crawl though, so don't be looking for solo walking pictures any time soon! (Jonah's face is awesome in this one.)

The city puts on a fireworks show over the Capital building after the last concert. We saw it a few years ago and it was pretty neat. Unfortunately, we knew that Jonah would never make it to the 945 p.m. start time without a melt down so we decided to skip it. Maybe next year??

13 Monkeys

As first-time parents, Vanessa and I are amazed at how Jonah has changed over the past year.  He has reached many milestones (e.g., rolling over, crawling, laughing), but simply growing from a tiny blob to a fairly independent little boy is quite incredible.  While I'm sure his next year will be an adventure, I think there will always be something special about his first year.  

1 week

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

12 Month Stats

We took Green Monkey with us to California so we could take our monthly photo with him and Jonah on Jonah's actual birthday. (That's right, with limited space we took him ALL the way there and ALL the way back...for a photo.) Unfortunately, we had to wait til yesterday to see the pediatrician back here in Iowa to get his newest stats. Currently Jonah is 25ish pounds and 31 1/2 inches long. Everything is running along smoothly with his development, etc. and the doctor has no worries. Yeah! We always love getting "boring" reports from the doctor. Jonah did have to get several shots at the appointment as well, which sucked, but I guess they have to happen sometimes. Luckily Andrew was there so he could hold Jonah while they poke him and I could face the wall in the corner! Anyway... here is Jonah with G.M. in California on Nana and Papa's couch. As has happened in the past, Jonah didn't feel much like taking "serious" pictures so I threw in some of the out takes as well.

The sitting still, dying to move though, shot.

Raising their hands to ask a question. What question, and to whom, we're not sure.

Green Monkey's face getting bitten...as is the norm.

Jonah tackling Green Monkey when he least expected it. (You would think Monks would be a little better prepared by this point!)