Up All Night- The Growing Prysocks

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

•  Uses six words regularly - Oh yes.
•  Enjoys pretend games - He thinks it's funny when Mama pretends. Does that count?
•  Likes riding toys - Yes.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

• Feeds doll - You don't really have any dolls.  But you have fed your Elmo and Count toys at least once. Mostly, though, you like to give your toys kisses!

• Speaks more clearly - Yes
•  Throws a ball underhanded - No. But he's been throwing overhand since he was 12 months

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)

•  Dances to music - All. The. Time.
•  Sorts toys by color, shape, or size - No. But you did just start making matches with your Leap Frog Fridge Farm set.

•  Kicks a ball forward - Sometimes. We don't have a lot of those types of toys around, so you don't have as much of an opportunity. 

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

•  Turns the pages of a book: Yes. All the time.  Books are still a pretty big hit with you.
•  Has a temper tantrum when frustrated: Sadly, yes.  Kind of love that this is considered a "Mastered Skill"
•  Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object: Not really. There are a lot of toys you like, but no "loveys" yet.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

• Discovers the joy of climbing: Yes.  Oh gosh.  You LOVE to climb on the fireplace {so dangerous}, which is NOT allowed.  But you're so excited whenever you get up there.  You have climbed up on the couches a few times, too. 

• Stacks three blocks: Yes
•  Uses spoon or fork: Yes. Not well, but yes.

•  Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone): Yep. Telephone and remote control. It's pretty adorable. 

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)

•  Takes off one piece of clothing by himself: Do socks count? If so, yes.
•  Gets finicky about food: Not really. but you do prefer variety. If you get the same thing over and over, you get a little grumpy

•  Switches from two naps to one: We just transitioned you a few weeks ago.  So far, so good. {Although Mama misses those morning naps a little}

You are amazing, Jonah Matthew, and we are so grateful for you.

This month has been a really busy one for our family.  We’ve had many friends come and stay, we decided to lead a small group in our home, and we have continued to get settled at our new place. You’ve taken all these new, little things as wonderfully as you always do.  You’re typically really easy-going, energetic, and ready for new things.

Another tooth broke through this month: a top tooth on the left-hand side.  It must have been giving you a lot of trouble, because you almost immediately slept better once it appeared.  We love seeing your new, toothy smile

On September 8th, you took two steps all by yourself! And on September 30th, you upped that to three!  You’re still not walking yet, but I know you can.  You’re extremely fast when you crawl, so walking doesn’t hold much appeal right now.  However, you’re getting more and more energetic, so I imagine it’s only a matter of time before you decide to give it a shot.

We’ve started to allow you a little bit of screen time lately.  On days your daddy doesn’t get home until 8:30, I have been letting you watch a little Sesame Street while I get our dinner ready.  You weren’t too impressed with it at first, but now you really like it.  You shake with excitement every time it comes on. And you always dance to the Elmo’s World theme song.

You have increased your vocabulary a little: ball, book {buh}, done {duh}, more {mo}, fish {bish}, beesly {bee-zee, or bee}, mama, dada, wiggle, bus, please {peas},  bird {bur}, uh oh {uh!}, bye {which sounds adorably southern} and no.  You’re working on messy, baby, Grammy, duck, and truck but haven’t quite figured them out yet.  You also know the animal sounds for dogs and cows. 

You're an extremely physical little boy.  You frequently give headbutts and have been known to hit {we're working on it}.  Sometimes, I think it's your way of showing affection.  This month you also learned to blow kisses {so adorable: thanks Sam!} and you sometimes even give real kisses.  It's been nice to redirect your more physical means of affection into something sweeter.  You’ve been giving hugs lately too, and it melts our hearts every time.  

You still love books.  We recently added all your books to the bottom of one of our bookshelves, and every day you pull them out and flip through each one.  Some of your favorites right now are I Spy in the Ocean, What’s Your Sound Hound the Hound, Count My Blessings and Jesus Loves Me

Thing Jonah Loves at 15 Months

Fish

Beesly

Toy cars

Taking walks

Pointing out birds
Books

Throwing toys for Beesly

Elmo

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

•  Play with ball — Yes!
•  Uses three words regularly — Yes, more than three.
•  Walks backwards — If you’re holding on to your push toy or one of our hands, yes. Not by yourself.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

•  Scribbles with a crayon — We actually haven’t been using crayons, but you have scribbled with markers and pens. You still try and eat them half the time though, so we don’t use them often.

•  Runs — Behind your push toys, but not independently
•  Adopts “no” as his new favorite word — Kind of? You say “no” a lot, but not necessarily in reaction to something. Maybe you like how it sounds?

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)

Jonah, you are a joy.  You brighten our lives with you sweet smile and wonderful giggles.  You’re so rambunctious, talkative, inquisitive and loving and we absolutely adore you.  You love Daddy, Beesly, and I so much and your favorite thing is to be playing with one of us. You love to curl up in our laps to read and think Beesly is the most hilarious dog ever. We are enormously blessed to have you in our lives. We are constantly amazed by you and that God would bless us so richly with you.

 We love you deeply, Little Man.

This has been an amazing month.  I think I say that every month, but you are growing so much.  Those things that signify your babyhood are slowly fading away and your little toddler self is emerging. It’s so fun to watch.

You’re so very close to walking.  We noticed how much you loved pushing your walking toys, so we started giving you opportunities to practice with us.  You love walking around holding our hands and you’re getting so fast! You can stand 100% by yourself and every time you do I expect you to just start running.  I know it’s going to be happening soon and you’ll love it!

You have been such a little ham lately.  Whenever we say “yummy” you say it back and start wiggling around like crazy in your highchair while we laugh.  You also say “wiggle wiggle wiggle” and do the same thing.  So adorable.  You love to make us laugh.

You say so many words, Buddy: ball, book {buh}, done {duh}, more {mo}, fish {bish}, beesly {bee-zee, or bee}, mama, dada, wiggle, bus, please {peas}, and bird {bur}.

You haven’t been signing as much lately because you’re speaking more and more, but you still sign  “book,” “all done” and “water” {which basically means anything to drink}.

You don’t have any new teeth yet, but several more are on their way. It seems like they are all coming in at once. I know they are causing you pain and I can’t wait for you to have some relief!

You love music. You like to play piano with Mama and listen to music as a family.  If you really like what we’re playing, you’ll start wiggling and bobbing your head along with the music.  You really didn’t have a choice but to like music in this family and it’s fun to see you reacting to good music already.

We visited Grammy and Pappa York’s house this month and you visited your first aquarium and fell in LOVE with the fish there.  We bought you a fish book and it’s probably your favorite thing in the world right now.  Whenever we flip through it, you make sure to point out every single fish on each page.   We also saved a pamphlet from out visit and let you look at it whenever we drive somewhere.  It keeps you entertained for awhile and it’s pretty stinkin’ cute to glance back at you and see you holding up a pamphlet and “reading” through it {pointing out all the fish}.

Things Jonah Loves at Fourteen Months:

fish everything! Books, pictures, the real thing. Anything fish

books

toy cars

his sandbox

playing with the water hose

running behind his push toys

using ANYTHING to walk around the house: he pushes pillows, empty boxes, toys, whatever

dancing

Daddy {you light UP when he comes home from work}

Mama

Beesly {she comes into your room every morning and you say "bee!" every time.}

 Jonah, we love you so very much.  Every night your Daddy and I talk about how blessed we are to have you.  You are precious and wonderful. You're silly and smart and dramatic and hilarious.  You love to laugh and love to make others laugh.  You're growing up so fast and it's amazing to watch.  We continue to pray that Christ will be the most important thing in your life.  We pray that you are characterized by a love for Him and as God for the wisdom and strength to lead you there.  And Buddy, we pray that you always, always, always know how loved you are. 

<3

You’re such a little boy.

You are talking up a STORM lately and it’s pretty adorable.  You say the following words pretty well and pretty often: Mama, Dada, more {mo}, Beesly {buh-zee}, book {buh}, and all done {ah duh}, bus {ba}, and uh oh {uh}.  Less frequently {and less clearly} you say “ball {ba—I know it looks similar to ‘bus,’ but you can tell the difference, really}, and dog {dah}. In addition to all THOSE words, you just jabber all the time. You always seem to have something to say and I love it. 

You also love mimicking lately, which seems to help with the talking.  You like mimicking sounds and words we make as well as funny faces.  You're pointing at things, waving and giving high fives {which your Daddy loves}.  

Your signing is amazing lately too!  I'm so glad it's something we started with you because I love being able to communicate so early.  The signs you can sign back are more, book, eat, and water. On top of that, you understand milk and all done.  

We’ve put our “no screen time” rule on hold this month for the Olympics and you are completely enthralled with it.  If something sporty is on, you’re all about it. It seems like swimming and cycling have been your favorite to watch.  Soak it all up Buddy, because as soon as those closing ceremonies start it’s back to media black-out.

You got lots of fun new toys for your birthday and it’s been a blast seeing you learn so many new things.  You love to play with cars {and even say “nun-nun-nun” whenever they’re moving around!} and love your puzzles too.  You’ve managed to learn how they work so well!  You also still love your stacking toys {cups and rings} and are a PRO at getting them together quickly.  It actually shocks me how fast you finish them these days.

You’re crawling around so dang fast now.  As a result you’re so not interested in walking.  I try practicing with you and your promptly sit back down and crawl instead.  However, you do like playing with your new push toys, so maybe it isn’t as far off as we think.  As always, take your time.  I know you’ll walk when you’re ready.

At your 12 month appointment a few weeks ago, here were your stats: Height- 31 in. {85%}; Weight- 21 lbs 8 oz. {30%}; Head Circumference-46 cm {25%}.  The doctor said it looks like you'll be tall and lean and guesses that, if you continue to grow as you have been, you'll be over 6 feet tall. You’re wearing 12 month clothes pretty exclusively but they’re already getting a little short for you.  We’ll be moving up to a new size pretty soon, I bet!

Things Jonah Loves at 13 Months

Chasing Mama or Daddy around the room

Playing “Where’s Jonah”

Chasing Beesly

Eating

Reading books

Turning lights on and off
Mimicking
Talking

Here's where you are compared to other kids your age:

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

• Uses two words skillfully — Yes.
• Bends over and picks up an object — Yep.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

• Enjoys gazing at his reflection — Oh yes.  You always smile and make fun faces when you see that handsome baby in the mirror

• Holds out an arm or leg to help you dress him — Yes. You’ve been doing this for a few months and it’s so helpful.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)

• Combines words and gestures to make needs known — Yes.  You're signing a ton lately.
• Rolls a ball back and forth — Yes. You love to do this with us.  You also like rolling your toy cars back and forth AND you learned how to throw a ball this month {Much to your -and Beesly's- delight}.