Oh, Sweet Boy, we love you so much. You're 22 months old and we love you at this stage.
We've had a lot of sweet moments this month. One night at dinner, we hadn't said the blessing and you reached out to hold our hands and said "pay". It was precious and brought such joy to our hearts! You also saw a picture of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the manger and pointed out Jesus completely unprompted. I'm so glad that some of our teachings are already making an impact on you! We pray God would continue to use our imperfect methods to bring you closer to Him.
We also went to visit Grammy and Pappa in Oklahoma this month. Sadly, you were {really} sick almost the whole time, but we still managed to make a trip to the Tulsa Zoo and take you fishing. You loved seeing Daddy catch a fish, but you weren't too sure you wanted to touch it. You got brave quickly, however, and talked a lot about the fish you saw!
You still love all things musical, Buddy. You enjoy playing your harmonica, banging on your drum and anything else that makes music. You've also figured out how to make Mama's phone play music and you love that as well. The other day, you and I were driving around running errands and you said "Music, Mama?" You also frequently request for us to sing "Star" {Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star} and "bitty spider" {The Itsy, Bitsy Spider}.
We told the world about your baby brother this week. You've known since the beginning and it's been fun to see how your relationship with him has developed already. At first, you insisted we were having a baby girl. "Bay-bee sisser" was what you said every time we asked you about it. When we told you Gideon was, in fact, a boy, you had a hard time adjusting for a few days but now love talking about "bay-bee brudder". We set up his cradle the other day, and you talked about him all day and always mention him when you see it. You love to lift up my shirt, pat my tummy and say "bay-bee brudder" or "bay-bee Gee-yon". {You've lifted up Daddy's shirt looking for Gideon too...which didn't go over quite as well}. We've taken you to every midwife appointment and whenever we hear his heartbeat you say "bay-bee soun" {Baby sound} and, when you're ready to go, say "all done, bay-bee brudder". It's pretty precious and I love that you seem to understand a little about what's happening.
You know a ton of your letters. 18 at last count! A few still trip you up, but you surprise us every day with your ability to distinguish them out in the real world. You're also trying to start counting and it's stinkin' adorable. You were "counting" blocks yesterday and I overheard you say "tree, four, six, nine, talking..." I couldn't help but laugh. You know every number name {one through nine}, but definitely don't associate them with anything or know their order yet. Still, I love hearing you practice and I'll probably miss this adorable phase when you actually learn.
You love being outside lately and ask to swing or play with bubbles almost every day. You aren't content with me blowing bubbles for you and insist on doing it yourself. You've gotten pretty great at it! You still like building castles in your sandbox and like 'visiting' the neighboring puppies.
You also still like to read. "Me too" and "Cwiff-ord" are still favorites, but you'll be happy reading anything. More than once, you've brought me one of Daddy's Halo books or our Greek New Testament. I hope this love of reading continues, sweet man!
You like helping Mama in the kitchen, too. The other day, you got out some plastic bowls and spoons and declared that you were cooking! It was so cute and I loved having a little helper. I try and find things you actually can help with in the kitchen. Typically, that means that I chop things up and let you add it all together. You seem content with that role for now, but I bet your independent nature will prefer more pretty soon!
You're a great helper in other ways too. You still like to be the one
to feed Beesly in the mornings and you love adding the laundry detergent
to the washer each time. You also like to "help" load the dryer, which
usually means you press the light on/off button repeatedly while I move
all the wet clothes over. This month you also picked up all your toys
without even being asked! It only happened once, but wow. It was
amazing.
One of my favorite stories from this month was when we went out to eat with your Great-Grandma, Papaw and Great-Aunt Linda. We were at Crackle Barrel for breakfast and you were incredibly excited about the berry pancakes you and I were sharing. You kept asking for "pey-cake" and could not understand why it wasn't in front of you yet. I leaned over and said, "Buddy, it's coming! But they have to cook it first." {which is my typical response when you're impatient about food at home} and you started pushing me away, saying "Cook! Cook, Mama! Pey-cake, cook!" Obviously, we don't eat out a lot, since you think that Mama is the ONLY one that can cook {we'll have to work on that}!
You're still wearing size 18 month clothes mostly and don't have any new teeth yet. You were sleeping pretty great {12 or more hours at night, two hour nap during the day}, but lately you're sleeping less and less. Your naps tend to be less than two hours and you're sleeping less at night {maybe 10 1/2 hours}. I'm not sure if this is a phase {teething, perhaps?} or if you just don't need as much sleep anymore. I guess time will tell!
Things Jonah Loves at 22 Months
Elmo
Word World
Me Too books
Clifford books
Swinging
Cake
Cookies
Baby Gideon
Reciting letters
Beesly
Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Kicks ball forward {attempts. you've done it a few times, but aren't the best at it}
Follows two-step requests (e.g., "Get your doll and bring it here") {oh yes}
Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Does simple puzzles {yep! you love puzzles!}
Draws a straight line {not on purpose. you aren't the biggest fan of coloring.}
Names several body parts {yep! Nose, ears, hair {"air"}, tummy, bottom, leg, knee, toes, fingers, hand {"and"}, eye, mouth {"mouff"}...}
Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Puts on loose-fitting clothes {you help me every time and have gotten pretty good at it, but I'm not sure you could do it completely unassisted}
Might be ready for a big bed {you haven't attempted to climb out of the crib yet. until you do, you're staying in there!}
Understands opposites (e.g., tall vs. short) {I have no idea how to check this. I know you do NOT know the difference between hot and cold...but you do understand the different between lights on and lights off...}
Jonah Matthew, you are a complete joy. You're personality is coming out more and more lately and we are so honored to bear witness. You're independent, funny, and amazingly compassionate. You're also manage to be both shy and outgoing. You love to laugh and rough house and be tickled. You are endlessly entertained by games like hide and seek and love it when Daddy wrestles with you and tosses you onto pillows. I can't begin to describe how much we love you. We pray God continues to bless you, sweet boy. We pray that He continues to grow you into a man that loves Him with all of your heart.
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