Everyone says the time flies by, and they're right. Sometimes it feels like you have always been a part of our lives and other times I cannot believe it's already been two years since we were blessed with you. Your daddy and I have done our absolute best to soak in each and every moment with you and we're so glad we have.
Jonah,
you are precious to us. We love you so dearly and STILL turn to each
other often, completely amazed that God has blessed us so richly in you.
"How did we get such a sweet baby?" "How did we get such a funny guy?"
"How do we have such an ADORABLE boy?!" On and on it goes. We are
completely smitten. You bring us contentment and peace and indescribable
levels of joy.
You
are still, and I think always will be, a very active boy. "Busy" is
what we like to say. You've always got so much going on and it's
wonderful to watch. These last few months, as I have been so tired with
this pregnancy, I have marveled at how you can so continuously be in
motion. I love how boyish you are. I love that you love to explore and
get dirty and make messes. I love that God blessed me with a little boy
and I am humbled that He blessed me with you.
You are such a smart guy. I've heard all sorts of research that says I'm not supposed to TELL you how smart you are {something about motivation? who really knows},
but trust me: you're so smart. I love watching how your mind works and
how quickly you pick up on things you're interested it. You know all of
your letters and we've been {casually} working on the sounds
they make. The first time I tried this, you were in the bathtub playing
with the letter "G." I said, Jonah the "G" makes a "guh guh" sound" and
you said "guh guh grapes!" My jaw dropped in amazement and I started
laughing. Of COURSE you would know about this concept well before I
decided to "teach" you. Since then, we've talked about the sounds of a
few more letters {W, L, B, J} and you're taking it all in.
Lately,
you love playing the piano. One day this month, you started playing
and then started singing! Almost like you were trying to match the note
you were playing. Of course, I couldn't ask you if that's what you were
trying to do, but it was precious and incredible all at once. You also
discovered the guitar this month, and want so badly to play it all the
time. It makes me wonder if you'll be a musician of some sort, but
trust me when I say that I'll be happy regardless of what your passions
are.
I really think you understand that you have a baby brother on the way. You talk about him more and more and, the other day after a play date in which you were FASCINATED by your friend's new baby sister, you talked about "baby brudder" constantly. You've seen several new babies lately; each time you're so gentle and sweet and I pray that you'll be just as sweet with Gideon.
You seem to enjoy art projects more lately. You're more excited to color than you have been in the past and it holds your attention quite a bit longer {although 5-10 minutes is totally the max}. You also have started to enjoy playing with play-doh. You have a few molds and other play-doh tools and you really love making shapes and designs in the dough. However, I think your favorite part is all the different colors. You love asking for "more play-doh" and seeing all the different shades of red, blue and green.
You're talking so much, too. From the moment you wake up until you're asleep at night, you love to chatter up a storm. During the day, you like to talk with me mostly, but I have also heard you talking with your toys, Beesly and just to yourself. Most of your sentences are several words these days; it's super rare for you to use a single word to convey a message. I have completely lost track of how many words you know because it's just so. very. many. You still use a few {completely adorable} mispronunciations {nose-cone, no-gurt, eat-mo} but they're starting to get replaced more often by the correct words.
We've
started potty training. Kind of. Unofficially. I was so ready to
wait until well after Gideon was born to even start thinking about it,
but you had your own ideas. You started telling us you needed your
diaper changed throughout the day and because so interested in your
"Elmo Potty". Finally, we bought a few stickers and told you that, if
you sat on the potty {with your diaper on - you refused to try it without it}, you'd get a sticker. You were sold. Each time you sit on the potty, Daddy and I {and anyone else that happens to be in the house}
cheer SO loudly. You smile a sweet, shy smile, but are clearly pleased
that you've done something to garner such praise. You love getting a
sticker, but don't usually hold on to it very long. Just this week, we
bumped up the requirements for getting a sticker to sitting on the potty
WITHOUT a diaper. I thought it would be a tough sell, but you did it
right away. I'm still not pushing for you to be trained yet, but you
seem to be well on your way.
You are really into cars right now. Generic cars and Cars {the movies}.
You have dozens of car toys and you're happy to play with all of them.
You can play with them for hours. Really. It's such a boy thing and I
totally don't get it, but I absolutely love it. I think you and your
Daddy will have so much fun with this as you get older. You're also getting into blocks a little bit. You received some pretty awesome Legos for your birthday and seem to enjoy playing with them. I know Daddy REALLY hopes you love them as much as he does. I'm confident he's already planning Legoland trips in his head.
You
love stories: books, Bible stories, movies...you're captivated by
stories and I hope you always remain so! It's so wonderful watching you
curl up with books without my prompting and my favorite parts of the day
are when you cuddle in my {ever shrinking} lap to hear a story. I
don't even mind the endless refrains of "'Gain, Mama? 'Gain?" I
especially love watching you learn during Bible time. You're already learning
parts of God's truth and it's beautiful! You ask for more Bible stories
over and over at breakfast and it makes me and your daddy so very happy.
You are such a happy guy. You love to be tickled and kissed and hugged and are so quick to give affection. You love people and get so excited when we have visitors. After you overcome your initial shyness, you love showing off your toys and how quickly you can run. You are such a blessing to everyone that you come in contact with: you make people so happy with your sweet smiles and silly moods.
A few facts {so we remember}:
- You're a skinny and tall boy right now. You can still fit in to most of your 18 month clothes. Some of the shirts are getting a little short in the torso, but they work for playtime just fine. Your 24 month outfits are pretty big, but they're so cute that we make it work anyway.
- You don't have any new teeth, but those same pesky teeth that have been bothering you for months are finally breaking through, it seems.
- Each day during meal time, you like to have, what we call, roll call. You name each person at the table and then everything you see ON the table: your food, plates, drink, fork, spoon...it's adorable and we love seeing how much you know.
- Your sleep schedule seems to have evened out and, much to our shock, it just seems like you're an early {for us} riser. You typically go to bed around 7pm and sleep until about 6 or 6:30am.
- Your bedtime routine is still the same as it's always been: dinner, bath, books, prayer and bed. I'm curious to see how it will change over the next year and with the addition of Gideon.
Things Jonah Loves at TWO YEARS:
Cars {Especially Mater}
Books
Elmo
Playing outside {Especially swinging}
Helping Mama {water plants, cook, clean, laundry, etc.}
Being tickled
Wrestling Beesly
Mastered Skills {Most Kids Can Do}
Names at least six body parts - {yes}Half of speech is understandable - {yes}
Makes two- to three-word sentences - {all the time. In fact, it's rare for you to talk without several words per sentence.}
Emerging Skills {Half of Kids Can Do}
Talks about self - {yes! and in the first person}Arranges things in categories - {yes.}
Can walk down stairs - {yes. i still like to be RIGHT THERE, but you're totally capable}
Advanced Skills A Few Kids Can Do}
Begins to understand abstract concepts (e.g., sooner and later) - {yes.}Becomes attuned to gender differences - {umm. i'm not sure how you tell this. you've known for many months that some people are mamas or daddies. you can point out 'mama me too' or 'daddy me too' in your books.}
Learns to jump - {you've been jumping for awhile now! active little man!}
Jonah, We are
completely blown away by you every single day. You are precious and
beautiful and kind and rambunctious and precocious and inquisitive. You
are so very YOU, and we love learning more and more what that means. We cannot wait to see how you grow and mature throughout the years. We are so excited to watch you develop in the giftings the Lord has placed in you and are so curious as to how they will unfold and flourish.
You are one of the most glorious blessings God has ever given to your daddy and me. You made me a Mama and unlocked a part of me I didn't even know existed. You have pointed Daddy and I towards God in a thousand different ways. I love you more than I could ever even begin to describe. Sometimes I am genuinely overcome with this love: love that seems to bubble up and flow out of me, usually in the form of joyful tears. I pray that you always know how much your Daddy and I love you but, more importantly, that even though our love is vast and never-ending, it is like a single drop of water in the ocean that is God's love for you.
**This will be the last MONTHLY post for Jonah. We intend to do yearly posts from here on out and, of course, will still try and keep everyone updated on Jonah throughout the year. When Gideon is born, we intend to start his monthly posts!**
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