Up All Night- The Growing Prysocks

After many months of slowly working on Jonah's big boy room, we're finally ready for the reveal!

We decided to continue the robot theme into this room but attempted to make it a little more grown up.  The room was painted blue since the day we moved in, but we added the stripes this summer {with the help of Grammy and Pappa!}. It was a lot of work, but I really love the way it turned out!

Grammy and Pappa painted the furniture with some of the leftover paint we used for the stripes.  It turned out GREAT and fits the room perfectly.

I found robot sheets here and grabbed two duvet covers from Target {so the boys can share a room eventually}.

Jonah already loves it so much.  On his 2 1/2 birthday, we officially moved him from the nursery to his big boy room.  He's such a big boy!

Little brother, you're already four months old and it's incredible. 

You had a big month, Gideon! You met so many new family members: grandparents, great-aunts and uncles {seriously, like a dozen great-aunts and uncles}, second cousins, and even a third cousin {second cousin, once removed? is that a thing??}.  You charmed everyone you met and it was so fun to see how many people love you.


The general consensus is that you're teething now.  When you're awake, you typically are munching on your fingers and you seem to be drooling more than usual.  It hasn't affected your mood too much, however.  You get a little fussy sometimes, but it's never something that a walk around the room or a snuggle from Mama can't fix.  I'm not sure when the first tooth will actually appear.  From what I remember of your big brother, it took him a few months from when the teething signs started to actually cut a tooth.  Hopefully your suffering won't be that long-lasting.


You're wearing 6 month clothes now {the onesie in the pictures is a 6-9 month}. Most of it fits well, while some are slightly baggy.  People comment on what a big guy you are, but usually your clothes struggling to fit are a result of your height more than your size.  However, I don't think it will be long before we're pulling out the 9 month clothes to give you more room.


It seems like you've found your hands this month.  You reach for things often and, while you can't always make your fingers do what you need them to, you are succeeding more often.  You're such a strong guy, too!  You can support your weight on your legs when we help you stand and if we hold you near your bottom, you can stay sitting up for longer stretches. Daddy and I think you'll be sitting up unassisted before too long.


While a little unorthodox, your sleep schedule is getting pretty consistent.  You seem to prefer 30 minutes power naps throughout the day.  About an hour to an hour-and-a-half after you wake up, you're ready to nap again.  Every now and then, you'll sleep for an hour or two, but it's definitely not the norm.

You love your big brother so much.  Any time he is around, you are very tuned in to him.  You love to watch him and smile whenever he starts to talk.  You are so sweet together and you tolerate his {slightly overwhelming} shows of affection so well.  "Jonah, stop laying on your baby brother," is often heard around our house, but it never seems to bother you.  In fact, you're usually smiling when we pry him away.


We had your 4 month doctor appointment today, and Dr. Dalton says you're doing great!  Here are you stats: height: 25.5 in {63%}, weight: 16 lbs. 14 oz. {77%}, head circumference: 43 cm {86%}.


Things Gideon Loves at Four Months

Jonah

Freddie the Firefly
Peek-a-boo
His playmat
Being held
Reaching for everything


Sweet boy, we love you so dearly.  Your daddy and I constantly comment to each other that we are overwhelmed God would bless you with us.  That He would trust you to us.  It's humbling and overwhelming and miraculous.  We love your sweet disposition and the ease with which we can earn a smile.  We are soaking up each moment with you and are so excited to see who you'll be as you grow.

On Friday, Jonah turned two and a half years old.  We decided to start a new tradition and celebrate his half-birthday with a half-birthday cake!

He was sweetly shy about being sung to and he loved blowing out the candles.

 He thought the cake was pretty delicious and had hardly made a dent in it before requesting more.

Happy Half-Birthday, Jonah!

Jonah, I originally thought I'd stop these updates for you at your second birthday.  But honestly, I kind of miss doing them.  I don't think I'll be able to keep up with them monthly, but I thought an update at your half birthday might be nice.

Because I really don't want to forget this stage.

 Ever.

I don't want to forget how you love to play "batman" - a game you invented in which you either demand that Daddy throws you onto the bed over and over, or you jump and flop around all by yourself.  You ask to play it several times a day and I love the simple pleasure you derive from it.

I also have to remember how EXCITED you were to put up the tree this year.  Oh my goodness.  You talked every morning about the "giant tree" in the living room and had to go see it every night before bed.  You also asked to "go see the star" multiple times a day, which meant you wanted me to hold you up so you could get a better look.

You love to dance.  You like it when we play music and all dance together as a family.  Mostly your dancing lately means lots of jumping and spinning and it makes us all laugh and brings us so much joy.  We LOVE watching you have fun.

I want to remember how you are starting to figure out how to extend our bedtime routine as much as possible.  You want to read EVERY book and say "good night" to Beesly and Mama and Daddy and Baby Gideon and any other blessed thing you can think of.  Sometimes it's adorable and endearing, and sometimes it makes us want to pull our hair out.  But I know that all too soon bedtime will be a non-event.  So I'll choose to savor this sweet moments of parading around the house looking for a certain book or person or toy to finish out our day.

You love to read lately.  You're starting to "read" more and more by yourself - you'll grab a book and make things up.  Sometimes you'll just name the objects on the page.  Sometimes you'll make up a story yourself and sometimes {when it's one we've read} you'll recite the parts you remember.  I love that you love to read and I have to stop myself from buying you every darn book on the planet.

I want to remember the way you talk.  I want to remember your favorite phrases and how you pronounce certain things.   I love the way you say "Come sit, Mama! Come sit!" as you pat the ground next to you.  The way you pronounce Gideon's name {Bay-bee Ge-yun. every time} always brings a smile to my face.  I love that you always say "is not working!" whenever something doesn't do what you'd like it to and I doubly love that whenever I actually NEED to say "it's not working," I hear your little voice in my head. I want to remember that macaroni and cheese is called "monkey cheese" in our house and that you have a special name for all of the movies you enjoy {"Up" - Balloons. "Monsters Inc." - Monsters and Mike. "Cars" - Cars and Mater. "Wall-e" - Movie Robot.}.  I love that we've adopted so many of your phrases into our vocabulary {home bees-ee now?} and that we know what you're communicating even when others don't.  It's such a brief time in which we get to be your translators and we love it.  We fully embrace toddler speak.

I love the way you love your little brother.  You ask to hold him or kiss him all the time.  If you hear him crying, you're instantly concerned {"Mama! Baybee Ge-yun's crying!"} and if he's near you, you'll try to console him with pats on the back {"Is okay, Baybee Ge-yun"}.  

Whenever we give you toast and jelly for breakfast, you lick all the jelly off completely.  Sometimes you'll eat the bread afterwards, sometimes not.  Whenever you have PB&Js, you pull them apart, lick all the jelly away and then eat the separate halves.  And if something is supposed to have butter {waffles, pancakes, etc.} you have to SEE the butter or it totally doesn't count. Then, you'll berate your daddy and I with appeals for "more buh-err!" over and over until we relent.

You're a little shy sometimes.  It's inconsistent, but sometimes you'd rather hide behind Mama's leg than go say hello to someone.  However, even when you're really shy, it never lasts too long.  You're too excited to meet someone new {and have their attention} to hang back indefinitely.

On December 1st this year, you said you first totally unprompted prayer at dinner.  It caught Daddy and I both completely by surprise.  Daddy said, "Let's pray!" before dinner, as usual and you bowed your head and said, "Dear God" and then rambled on in your adorable toddler talk {speaking in tongues?!} while David and I sat completely dumbfounded.  You finished up by saying, "Amen!" and we clapped and laughed and smothered you with kisses and hugs.  Since then, you've prayed just about every evening.  Usually, your prayers consist of you telling God what you did that day {Dear God, Watched Monsters and Mike. Played play-doh. Played inna playroom. Eat eggs. Amen!}. It's the cutest thing and we love it.

We love you so very much, Buddy.  You are our favorite Jonah and we're so blessed to have you.  You are so rambunctious and strong-willed and empathetic and smart.  You're such a happy boy and are never shy about showing your excitement.  We can't wait to see how you grow and change over the next few months and years.  I wish that we would always remember every sweet moment with you, but understand that we likely won't.  And so I pray to make the most of each second with you.  I pray that you always know how loved and cherished you are.