Cook, Cook, Cook

Jonah was playing in the kitchen with an oven mitt and sent Daddy to stand in the dining room.  1 minute, Daddy, so you can be safe while Jonah play cooks!

The alphabet according to Jonah

(Mommy insisted this be singable, somewhat at least.)

A is for all done, B is for book!
C is for cooking. Cook, cook, cook!
D is for Dada, E is for Elmo,
F is for fish--goldfish--G is for go!
H is for hat, and I is for iPad.
J is for JONAH! That's who I am!
K is for kisses, the silent kind, that you blow.
L is for light. M is Mama. N: NO!
O is for outside, P is Pop Pop,
Q is for quack, and R is Roar! Roar!
S is for snack, and also Starbuck,
or as I say, Tawbuh. T is for truck!
U is for uh oh, V is for vroom!
W is for woof woof, X is, uh, hmm...
Y is for yes, Z is for zzz...
Speaking of which, it's bedtime for me!

Food allergy?

I think Jonah might be allergic to spaghetti sauce.  After I gave him some, his face was all red!

The End of my Weight-Control Silver Bullet

I had discovered the magic to maintaining a high metabolism and low weight: breastfeeding!  Imagine, hundreds of food calories burned without a bit of effort.  If I could package and sell the idea on an infomercial, I'd be rich.  (Maybe an appearance on Shark Tank is in order?)  Having nearly expunged all exercise habits in the cold months, I still managed to maintain a nice size 4.  Yes, a four!  That's a full 10lbs and two sizes smaller than pre-Jonah, thank you very much!  Back in the fall I treated myself to a shopping spree when I realized how incredibly frumpy my old, worn and over-sized pants looked.

So you can imagine how resistant I was to giving up breastfeeding all together.  Not to mention how much I enjoy the quiet snuggle time with my son.  So the dates keep getting pushed back.  At first I was going to wean Jonah at 12mo (we did get rid of daytime feedings), then at 15mo (I dropped the morning feeding), then I thought we could keep the nighttime ritual through 18mo.  But tonight that all changed.  Jonah was suckling before bed, though the milk had been depleted for a good 10 minutes.  I asked if he was all done and Jonah held up a finger: "one more minute, Mommy!"  Daddy pointed out that when you are having a conversation with your child about breastfeeding, it is probably time to stop.  And so it is.

Growth Spurt

I got home from work this evening and Jonah came running over to greet me.  I was taken aback a minute by the tall, talkative boy, who appeared ages beyond the little toddler I was prepared for.  It seems that after a couple weeks at home with Jonah I start 'forgetting' how much he is learning and developing.  It isn't until we're apart that my brain finally processes how much he's grown.  Now I understand why parents are always commenting on how quickly kids grow over vacation!

Playtime!

I love watching how Jonah plays with toys in ways we might consider "outside the box".  For example, he helps water the Christmas tree with the gas can from his lawnmower (shaped a little like my watering can) and stocks his pirate ship with food from the Playmobil farm (a bag of potatoes and barrel of some unidentified substance).

Recently, Jonah has begun building towers out of his stacking/nesting blocks.  He reaches to put blocks at the top of towers as tall as he is before knocking them down again!  He also had success with a couple of his chunky and peg puzzle pieces.

In athletic pursuits, Jonah has been enjoying his new basketball hoop.  It came just in time, as he and Daddy had taken to throwing things into the recycling bins.  He can slam dunk, but enjoys bringing the ball to watch Daddy score from downtown.  They both yell "score!" after a basket.  Jonah also tries to dribble, throwing the ball to the ground, picking it up and repeating.  He sometimes attempts for the forward pass, but the motion usually lands the ball behind him.  We practice with beanbags, but after a couple tries, he resorts to placing the beanbags in the bucket.  As in basketball, his accuracy is much better if the object never leaves his hand until it reaches the target.

Mommy's Lap

Admittedly, Jonah's been a little spoiled over the holidays.  I think with all the visits, family and travel he was a little overwhelmed.  In this regard, he's probably more like his Daddy, who would much prefer to stay home and relax.  He's been very fussy and demanding - always needing to be in Mommy's lap.  I can no longer move so much as an inch without setting off his radar and starting a full-on tantrum.  It's been rather tiring for me to be in such high demand!  Daddy reminds me that in a few short years, Jonah won't even want to be seen with me.  I'd not be so eager to give up our cuddles except I worry that my little Mama's boy is also going to be a spoiled brat.

I made a lot of excuses when he wasn't feeling well or off his schedule, but today we (Daddy and I) were very happy to get back into our routine of work/school.  Jonah fussed all morning and all evening, as if to make up for the middle of the day when he was torn away from Mommy.  I expect he wasn't like that all day, and I like to imagine that school was a great way to give him back some autonomy, which seems to be forgotten when I'm around.  If I ignore him long enough, he does eventually give up and find something else to do on his own.

Happy New Year! (and pizza-making)

Jonah helped me make a pizza for lunch.  We set it down on a low stool so he could reach the pie and help spread out the sauce (okay, I did most of that), sprinkle the parmesan (again, I was in control) and then came the mozzarella.  I showed him how to reach into the bag, pull out a handful of shredded cheese, and sprinkle it over the pizza.  So he reached in, grabbed a big handful, and stuffed it right in his mouth!  Wow, kids really do watch and learn!  (I do this almost any time I'm opening shredded cheese.)

Jonah did a very nice job placing veggies and meatballs onto the pizza (though he took another bite of cheese right off the pie) and then sat in front of the oven pointing and watching it "cook cook cook"!  Yummy!