Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love that there are no presents or religious aspects to it. Its just families and friends getting together to eat and appreciate what they have. This year I am thankful for many things - but first and foremost I am thankful for my family. I'm going to leave it there, without getting into the mushy stuff.

We had a fun dinner at Grammy's last night. JJ refused to sit and eat, but nonetheless, we had a nice time. I'm proud to say, that JJ outweighed the Turkey by 2 pounds this year!

Look Who's Talking!

It seems like all of a sudden, JJ has all kinds of words. This morning I asked him to put something back and he looked at me and said "back." Then I was eating oatmeal and he wanted a bite. I told him it was too hot and he said "hot" and then started blowing on it to cool it down. A few minutes later, I asked him what he wanted to do and he said "book." So we read some books. He grabbed a hat and said "hat" then found his sneaker and said "shoe."

He knows the sounds elephants, ducks and recently cows make. He knows the word dog, cat and duck. He says mama and occasionally says Pa, but it may not be in context to Paul.

We're seem to really be on a roll with the words. If we can only get him to say "up" instead of "down" we'd be in a really great place. I still find myself looking at him with astonishment. I can't believe this perfect little person is my child. He is an amazing boy with all kinds of personality. He cracks me up and keeps me on my toes. He really makes parenthood a fun and meaningful experience.

Update

Recently, we became members of the greatest place on earth. No, not Disneyland. However, there have been times where it made me darn close to as happy. It's the KidsQuest Museum in Factoria Mall! JJ runs around like a crazy man and I barely EVER have to say no to him about anything! Their "Backyard" area is designed just for people his age, and its totally fantastic! Here are the highlights from a recent trip.

Last weekend, we went to Ainsley's 4th birthday party. JJ had a great time playing with toys, eating snacks and ... RIDING A PONY! He actually took two trips around the house on Biscuit, who was quite sweet and gentle with him.

JJ loves his bath time. He went through a stage of being terrified of them (which coincided with our trip to NJ this Summer) where he'd scream from the minute I put him in until the minute he was out. It passed pretty quickly, and now the boy loves being in the tub. It's not even like he spends tons of time with his toys - of which there are plenty. He'll flip through his bath books, and play with the stacking cups, but mostly he entertains himself. Last night in the tub, he decided that the bubbles looked interesting. He's taken an interest in them before - playing with them, clapping his hands while holding them, etc. Last night, he decided to taste them. We use natural bubble bath, so I wasn't too worried, and wouldn't you know it, the little bugger liked it! He looked up at me with the his bubble beard quite proud of himself.

We also started mommy and me classes at TBT last Monday. Its a lot of fun, and JJ gets to play in the playhouse at TBT which has quickly become one of his favorite pass times.

Finally, Mr. JJ has graduated from his Graco Snugride infant seat to a big boy convertible seat! He's still rear facing, but he's quite comfy in his chair, as you can see.

First Starbucks

JJ has been to Starbucks many times in his life. When he was really little, we came to work with me. I have many meetings at Starbucks, and he tagged along. Today was one of those days. Since I no longer work on Thursdays, I didn't have childcare lines up for the little man. I had a meeting in the University Village Starbucks, and the JMan came along. He was a very good boy and sat in his high chair enjoying his fruit cup for quite some time.

When the novelty of that wore off, I decided to attempt to entice him with a "big boy drink" - steamed milk! He was really excited, but ended up getting more on his shirt than in his mouth. It was a fun experience for him and he was pretty proud of himself.

Thanks Aunt Dorothy for taking pictures of this monumental event! :)

Regression Sucks

For those of you who look at the time of this post, you will understand it's title. Thanks to the cutting if his molars, JJ has been awake since 1:45 AM. He screamed for 25 minutes and wasn't going back to sleep. I went in and tried to nurse him, but he was too worked up at that point. Tried to rock him, but it was to no avail. So, against my better judgement and knowing full well I was potentially screwing myself for all future nights, we got up. He played for an hour and a half. I watched Nick at Nite. Then he fell asleep nursing. I put him in his crib, he screamed for another 25 minutes. I gave him some Tylenol. He nursed and fell asleep, but when I put him down, he woke up and screamed again.

So here we sit, reading books in his room at 4:20 AM. Not a great way to start a weekend, but I suppose we'll manage. After all, dude can't stay awake forever, right????

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

A Mind of His Own

As previously mentioned, JJ has very strong opinions about what he want. He has taken to freaking out when he doesn't get his way. Yesterdhay he found a way to Houdini his was out of the strap in the shopping cart. I asked him to "please sit down." Then again, in a more assertive tone "Jeremy Jonah, sit down right this minute or you'll get hurt." Wouldn't you know it. The little bugger looked me right in the eye and said "ummm, NO." Swell. The tim of no seems to have arrived. Then, in the checkout line, he tried to push the buttons on the credit card machine. When I wouldn't let him, he push my hand and said "mad. mad. MAD." Terrific. I suppose its good that he's starting to express himself instead of just screaming... which still happens frequently.

Even more terrific than any of that, as Auntie Jenny pointed out last night, is that JJ is a MAJOR tester. He know when he shouldn't do something, but he looks as you with a coy little smile as if to say "no way you are going to stop me or yell at me with this adorable face." Guess what, buster. We are. Even if it results in this face.

Re-Inspired to Blog

Ok, so I've decided that JJ is growing up way to fast to not try to keep some form of record of his awesomeness. I'm pretty sure I can't be as on top of things as most of my blogging friends, but my goal is to post at least once a week.

Needless to say, a lot has happened since I last blogged... Seeing how my last post was about JJ rolling over from his stomach to his back. Now he runs all over the place like a maniac and has very strong opinions about what he wants. Here are a few of the highlights between rolling from front to back and running:

1. Around 4 months, he figured out how to roll from back to front. This allowed him to roll all over the place.
2. We went to New Jersey in December to play with all the Kleinsteins and meet JJ's cousin Norah, who was only 3 weeks old at the time.
3. About a month after that he stopped rolling, and started scooting. It started one Sunday when I got home from Religious School. Jenny was over watching a Seahawks game with Paul. I was holding JJ and I put him on the floor. He really loves his Auntie Jenny, so much that he willed himself across the living room to her.
4. He moved to the army crawl at about 6 months and was pretty satisfied with that mode of transportation until around 9 months. He also started pulling up on everything.
5. In March we went on vacation to Mexico with Paul's mom. JJ had a blast swimming in the pool and playing in the sun
6. At 9 months he started crawling "normally" and at the same time, he began "cruising" around.
7. At 11 months he became an official walker. Fun fact: JJ walked at the same age as Aaron... to the day! Those Rosenthal walking genes must run deep :)
8. JJ got his first pair of shoes from Nordstroms.
9. Shortly after walking, he started sleeping through the night! It was amazing!
10. JJ turned 1 on July 21st. We had a small celebration with just our family. JJ had a huge cupcake, which ended up all over. He got some awesome presents including a jungle gym from Mom-mom Jackie, Aunt Laura, Uncle Andrew and cousin Norah, a table a chairs from grammy and a play kitchen from Auntie Jenny and Aaron.
11. He finally made the growth charts at his 12 month visit to see Dr. P. He was in the 3rd percentile for height! Still not on the charts for weight. Shortly after his birthday, he started wearing 9 month size clothes.
12. We heading back to New Jersey after his birthday to spend 2 weeks at the Jersey Shore with the East Coast Kleinsteins and had a fantastic time!
13. He's now 13 months and is a one man wrecking crew. He climbs on everything and knows exactly what he wants. He's a determined little bugger and is a firm believer in "where there's a will, there's a way". He "uses" a spoon to feed himself, loves his sippy cup and will now take a bottle of regular milk.

Below is a little compilation of the activities above. It's not complete, but will give you a little taste of everything.