Building with Blocks

Jonah's begun to build towers; in fact, over the past few weeks, he's become quite proficient.  He builds them as tall as he can:

And then, when he can't reach the top anymore, he climbs something (a table, a chair, whatever is handy) so that he can build some more...

Jonah Takes a Selfie

Jonah's been experimenting with the camera settings on my iPad:

Northeast Road Trip (Part 3)

After Ithaca, it was on to Boston. I love Beantown, so my only complaint is that we didn't have more than a couple of days to spend there.  We made the best of it, though, touring schools, walking the Freedom Trail, visiting a number of very high quality playgrounds (if I can speak for Jonah in addition to myself), and sampling some local seafood.

Unfortunately, our fun-having was apparently too hurried for us to bother taking many pictures, as I seem now to have only have this couple of shots from our stop at a fountain/spray park along the Freedom Trail.  (Jonah was in heaven!)

We finished our trip with stops in Rhode Island and night in Philadelphia.  Rhode Island was rainy.  Rainy, rainy, rainy.  So there's not much to tell.  Philly was closed.  Closed, closed, closed.  But we did find a fun restaurant with Cuban tapas as well as take the opportunity to walk around the historic district.  Here's Jonah making the best of things outside Independence Hall.  He's such a trooper.

Back to Month 13: Northeast Road Trip (Part 2)

As you might remember from a previous post, back in August our little family hit the road for a tour of the Northeast.  It was another whirlwind trip: five stops over just about a week, starting in Buffalo.

Stop 2 was Ithaca.  Jonah and I explored town (sometimes with Jonah's Uncle Steve) while Bryan fulfilled some work obligations up at Cornell.  We enjoyed romping around the ol' farmer's market grounds on the shore of Lake Cayuga.  We splashed our feet and tossed muddy pebbles under Ithaca Falls.  We played with old friends at their farmhouse (Jonah loved being pushed through Cora's yard in her little red car).  And we had a blast getting our science on at the Sciencenter (where Carl Sagan was a founding member!).

We love our little trips to Ithaca.  Hopefully, Jonah will not lack for chances to visit as he gets older and (is it possible???) even more adventurous!

Reading by himself?

Today Jonah opened up his alphabet book to the "F" page...

     Big F, little f,

     what begins with f?

     Four fluffy feathers on a

     fiffer feffer feff.

...and immediately intoned, "Fah foh fah fff."

Coincidence?  I think not.  Besides, following that, he turned to the "B" page and said, "Buh buh bae bee."

15 Months

Jonah's 15 months old today.

15 going on 30, as they say.

Yesterday we took him to his 15-month doctor's appointment, and I found myself somewhat flummoxed by the nurse practitioner's development assessment questions:

NP:  "Is he starting to experiment with climbing the stairs?"

Me: "Uh...he practically runs up the stairs. He's been climbing both up and down for months now."  (Actually, as of gym class last week, Jonah has even mastered climbing a ladder!)

NP:  "Does he say at least six words?"

Me:  "He has so many words.  I don't even try to count them anymore."

NP:  "And does he point to things, like things he wants?"

Me (as Jonah feverishly pokes his index finger at a piece of wall art):  "As you can see, he very much does."

NP:  "Does he try to use a spoon?  I mean, does he hold a spoon sometimes when he eats, even if he just makes a mess with it?"

Me:  "Oh, well, actually, he insists on using utensils at every meal!  He eats entire bowls of yogurt and oatmeal, for instance, with a spoon."

And so on.

I can hardly believe how quickly he's growing, how cleverly and thoughtfully he interacts with us.  He wants to do everything we do--and often surprises us by doing so.  This evening, for instance, as I was cleaning up post-dinner, Jonah anticipated me by grabbing a towel and starting to wipe up the mess under his high chair.  When I asked him if he wanted to take a bath with his dad later, he immediately ran up the stairs, from the top of which he stood and yelled, "Daaaddy!  Shoooower!  Daaaddy!" until he was heeded.  (Time words, evidentially, are not his strength, but he processed the rest of my suggestion quite well.)  After Dad arrived, J went straight to his room, where his bath towel was hanging, pulled it down, and took it with him to the bathroom.  Our brilliant boy waited there at the tub edge for Daddy to get things rolling.

So smart, my little sweet pea.  I love him to bits.

Fall Festivities

And here we are again!

Okay, a quick explanation for the increasingly infrequent posts:  

First thing: Jonah, quite simply, has been keeping me really busy.  We seem to be almost always on the move these days, so there's not a lot of time for blogging--although there's lots to blog about!  Second: using my iPad (or computer or iPhone or any other electronic device) draws Jonah to me like a moth to a candle.  Basically, I'm not allowed to use it anymore unless he's asleep, when I generally have other chores on which I'd like to catch up.  Third: I've had a couple recent privacy scares, which have been eating at my desire to post stories of my family life online.  This last issue, at least, I can address. As you've probably already noticed, the blog is now private and can be accessed by individuals with my permission only.  (Congrats, apparently you made the cut!)

Anyway, moving on...

Despite the deep backlog of adventures on which he still need to catch up, I think for this post I'll skip straight ahead to today's adventures.

Welcome to Simmons Farm!

This morning Bryan, Jonah, and I all headed here for some fine fall festivities.  We picked apples--20 pounds of them!  We played in a pit of corn kernels.  We reveled in the petting zoo.  We scoured (but ultimately decided not to buy) their (ridiculously overpriced) carving pumpkins.

Jonah had a ball.  A ball I tell you!  In fact, we suffered through a bit of a tantrum as we headed back to the car--a sure sign that the trip was a success, right???  And then there's this evidence:

Jonah's Gym Class

I'm going to continue to postpone elaborating on our recent Northeast road trip for a while yet.  (Most of the photos are on a no-wifi camera, and I haven't yet had a chance to download them to my computer--cumbersome antiquated technology!)  Instead, to keep things interesting, we'll fast-forward to the more recent past, in which Jonah started his incredibly fun and entertaining toddler gym class.

Every week, Jonah and I head to the gym to exercise and challenge his little toddler muscles (including that greedy sponge of a brain).  We jump and balance, climb and slide, hang and swing, and do all sorts of other things that I wouldn't have realized Jonah was capable of doing if his gym teacher hadn't suggested otherwise.  Jonah's favorite part of the class, though, is probably playing with the parachute at the end.  First, he plays on top of the billowing parachute, then he runs around underneath.  It's a giant giggle-fest.
 

Jonah prepares to launch, hanging onto rings.

 

Playing on the parachute.

Later we generally practice at the playground what we learned in gym class.  Here's a video of Jonah orienting himself and going down the slide all on is own at the playground:
 

Trucks!

I hope to continue with our travel adventure story soon, but in the meantime here's a quick pic to describe Jonah's adventures today.  We're having some work done in the backyard, and bulldozers, backhoes, and dump trucks abound--much to our fascination and delight!

Month 13: It Began with a Birthday

It's been so long since my last post, I don't even know where to begin...

Jonah's a toddler now.  The transformations over the past month have been so astonishingly quick and complete, we've remained interminably on the tips of our toes attempting to keep up.  J's walking and talking and doing a great many other things, too, as you'll soon see, if I can only get myself organized enough to catch up here on the latest month of our story.

One big event to which I must make reference, of course, is Jonah's first birthday.  It was a simple affair with family, whom we were visiting in Buffalo.  Carvel cake--my favorite (and perhaps Jonah's, too, if the blue hue of his lips and tongue after the party were a clue) and a merry round of the birthday song following dinner.  Jonah received most of his gifts back home, since our trip out of town was already an extended, luggage-filled affair.  Probably the biggest hit was his new sandbox.  A toy kitten from his cousin also made the top of list.  (Jonah immediately took a liking to his grey Khan-lookalike, whom he aptly named "Khan".)  And then there's Dragon: a pretty awesome, giggle-inducing puppet from Grammy and Grandpa.

The birthday-coincident jaunt to Buffalo was actually just the first stop on a long road trip through the Northeast, and I have lots of pics to share from our many stops along the way.  In my next post.

Sunday Funday

A couple Sundays ago, through a combination of good planning and good luck, we finally made it to one of the city's many summer concerts, this one a performance by Cello Fury at the diversely entertaining Mellon Park.  Although we only got to stay half an hour (thanks to a combo of poor planning and bad luck, I suppose), we enjoyed pretty much every one of those too-quick thirty minutes.

For one thing, Jonah just loves music.  Like many small children, he can get into a dancing groove pretty easily.  But he's also unusually fascinated by sound in general (I think).  He gravitates rather enthusiastically toward noisy toys, for instance.  Not electronic toys, I should say, which seem to kind of freak him out, but toward more natural music-makers, like drums and pianos, tambourines and maracas.  Lately at home, when I want to calm him down or distract him, I've been playing some Chopin through the stereo. The sound mesmerizes him.  He seemed to enjoy listening to Cello Fury, too.

That said, there were lots of other distractions a the concert.  The dog on the neighboring picnic blanket, for instance:

And, of course, the fountain....

Needless to say, those pants did not stay dry for long.  Next time we'll know not to leave the house without his swim diaper...

Books!

The other day, Jonah simply could not decide which book to read...

Hot Day, Cool Baby

What could be better on a hot summer day than a trip to the zoo, complete with a stop at the misting station?

At the Library

After story time at the library, Jonah has a little extra energy to spend.  Luckily, the library provides!

The Diaper Change Trick

I realized today that I've made a habit of pretending that changing Jonah's diaper is some sort of magical transformation process: when I finished putting a fresh diaper on him this afternoon, he raised his arms and yelled, "Ta da!"

 

Heeheehee.

Best Buds

Jonah and Khan (whose name has entered Jonah's speech, distinguishably from "cat") have gotten pretty buddy-buddy lately.  Khan now lets Jonah approach him--or approaches Jonah himself--and seems to enjoy the resulting affection he receives.  Of course, it doesn't hurt their relationship that Jonah has figured out (entirely on his own) that he can hand-feed Khan left-over pieces of pizza from Jonah's own lunch!

Days at the Museum

Continuing my effort to catch up on the last month's happenings...

Jonah's growing enthusiasm for engaging in the world around him means that Mommy has ever-increasing incentive to get him out and about.  So does the hot weather and our lack of air conditioning.  Recently, all these factors together inspired some trips to the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History.  First Jonah and I went with his friend Lena (and her mom).  Then Jonah and his dad went together on a father-son outing.  As usual, we strolled through the dinosaurs and the precious gems on these trips. But the best part was definitely a new exhibit designed to inspire creative play (interactively).

All that exploring and playing can really tire a kid (or a couple of kids) out!

Trapped!

Just a cute photo from earlier this month.  (We've been getting creative finding new "toys" around the house.)

4th of July Trip

So I'm a little late completing this post, but, hey, at let I'm still in the right month!

Our little family recently took advantage of the long Fourth of a July weekend to visit our big, extended family in Buffalo. In a rare collisions of universes, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, brothers, and so on were all gathered from towns near and far to enjoy a sun-filled, barbecue-grilling, water-splashing good time. It was an especially good opportunity for Jonah to get to know his young cousins--for the first time as a truly mobile, bountifully curious non-infant toddler.

Another big introduction that weekend: Jonah's first pool. Finally! It was a long time coming over this hot, hot summer. Of course, it was huge hit, Jonah being the happy little fish that he is. We swam pretty much every opportunity we got.

And the water fun didn't end there. On one of our vacation days, we took a little is trip to Glen Park, a small but lovely and jam-packed-with-fun-places-to-explore park in a Buffalo suburb. Jonah checked out the many ducks (and one turtle), splashed around in a couple of waterfalls, and channeled his inner geologist in a search for the best creek-bed stones.  So much fun!

16 July 2013

The day Jonah took his first (unassisted) step.  Can't wait for more!

Another first...

Jonah's long locks, gone!

*Tear*

I shall miss them, but it is just getting too hot and humid for them this summer. (Also, I was starting to get a little tired of perfect strangers making fun of my baby's "mohawk"!)

Bye-Bye, Cat! (And other tales of recent feats)

It's time once again that I do my memory the favor of chronicling a few of Jonah's most recent achievements.  As Bryan observed the other day, J seems to go through cycles of growth and development:  slower periods that he spends practicing the skills he's most recently learned, followed by parentally thrilling periods of rapid skill acquisition.  Right now we seem to be in the rapid portion of the cycle.

A few things Jonah's learned to do in the past month or so:

• Stack blocks on top of one another,
• Stack rings onto a stacking tower,
• Put things into other things, like toys into his toy basket (for a long while he was only an enthusiastic taker-outer),
• Clap,
• Wave goodbye,
• Share (often upon request),
• Feed others (Mom, Dad, cats),
• Get food onto his spoon and into his mouth, all on his own.

Jonah stacks rings on a peg.  So cool.

Jonah's spacial reasoning, especially, seems to be developing at a breakneck pace.  He can now easily find hidden objects, such as a toy--or a mom--covered by a blanket.  He knows, when he wants to find something like a missing toy block, to look under the furniture.  And he knows, when he wants to find something like a missing mommy, to look behind the furniture.  He climbs over obstacles and up stairs like they're nothing at all.  He chases the cats all around the house with impressive single-mindedness.

J knows exactly where those cats hide after
a few too many games of chase (through
the cat door to the basement).

Jonah can stand up on his own these days--at least for a little while before trepidation gets the best of him.  But he gets more confident by the day.  It won't be too long before he takes those first independent steps.

And his language skills continue to progress at a respectable speed, too.  His favorite word is undoubtedly "cat", which he repeats excitedly each and every time he catches sight of one of our feisty felines.  These days I think anyone with even a smidgen of imagination would recognize the word as "cat", too.  What used to be a sort of Klingon "xha..." sound has turned into a nice, crisp "caa", though we're still awaiting that terminal "t".

And, finally, there's his new appreciation of books.  Oh, I've been waiting for this one!  For most of his first year, Jonah's interest in books by and large involved two activities:  tearing and munching.  But these days he's learning to turn pages gently and (to a small but growing extent) in coordination with Mom or Dad's reading.  And he now gets amusement from what we're reading, too.  The Barenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree is a particular hit, possibly because of his mother's comically theatrical interpretation, which she herself learned (developed?) when reading the book with her parents so many years ago.  (It got giggles then, and it still gets them now.)

Anyway, here for your viewing pleasure, is a video of Jonah doing a least a couple of the things described above.  (Tip:  You may have to turn the volume up to hear Jonah; his voice is much quieter than mine on account of his not being immediately behind the video camera. Also, watch to the end to see a wave.  Sorry about the low quality!)

"Splash" of Summer

With summer in full swing, Jonah and I (and Bryan when he's not at work) have been trying to spend as much time as possible outside.  Admittedly, sometimes it's just too hot, and sometimes it's just too sunny.  But when we are outside, boy oh boy, are we having fun!  Nothing perks Jonah up like a little taste of the great outdoors.

Recently, we've been trying to come up with new activities for Jonah to try out-of-doors.  In addition to our usual playground trips (the swings are old hat now), we've been searching out opportunities to explore right around our own house.

So far we've:

• Drawn with chalk:

• Played with the dirt in the asparagus bed:

(This is a self-initiated activity and a huge hit--the inevitable end to any attempt to play in the backyard these days.  A proper sandbox--or maybe we'll use pea gravel in lieu of sand?--is forthcoming.)

• Taken a break from a summer heatwave in our baby pool/sprinkler pad (which resulted in superbly adorable photos):

Oh, good grief.  Come on.  How cute is that?

So, yes, we've been having a great deal of fun.  And there's more to come.  In fact, there's a very good chance that our next blog entry will involve Jonah's first genuine swimming pool...

Happy summer, everyone!