Mr. Independent

This new found mobility has made Jonah a bit more independent at times. He prefers being on the floor except for those rare moments where we still get a good snuggle.

I'll smile for one picture, Mom, and then I'm off.
PS- Thanks for the hat, Stacey!

Ok, I'm done .... on the floor please.

That's better. Now, what was I doing?

We do have those rare occasions when we find this.

Just to reiterate the point, here's a video of Jo's mobility. The squeaks and squeals seems to come and go throughout his infancy, but as you can see, they are back. It can't help that Ryan and I laugh at him while he is doing, which I'm sure is only encouraging!

The last birthday that's any good is 23. ~Andy Rooney

In all the madness of Ry's vaca, going away parties, 8 month appointments and unbelievable weather this week, I had forgotten to post the birthday celebrations I enjoyed with my boys. Saturday was a (one of many) gorgeous day, so we hit the Spring farmer's market early. While the market was pretty limited, we enjoyed coffee and a scone at a local coffee shop and perused the booths and quaint shops enjoying being outdoors.

Ryan poses by the palm.

Jonah and me taking in the sights.

This is how excited I am about being here!

Monday night, the day before my birthday, I worked a little late and came home to find Ryan had baked me a cake and outfitted the whole family in party hats. Unfortunately, the adorable shot of Jonah in a hat was taken on my phone and I don't know how to share it on here.

My yummy cake. He even spelled out a "J" with fresh strawberries ... begin "ahhhhs" now.

Bones was loving the festivities. Calm down Bones, calm down.

8 Months!

Weight: 16lbs 4oz ............... 10th Percentile
Length: 27.5 inches ............... 50th Percentile
Head: 18 inches ................ somewhere around 75th Percentile

Jonah is growing right on track and received a perfect bill of health from the doc. He is the happiest, most easy going and social baby I have ever seen. His teacher love him to death and comment on his mellowness daily.

Milestones: This big boy is quite mobile as you know from the multiple inch worming posts! He can also stand up on his own while holding on to something. He pulls up assisted and we did recently lower the crib in preparation for more of this! Jonah popped one tooth on the bottom and its neighbor is shortly behind. It is also worth noting, he has been the most pleasant teether ever - you would never even know! He claps his hands, will wave occasionally and can talk up a storm. He says multiple syllables, but it usually comes back to "Da Da" or just "Da". He will point at the dogs and smile when they come in the room and announce "da". Smart kid ... must be that big head housing that big brain!

Likes: Still enjoys bath time with dad and will splash on command when you tell him to "splash, splash". This, by the way, is hilarious to him. He hasn't met a pureed fruit or veggie he doesn't like, but fingers food are more fun when they are on the floor for the dogs to eat! His favorite toy is the music table he got from his Aunt Bess, closely followed by the counting turtle from Uncle Chris. He also loves anything he can bang together. A new favorite pastime is chasing after Tilly to get her ball. Fortunately, Tilly will gladly hand it over to him to "throw". Jonah LOVES Ryan. I am great for snuggling and eating, but Dad is for everything else: playing, wrestling, talking to, you name it. He lights up when Ryan walks in the room. In fact, one of his teachers told Ryan "she has rarely seen a baby get that excited for Dad". Loves those two fellas!

Dislikes: There still is not much that makes this guy mad. We continue to struggle with naps, but if you can get him down, he's out for a solid 2 hours .... makes sense, right?

Jonah, you are a parent's dream! You make parenting easy for us and we are so lucky. Thanks for being our sweet baby boy!

Can't get enough

For those of you that COULD NOT wait until tomorrow to see some Jonah Babl, this post is for you! Everyone likes a (almost) naked baby, so here's Jonah pre-bath yesterday. Which reminds me, this kid loves baths. You can tell him "splash, splash" and he will kick with his feet resulting in water everywhere and all over Ryan and me!

You've heard me mention how much this guy likes to be in his Jumperoo. Sometimes I am afraid he is going to jump right out of it! I can't get enough of those little feet!

**If anyone knows how to turn a video so it's not sideways like this, please share. Otherwise, I really need to make a more conscious effort to not turn it this way!

Why do we spend money on toys?

When all my child wants is a nasal aspirator for his sore gums! (Yes, it was clean) I am WAY over due for a post, so I thought I would just share some pictures and video from this week. **Warning lots of pictures and video to follow this message**

In other news:
Although Jonah was 8 months this week, his appointment is next Tues (4/20) so that Ryan can come along. So, check back then for all his latest statistics and milestones!

If two things can be banged together, Jonah will do it. Right now everything is about being loud. Is this a boy thing?



Not a great video of Jonah's latest mobility, but he certainly has no problems getting from point A to point B. Lately it has been more of an inchworming effect, however, this video is more of the army-crawling, leg scooting, something-or-other technique.

Grandma B!

Most of you know, Jonah attends the Jewish Community Center, and while it is a wonderful school, Ryan and I are still trying to get use to all the school closing for various Jewish Holidays. This past week, the school was closed 4 days for Passover - leaving us in a predicament: me wanting to save my vaca (for the inevitable sick baby days) and Ryan not having any vaca while at his clinic.

Grandma Babl to the rescue! By the end of the first day together, these two were equally smitten! Jonah loved all the new found attention (as if he is lacking in that department!) and I'm pretty sure Grandma enjoyed spoiling her only grandchild, who she had not seen since Christmas! They had a blast and Jonah was so great - sleeping, eating, talking, laughing and inch-worming (working on a video of this!) everywhere.

This was Jonah's first experience in a highchair at a restaurant. He did so great. He is quite the people watcher.

Easter Sunday at the botanical gardens enjoying the gorgeous (albeit pollen-infested) weather!

Just chillen. Waiting on a call from my girlfriends. But seriously, could those eyes get any bluer!

And, somehow through all 8 days of her being here, I failed to get a single picture of just the two of them. I guess when you are as good looking as Jonah, you don't share the camera!

And to top it all off, as Ryan loaded Grandma's bags into the car and she turned to Jonah for one last wave goodbye, the kid waved back! It was amazing. It was completely deliberate and just happened to be his first real wave. As if that alone is not good reason to come back soon!

How's that for a goodbye!

Easter Madness!

With Grandma B in town (post to come later) we decided a full-fledged Easter celebration was needed. First we hit Mass and Jonah did great through the 1.5 hour service. He even chose to sing along with the choir at various times and sometimes, he chose to sing when it was quiet! After church, we took some photos in our Sunday best and after several failed attempts at napping (minus a 30-minute cat nap) we packed up and headed to the Botanical gardens to enjoy the glorious spring day!

Dinner was a bit of a disaster, but eventually turned out great. To make a long story short, I was tending to Jonah when the turkey went in, so my sweet husband took charge, but accidentally cooked it up-side down! Nearly 4 hours later, we had a finished turkey and all the fixins ... but it was nearly 8pm when we sat down to eat. We vowed to laugh about it later ... and we did! Ahhh, the memories!

Here are just a few of the great photos we took.

Grandma, Ryan and Jonah.

My boys!

Dad, I am trying to pose for the camera.

Big blue eyes ..... a little red from my allergies.

Just me and my bunny, hanging in a tree.