Smarty Pants

I know all parents think their child is brilliant...and I am no different! I must say I am amazed at how quickly Jameson picks up on things. He has always been a smart cookie, but I swear in the last month or two, he has really accelerated in his learning new things. So, in an effort to not forget by next week's 14 month post, I am jotting it down now!

Developments:
He has learned quite a few new tricks. He is such a studier and seriously tries to copy everything we do and is usually successful.

• He can sign "milk" and "all done". We have to do it first for the most part, but he knows what it means.
• He blows on his food when it's hot! And, says ha!
• This was over a month ago, but he figured out where his "treats" are at Gma Debbie and Ray's house. So, he will get them out and then take them to my Mom! Learned where they are at home too, but he can't get to them (muahahaha!).
• He will feed himself with a spoon or fork. Granted, most of the food doesn't make it into his mouth, but it's good practice!
• He learned to jump. Well, not exactly an off the ground jump, but he bends his knees and bursts up and we clap! He gets so proud of himself and loves to "jump" now. But, usually only when others do it with him! Especially Braden :).
• I swear he knows his name when he sees it. He will go over to the chair he got for Christmas and point to his name, smile and then look at me because I usually then go over there and spell it out with him. He will point to the letters as we go and then smile when done. He also does this with the Jameson puzzle stool from Aunt Kelly and Uncle Derek.
• He can now show us his nose, eyes, mouth, tummy, toes, head and hair! He can also point out these things on us too. However, we do have to watch him, as I thought today he was going to poke out poor Baby Madison's eyes!
• He has really started clicking his tongue a lot. He always smiles really big when we do it too.
• He learned to blow kisses! He does it every morning when I leave and even when Darin or I go up the stairs!
• He learned to brush his teeth pretty well. He actually moves the toothbrush around now instead of just chewing on it. He still chews on it, but at least we are heading in the right direction!  
• Um yeah, he went potty in the big potty!!!!!!!!! Probably a total fluke, but when he was taking a bath on Tuesday night, all the signs were there, so I picked him up and plopped him on the potty. He sat there and went and then was seriously so proud. Maybe because I squealed in delight, but he was awfully happy too!

Talking:
The kid is a jabberbox. He talks constantly and learns what seems like a new word every day. As I commented before, he has his own language. He has this awesome German sounding accent (Darin says it's more like Hebrew). Hard to describe, so I will have to post a video.  I just love watching him connect things and then communicate. He mimics all sounds that we make. It is still a bit hard to understand everything he is trying to say, so unfortunately, we may be slowly entering the phase where he gets frustrated because we don't understand him. However, our saving grace for now is his ability to point to things and our ability to piece things together!

Jameson's Current Vocabulary:

• No = He finally learned to say it along with the head shake! I asked if he wanted to get out of the bath and he very matter of factly looked at me and said no.
• Ball = been in his vocab for many months.
• Wa = water. And, he will point to the cup of water when he wants some and get REALLY excited.
• Mck = milk. The accent is real heavy on this one :). Also gets super excited when he sees his milk.
• Whoa & Uh-oh = probably two of my favorites!
• Ah = eye. I say that he sounds Southern when he says eye...it's so cute.
• Mou = mouth
• Ba = bath. And, the second we say bath, he darts for the stairs. He is a fish.
• Boh = book. Loves his books!
• Dog = still more like "doh", but sometimes he gets that "g" sound at the end.
• Booooo = blueberries
• Sssppp = raspberries
• Djuh = jump. That's a hard one to phonetically spell!
• Hah = Hat. Sounds just like hat without the "t" and sometimes he even gets the "t". He will point to his hat and then start walking to the door! He loves wearing hats, which is crazy for a 1 year old!
• Cah = car. Boston accent on this one. We were taking a walk the other day and he kept pointing at the cars and saying "cah" and then waving. When he tried to walk up to one and touch it, I said it may be hot and he started blowing on it...so adorable! He loves watching the cars with Ray too!
• Duck duck = obviously duck! He also says Duuhhhduccccckkk when we say AFLAC like the duck on the commercial or when he sees the actual commercial. HILARIOUS!
• Grrrrr = he growls whenever he sees a picture of a lion or a Chicago Bear logo!
• Coook = cookie. Eyes light up when we say that word.
• Baaa = does this when he sees a sheep.
• Ro Ro = Rowan
• Becckkk = Beckett
• Buh = Braden
• Buhmah = Grandma?? Every time he sees my Mom and my dad says, "there's Grandma", he says buhmah. He will also repeat if we say Grandma Kim. We are still working on "Ray" :).
• Pa-pa = Grandpa
• Hoy = Hoyt. And, if we yell Hoyt or if Hoyt is outside, J will go to the baby gate and yell, "HOY".
• Dad = he is really stuck on Dada again.
• Mama = yes, I have to throw this one in too because it still continues to melt my heart every single time he says it.

Eating with a fork!

Spelling his name!

Jameson's "wa" and my "wa"!

Blowing kisses!!

Waving to "cahs" with Ray!

Brushing his teeth!

Easter - Part 1 & 2

As we all know, J Man was sicky on Easter, so we had to rearrange our Easter plans just a bit. We decided to stay away from everyone and just celebrate on our own. He had a blast going through his Easter basket! He mainly just liked the light up balls and the bunny ears. However, the bunny ears kept getting put around his tummy instead of on his head, but still cute nonetheless. He took a long nap after all the Easter basket excitement and was ready to do the egg hunt after he woke up. I must say that I was very curious to see how the hunt was going to go. But, he did a fabulous job! Found all 15 eggs and didn't really ever lose interest. He did have to open every single egg to find the treasures inside before moving onto the next. But hey, can you blame him?! Our living room was a bit of a disaster zone after all the eggs had been found, but our vacuum (aka Hoyt) was on Jameson's heels with every treat dropped. Dan and Kim came over with another Easter Basket of goodies and had a wonderful dinner with us.

A week later, we celebrated with my parents and the Hahns. Jameson got another Easter basket full of awesome goodies and go to do another egg hunt! He did really well again and found all his eggs! He made a mess again, but Hoyt was there to clean up. We ate a great dinner and then the boys played in Braden's cop car for a good half hour! They were absolutely adorable and Jameson had so much fun! It was a great day/night and I cherish the family time!

Next year should prove to be even more fun, as I think Jameson will fully understand the egg hunt and maybe won't be so terrified of the Easter Bunny - I mean the kid practically climbed up my Mom's leg to get away from him and we were a good 20 feet away from furry guy. Then again, the Easter Bunny is a bit creepy, so I may just want to accept the fact that last year, when he was a month old, will be the only picture I get with J Man and the Bunny.

Pictures!!

The goods!

He loved the light up balls!

He looks thrilled.

Here Daddy, you wear them!

Just woke up from a long nap...time to hunt for some eggs!

But, first I am going to chew on Grover's nose.



The Easter Bunny wasn't too creative this year.



But, someone had a blast!

Hoyt was waiting for anything to drop!

The mess.

No worries. Hoyt will clean up!

Love my bean!



We had to get outside at least for a little bit!



Love this little guy!



Kisses from Gma Kim!



Easter goodies from Gma Debbie and Ray.

Enjoying the goodies from the egg hunt!

This has nothing to do with Easter, but the humidity caused even more adorable curls!

LOVE this picture!



I love this one too :).



Totally lounging and enjoying the ride.

Haha! Priceless facial expression from J Man.

So cute!

Since he was terrified of the Easter Bunny,
the plastic bunny in the mall playground will have to suffice for 2012!
Happy Easter!!

Hand, Foot & Mouth, Oh My!!

Ugh. That's all I have to say. Well, actually no it's not, but it's how I feel. Luckily, this illness looks and sounds a lot worse than it actually was...or at least in J Man's case. We had a pretty rough first 24 hours, but after that, he was much better.

Started on Thursday during the day. He was just clingy and moody with my parents and Mom took his temp to find it was 100.7. He slept quite a bit and just wasn't his normal happy self. That night he hardly ate anything and would cry every time he coughed. I thought for sure it was teeth and probably an ear infection since those two things have kind of gone hand in hand the last few times teeth have popped through! Getting him to sleep was a bit tough - he woke up after about an hour of going down and needed to be held and rocked back to sleep. Did it again after another couple of hours, which was OK because it was still only about 10:30. He then slept until about 6:45.

On Friday afternoon, we took him to the doc and he had an ear infection in his right ear and a red throat. I asked about hand, foot and mouth since I saw one teeny tiny little bump under his lip and because he had been exposed to it earlier that week. Dr. Boe said he didn't think so, so we went on our merry way. Rest of the day consisted of snuggles and naps and us trying to get some food and fluid in him. He basically had his plug in his mouth 24/7, as I imagine it eased the pain in his mouth. By bath time, he was drooling like a mad man and a few more spots had popped up around his mouth. We pretty much knew at that point that it had to be HFMD. He slept great that night, waking pretty early Saturday because he was hungry. But, went right back to sleep after he drank some milk. More bumps appeared throughout the day on his face and the a few showed up on his hands. He seemed to be in much better spirits, but still kind of clingy, moody and sleepy. Still not eating too much due to the sores on the inside of his mouth and that pacifier became a permanent fixture. Sunday was much better - he ate a lot better and, for the most part, seemed like happy bean again. He took three naps that day, so definitely still sleeping more than usual.

As of today, he is pretty much 100% - just still looks a little rough with the remnants of the bumps! Still not quite eating as well as he was before this disaster, but give the kid some raspberries, blueberries or a Gerber cookie and he will suck them down in minutes! I think this is definitely proof that you can't just write off a fever to teething or being worn out - more times than not, it is something. I have read that if people have had HFMD, they can't get it again, so I guess that is one good thing to come out of all of this. And, the extra cuddles weren't so bad either!

Snuggling on Thursday night before bed. Holy cow Blondie!!!

Friday after the doctor appointment...chowing down on a Gerber cookie!

Being a stinker on Saturday morning!
And, yes the birthday banner was still up. I took it down shortly after this picture! 

Feeling good enough to play some hoops on Saturday afternoon!

And, good enough to help Daddy put together some drying racks!

Wanted to hold onto Cookie Monster and Elmo when it was time for bed!

 Watching some cartoons Sunday morning!

Little man strutting his stuff on our walk yesterday. He was feeling great!

13 Months!

OK OK, I know I have to stop doing these monthly updates sooner or later, but I am at home today with J and decided I needed to document some of the awesome things from the past month.

• You weigh roughly 23.5 pounds and are 31.5 inches tall. Still in size 4 diapers and still squeezing into some 12 months stuff. Mostly 18 months though.
• You can run now, no question about it. It is so cute to watch you pick up your speed when you chase after Hoyt.
• You love to take walks. And, I don't mean the kind where we push you in something...you actually walk with us and I love that!! You walked a few blocks once with Gma Kim and then with me and your Dad a couple of times. And, you love to walk all over the mall - Gma Debbie and Ray took you the other day and you were a hit! We took you again today and you loved it!
• You can give real genuine kisses now. We ask for one and you walk right over to us and give us a sweet little kiss. You also kiss your "baby" (your Panda bear) and you LOVE giving Hoyt kisses...and getting Hoyt kisses!
• You can stand up on your own now without using anything to assist you. It's all over now - you don't sit still for any length of time!
• You catch onto things so quickly. When we ask if you are ready for a bath, you say "ba" and walk right over to the stairs and proceed to go upstairs. Same for when we ask if you are ready for a nap. You also know what we mean when we say potty...you get a little confused since Hoyt goes outside to potty, but I am hoping maybe potty training will start sooner than later. We actually bought you a little potty, but you just like to play with the lid right now!
• You also know to walk to your high chair when we ask if you want breakfast/lunch/dinner.
• You know where to point when we ask where our eyes, nose and mouth are. And, when you point (or poke more so) to our eyes, you say "eye".  You also like to point to Hoyt's eyes...not sure he's a big fan!
• When you wake up, you take out your pacifier and set it on the shelf (where we keep it). I love that! You are pretty attached to your plug when you sleep, but that is really the only time you ever use it, so I don't plan on taking it away any time too soon.
• Gma Debbie told me that you figured out how to wiggle right out of the stroller. You were very proud of yourself!
• Ray taught you how to squint and it's really cute to watch!
• You like to sit outside with Ray and watch the cars go by and wave at them.
• You still speak your own little language, but you are getting very close to being able to "use your words".
• We are just about done nursing. You stopped the night time feeding on your own about 3.5 weeks ago, which made me both relieved and sad! But, I think we are both ready and am so proud that we made it 13 months!
• You LOVE blueberries...I am pretty sure you would eat blueberries until there were no more blueberries. You just love fruit in general, usually eating an entire fruit cup at each meal. You also suck down green beans, grilled cheese, and macaroni like there is no tomorrow!!
• You are kind of a bully with your cousin Drake...you always take things away from him! But, I am pretty sure you both do it to each other!
• You have been doing this for months, but you love to read your books. Sometimes you will go sit in your "reading corner" and just look through your books forever. I just love how much you like books - I hope that keeps up as you get older.
• You love being outside. So, we went to the park a lot this past month! Once you went with Braden and Beckett and you took an almost 3 hour nap afterward!
• You love when we pretend we are chasing you...you run and squeal.
• You are so busy all of the time! You crack me up because you are just non-stop on the go. No wonder you sleep so well at night!
• You continue to amaze me with your sweet nature (most of the time!) and your smarts. Every day that I spend with you is such a blessing.  

So. Precious.

Resting on Grandma Debbie at the park.

This is what we call sitting back and relaxing.

Hanging out with Braden and Dad while Mom gets in some Madison snuggles.

All I wanted was a picture with my Bean on St. Patty's Day, but
someone was too busy to stop!

Awww!!

Enjoying the beautiful weather at the park with Mom!

Best Buddies!

Squinting!

Sucking on the lemon juice...his reaction was priceless; yet, he went back for more!

Carrying around his "baby".

Best picture we could get of the "fangs"!

Reading his Cubs book in the car!

Loves his Hoyt kisses!

I think this means I should have stopped these pictures after 12 months!! Love his little heart!