Trick or Treat

A few weeks before Halloween, I asked Jonas what he wanted to be and he would answer, "skeleton." So, I thought we would paint his face and let him wear black sweats and a sweater, so that he could be a skeleton. But when my mom and I went to the store, I spotted the cutest little dinosaur costume.

I wasn't sure whether he would keep it on. A few days before, I was telling him about his dinosaur costume and how cool it was. On Halloween, I put it on him and he was ready and willing. He was so adorable. Both grandmas were there to see him and he wanted to make sure they did. "Come on gramma, come on," he told them.

Then he looked in the mirror and was checking himself out. Probably thinking, "That is one good lookin' dinosaur."

The costume was perfect. And he was the best trick or treater ever. We sat him in a wagon, so he wouldn't get too tired. Everytime we stopped at a house, he was ready to go. We all took turns taking him up to the door, Jeremiah, grandpa Jesse, grandma Estella and I. He said "trick or treat" at almost every house we went to and "thank you." My boy is polite.

Every time I saw him walk up to a different house, a gust of wonderful emotions went through me. Some kids looked cute, but my baby was by far the cutest. He looked so grown up.

The coolest thing of all was that I had told him all about Halloween and what he would be doing. When the day finally arived, he knew just what to do, he had understood everything I had said. He was walking around as if he had been trick or treating for years.

All I have to do now is hide some of his candy. There is way too much for a two year old to handle on his own.

Jonas keeping his cool

Here's Jonas at his friends birthday party.
We were on a small train and he leaned back and looked so tough and cool, but as soon as the train started moving he wanted to sit on my lap. It was a little too fast for him to sit by himself. He said he had ridden Thomas the train. He loved it!

In a pensive state

Aunt 'Drea and Jonas chillin' at Rocky Point.
Jonas wasn't too sure about the gorilla made of metal that stood in front of him. So, he thought about whether it was OK to get close, as aunt Drea stood by with encouragment.

Face of Innocence

More Mexico Fun

Grandpa Jerry and Jonas making "mud" mountains.
Jonas loved the beach. Playing in the sand is his favorite thing, although he doesn't call it sand. He says, "mud, mamma mud." Can't wait to take him again, when it's not so hot.

Fun at Rocky Point

Skateboarding with dad is so much fun!

Jonas loves it when Jeremiah holds him and skates down the street. I tell them I'm going to get them and chase after. Jonas cracks up!
"Daddy, katebord," says little man when he's ready for a ride.

On Weaning

The day has finally arrived. I have decided it is time to wean my precious baby. He is 18 months old and growing so fast. I feel sad because nursing him was such a special time for us both. Now, I am taking that away from him. I know, I am making it harder on myself. I know he will just forget, with time. But, I will miss our special moments together. Moment’s only he and I could share.

But I will replace our nursing time with lots of cuddling and play time.

He usually asks for his "ti-ti" when he wants to relax, after I get home from work or when he is ready for bed. When he was a baby, nursing would solve every problem. Instant relief would show in his eyes, as I sat and stared at his cherubic face.

On Sunday, I was trying to deny him of his afternoon nap “titi” and he cried, I cried and Jeremiah only watched. Not fully understanding how I felt or how Jonas was feeling. In the end, Jeremiah gave in and offered my “ti-ti” to Jonas. I guess, dad did understand.

But this time, I am going to be strong. He is eating well, drinking lots of regular milk and is getting too big for his loving “ti-ti.” I know it’s for the best.

Last night was the first night without “ti-ti” and it went well. We lay on the bed.
He asked for his soothing “ti-ti” and I told him I would sing to him.
“Ginkle,” requested Jonas. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star,” I sang as he repeated some of the words. “Upabove," “dimon” says my little man as his eyes slowly closed. A few minutes later, he was asleep. I think it was a little too easy, though. I’ll have to report in a week on how well or not so well, we both handled this situation.

For now, I'll just have to accept the fact that my little man is growing up, even though I don't want him to, at least not too fast.

Grandma and the boss

Jonas eating ice cream and hanging with his buddy Tali at grandma Estella's house.

On the go

J-man is one active boy. He is on his toes every minute, always moving, dancing and playing. I have to sit with him and entertain him with a book or an interesting object for him to rest a while. If I don't do this, he'll keep going and going and going and well, you get what I'm saying.

We had a bbq last Sunday and he was loving every minute of it. I was sitting back letting everyone have a turn playing with the man of the hour. He is one popular guy. He was having fun with his grandma's, grandpa's, cousins, aunt and best of all, dad.

I think Jonas gets a lot of his non-stop active nature from Jeremiah. They both want to be on the move, constantly doing something. I'm more laid back, but with these two, not so much anymore. They both love ramen noodles, motorcycles and skateboards. Oh and they are sporting the same wild hairstyle.

We're all a little sad because we are going to be moving soon. Mostly because Jonas grew up in this house and this is the last house Pico lived in.

Last week, we looked at the house we will be moving into and Jonas approved of it by running around, giggling in every room. He was especially fond of the stairs, which terrify me. We are going to have to make sure they stay blocked at all times and make sure he is never alone when near them.

He saw the first step, then looked up and said, "oooohhh.' That is one of his new sayings. If he sees something he likes, he'll say that and looks so amazed at whatever it is he is looking at. The move will be good because we will have more space to store our junk. He climbed up the stairs and only made it half way. His little heart was beating so hard. He then wanted to climb back down, then up again. A good thing about that is, I'll be in shape after following him up and down those stairs.

He is such a goofy boy. When we put sunglasses on him, we tell him, "look at the cool guy," and he'll say, "coo guy," lookin' all cute.

His new obsession is the hose. If we step out into the front yard, he will immediately say, "aba" (agua=water). Since it's warmer outside, we let him play in the water. He wets himself, us, the grass, our chairs, and his orange/yellow toy car.

He has also started saying hi, hola or hello to everyone he sees. Most people ignore him or may not hear him, 'cause he's so small, but he doesn't care. It hasn't stopped him from being friendly. I know that when he's bigger, he'll make friends easily.

Who wouldn't want to be friends with such a cool little guy!

Mr. Smarty Pants

With all the walking Jonas does there are times when he falls and oh, I hate to say or see it, he bonks his little head. Jeremiah and I hate it when we see it coming and we are just a few steps too late to catch him.

I always wonder how much other kids get hurt. Should we be even more careful than we already are, but then he wouldn't be free to do anything. I just hope that this is normal and that all those head bonks won't affect him in any way, shape or form.

He has now become crayon and marker crazy. The first words he says when he wakes up are always, well, "gran-pa" and then he'll say "cononing". Which means he wants a crayon, pencil, pen or marker in his hand soon. You'd better watch out if you're standing next to him while he has a marker in hand. He scribbles on anything in sight.

I'm glad he likes to color and scribble, but a lot of things around the house have become Jonas coloring pads. Even his dad's stomach has been marked.

I love how much he comunicates. He responds when I ask him stuff. "Jonas, do you want cereal?" He shakes his head no. "Do you want eggys?" He'll look at me with approval, and ask for "pan" (bread). Or he'll tell me exactly what he wants.

He asks for "aba" (water), "melk," or "appa duce" (apple juice).

Although, I think I confused him today. I told him we were going to have a snack. I cut up some watermelon and we had our snack outside. Now he thinks watermelon is called snack. He asked me for more "snack" and I handed him another piece of watermelon. I'll explain it to him later. He's so smart, I know he'll learn the correct word without much trouble.

"Fourways Farm" is Jonas' favorite animated show about a "duck, a dog and a lazy cat, a cow and a pig who's much too fat, a great big horse and three bad rats." He likes it so much, he'll sit through the entire show.

Of all the educational shows he watches, I never thought Fourways Farm would be his favorite, but what do I know, I'm just a mom. I'm already out of the cool loop and he's only a year old.

Yesterday he was trying to hang out in the bathroom while Jeremiah was trying to finish some business. I was calling him so he could let his dad have some privacy, I mentioned that fourways farm was on. He came running out of the bathroom so fast, I could hear his little footsteps stomping the floor. I felt so bad, because I just said that to get him out and the show wasn't even on. He looked at the TV screen wondering why his farmhouse friends weren't on. I now know better than to say that again, when it's not on.

The boy is getting smarter and smarter every passing day. "He's going to know more than me and I'm old," says Grandpa Jesse. "I should be teaching him, but pretty soon, he's going to be the one teaching me stuff."

A morning check-up

Jonas had his 15 month well baby check up today. Everything was good in the waiting area. Jonas played with a few older kids. He watched them jump up and down and tried it himself. He was only able to move his arms up and down, but he tried. He looked so cute doing it, too.

Then he shared his crackers with a spunky little two year old. She kept asking Jonas to sit on a chair next to her. The chair was to high, so Jonas just stared at her with a confused look on his face.

"Armenta, Jonas," the nurse called. In we go. He is starting to realize that doctor's offices may be a little scary.

"You can undress him, diaper and all, so I could weigh him," said the nurse. Jonas started crying as soon as I did that. He did not like it one bit. He weighed 21 pounds 10.5 ounces. He's a fit little guy.

He calmed down and was happily eating his banana when the doctor stepped in. As soon as the doctor sat on his stool, Jonas dropped his banana on the floor almost on Dr. Nagorka's shoe. "Woah, you missed me, buddy."

The doctor pulled out his pen and Jonas immediately said, "conody". Which means, coloring. I told the doc what j-man was trying to say. "Yeah, it's a pen," said Dr. Nagorka. "Pen," said Jonas. Then I told the doctor that Jonas knows and says over 70 words. I forgot to mention that he is also bilingual.

Boy was he impressed.

Jonas realized he had a piece of banana on his finger and said, "Mama, banana," and pointed at it, indicating I should remove it. "Hey you're a smarty pants," said the doctor.

He then looked at the doctor and said, "granpa" and we all giggled. I think he was telling him that his "granpas" also have mustaches.

As soon as the doc's stethescope touched Jonas' chest the wailing began. He didn't mind the doctor at first, because there was a distance betweeen them. But then the stranger anxiety hit and Jonas wanted nothing to do with him. Dr. Nagorka finished his checkup and walked out to get Jonas a fire truck book.

The doc handed the book to Jonas. Jonas quieted down and just stared at the doctor probably thinking, I guess you're not that bad and gently grabbed the book from his hand.

Things were better after that.

But J-man didn't know immunizations were next on the agenda. He got two on his left leg. The nurse was quick, but I know they hurt my baby. He cried all the way to the truck.

Nana 'Stella showed him his new book and he started flipping through it. That calmed him down.

As we were leaving, the doctor said, "Keep doing what you're doing." I smiled and said thanks. My little man is healthy and super smart. Jeremiah, my mom and I aren't doing a bad job raising Jonas.

Missing my baby

Now that I've been working, Jonas has been a little clingy. If I leave the room for just a second, he calls out to me. "Mamma, mamma," says Jonas. "I'm coming right back, baby, mommy's right here," I tell him as I rush back to him. Being away from him is hard for me, too.

I get home at about 5 or 6 in the evening and it only leaves me with a few hours to spend before it’s his bedtime. I guess it'll take some time getting used to being away for so many hours, but oh, how I miss my little man.

The boy is amazing. He has been saying some really difficult words. He uses words with more than two syllables, like, tyn-ne-nol, con-ta-ble, apatos, and vacado, meaning Tylenol comfortable, zapatos, and avacado.

Now that he has mastered the art of walking, it's rare to see him sitting still. He is always on the move.

Today, we sat him on the motorcycle fender, or "ikel" as Jonas calls it, along with daddy and he looked so comfortable on it. As if it were something he does everyday."Yup, it's just me and my dad on our bike." It scares me how much he loves the motorcycle. When he hears it start up, he goes wild and can't wait to be taken outside to see it. He says, "Ikel, ikel," and of course Jeremiah loves this. I can see it now, Jonas and Jeremiah, riding off into the sunset, leaving poor old mom at home.

He's going to be driving, before we know it. My dad is beginning to think that he likes his van more than him. Whenever we go to my parent's house and as soon as he spots the van, that is all he will talk about. "Ven, ven, ven,” insists Jonas. There go the obedient grandparents, listening to their sweet, demanding grandson, off to the big, fun van that he loves so much.

Going to the store with him is fun, too. I talk to him as we cruise the aisles - he pointing stuff out, while I hand him most everything he asks for. We're a good little shopping team, the two of us.

Hopefully we'll both adjust to our new schedules soon. I know he'll be just fine, it's me I’m worried about.

Jonas the Parrot

"Do you want a cracker?" I ask Jonas. "Ca-cker," he answers. I hand him a Ritz cracker on our way home from dropping Jeremiah off at school. Jonas chats the entire ride home. He is my little companion, my buddy. It's a lot of fun now that he's talking so much.

According to American Baby, children his age acquire language at the rate of about two new words a week. J-man says way more than two words, in a day!

He repeats everything we say. I was telling my brother, "Imvan" (as Jonas would say), "Jonas already knows 40 words." Then Jonas jumped right into the conversation, saying, "For-ty." We looked at each other, both surprised. "That makes 41," I said, as we both laughed. He is just so smart. Pretty soon, he'll be saying complete sentences. "Mother, can you hand me my sippy cup, please."

It's so amazing how fast he learns and remembers everything. He also knows the meaning to all the words he knows and hears.

We were looking through his photo album the other day. I was showing him a picture of Pico, when he spotted the photo below Pico's, he pointed and said, "Gaul-ker." "Yes, baby, that's cousin Walker." We hadn't seen Walker in days and he had never said his name before. It's amazing, I tell you.

But the boy has had a temper lately. Jeremiah was holding a spoon while feeding Jonas, Jonas decided he wanted to take it away, but it had food in it. So, Jeremiah said, "No, wait little man, wait." Jonas got so mad, that when Jeremiah finally gave it to him, Jonas just threw it on the floor and started wailing. I guess it's normal at this age. There is not much we can do, discipline-wise.

"At this age, many toddlers begin to behave unpredictably. Yours may scream at the top of his lungs for no apparent reason, pull the tablecloth to the floor, or yank the dog's tail despite your firmly telling him not to. Though this may be a trying time for you, remember that your toddler isn't deliberately disobeying you — he's just exploring his surroundings and figuring out how much power he has over you, his environment, and himself. Many of these "destructive" practices will actually help him develop a sense of independence and figure out which types of behavior are acceptable to you and which aren't."

Reading this makes me feel better. I was beginning to think, what are we doing wrong? Why is he behaving like this? It's just Jonas' way of seperating himself from us, he's becoming his own little independent self.

Oh Jonas! How do I love thee, let me count the ways!

I love your beautiful, curly brown hair, that looks so wild every single day. I love when you sit and look through your books, with such intense concentration. I love when you flash daddy and I a big cheesy smile, showing us your pearly whites, while scrunching your nose. I love it when you demand for more toothpaste on your bright green shark toothbrush. I love waking up to your sweet kisses. I love it when you hold your plastic fishing pole and say, "pish." I love to watch you slowly toddle around the house, exploring every corner or crevice in sight. I just love you!

Everything about you is beautiful. You fill my heart with so much love, I sometimes feel I might explode. Some days I might feel tired and sleepy and would love to just sit and vegetate, but I would never trade my days with you for anything in the world. I love you so much, words can never describe what I feel!

Wild Child

If someone were to walk into our house, they would think a tornado had hit it. There are clean clothes scattered, here and there, that I just haven’t had the time to put away. There are toys all over the living room.

Every night, we pick every thing up and put it back in its place. But as soon as I step into another room and look back to the one I had just cleaned, it’s messy again. Aahh! It’s the twilight zone.

No, not really. It’s Jonas man, taking his toys out of the toy box, grabbing the neatly folded clothes from the dressers, opening the kitchen cabinets and taking things, that are meant to be hidden and displaying them on the not-so-clean, kitchen floor, that if I had a chance to mop, I would in a second.

Telling him “no” will get you nowhere. When he is in his car seat and I hand him his sippy cup, he’ll take a few drinks, then he’ll look at me and let the water drizzle out of his mouth onto his nice, dry shirt. “No, baby don’t do that, you’re getting all wet,” I tell him. This motivates him even more and he laughs, so it turns into a game. I take away the cup and tickle his chin, he lets out the cutest giggle, one could ever hear. This continues for about ten minutes. Good times!

We went to the library today. Jonas always makes friends. We met a little girl, who was also 14 months old. She saw Jonas and gave him a hug and a kiss. On their first meeting! I totally understand why she did it. Who could resist kissing the most handsome boy in the entire world?

I spoke to her mom and asked her if her daughter was sleeping through the night. She gave me a “look” and said no. She didn’t have to answer; the “look” said it all. We talked about baby joys and woes. It felt good to talk to someone who knows exactly what I am going through and to know that I’m not alone, with the ever so prevalent, sleep issue.

We had a not-so-healthy dinner, but it sure was fun. We ate top ramen noodles. Jeremiah and Jonas, both shirtless, had a contest: Who could slurp the longest noodle, the fastest. Jonas won, of course. Jeremiah didn’t stand a chance. Jonas is one fast noodle slurper.

Watching my boys enjoy dinner, looking so beautiful together, makes me think, life can't get any better than this.