Growing up is hard to do

I don't know what could be bothering Jonas. He wakes up every night crying. We change his diaper, offer him water, give him tylenol, what usually works to quiet him down is nursing him. He'll sleep for a couple of hours and then he's up again.

I feel so tired every morning that I don't know what to do. I was hoping that as he was getting older, our sleep problems would have receded a little, but that's not happening. Jeremiah and I sometimes guess and assume he is teething, but I don't see any new teeth popping up.

I am relishing every moment I have with my Jonas, because I will soon be working. I feel so bummed about having to leave him for so many hours a day. I keep thinking of all the things I'm going to miss. He's growing so fast and I wish I could be there for every new thing he learns.

I was lucky enough to have most of his first year off. I went to school, but that was only a few days out of the week. Now I'm going to be away 40 hours a week. I think I'm taking it harder than he will. I'm going to miss our days together. I know he'll be fine with my mom, but I can't stop thinking about how much I'll miss spending time with him.

I was putting his pants on him the other day. I looked at his feet, they looked so small and adorable. I was overwhelmed with love. I hugged him tight, as he was attempting to wiggle out of my arms.

This little person I am raising is mine, all mine. He is a sweet little guy, too. He rests his head on my chest, as if he's telling me, "I love you, too, mama."

A year ago, we stared at this little person who couldn't talk and barely moved. Now, he communicates so well. I understand most of what he tells me or points at. Although, there is one thing I can't seem to understand. He's been saying, "dacorn" or "d'accord". One sounds like popcorn and the other is a french word. I don't know, I guess I'll keep trying to figure it out.

A Jonas kind of day

Every morning when Jonas wakes up, he wants to be taken out of the bedroom. He'll reach out his arms to either me or Jeremiah and plead, "please get me out of here, I've been in here too long." While our brains are thinking of only sleep and staying comfortably in bed, we have to force ourselves up and get our little man out of the room.

He has this special routine he does every day.

We'll take him into the living room to watch Sesame Street. He sits on the rug and watches it for a few minutes, then he is off searching through his toy box. He grabs certain toys and looks at them for a split second, "No, that's not the one." He tosses them out, until he finds the one he was looking for. He plays with "the chosen one" until he's bored of it, then on to the next thing on his agenda.

He stands by the fireplace and goes through his books. (I neatly arrange them every night and as soon as I finish Jonas spots them looking so organized, he throws them until it looks like it did before I stacked them.) He'll look at them until one catches his eye. He sits down, turning every page, studying it, ever so carefully. Then he'll sometimes hand it to me, so I could read it to him. I do, but a few minutes go by and he crawls away.

Into the bedroom he goes. He sits in front of the bookshelf and takes out all the bottom row books. Making a huge mess for mommy, daddy or nana Estella to pick up. Then to daddy's dresser, where he takes out all the neatly folded shirts, one by one. He hands each of the shirts to me. I stack them on the bed and wait patiently to put them back.

In the kitchen, he holds onto the water cooler and sticks his finger where the water pours out from. He gets a few drops of water on his tiny index finger and offers it to me. I acccept his offer, of course, who could refuse.

In our bedroom, he takes all of his own clothes out of the drawers, then crawls over to the diaper organizer and hands his diapers to me. I thank him after each one he hands me. Then it is back to the living room to find other interesting things to do.

These are what our days with Jonas are like. They aren't always in that exact order, but that is pretty much what he does around the house.

He walks

Jonas took his very first steps early this morning.

Jeremiah and I were both watching him when he made his first big leap from being a baby to toddlerhood. Excited does not even begin to explain how we felt. Jonas knew he had done something big, but he was not ready to try it again.

I stood him up and said, "Walk to daddy," but he was done for the time being.

After dinner we were in the living room playing and he was holding on to the table and he let go and took three steps in my direction, then he fell into my arms. He tried again, but stopped after that. We are not rushing or pushing him to walk. He can take all the time he needs.

My little man is growing up so fast. I feel happy, but at the same time, a little sad because he wont be my baby for long.

He is already showing his independence and he has such a beautiful personality.

He is so loving towards his grandparents. I don't know what it is about my dad, but he loves him so much. If I tell him, "Grandpas here, Jonas," his eyes get big and he makes me take him outside to greet him. When he sees my dad, he says, "mpa," or he'll say it if my dad leaves the room.

He is so friendly. When we are out and Jonas is in his stroller, he'll get so excited when he spots another stroller or car seat. He'll say, "baby" and he's a baby himself, he's so sweet. He loves to see babies and kids. He loves it when his cousin Walker comes over. When Jonas is a little older, I bet he's going think his cousin Walker is the coolest person.

Mr. Independent keeps me on my feet all day. He crawls everywhere. He has now discovered rocks from our front porch and it is so hard to pull him away from them. I try to talk him into playing with his toys, but he looks at me, as if he is thinking, "Mom, toys are for babies, I'm a big boy." Then he continues doing what he was doing before I so rudely interrupted him.

Oh Jonas, you are such a beautiful little person! I can't wait to see you running around, being the lovely and wild person that you are.

Turning one!

Jonas turned one on Monday.

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday at the park with family and friends. He had about 30 people show up to his birthday party. Way more people than Jeremiah or I have ever had show up on our birthdays. And that's the two of us combined.

He was loving all the attention he was getting. Not even being bothered by the many arms reaching for him. He went with both grandma's and grandpas, aunts, uncles and played with his little cousins, whom he rarely gets a chance to see.

There are so many new physical, social and intellectual developments going on with our little man.

May have temper tantrums
Does he ever! On our afternoon walks, we pass by his aunt Anto's two horses, Spiderman and Cricket, and Jonas will get upset if we don't stop and see them. He will turn around and look at us, letting us know exactly what he wants us to do. If we don't we'll hear it from him, alright. He'll cry and get really upset, so off we go to visit the horses, which isn't a bad thing. I'm glad he loves animals.

Shows an emerging sense of humor
When he hears anyone laugh, he lets out this chuckle himself, as if he also understood the joke that was just said. It's so funny to hear him. His uncle Ivan was laughing at something Jonas was doing today, then Jonas started laughing, too. They were both in on the joke.

Searches for a hidden object even if he only remembers its last location
If Jonas has something he isn't supposed to have and we try to take it away from him, he looks for it the last place he remembers he saw it. Jeremiah has to constantly take his cell phone away from Jonas. This is Jonas' most favorite "toy" to play with. But he knows when his daddy takes it. He looks behind, under and over Jeremiah. I just had it. It has to be somewhere around here, he must think.

I can't believe a whole year has already passed.

Jonas, Jeremiah and I have come a long way, from when Jonas was first born. I remember the first few days being home with our baby boy. It felt like Christmas everyday. I had a wonderful present. Everything about him was so interesting and new. It still is, of course, but now we have routines and have gotten the hang of being parents.

We still have our many parenting dilemmas. Sleeping is still an issue with us. I worry about how long we will have this problem, but I know we'll get through it, just like we have everything else.

In loving memory

Before Jonas was born, Jeremiah and I had our hands full with our pets. The one that received our special attention was our little chihuahua, Pico. He was the only one allowed in the house and on the bed. He traveled everywhere with us. We called him, "the baby, before the baby."

The day we brought Jonas home from the hospital we sat down on the couch and called little Pico over. We introduced him to the newest member of the family. He sniffed around Jonas' little head and looked up at us and then jumped off the couch.

He didn't know his life was about to change.

He was not allowed on the bed, the couch and his time with me was limited.

When Jonas started crawling, he began noticing his little mascot. He would get so happy when he would see his little puppy walking by him, Pico not even giving Jonas the time of day. I would grab Pico and let Jonas touch him. Jonas' eyes lit up every time.

Pico began getting used to the baby.

They began playing a little cat and mouse game. Jonas would spot Pico and chase him around the living room. Pico would grab his toy and run from Jonas. When Jonas saw Pico coming around the corner, he would say, "Pics" in a whisper.

About a month ago Pico started getting closer to us when we would play. He was comfortable being around Jonas and Jonas respected him. Jonas wouldn't try to reach out and pull his hair, like he used to do. He even offered him some of his food. He would drop a piece of what he was eating from his high chair down to Pico, where he waited so patiently for something to fall.

On our morning and afternoon walks, Pico was always present. Jonas would hold his leash and I was teaching him not to let go of him. He was learning how to take care of his little pet so well.

Last Saturday, our little Pico passed away. It's been hard getting used to him not being here anymore,
we miss him so much. We used to say he and Jonas were going to be the best of buddies. Now he will only be a memory in our hearts. When Jonas is big enough, I will tell him about his little buddy Pico and how much happiness he brought our family.

Milk does a mind good

A few people have asked me when I will begin to wean Jonas.

The answer is that I really don't know when. I'm hoping that he won't be nursing longer than he is 18 months old, but there is no rush at this moment.

Babies that are breastfed for longer than six months are less likely to develop mental health problems in childhood, new research shows. So far Jonas and I are on the right track.

I am glad that I made the decision to nurse my little man, especially if it will help him mentally. I was reading how infant psychotherapy is on the rise. Many parents are seeking therapists to help with their baby's mental health.

This sounds so scary to me. I would hate for my Jonas to have any mental problems growing up, let alone as a baby. If continuing to breastfeed for longer than six months is what I have to do to help in some way, then that is what I shall do.

"The team at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth found that breastfed children had particularly lower rates of delinquent, aggressive and anti-social behavior, and overall were less depressed, anxious or withdrawn."

The American Academy of Pediatrics is a strong advocate for breastfeeding and they state the many great things that a mother's milk can do for her baby.

They say breastfeeding:

has been associated with slightly enhanced performance on tests of cognitive development

decreases the incidence or severity of conditions such as diarrhea, ear infections and bacterial meningitis

may offer protection against sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), diabetes, obesity and asthma among others

I have read that it is important to begin weaning when Jonas and I are both ready. Of course I am just waiting for him to give me signs of his readiness, but I am not rushing him at all. Whenever my gordo is ready, then that is when I will be.

For now, I'll just continue to boost his brain power with my magical breast milk.

Reading is fun!

When Jonas was in my belly, I remember thinking about all the good books I was going to read to him.

I read about all the benefits reading can have on a child, especially a baby. Of course I knew most of this without having to look it up, but it still boosted my motivation to want to read to him every night.

Those thoughts of reading every night lasted for about a week. Reality set in and I realized that I would have to be wonder woman to read to him night after night. Sometimes I am so tired or have so much homework that it is hard to fit a book in. But I do read to him as much as I can.

Jonas has proven to be quite the bookworm, which I am very proud of. When we are in the living room playing, Jonas will grab one of his books, and leaf through it, page by page. He'll stop, touch the fur on the cats tail or flap the birds wings ( they stick out) from one of his favorite touch-and-feel books, "Whose tail, Peter Rabbit?"

When he finishes looking through the book, he'll start over, gently turning the page with his chubby little fingers. If he should miss a page, well, he goes back and tries to turn it once again, sometimes closing it up or accidentally starting over.

I could watch him do this for hours. Of course he doesn't sit there for hours, but I soak in as much as I can of my little man for those 10 or 15 minutes he sits quietly enjoying his book.

The benefits of reading are endless:

Reading will help build your child's vocabulary

Stimulate his imagination

Improve his communication skills

I have noticed that when I read to him, he actually stops what he is doing and listens to what I'm saying. He may not fully comprehend what I am reading, but he is listening. I also think reading has a lot to do with him saying so many new words. Well, I like to call them words.


He is just so smart. I'm in awe of my little munchkin!

He already has his little library of good books, which I know will grow with every passing year. I will continue to read to my sweet baby as long as I can, and as long as he'll let me.

Teething, the root of all evil, maybe?

I was reading about teething because Jonas has been very irritable lately. He came down with a fever on Saturday and has not been his cheerfull self since. I spoke to my mom about it, and she said it was because of his teething that he had the high temperature.

I began to wonder.

I've been reading a lot of different information. Some say a low grade fever will erupt and others say fevers are not associated with teething.

We took him to the doctor and it turned out that he had some type of viral infection. The doc said to give him some motrin or tylenol to make the fever go down, but nothing too bad to worry about.

But, guess what else happened? He cut his first two teeth this week. He has one bottom central incisor and a top central incisor. My little baby is growing up so fast!

On babycenter they have a list of symptoms babies may exhibit while teething.

• Drooling (which can lead to a facial rash)
• Gum swelling and sensitivity
• Irritability or fussiness
• Biting behavior
• Refusing food
• Sleep problems

He had all these symptoms, all week, but after his fever finally went away on Monday, something else happened. I put him to bed at 7 that night. I kept waiting for him to wake up and he didn't wake up until 3 a.m. to nurse. He fell back to sleep and awoke at 6:45.

That's 8 hours of non-interrupted sleep for my boy. I think his teething was causing his restless sleep.

Scratch that idea! He just woke up, after 3 hours of sleep. I have to go tend to my little monkey.

Let the talking begin

Jonas has been saying so many new words lately.

The other day, Jeremiah was telling him, "Lets go to the store, let's go hang out together." A few seconds after Jeremiah had said, 'lets go,' Jonas mimicked him by saying in a beautiful, angelic voice, "go." We looked at each other, eyebrows raised in amazement.

Jeremiah: (Tapping me on the leg) "Did you hear him? He just said, "go."
Me: "Yeah, I heard him! (With a huge grin on my face)

It's the coolest thing to hear our little man speak.

I remember waiting patiently for him to say mama. He would say ‘dada’ all the time and I didn't mind. What can I say? The boy loves his daddy. But now, he has learned how to say mama. Oh, what joy he has brought me.

If he is in his baby walker and wants to be picked up, I’ll hear a sweet little voice say, “baby, mama” and then again, “baby, mama”. He lets me know baby needs mama. How beautiful is that?

I watched a video about a study being done on how babies learn to talk. When they hear familiar words, an area in their brain called Broca's Area, the part responsible for speech, tells them, "Hey, I can say this word."

My little Jonas' Broca's area has been working hard these days.

Just this afternoon, my dad was asking Jonas for a kiss. He kept saying, "Give me a kiss Jonas." Then, Jonas said, "ki". My dad was so happy.

Pretty soon, he'll be saying, "Mom, dad, can I borrow the car?" Wait a minute, maybe I don't want him to talk.

Light goes on, light goes off

Every morning, Jeremiah and I wake up to a wild-haired, chubby-faced Jonas smiling at us and insisting we wake up. He wakes me by pulling my hair and wakes his daddy by doing what we like to call his signature move, "the wrestling scratch." He holds his hand over Jeremiahs' face and does a sudden swoop downward with all his baby strength. I'm lucky because he never does this to me. No, I just get a few hairs yanked out of my head once in a while, no big deal.

Sometimes I'll wake up and see Jonas staring out the window with his head resting on the pillow, looking very contemplative. I stare at him, wondering what his little mind is thinking about while looking so peaceful and sweet, until he realizes that mommy isn't sleeping anymore, then he turns to me and is ready to get moving. Jonas does not like to waste his day away. He is always ready to have some fun and begin exploring!

It amazes me to see how fast he learns something new. This morning my mom was teaching him how to turn the light switch on and off. He perfected the off motion, but turning it on was a little tricky. Well, when I arrived home from school, I was going to give him a bath and asked him to turn the bathroom light on, and he did. I was so proud of him! So we stood there turning it off and on, then we celebrated with a fun, relaxing bath.

I was looking through baby developmental charts and found that my boy is up to speed with all the big physical, social and intellectual developments.

For example, he...

Understands and obeys some words and commands
It's so adorable to see him wave goodbye. You barely have to mention the word "bye-bye," and his little Michelin man arm goes up automatically.

Increasingly imitates actions of others
When he watches us brush our teeth, he wants to do the same, so I bought him his own bright green shark toothbrush, which ends up on the floor after about five minutes of his chewing on it, but he's got the gist of it.

Enjoys playing with water
Whenever he sees the hose outside, he lets us know he wants to get wet by making an "uhh" sound. We sit on a chair in the backyard and spray our dog, Lulu. But don't ever think about taking the hose away from Jonas or you're in for some trouble.

My baby boy amazes me day by day! I can't help but brag about all his developmental accomplishments.

I am one proud mama!!

Sleep?

Sleep in my life is a foreign term. I believe the last time I had a full night's sleep happened about 10 months ago.

My sweet little Jonas, for some reason or other, does not want to sleep through the night. I remember when he was about 4 months old, I was reading an article in babycenter about when babies begin sleeping through the night. It said that at about 6 months old, they do not need a late feeding, and that they will eventually sleep through the night. I, as a first-time mom, naive and all, believed that my gorgeous son would do as the article said. Well let me tell you, it has not happened yet. He awakes at about 12 a.m and 3-4 a.m. He still has a late night feeding, which I am trying to wean him from, but it is so hard to do because when you wake up from a blissful three hours of sleep at 4 in the morning, nursing him seems to me the easiest option.

We spoke to his pediatrician about it, and he told us, plain and simple, to let him cry it out. Well, that is easier said than done. He said most babies cry for a good half hour the first night. The next night there will be less crying and so on, until eventually Jonas will learn to fall asleep on his own. Jeremiah and I tried it one night. I think we only lasted about five minutes, and we went in and checked on him. We couldn't handle it. He sounded so sad and hurt because we weren't going in to check on him. Jonas has us trained, and he knows it.

I begin to think, well maybe he's in pain because he's teething or maybe he's hot. I just can't do it. Jeremiah can handle a little more crying than I can, but in the end we both give in.

I guess we'll continue to have sleepless nights with our little chubby chunker. I've done it for 10 months. What's a few more? I keep hoping that maybe tonight will be the night that he decides to stay asleep longer. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

The apple of my eye

Let me introduce you to one of the most important people in my life, my son Jonas. He was born in November, which makes him an almost 10-month-old bouncing baby boy, and I do mean bouncy.

This boy can move. Set him down, and he's off happily chasing our little chihuahua Pico. When Pico looks back and spots Jonas going for the hunt, he waits until Jonas gets so close he can almost pull his hair, then Pico takes off running. Jonas sits down, with a big toothless grin, knowing he was so close to catching his movable stuffed animal.

This is just one of the many adorable things Jonas does on a daily basis. But don't let this cute baby fool you. He has got quite a personality and quite an attitude. He knows what he likes and doesn't like, (at 10-months-old!), and you can't fool him.

This is just the beginning of my family's adventures with my beautiful son Jonas.