Oh my GOSH! Wook at ALL deze TOYS!!!

What an AWESOME Christmas!  This was Jonah's first year to REALLY get into it, so it was truly so much fun!  "Santa" found my old hobby horse from when I was a kid, and refurbished it by ripping out the old rotted yarn mane and tail and replacing it a couple of days before Christmas.  It truly warmed my heart to do this for Jonah!  (Before and After pictures to come soon!).  Jeremy left the Christmas tree lights on in the living room Christmas Eve night, so Jonah came into our room, as always, Christmas morning, then he "followed the lights" into the living room.  Soon, he ran back into our room, "There's a horsie IN THERE!  Daddy, Mama, there's a HORSIE in there!  I'm wanna WIDE that horsie!!!"  Then, while opening all of his Christmas presents, he soon proclaimed, "Oh my GOSH!!!  Wook at ALLLL deze TOYS!  Oh my GOSH!!!!"  I was pleased that the day after Christmas, I finally was able to get Jonah to tell me WHO brought him that horsie.  [RAISES EYEBROWS]: "Santa Cwaus bring me dat horsie!!!"

Lexi's first Christmas was packed with MILESTONES galore!  On December 24, at 7-mos-old (+ 2 days), she finally learned to sit herself up from a crawling position!  We had to lower her mattres because she has also been trying desperately to pull-up.  On Sunday night (Dec 26), I took Jonah to the potty, and soon I heard Lexi whining her way all the way down the hall to see us....stopping periodically to beat on the floor to warn us she's coming!!  LOL!  Too cute!  Then, that night, she actually pulled-up, unassisted, on Jonah's Little People Farm.  (I just had to hold the farm still so it wouldn't tip over).  She is WELL on her way to being Miss Mobility!!!

What a BIG weekend for my two little angels!!  A Merry Christmas INDEED!!!

Jonahisms

Jonah’s new favorite response to a spanking: "Heyyyy! Don't pank my bootyyyyy! Be noiiiiice."
One of toddler parenting's BIGGEST challenges: Not laughing when it's time to discipline. I never dreamed sass could be so darn cute.


[quoting the movie “Animal House”]
Daddy: "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? HELL NO!"
Jonah: "ELMO!!!! ELMOOOOOO!!!"
[thank goodness for that misunderstanding! Lol!]

[watching rolling credits after a show]
Jonah: "Aww! Wook at all doze letters up there! Wook at ALL doze letters!!"

[to me, in response to Lexi taking one of his toys]
Jonah: "I hab is first." ("I had this first").
....and so it begins :)

[after a Christmas lights parade]
Mama: "Did u see lights?"
Jonah: "I see lights!"
Mama: "Did u see horses?"
Jonah: "I see horsies!"
Mama: "Did u see Oogly Doodiddles?"
Jonah: "I see Oodwy Doodiddles."
Mama: "Did u see....ummm.... the Pillsbury Doughboy?"
Jonah: "I see the Puddle Doublebee DOUBLEBEE!!"
What exactly was IN this parade, anyway?!?

[6am wake-up call one morning recently]
Jonah: (runs in our room, giggling) "I'm a TOOTER!!"
Jeremy: (agitated) "Jonah, you do NOT get out of bed to tell Mommy & Daddy you TOOTED!"
Nice.

[early potty training, after Jonah pooped in undies]
Daddy: “Jonah, you do NOT poop in your undies!” [shows Jonah as he dumps contents into the toilet] “You see this? You put these rocks in the POTTY!”

CONSEQUENTLY: If Jonah needs to go poop, he says, “I need to put wocks in potty!!”

When Jonah goes potty, he insists on taking his pants and undies completely off. One day, he came home from daycare, having played on the playground that day. Therefore, he had little tiny rocks in his shoes. So, while we were taking his shoes off so he could go potty, the tiny rocks fell on the bathroom floor.

Mama: “Uh, ohhh! You had rocks in your shoes!”
Jonah: [scrambles to find the rocks, which have scattered on the floor]: “I put rocks in the potty!!!!”

Needless to say, we found another word for the rocks in the shoes. How about PEBBLES, next time!!!

[Jonah’s smart]
In Sears, I see a bicycle with “Lightning McQueen” from the movie Cars. Jonah calls Cars “RACECARS.” I point out the bike, expecting Jonah to respond with a simple, “Racecars!” Here’s what I got:
Mama: “Jonah! Do you see that? What IS that right there?”
Jonah: “Dat’s RACECARS, Mama! Dat’s Racecars on a bicycle right there!”

[Letters and Numbers]
Jonah was confusing his letters and numbers. He could identify 1-10, but also thought the letter Z was a 2 and the letter S was a 5. For a week or so, he’d bring me a Z and proclaim “Twoooo!” to which I would correct him. Same thing with the S. Now, his favorite thing to do in the bathtub is grab a z & 2 in one hand and an s & 5 in the other hand and proudly proclaim:
“I gotta z and a 2! And, I gotta S and a 5!” over and over again!

[Alphabet song]
“A B C D E eh Geee {breath} H I J K eminymoPeeee {breath} Q R eSSSSSSS T U Veeee UBBELDOO X Yand Zeeee {out of breath, inhaling while singing}:Now I know my ABCeeee’s, Next time won’t you sing with MEEEE!”

[at bedtime]
Daddy: “Say 'I love you, Mama'."
Jonah: "I yuv you, Mama."
Daddy: "Say 'I love you, Daddy'."
Jonah: "I yuv you, Daddy."
{pause}
Jonah: "Say 'I yuv you, Jonah'."

I'm a BAD BLOGGER!!

Okay, what a BAD BLOGGER am I!  I haven't posted ANYTHING since before sweet baby Alexia "Lexi" Marie made her debut on May 22, 2010!!  And, she's nearly 7-months-old!  This may have to be a nutshell summary with BEST intentions to do better in the future!!!

Jonah:
Jonah started potty training about a month (or so) ago! We were blessed that daycare offered to train him "cold-turkey" in undies only, and within 2 weeks, he stopped having accidents altogether!  So far, we can even go out in public or to activities out of the home, and he is very consistent about telling us when he needs to go potty!  What a BLESSING to have him out of diapers!!  He was fully trained at 2-years and 2-months.

Jonah is so smart, and we've come to realize he is just truly gifted!  Every time I think he will eventually "even out" with the rest of his same-aged peers, he proves us wrong!  At 18-months, he could name his colors.  Before turning 2, he knew all of his basic shapes & colors, and was counting to 10.  He can now identify many letters of the alphabet.  His vocabulary continues to astound us, and now he's learning concepts that I don't think are typical of 2-year-olds, although I may be wrong.  He understands how to correctly use the words "yet" and "too" and he understands directional concepts, like over, under, and behind.  And, he understands when something is big versus little.  His daycare director shared a hilarious story one day.  She was wearing a shirt with 3 crosses on it.  Each cross was made of a different animal print: leopard, zebra, and giraffe print.  Rather than looking at the shirt and identifying that she had crosses on her shirt, Jonah looked at the shirt and pointed to each cross, saying, "Giraffe, Zebra, BIG Giraffe!" (he thought the leopard print was "small giraffe," I guess :)

Alexia (aka: Lexi):
I went into pre-term labor with Lexi at 32-weeks.  Thankfully, they were able to stop my contractions, and she made her debut on May 22, at 4:19am.  I went into labor that Friday evening.  Since I had been induced with Jonah, I kept expecting my contractions to get much stronger, but I finally decided I'd better get to the hospital.  Since I wasn't totally convinced I was truly in labor, the hospital staff wasn't convinced either, but they believed me after hooking me up to a monitor.  Ha!

Lexi was born with a heart murmur.  Her pediatrician, Dr. Capra, explained to me that a heart murmur is very common in the first 24-hours or so, but he ordered an ekg and echocardiogram, just to be safe.  Well, the results indicated that she was born with several holes in her heart (called fenistrations).  Based on that information, we felt all the more blessed that the dr. had been able to stop my contractions when I went into pre-term labor.  As it was, the holes probably wouldn't cause much long-term concern, but if she'd been born prematurely, we would have been looking at a completely different story.  She had a cardiology check-up at 6-weeks, then 2-months later (at which time they said she was progressing exactly as expected, although she still had at least one hole in her ventricular wall (VSD) and one in her atrium), and again 4-months later.  That appointment was just on Dec 3, and we got the wonderful news that the only hole she has left is a tiny hole only 1/10", and she doesn't have to see the cardiologist again until she turns 3-years-old!

Lexi's a strong-willed little toot!  She was very colicky in the first few weeks of life, which was truly exhausting!  She was even WELL-KNOWN in the hospital as being very VOCAL!  LOL!  But, at 6-weeks, Dr. Padon put her on Prevacid for reflux, and she never once had another bout of the incessant hours-on-end crying that she had been having!!   She was also a tummy sleeper, which racked my nerves, because of the association with SIDS.  Up until about a week ago, she was still waking up 3 or 4 times per night sometimes!  We finally resorted desperately to making her "cry it out," which worked like a charm!  Now, she might still wake up twice a night, but she goes back to sleep within 10 minutes.

Because she slept on her tummy, she hit many of her gross motor milestones earlier than Jonah.  She rolled from tummy to back at 3-mos, back to tummy at 4-mos, and has been army crawling for about 3 weeks.  She's been sitting up independently since 11/18, and at her 6-month well check, she weighed 18 lbs 10 oz and was 27", placing her in the 95th & 90th percentiles, respectively (which is where she was at the 2 & 4 month checks, too!)  She's going to be a big girl! :)  She loves to babble, and she L-O-V-E-S her BROTHER!  Nobody can make her smile and giggle quite like Jonah! 

I used to think the most wonderful sound in the world was your child's laugh, but I've changed my mind.  Now, I think the most wonderful sound in the world is the sound of your children laughing at each other!






Lexi & Jonah "reading" together

 Jonah went through a short time where he was pretty jealous of Lexi, although he never acted out toward her too badly.  Now, he enjoys playing with her and looks out for her!  Some of my favorite moments, by far, are when Jonah "baby talks" to Lexi.  For instance, when I'm giving Lexi a bath, Jonah will come in the bathroom and squeak out to her, "Sista takin a BAAAATH?"  One day, I caught him teaching her all about the world :)  He'd point to various things, and tell her what they were (in that high pitched squeak that I hope I NEVER forget).  "See da fwowder? Dat's a fwowder!  Dat's pink!" and ending by pointing up at me, "See your Mama?? Dat's your Mama!"

Nap-time routine: watching a Baby Einstein video to wind down

For awhile now, Jonah has had a naptime routine, where he watches a show, while laying in the floor, in order to wind down before nap.  I was tickled one day when I lay Lexi in the floor on her boppy, and she and Jonah were both glued to their "show" on tv.

Jonah and Mama playing in the front yard for Halloween pics

Floored at how much Lexi looks like Jonah in this picture!

Lexi and Jonah are REALLY starting to favor each other.  I snapped this photo at dinner last night because Lexi's hair's getting lighter.  I was so surprised at just how MUCH she looks like Jonah in this picture!!  So CRAZY!!!

Nigh-Nigh? Beh???

We bought Jonah his "big boy bed" last weekend, but we had to wait a few days to let him sleep in it, as we needed to "child-proof" it with a safety rail. So, the poor little guy had to play on the bed and BEG to sleep in it a couple of nights and BEG to stay home and play on the bed rather than going to daycare yesterday.

But, last night was the BIG night!

I put the protective rail together (incorrectly, apparently, but more of that in a minute) and fashioned it to the side of the bed. I put Jonah in bed at 8:30, and left the room, listening to his usual pre-slumber jabber/singing. But, he never tried to get out of bed! At 9pm I went in to check on him, and found him sacked OUT with his pillow on his face. It's hard to capture it in this picture, but when I walked in the room, it was AT FIRST, hard to find him in the dark, as he was camouflaged with the bed, but when I DID finally see him, I laughed out loud, as the pillow was positioned in such a way that he looked like he had a giant "Puhnbahhhh" head.

He did SOOOOO good, though. He slept all the way through the night, with the exception of an incident at about 11pm where he managed to slip between the side rail (which was, as I mentioned, incorrectly assembled) and plop to the floor. Of course, being the protective Mama, I (after giggling for a second) offered to put him back in his crib, but he would have NOTHING to do with that idea. So, I put him back in bed, and lay with him for a minute (wanting to stay all night to protect him from another "incident"), and then reinforced the "safety features" on the bed a little.

This morning, after a long night of sleep, he came into our bedroom, dragging Eyore and Elmo and grinning from ear to ear. "Eyore? Elmo?? Nigh-Nigh? Beh??" [Jonahese for "Night night? Bed?"] Then, he just spontaneously gave my LEG the BIGGEST HUG EVER.....as if to say, "Thanks for letting me sleep in my big boy bed MAMA!!"

Jonah Knows His Colors

As Jonah was taking a bath tonight, I decided to quiz him on his colors. He'll be 19-months-old this week. He never ceases to surprise me. It's a low-quality Blackberry-video, but here's a little snippet. In case it's hard to hear, here are the colors he identifies correctly:
Boo [blue]
Dee [green]
Pup-pel [purple]
O-wange [orange]
Weh [red]
Yeyyo [yellow] (video got cut off early b/c I had an incoming call, so it's hard to hear that one)

Happy Easter!

Today was Jonah's first Easter Egg Hunt. Well, his first one with MAMA, anyway. He actually had one at daycare last week, and apparently he learned the ROPES really fast, because he TOTALLY knew what he was doing today! He would chase after the eggs, and shake each one vigorously. If he didn't like the sound (or lack of sound) of the egg, he'd throw it back down on the ground. If he liked the sound, then he'd put it in his basket. And, if he REALLLLY liked the sound, he would open the egg up and dig in right then and there. LOL! What a funny kid!! I love this boy!!!

By the way, we decided on moving him to a "Big Boy Bed." We found a little Captain's style bed on Craigslist for $75, and the guy offered to take $50, but when we got there, they didn't have change, so they sold it to us for $40. Sweet! Good deal. The Easter Bunny brought Jonah "Puhnbahhhh" bedding, so he'll be ecstatic when it's time to move into his new bed.

Decisions, Decisions....

I'm stressed. I'm trying not to get too high strung, but here's the bottom line:

#1 - The Garage
Lexi will be here in about 7 weeks (give or take). Her room is currently a "storage room" for all manner of stuff that will be stored in the garage when it's built. We had the slab poured, the garage was delivered, and all was well......until Jeremy tried to put up the frame to the garage, only to discover that they had sent us the WRONG plans for our slab, so the anchor bolts in the slab do not align with the frame of the garage. The solution: They have to send us a NEW garage, which may take a couple of weeks (hopefully not any longer). Then, the weather has to cooperate, and Jeremy has to find people to help put the garage up. Who knows how long that will take, since we've never done this before.

So, after the garage is built, we will need to clean out Lexi's room, paint, install new carpet and baby-fy the room. Did I mention we have about 7 weeks (give or take)?

#2 - The Bed Dilemma
We toyed with whether or not to move Jonah into a toddler bed awhile back, but the issue became insignificant because we were going to just borrow a crib from Nana, since she had a spare. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, she now has both of her grandbabies (praise God, by the way -- this is a good thing) for an undetermined length of time, both of whom are under the age of 18-months. Bottom line -- she'll probably need both cribs.

So, now we're back to square one with the decision -- do we move Jonah into a toddler bed? Do we buy Lexi a crib and keep Jonah in his crib until we're certain he's ready for a "big boy bed" and then convert his crib into a toddler bed? If we do THAT, then do we go ahead and splurge for a convertible crib for Lexi, too, or just save a little and get her a used crib? Or, do we hand down Jonah's crib to Lexi and put him in a race car bed or better yet a TWIN bed?? I'm leaning toward the twin bed because he's been having some sleep regressions lately, and we've actually put him in bed with us more and more frequently lately because he will NOT go back down in his own bed. If we got him a twin bed, that would allow us to lay in bed with HIM to help him fall back to sleep, rather than causing us to have to bring him to bed with us.

OHHHHH, DECISIONS DECISIONS! Doesn't everyone know I'm HORMONAL?!!? This may not be the best time for me to deal with these things. Oh, and by the way, did I mention we have about 7 weeks (give or take)???

We've Created a Monster

2 seemingly innocuous "toys" that have quickly become MONSTERS:

#1 - the red wagon
We take him for a ride in the wagon on occasion, weather permitting. Well, Jonah has decided that the wagon is the be all end all of his existence, and will crawl into the wagon and lay on his tummy, bury his face and wail, "Wiiiide. Wiiiiiide," even if we just got BACK from a "wide" 10 minutes earlier. Yeah. The wagon went bye-bye for awhile. Out of sight, out of mind. That's my favorite toddler philosophy.

#2 - daddy's motorcycle
It's been a long while since we've sat him on the motorcycle, but a couple of weeks ago we put him on with Daddy, while the bike was running, and he got a little scared, to say the least. He wanted OFF! Well, NOT anymore. The motorcycle is parked out front, until our garage is finished (which, incidentally, may be NEVER, at the rate we're going). Jonah begs to sit on the bike with Daddy when we come home. But, when it's time to get off -- Katy bar the DOOR! The flood gates are open!!! "Wiiiiiiiide! Wiiiiiiiiiide!!!" Too bad the motorcycle won't fit in our closet with the wagon......

Poor Jonah learns the hard way on some days that throwing a tantrum doesn't get him very far in this cruel world of his. Lol.

Diddy....DOH!

We went to the mall the other day, and I got Jonah his first helium balloon, which was, like, the BEST PRESENT EVER, apparently! (Who knew!) I was so amused, as we were leaving the mall, to see that Jonah would not hold the balloon in a "restful" or "natural" position, but insisted on holding his hand above his head, since the balloon was floating. So cute :)

By the time we got home, the helium was nearly gone, so Daddy sucked the rest out of the balloon (boys will be boys!), and blew it back up for Jonah to play. He'd hold the balloon down almost in a football hike position and say, "Diddy......DOH!" then throw the balloon into the air and try to keep it afloat. It took awhile for us to figure out that he was saying, "Ready, GO!"

Jonahisms

It's impossible to remember all of Jonah's delighful vocabulary list, but here's a pretty decent list. I forgot to post the one a few months ago, but I may revisit it when I can find it stashed on my computer somewhere.

Everything he says is SO expressive with either 4 EXCLAMATION POINTS at the end, OR a giant QUESTION MARK.

People
Mama
Daddy
Momo? Papa? (“Can we go see Momo & Papa?”)
Nana? Papa? (“Can we go see Nana & Papa?”)
Wotty (Rocky – our family dog)
Doody (Gary)
Meme (Mary)
Baby! (Baby in Mama’s belly) (OR anyone’s BELLY)

Colors (can usually identify correctly)
Pupple (purple)
Yeyyo (yellow)
Weh (red)
Boo (blue)
Ree (green)

Body Parts (can say & identify)
Eye
Eeh (ear)
Mow (mouth)
Nnnosh (nose)
Tin (chin)
Ewbow (elbow)
Bebby (belly)
Heh (hair)
Paeh (face)
Knee (knee)
Bah (back)
Tuhn (tongue)
Tee (teeth)
Peeh (feet)
Chuuue (shoe)
Ahn (hands)
Wihwee (weewee)

Meal time
Vigorous head-shake (“I don’t want you to feed me. I want to do it myself, thank you very much.”)
Waduh (water)
Meh (milk)
Tup (cup)
Tee (eat) (OR “I’m bored, so I think it’s time to eat.”)
A dink (drink)
Appoh (apple) (OR cherry tomato, or anything red, round & edible, really)
Rrrae (grape)
Nanna! (banana)
Peh (pear)
Memon (Melon)
Hot! (Hot) (OR luke-warm) (OR “I don’t want to eat it.”)
Toppee! Hot! (“Mama’s coffee. It’s hot, so it’s not for me.....so she SAYS.”)

Toys , Characters, & Play time
Elmo
Abby
Bih Buh (Big Bird)
Tootie (Cookie Monster)
Puhnbahhh (Spongebob)
Pitchuh? (Picture. OR “I want to look at flash cards”)
Mimmie Mow (Mickey Mouse)
Pay? (play)
Cho? (show….OR “I want to watch Baby Einstein”)
Ball (ball)
Wahk (“I’d like to walk, please.”)
Hewp (“Help”)
Boot (“Book”)
Bobo (favorite toy penguin bobo doll)

Outside
Out tie? (Outside)
Nnnoooo (snow!)
Waihn (rain!)
Mohn (moon.....which he looks for every time we go "out tie")
Teee (tree)

Animals
Amal (animal)
Tow (cow)
Puppy (puppy)
Titty (kitty)
Tah (cat)
Dah (dog)
Teee. Baaaah. (sheep)
Duh (duck)
Wion (lion)
Mow (mouse)
Otto (otter)
Tab (crab)
Peeh (fish)
Deeeba (zebra)
Bew (bird)
Wabbih (rabbit)
Rrah (frog)
Nepleh (elephant)

Vehicles
A Tuh (truck)
I Tuh (fire truck)
A Tah (car)
Boa (boat)
Buh (bus)
Toodeh (scooter)
Peeboa! (speed boat)
Traiiih (train)
Taiiii (plane)

Miscellaneous
Baah (bath)
Tow (towel)
Beh (bed)
Nigh nigh (Night, night) (OR bed)

Poppy (potty)
Ditee (Diaper)

Yesuh (Jesus)
I wudyu… moh (I love you….more!)
Bye-bye (ball cap) (OR Bye-bye)

Uh-ohhhh (“I threw something down, and I want you to pick it up so I can throw it down again”)
Aw-Done ("I'm finished!")
Done-Done (“I’m finished.”) (OR “I don’t know what the picture is on that flash card, and I don’t care to even try. Let’s move on to the next one, please.”)

Favorite Songs
“The Wheels on the Bus”
Me: The Wheels on the bus go
J: wown an wown; wown an wown; wown an wown (with gestures)

Me: The people on the bus go
J: Up an OW Up an OW Up an OW (with gestures)

Me: The horn on the bus goes
J: bee bee bee; bee bee bee; bee bee bee (with gestures)

Me: The babies on the bus go
J: wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah (with gestures)

Me: The Mamas on the bus go
J: [gesture as if to say “shhhh”….which is essentially sticking his finger in his nose]

“Baby Bumblebee Song”
[mumble mumble mumble mumble] OW! –

“If You’re Happy & You Know It”
Me: [hooray verse] If you’re happy and you know it, shout HOORAY!
J: RAY RAY RAY!!!! (while stomping and flailing arms in total excitement!!)

“Twinkle, Twinkle” (sung entirely by Jonah)
Teetew teeteh [mumble] tah
Ow I wuhwuh [mumble] ah
UPPA Bubba wuhsho HIGH
WITE A didi inna Tiiiiiiih
Teetew teeteh [mumble] tah
Ow I wuhwuh [mumble] ah

Peek-a-Boo PuhnBahhh!

I put Jonah in his new "PuhnBahhh!!" jammies tonight, and caught him playing peek-a-boo with his pajama bottoms. It went something like this:

[Stare down at pants]

[Cover eyes]

[Uncover eyes]

"BOO!"

"PunBahhhhhh!"

[Squeal in delight]

"Ahhh! PunBahhhhh!"

[Repeat]

Our Future Olympic....

Figure Skater??? (Shhhh, don't tell Daddy!)

When I grow up....

I WANNA BE JUST LIKE DADDY

...AND MAMA
(May you never lose your eager desire to help with chores, sweet son!)

Play Day at the Park

We kept cousin Claire a couple of weeks ago, and took advantage of the beautiful weather for a play day in the park with Momo & Papa. Let me tell ya, I got my FAIR SHARE of funny looks, chasing after these two toddlers while CLEARLY quite pregnant again :)

MUST HAVE A BATH AFTER A DAY IN THE PARK!

CAN YOU GUESS WHO'S THE NURTURING ONE OF THE PAIR??

Language Lesson 101

Jonah: Nana!
Mama: Ba-nana!
Jonah: Nana!
Mama: Ba, ba, ba
Jonah: Ba!
Mama: nana
Jonah: nana!!!
Mama: Ba
Jonah: Ba!
Mama: nana!
Jonah: nana!!
Mama: Banana!!
Jonah: Nanaba! Nanaba! Nanaba!!

Jonah updates and Lexi progress

I'm so horrible about blogging. I don't know why I find it impossible to keep up, but I guess now is as good a time as any to give the lovely Holmes family updates :)

Jonah is 18-months-old, and he is truly just too stinkin' smart for his own good!! I can't even keep up with his vocabulary anymore. It's enormous. He also consistently identifies the colors "yeyyo, wed, reen, and purple" and he knows fruits, like "apple, peh, rrrapes, and memmon (melon)." I'm going to start using flash cards with him because he learns SO quickly with puzzle pieces. He differentiates such vehicles as "Trrrruck, A cah, scooter, plane, train, chopper, bus and boat." He LOVES to sing and can sing the alphabet song and has been singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star from start to finish for a few months now. (And, you can even tell them apart, despite the fact they're the same tune!! Lol!) We get lots of looks in the grocery store, because he loves to sing or jabber using his "outside voice" (haha!) the whole time we shop!! He knows all of the body parts that we can think to teach him, including the BOOTY (I should post a video of the booty dance -- which we did NOT teach him, by the way!). He also knows the eyes, ears, nose, hair, mouth, teeth, face, chin, elbow, hands, "peet," knee, shoes, and his newest.....the "weewee."

He's also becoming a pro at using his manners. We try not to endulge whining, by giving in when he fusses, but rather make him use his words to tell us what he wants, and he really responds well to this. Yesterday, he wanted a toy that was in a no-no zone. When I moved him out of the no-no zone, rather than throwing a fit, he simply pointed at the toy and said, "Peas?! Peas?!!" So, of COURSE I gave him the toy!! He loves Nnno! (snow) and wain! (rain), and he regularly asks to go "bye-bye?" or "outside?" My favorite Jonahism, though, is the rare and coveted, "I wuh yooooh." And, one night I told him, "I love you more," so now he says, "I wuh yooooooh," and I say, "I love YOU," and he says, "More!" (with the accompanying sign for more, of course).

He habitually blows my mind, and his teachers at daycare even remark regularly about how smart he is.....that is when they're not remarking about him biting his friends that day :( That's been our biggest struggle lately. He's a biter. But, oh, I am THAT mom -- the one who actually wrote a Behavior Intervention Plan (aka: a BIP) for my own child at daycare! That's right!! It's what I DO, so why not do it for my own kiddo?? We have now had 3 bite-free days in a row, and I'm praying we stay that way. Jonah has also started having night terrors, which just down-right SUCK! (Sorry, no sweeter way to say it). We took him to the dr. and he's in good health, so it's just a nasty phase we'll have to get through. I'm hoping he moves past it before his sister (that's RIGHT! It's a girl - confirmed by 2 different ultrasounds now!) makes her debut in May. It'll be quite a struggle to have both of them awake and unhappy in the middle of the night when Daddy's at work.

We've been trying to get back into a good routine of going to church on Sundays, and we will celebrate a baby dedication for Jonah on Sunday, April 11, so that's exciting!!

Other than that, we've got our little bundle of girly goodness getting ready for her debut in late May. We had a 3-D ultrasound this past weekend, and those pictures were very fascinating! I really wanted to name our baby girl after my grandmother, Charlotte, as I'm convinced my Grandma is a saint sent straight from heaven. Well, we toyed and toyed with names, and finally we decided on the name Alexia, which is a feminine version of Grandma's maiden name, Alexander. We also gave her my middle name. So, Jonah has his dad's middle name (Wayne), and Alexia will have my middle name (Marie). We have agreed to call her by the nickname Lexi, although some may decide to call her Alex, which is the nickname my Grandma was called until she married my Papa.

(a collage of 4 of the ultrasound pics from 3/13/10)

(comparison of Lexi in-utero & Jonah 1-day-old. WOW! The technology!!!)

Of course, we are gluttons for punishment, as we have started yet another big home-improvement project just a couple of months before Lexi's scheduled arrival. We are building a garage, which is a necessary addition for storage of the "junk" currently housed in our spare bedroom -- which will become Lexi's nursery. They poured the slab a couple of weeks ago, and there's nothing like a major project on a time crunch to make the pregnancy seem to go EVEN faster!! I pre-registered at the hospital this morning, and I'm already having bi-weekly prenatal visits, so the big event will be here before we know it!! What an exciting time for the Holmes' Sweet Home.