Joey, You are 14 Months Old!

Mr. J,

     It's a Sunday morning and Daddy is at work so today it is just me and you.  Today, you are a big 14 months old.  You are sitting on my lap right now like you do, kind of balled up in the hole created by the nook of my arm and the bend of my legs as I sit haphazardly on my side.  The October chill of fall is here this morning and so you are wrapped up in a blankey, clad in gray and green dinosaur jammies that are the tight kind which only little ones can wear and get away with.  Binky in your mouth.  Elmo was getting snuggles but he has now been cast aside and is laying by my feet.  The real Elmo is on t.v. and you are enthralled. Right now, you are a majorly loyal Elmo fan.  You are absentmindedly rubbing your one hand with your other hand's little finger as you watch that red monster check the email he received from a frog, wait, no, it was actually an email from Grover,  You don't notice when I rest my head near yours and breathe in your gold wisps which are certainly finally starting to come into their own.  Soon we will have breakfast.  These are the moments life is made of.  These are things I want to remember, you are so snugly sweet.

At 14 months you are really starting to come into your own.  You are starting to be so much more little boy than baby.  Granted, you are a really little boy .. but the baby moments are hard to find.  We are very proud of your sweet spirit.  Here are 14 things about our 14 month son.

1. You are very loving.  You still will give kisses whenever asked and started blowing kisses too.  Often your kisses are given even when they aren't asked for.  You kiss babies in books, Elmo, the big light up pumpkin on the porch, the list goes on.  You know kisses equate with kindness and love and it's just great to watch.  Last night I reminded you to be nice while you were standing near Jake and you came over to me and gave me a big kiss!

2. You have had your first real illness and are still kind of fighting it.  Double ear infection, sinus infection, eye infection and teeth coming in (which still haven't appeared!) all at once.  You took it like a champ,
3. You have three teeth, the two bottom middle ones and your top middle one on the left side.  The top one is now visible when you smile..
4. You have taken a liking to running circles around the fan that is in the living room. 
5. You are very physically adept and a great climber. You love to be flipped and thrown around.  You have started bending over and putting your head on the ground when you are standing up, allowing you to see between your legs.  You try to do forward rolls but can't make it forward.  I'm not sure whether we should encourage this or not.  It looks dangerous.
6. You are brave. You get off of our bed on your own even though it requires an approximately 6 inch drop for you. You do little slides and ladders all by yourself. You can now climb to the top of the big kids' play structure at the park on your own! You do the steps on your hands and knees, but this month, after watching the big kids, you have tried getting up the steps while staying completely vertical.  You will get it soon, you just need your legs to be a little longer.
7. You are tough.  We realized this month that you have only cried two times in your whole life from falling! To us that is incredible, but maybe it is normal.  The doctor and the pharmacist both commented on what a pleasant baby your were even though you were so sick when you had to go to the doctor this month.  You handled all of your discomfort so very well.
8. Your blonde hair is getting thicker.  It look so so different than in your 12 month pictures. You are making progress.
9. You can say Mama, Dada, Mom, Jake, Ball, Yeah, No, Done, Spoon, and Down. There are other words people believe you can say but I find them questionable so they don't quite make the list yet.
10. You sleep great throughout the night.  You even slept through the night every night while you were sick.  You are down to one nap now and it lasts some where between one and two and a half hours.  This is due to the influence of daycare.
11. Daycare is going well.  You cry when I drop you off now but are otherwise doing just great.  I think it would be easier for you it you were a five day a week kid, not that I want you to be there that often at your age.
12. You love to tickle, especially feet and faces! You learned this from the two-year-olds at school.  They LOVE you and flock to you as we leave each day.  We always stop so you can play with them a little.  The girls always tickle you under your chin and that is how you learned to tickle others.  You totally crack up when you go to tickle someone's feet.
13. You are still a great eater.  You are little more finicky in some ways but still will eat a vast array of foods.
14. You love to color now.  You really understand what crayons are for and have such fun with them.  It's cute! We have one of your first works of art hanging in our living room.

Happy 14 Month Birthday Sweet J!

We love watching you grow :o)

Annnd We're Back! ..

We got a new computer . the old one broke :o(. And now we're back!
Here are some videos of J talking last month. He was 12 and a half months here.

Definitions Part 1

At 13 months

Ma Ma: noun 
1. One of J's two favorite people
2. The person Joey calls for when he is upset

Da Da: noun 
1. The other of J's two favorite people
2. The word that gets quietly gets repeated over and over in the sweetest little voice ever when we are in the car

Dunnn: adjective (pronounced with and elongated n)
1. What Joey says when he is finished with something, as in "all dunnnn"

Din: adverb
1. As in J's response as he gets off the step when I say "Joey, don't climb the stairs! Get down!"
2. What J says as he plops down when I ask him to sit on his bottom

Poon: noun
1. A utensil used for scooping food into one's mouth
2. What J will tell you the dish runs away with in Hey Diddle Diddle

Yeah: adverb
1. The affirmative
2. The word that goes along with raised eyebrows and a nodding head

Ne: adverb
1. Used to express refusal, denial, disagreement, or disbelief.
2. The word that goes along with a head that is shaking from side to side

On Strawberry Yougurt and First Days of School

Today was a big day in the Wagner household. Joe went back to a full day of work for the first time since our vacation started two weeks ago, I had my first real day of the school year complete with kids, and Joey had his first day of school ever.  There were many things learned today.  First days are (bitter)sweet ... and, when you are lucky, strawberry-sweet.

Joey is not a morning person.

I steeled myself for this occasion.  A conversation I had with my mother-in-law not too long ago had motivated me to try to be more joyful about changes and growth in Joey's life and not so sentimental .. sentimental being my preferred term for kind-of-a-crying-mess.  We left J for ten days and I was perfectly fine with it, not even a single welling tear.  I was liking my new perspective and confidently assured  my friends I would be fine as they asked the obvious questions as this day approached.  I seriously had like seven conversations with myself this morning, at least they weren't out loud.  And I'm sure it came to no surprise to my friends that I did end up crying ... in the day-care .. couldn't make it to the car .. ok, really I couldn't even make it through the first 25 seconds of my conversation with Miss Debbie.  After all, they do know I'm done in by things like Joey's little baby feet outgrowing his itty-bitty socks. I probably never had them fooled.  A girl can only change so much in a short time :o).

First day of school picture.

Joey did great for his first day.  He loved Miss Debbie and didn't cry as I left.  It came as little surprise that most of the comments I got as I picked him up regarded how much he loved lunch and snack time.  He tried to eat the other kids' food and drink their milk.  The director found us as we were leaving and also mentioned that she thinks the highlight of his every day will be lunch. Ha. At least he felt comfortable enought to be himself :o).  He was happy when I left him and happy when I picked him up and got a "grade" of "content" for the day .. just one mark short of "joyful", the highest grade for one-year-olds, which is what we are shooting for :o).  He took a nap on his cot like a big boy, played outside, and learned about family members.

At the end of his day, happy with a messy shirt.

When I picked up Joey he smelled so good.  It was the strawberry yogurt he had during snack time.  It was the perfect poignant punctuation to end this big day.  The strawberry yogurt painted on his shoulder, and the little bits I found in his hair and eyelashes as we read books on the couch once we got home, betrayed the fact that they had let him feed himself with a spoon.  Gasp, bravery.  Joe and I can't stand messy kids.  As a result, we don't let Joey feed himself anything that gets really messy.  We know he is 13 months old and it's a phase and something we need to get through, but in the end we still just don't let him do it.  I smiled as I breathed the sweet strawberry goodness, reminded that this is the exact reason we decided it was time to let Joey branch out to more than family.  Those strawberry yogurt eyelashes were just what I needed to remind me that this is just what he needed.

Tuckered out from a big day and relaxing while waiting for me to come read to him.

Someone Is Ready

These things set out on our couch tonight tell the story

of an impending first day of day-care (tomorrow!)

and overzealous first-time parents

who, yes, had their baby's name embroidered on his sheets.

This face tells the story

of a little guy

who is so excited to wear his backpack

and is ready to conquer the world :o).

In his diaper.

Where Sleeping Heads On Monkeys Lie...

Where sleeping heads on monkeys lie

And baby bums are set on high

Until Mommies come on sneaking by

To stir their boys to wake

Where sweet dreams once were being had

And blonde little boys were sleeping glad

Well now they are just plain ole mad

At being stirred to wake.

Where piggy toes do tell a tale

Of rails he will soon attempt to scale

And blue eyes peek above the rail

Our babe was stirred to wake