Jonah [18.5 months]

Jonah, my boy...you are sweet, sassy, playful, and oh so BUSY.

We love you to pieces.

You are a climber. You climb, you push the limit to the edge. You have minimal fear regarding any of this. Therefore, you are really in need of CONSTANT supervision. Occasionally, if I know the area of the house you are in, I can rely on your very informative brothers to shout out what you are getting into...but really Daddy and I have to keep tabs on you! The names stinker and mess are often linked to describe you....of course meant in the most endearing way :)

You have your own personality. You can be SO sweet, and show love to your brothers, mama and daddy often. You give kisses (very occasionally), hugs, and most often you show it by laying your head on someone. You can also be very feisty. If you feel like someone is getting an attitude with you..you do not hold back. You mimic whatever behavior they are giving you...and if its Noah, you add in an attack mode on biting him. Its NOT okay that you do that, as you bite very hard and it hurts him. Thankfully, that doesn't happen often. You have been known to chase both brothers around, acting like you're going to tackle them...and they honestly are scared. Now, that is funny, because you are still much smaller than them.

In this picture of you sitting on Noah. You were just playing. Noah had just woke up, and then he said, "Ok Buddy, I'm going to roll. I'm going to roll buddy. You're not going to liiike it."

You have such pretty hair. I have cut it more than a handful of times already, once taking the curls off completely. I just have a hard time keeping those away with your baby soft hair. I'm okay with the baby curly hair. Your eyes are definitely more of a hazel color now then blue, I wonder if they will still turn brown?

Your skin has started acting up again recently...it has always been a little wonky. At four months old you developed the worst case of cradle cap/eczema on your head...even the doctor said it was "pretty bad" (said in the most thank-goodness-it-got-better-kind-of-way). So you have random bouts of eczema on your hand, elbows, face. I thought this latest bit of it was related to dairy...but after eliminating, trial/error type things..I don't really think it is. It seems to be helping to just use the ointment/cream on it a couple of times a day and keeping it really moisturized. Poor guy. At least it doesn't appear to be uncomfortable to you.

You know where all your body parts are. I love especially when I ask if you can blink or wink. Your long blinks are so funny with your eyes looking up. You know your animals noises very well, and how to say some of the animals by name; duck, puppy, ki-eee (kitty), cow, chi-keee (chick/chicken).
Our chickens tolerate you very well. You like to follow them around, pet them, and laugh at them.

You have a chatter box within you. More and more you are learning how to mimic sounds, words, and actions. This is funny and occasionally frustrating to your brothers (when its just loud sounds or ROARING). You especially get on a role repeating if Christian is saying the words (he is like your puppeteer).

This was the before and after of playing peek a boo, using his blanket on his head.

You weigh around 22 pounds, I have no idea how tall...but you are wearing mostly 18 month clothes. Some shirts are 12 mo if they are not onesies...but the overalls and that way are 18-24 month. Tricky huh. You have 10 teeth as of May 1 when one of the front bottom FINALLY came in (that little guy had been in the works for months!!). You sleep well at night (this is a new thing consistently since you've turned 18 months and I'm a fan!!), going to bed around 8-8:15 with your bottle (we still give you milk, but I don't always rock you anymore) and waking up around 7. You love your blue blankie (but can survive with the yellow one, if the blue one is in the wash).

You are a fairly good eater. You like most meats or casseroles, cheese, french fries with ketchup (or sometimes just the ketchup as a side!), cuties (those really small oranges), many of the pouches (the fruits/veggies that come in a pouch and you squeeze into your mouth), spaghetti, yogurt, baked oatmeal. As with your brothers, we often put applesauce on top of your meal and you use it as a condiment. It works well at cooling your food off..and holding it together better, so you can feed yourself with a spoon.

Some of the MANY words you say:

Mama
 No-ah (you say this ALOT! I think you sometimes think this is your name.)
bankie (blankie)
niiiice (nice, followed by petting someones hair or arm)
Daddy (drawn out really long in the morning especially, Daaaaaaad-eeeeee)
side (outside)
dink (drink)
 chi-kee (chickie aka the chickens)
uh-oh (when you drop something especially)
Papa (Grandpa is definitely among your favorite people)
yeah (the way you say it, it is so pleasant...like you are so excited you got asked a question you can say yes to)
ouch-ie (sometimes that ending ie part is a little delayed..but the ouch part is very clear.)
cheese (you LOVE cheese)
stuck (you get yourself in some predicaments)
noooo (no, but its almost in a question like way, drawn out)
tank-tu (thank you)
peeese (please)
shut

chalk (sidewalk chalk)
 I go (when you want to follow your big brothers outside usually)
poo-poo (you even started going into the bathroom after I asked if you went, knowing that's where the poop should go...maybe you can beat Noah at being fully potty trained!)
shoes (you go running to get those when you think there's a chance you get to go outside)
he--yo (hello, pretending to talk on the phone)
bye-bye
Brent, Mitch (you love your uncles)
Nama (or some version of this for Grandma...you're a fan of her..just not saying her name very often), Ch-chin (Christian)
 me, mine, Jo-Jo
down (also said in a question like way)

You bring us so much joy, Jonah Timothy!

Friends

The last several days has had several big moments with our friends.

Kira and Brody had a baby! Baby girl Maizy, born April 12th, while we were in Mexico.

Look at all her hair!!

Friday night, the Masons and Yoders were in town...so we all went out to eat at Granite City.

It was an evening full of laughing, catching up, and good food.

Saturday night, we went to a very special resident (soon to be attending OBGYN's) 30th birthday party. It was at Kellie and Jeremy's house in Wichita (our old neighbor's on Maus Ln). There were many friends/co-workers there and we had a really good time. It didn't make me wish to live in Wichita again...and it didn't make me wish for different neighbors...but I sure to miss hanging out with Kellie as often as we used to!!

It was good to catch up with friends, celebrate with friends, and just know that even when time gets away from us and we have our own busyness of life...these are some pretty special friends. 

~ Mexico ~ [Adios]

Our last day in Mexico....

Ben and the boys walking to breakfast.

This was our table every day for breakfast...

the fresh fruit was such a treat to have every morning. T

he raspberries, strawberries and pineapple were my favorite!

Ben took the boys down to the pool for a final swim, while I finished getting packed up before coming down. Another beautiful, sunny day!

Good ol' Uncle Brent...Jace and Christian loved it.

Jonah proved that he is totally and completely unsafe in the water. He has no sense of fear and went under at least a couple times while surrounded by adults. Thankfully, he was fine...but he needs 150% attention while in/around water.

 Adios beach....you are beautiful.

 We ate lunch at the resort, and then headed to the airport.

We spent a very brief time all together after getting checked in before saying goodbye to the Gredlers.

Our flight wasn't long after we got to our gate either..and we were on our way home via a short stop in Houston. The flights went well, and we had some very tired passengers by the time we arrived at the airport at 11ish pm.

What a fun and memorable trip..so thankful we all got to go. 

Very thankful for Mom and Dad, thankful for their 40 years of love and dedication to each other, and thankful they let us all join them on this trip to celebrate their anniversary!

~ Mexico ~ [special family night]

Mom and Dad arranged for us to have professional pictures taken on the beach.

Here are a few of my favorites that they took.

And I did take a few while we were down there with my own camera...

The only downside...was the wind. It was a bit tricky to try and keep my hair out of my face!

Then another special fun surprise for the evening...we had supper on the beach. 

I felt like I was dreaming..or watching my own life happening like it was a movie.

It was all so very lovely.

Christian had a bite of octopus in his mouth. He said he'd try it!! Now he can say, he jumped off a cliff and ate octopus :)

This little tiger was out after the bread was distributed. He stayed sleeping until the very end...it added to the magical, relaxing, and great meal time.

Oh wow, this is an evening and meal I will never forget. 

Thanks to these two parents for 40 years definitely worth celebrating in a very special way.