Thirteen Months

Dear Jonah,

Today you are 13 months old! We can't believe how much fun you are these days. You are thoroughly charming and are getting more and more communicative.


This month you started really walking, and you love your freedom! I'm amazed at how quickly you went from taking a few tentative steps to walking with some proficiency. You love to walk all over the place, and to that end you have figured out how to escape from the pen we made for you. You're quite gleeful at your escape abilities, which is funny to see -- you usually come right to us to show off!

You know a couple more signs now, too -- you know the signs for "all gone" and "more," and you will do the sign when we say the words, but you don't really get the concepts yet. You are learning body parts, too! You will put your hands on your head or belly when we say the word, you grab your pants on hearing "pants," and you stick out your tongue when we say "tongue." You're working on eyes, ears, and nose, and you sometimes know mouth. You know your feet and toes, too! But "tongue" is definitely our favorite.


The last week or so has also been (mostly) miraculous in terms of sleep! There have been a couple of bad nights, but you've been waking up only once or not at all between 11pm and 6am many nights, and I finally feel like I have a brain again. Your naps have also gotten better. We are still suspicious of this, and we aren't sure it will last, but we'll take all the sleep we can get!


You love to chase and be chased by the cats, who are completely unaware that there is a game going on! You love it when we chase you, too, and you especially love to be caught.

Last week, you watched as I got my iPod out of my purse and put it in the speaker dock, and as soon as the music started playing, you started dancing. (Your dancing now involves lots of head-shaking, which is funny. It's even funnier when you try to shake your head while bouncing up and down, because you usually fall over.) A couple of days later, you pointed at the iPod, looked at me, and started dancing. It was very clear that were saying, "Momma, turn on the music!" So I did, and you started dancing right away! I know you're not talking yet, but it's so cool that you can communicate with us like that, using multiple "words." Since then, you want the music on almost all the time!



You have become so expressive lately, which is fun to see. You still like your stacking/nesting cups, and you LOVE the wooden ring stacker that you got for your birthday. You are learning how to be gentle with the kitties, and Samantha especially likes to hang out near you. I can see that you two are going to be great pals as you grow up.


You are such a joy to us, and you are just getting to be more and more fun to play with! You're silly and sweet and learning so fast. We are so glad you're ours!

Love,
Momma