Jonas - 33 Months

(I started this a month ago and am just now finishing!) We have hit the terrible twos. The last few weeks have been pretty rough. Jonas is having a tough time obeying. Telling him to do something pretty much guarantees he'll do the opposite. And heaven forbid you give him a green cup when he wanted a blue cup. He is definitely into testing boundaries and asserting his independence.

He is still a very affectionate little guy, though. And he is quick to tell us "thank you," even unprompted. I love that we are able to do more and more activities together and that he is becoming an actual little conversation partner.

It's hard to believe that by my next update, he'll be a big brother. He seems to understand some about his little sister coming, but I'm sure it will be a big adjustment when she's actually here. But he says he will share his toys with her. For a while, he insisted that her name would be "Apple," but he's come around to the idea of Ellie. We are soaking up these last few months of being a family of 3. I am thrilled to be adding to our family, but I also know that life will not be this simple again. What a blessing these (almost) 3 years with just our boy have been.

Favorite Foods: oatmeal, cereal (must be two kinds mixed together) with milk, string cheese, pretzels, crackers and peanut butter, grapes, yogurt, any dessert

Favorite Toys: race track, robot spider he built with Daddy, doll stroller, Mickey Mouse puzzle

Favorite Phrases/Topics of Conversation
Jonas talks NONSTOP. We never know what will come out of his mouth, and we love hearing the funny things he says. Below are just a few samples of the many, many, many things we hear daily.

• Mommy, mommy/Daddy, daddy. When he's trying to get our attention, he thinks repeating our name is more effective. We hear this approximately 5,000 times/day. 
• "And all the kind of weird people" - This is who he thanks God for during his bedtime prayer. It's so hard not to laugh. 
• "A whole junk" - He started saying this to mean "a lot", and we have no idea where he got it. 
• Why? - He is so curious, which I'm thankful for. But man that kid can ask a lot of questions! And he can't form a negative question. So you have to interpret whether he means "why" or "why not", which is sometimes difficult.
• "I'm a snuggly boy." If you try to give him any compliment, like "you're a cute boy," he says, "Nooo...I'm a snuggly boy." 
• His birthday. According to him, his birthday is "coming up."  

Favorite Activities: blowing bubbles, watching shows (he likes to pick random things on Netflix), playing with magnets on the fridge while Mommy cooks, using the salad spinner, playing "drums" on bowls, getting out various (adult) board games and playing with all of the pieces, thinking of rhyming words, singing "Yankee Doodle"

Favorite Books: Goodnight, Gorilla (this is the only book he wants to read at bedtime now), books on Mommy's iPad.

He loves his Mamaw. 

Helping Daddy blow out the candles on his birthday pie. 

We took a family vacation to Branson and met up with our wonderful friends from Illinois. Jonas loved it and asks when we're gonna go on "bacation" again. 

Jonas was pretty happy with the free necklaces they gave out at the (super HOT) 4th of July festival. 

Jonas loved playing with Ansley and Evelyn at the condo. 

Reading with great-grandma Katherine. 

Matt and "Weya" moved to Austin. :( 

Enjoying his first gummy worm. 

Posing with Mommy and Daddy before Mommy's birthday dinner. 

Enjoying time with Neema. 

Enjoying his sister's shower. He threw the biggest fit ever about wearing his Big Brother shirt, but once he saw all the food at the party and realized that he got a few presents, he decided it was an ok event after all. 

Tailgating before the ACU football game. He's pretty good at cheering, "Purple white, purple white, fight, fight, fight." 

Jonas - 30 Months

Jonas has become such a silly kid in the past few months. He is constantly cracking us up with the things he says. He loves entertaining people and will do anything to get a laugh.

We seem to be hitting the terrible twos a little more now. He definitely has his own opinions about things, and time-outs have become more frequent. Overall, he's still such an obedient kid, though.

We had to throw in the towel on our first attempt at potty-training. We'll try again in a few months.

He seems excited about becoming a big brother, though he doesn't fully understand what's happening. He asked if he could "play with the baby's toys at the baby's house." I told him the baby would be living at our house, and this seemed to really throw him for a loop. I am sure his little world will be rocked when the baby does arrive, but he is already becoming a pretty good little helper.

Favorite Foods: oatmeal, fruit of all kinds, cereal with milk, grilled cheese, string cheese and circle (Ritz) crackers, pretzels, anything sweet. He is still a very good eater and will eat basically anything that's put in front of him, except that he very emphatically does not like lettuce.

Favorite Toys: dry-erase board with dry-erase crayons, trampoline, race track and cars, big exercise ball

Favorite Phrases/Topics of Conversation

• "Ok. I can do that." This is how he most often responds when we ask him to do something. I hate to break it to him that it's not really his choice. :) 
• "Probably." He sometimes uses this appropriately, but sometimes just throws it in. "I'm probably eating cereal." 
• "How's your tummy?" - He got in the habit of asking me this after hearing Darby ask how I was feeling quite often in the first trimester. Jonas still asks pretty much every day, even though I'm feeling much better now. 
• "I can do it by myself." - This applies to everything. I know it's good for him to gain independence, but man, it can really try my patience some days. 
• He is very into rituals and using the same phrases at the same times. We got him an alarm clock that turns green when it's ok for him to get out of bed in the morning (7 a.m.). So, every night, the last thing he says before we leave his room is, "Is my clock gonna turn green?" And every night, Darby or I throw his various stuffed animals into his bed. He always says, "Fox is gonna come first." Apparently, one night, I said, "You think?" So, now every night I have to say "you think?" or he gets mad. 

Favorite Activities: riding in the car cart at United, getting a free cookie sample at United, playing in his little pool, watching Tumble Leaf on Amazon Prime, snuggling with Mommy in bed in the mornings, playing hide and seek (but only if he's the hider), reading books, playing at playgrounds

Favorite Books: Big Boys Go Potty, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Highlights magazine

Tricks: singing the months of the year song (our favorite month is "Octobertop"), telling jokes (There was a joke on Daniel Tiger: "What do snowmen eat for breakfast?" "Snowflakes with milk." Jonas has put his own spin on it and now tells variations such as "What does a cat eat for breakfast?" "A lightbulb!" He really cracks himself up.), making up words, changing the lyrics to songs.

Hunting eggs at Mamaw's house

Another egg hunt in the Isenhowers' backyard 

He moved into his big boy bed, which he loves and has done so well in. 

We dyed Easter eggs with Gabriel. 

ACU had a special music day for kids. Jonas loved playing the different instruments. 

Jonas was excited to tell everyone about becoming a big brother. He asks every morning, "Did the baby come out?" 

We went bowling for the first time, and Jonas did AWESOME!

Helping Daddy water the flowers. 

Like father, like son. 

Checking out ArtWalk with his friend Luke.

Jonas's favorite part of baking is licking the spoon (like mother, like son). 

Jonas - 27 months

Two has been a really fun age so far, and so far (knock on wood), we haven't encountered a lot of tantrums or crazy boundary-pushing. Jonas has started at a new pre-school that he really likes. They have a little paper they send home every day with details about his eating, napping, etc. It has a section that says, "Today, I was:" and lists all different adjectives. Jonas's almost always says "happy" and "chatty."

He is a really sweet and polite little guy. He says thank you and I'm sorry very frequently. And he often compliments me on my shirt, earrings, nail polish, etc. We're working on saying please instead of just demanding things now. He's also very affectionate and likes to hold mine and Darby's hands while we're walking and give us hugs.

He doesn't get into much trouble because he always pauses before doing something that's not allowed to see if he's going to get reprimanded, or he just announces what he's about to do. The one time I've seen him be truly sneaky was when Darby and I were cleaning up the kitchen one night after dinner. Jonas was playing in the pantry cabinet, like he often does. I noticed that he had gotten really quiet and still and was basically standing as close as he could to the cabinet without climbing in. When I asked him what he was doing, he turned around with a giant marshmallow in his mouth. :)

He moved up to the toddler class at church and now goes to Children's Church instead of the nursery. He took all of these transitions in stride and really enjoys showing off his crafts when we pick him up.

He is still a dedicated finger-sucker, and we aren't looking forward to having to break that habit in the near future. Our few attempts to gently get him to stop have resulted in even more forceful sucking and the reply, "I like to suck my fingers all the time." Okaaaaayyy.

It's so fun to see his personality develop more and more. He is so sweet, silly, and good-natured. Of course, we would love him no matter what, but he's so easy to love. While I don't always love waking up early to "Moooooooooommmmmmmyyyy", it's always so fun to see his little face and hear "Tan we eat bekfast?"

Favorite Foods: oatmeal, "the new kind of Cheerios like Mama has" (multigrain Cheerios), macaroni and cheese, apple juice, berries, bananas, apples, donuts on Sundays, cheese and "circle" (Ritz) crackers, Goldfish, marshmallows, "lenomade"

Favorite Toys: Play-Doh, busy board that he and Daddy made together, puzzles, mini trampoline, stroller for pushing his doll and stuffed animals

Favorite Phrases/Topics of Conversation:

• His birthday party. That made a HUGE impression on him. He talks about it every day. Anything good or fun happened at his birthday party, even if it actually didn't. He knows that his birthday is December 19th and will tell anyone who asks. He also asks everyone, "When is your birthday party?"
• Matt and "Leya" (Leila) - They are still his favorite people. We went over to their apartment for dinner one night, and that was pretty much the highlight of his year. 
• Why? - He asks this constantly. And no answer satisfies him. He just says "why?" again. Or, even if I tell him why initially, he still asks. For example: Me: Jonas, you need to put your jacket on because it's cold outside. Jonas: Why? Me: Because it's cold outside. Jonas: Why? Me: (pulls out hair)
• "This is tozy "(cozy) - He likes me to put a blanket over both of us while we read books. 
• "Thank you for all the people. In Jesus's name. Amen." - This is how he ends his prayer every night at bedtime. 
• "I'm going to the hospital to see the flamingos." - We have NO idea where this came from. After we went to see Darby's grandpa in the hospital, he talked about it a lot. He also likes to look at the pictures of himself in the hospital right after he was born. So, the hospital part I kind of get. I don't know where the flamingos come from, though. 
• "Who's coming over today?" - He really doesn't like days at home with just Mom and Dad. I think we have an extrovert.  

Favorite Activities: Coloring, placing stickers on paper, going to the library to get a "big stack" of books, taking walks in the neighborhood to find "pa-tans" (pecans), lining up toys (cars, stuffed animals, pom-poms), eating snacks, "pulling" (petting) Mama's hair, running around naked after bath time, watching the "Wheels on the Bus" video on YouTube

Favorite Books: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, The Mitten, "Mickey and the Pet Shop" from the Disney Bedtime Storybook, Highlights High Five magazine

Tricks: "Reading" books (He has basically memorized several books.), singing ABCs

All bundled up for church (on one of the two cold days we've had this winter). A woman at church made that scarf for Jonas - so sweet!

This is Jonas's "surprised" face. 

A friend at church knitted Jonas a sling for his baby doll after seeing the idea on facebook. 

Jonas and Papa on the slide, with G-ma ready to catch at the bottom. 

Jonas enjoyed having Auntie Hannie visit for the weekend. 

Love that smile!

Jonas did his first hike (0.31 mile) on our Spring Break trip to Santa Fe. We went with our friends, the Kennedys, and had so much fun. 

Jonas was super into his frozen yogurt. He had a total meltdown when we left the shop. 

Jonas - 2 years

Jonas is such a fun kid right now. He talks non-stop - all day, every day. He gives us a constant narration of what he's doing and what we're doing. If we're not around, he talks to himself. He enjoys making people laugh. If he says something that people laugh at, he'll say it again and again, even if it's not appropriate for the situation. He has an excellent memory and surprises us constantly with little details he remembers from weeks or even months ago. He has his two-year-old moments, of course, but overall he's a very pleasant and affectionate little guy.

Favorite Foods: Goldfish, oatmeal ("eatmo"), butter (spread on whatever he's eating), carrots, peanut butter sandwiches, applesauce, bananas, mixed fruit cups, dessert of all kinds ("bessert").

Favorite Toys: MegaBlocks, Fisher-Price nativity set, magic ink coloring book, pom-poms, Magna-Doodle ("Magna-Noodle")

Favorite Phrases:

• "Not right now", which he seems to understand is a more polite way to say no
• "I feel better." - This is something he learned from Daniel Tiger. After he finishes crying when he's pitched a fit, he'll pop up and say, "I feel better." 
• "Here a go. Do you want it?" 
• "It's bootiful" - He says this often about the Christmas tree ("tippen tree"), but he also says it about trees, rocks, etc. 
• "I take nap." 
• "You can..." This means "you must." He'll say, "You can play toys right now." 
• "You happy?" There's a lot of emphasis in children's books and TV shows about identifying emotions. So he's started asking people often if they feel happy. It's pretty cute. 

Favorite Activities: "hiding" under pillows, in boxes, under blankets, playing at playgrounds, reading books (he loves to be read to, but he'll also sit by himself and look at books sometimes), helping Mama cook, watching Daniel Tiger or "D-2" (Star Wars), turning light switches on and off, playing "Superman" (which involves running around the table yelling "Sup-ah-man! Sup-ah-man!")

Favorite Books: The Very Smiley Snowman, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Goodnight, Gorilla

Tricks: making jokes (such as the infamous "Baby Moses"), making a silly face that involves smiling really big while squeezing his eyes closed

Reading with cousin Joey

Enjoying Panera with Mamaw and Grandpa

Church with Papa and G-ma

Decorating the Christmas tree

Reading Highlights magazine from Mamaw

Christmas outfit from Auntie Hannie

"I lined up my tars!" 

Hugs for Auntie Hannie

Family picture on the hayride

Feeding carrots to the donkey

Hugging his pal Gabriel. 

Fall Festival with G-ma and Papa

Pumpkin patch with Avery and Silas\

Watching the Homecoming parade with Liam and Myla

Weekend  with Auntie Hannie. 

Arrr! Or, as he says, "Roar!" 

Spider costume from Timothy

Jonas - 21 months

How is it possible that the next update will be for a 2-year-old! He is growing up so fast. Jonas's language has really exploded in the past few months. He now can talk in full sentences and uses prepositions, pronouns, and adjectives. It's so fun to hear what he comes up with. Much of his speech is still unintelligible to outsiders, but Darby and I have gotten pretty good at decoding what he's saying.

He has started hitting and shoving occasionally, so we're working on that. Overall, though, he's still very sweet and compliant. He loves to give hugs and kisses (sometimes he goes overboard with hugging strangers). He is such a sweet boy. 

Since I'm working on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays this semester, we had to take Jonas out of his Tuesday/Thursday school. He now goes to the home of another ACU professor, where a nanny watches the kids. He seems to really love it. When I drop him off in the morning, he tells me "bye-bye, Mama" very matter-of-factly and doesn't like it if I linger too long. 

Favorite foods: cheese, oatmeal ("eatmo"), Goldfish ("fishy"), chocolate chips (thanks to helping Mama cook), raspberries ("raz-beedies"), blueberries ("bee-bee"), "salsa" (any kind of sauce), applesauce, carrots, donuts (which we get on Sundays before church)

Favorite toys: Forever and always, balls. He especially loves to name all the different types of balls. Baseball bat, little fuzzy craft pom-poms, measuring cups and spoons, puzzles, Mega Blocks, anything "Minion" related, cars.

Favorite words/phrases: 

• Heavy, which he uses for anything difficult. If he can't reach something, it's "heavy." He also likes to try to pick himself up and says "heavy" when he can't do it.
• "Help me up", which he says when he wants someone to get up off the floor. This is accompanied by yanking on the person's arm. ("Me" in this case means "you.")
• "Noo-nat," which is how he refers to himself. He likes to narrate everything we do. "Noo-nat eat bek-fast"; "Mama eat bek-fast"; "Dada eat bekfast." 
• "Bee-dee pah-dy" (birthday party). We had several family birthday celebrations over the summer, and Jonas really enjoyed them, particularly the tissue paper involved. Now, anytime there's a fairly large gathering or anyone gives him a gift, he says "Bee-dee pah-dy!" I think he's really going to be excited come December. 
• "Fall down". He falls a lot and almost never cries, just says "Noo-nat fall down." If he drops something, he says "Dat fall down." Actually his first full sentence was "Raspberry fall," after he dropped a raspberry at breakfast. 
• Choo-choo, said with extremely pursed lips. 
• Dump truck, which refers to any piece of machinery. 
• Too. He adds too to the end of many sentences. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes not. 
• Poopy, pee-pee, tootie. For some reason, he has latched on to all the potty words. (Maybe this is a good sign for potty training?) Every time I change his diaper (whether he has pooped or not), he says, "Noo-nat poopy. Mama poopy. Dada poopy." We try not to encourage this. 
• "Tat-dy" (khaki). I taught him the phrase "khaki shorts" and now he is obsessed with pointing out anything khaki (which is a very broad category in his mind). 

Favorite activities: "helping" Mama cook while standing on a chair at the counter, playing in the kitchen sink, going to "Bible tass", singing "Big Sun" ("God Made the Big, Round Sun") and "BBC" (ABCs), playing "Ring Around the Rosie" ("Ring Roadie"), going to friends' houses, especially if they have toy trains, visiting grandparents, watching Tai-Tai, playing guitar with Daddy. 

Favorite books: Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Peek-a-Boo Book (a very weird book that he of course loves), Jonas's Night-Night Book (a personalized book G-Ma and Papa got him for his birthday)

Favorite tricks: Making silly faces, doing a fake laugh on command, filling in the words in books if I leave a pause for him. 

Watching our neighborhood 4th of July parade with his good friend Luke ("Yoop").

Enjoying his new pool and still loving "ya-yo ball"

Our friends Dick and Billie came to visit from Illinois. Jonas took to them like a 3rd set of grandparents. It was very sweet.

He likes to be very close to Tai-Tai.

Giving Grandpa some sugar.

Loved his first churro at "Entra a la Plaza" at ACU.

It's been fun to see him actually be able to enjoy playgrounds. He's a little cautious, but he usually ends up doing everything.

Jonas likes to sleep with "Fox," "Elmo," "Baby Hippo," "Mama Hippo," and "Monkey" every night.