Blessings of a New Mom: 2011

This little boy is not anything like his big brother!

He is LOUD, fearless, cuddly, talkative, smiley and dangerous! He loves to jump up and down on anything and everything. He has the most beautiful, infectious smile on the planet. The puffiest cheeks, that make you want to gobble him to pieces.

He is the loudest child I have ever been around! Not just happy squeels, but unnessesary screaming sometimes. We have even nick named him, Sir Screams A-Lot. We love him, but sometimes wish his volume was a bit softer. I actually think he is just very outgoing and wants everyone to know.

He tries so hard to keep up with his big brother, but he is slightly clumbsy. He has fallen over and over and is constantly bumped, bruised, scraped and scabbed. Even with a recient black eye he was to cutest little boy.

He loves to get a book and sit in your lap. He loves to get his "night night" (blanket) and cuddle in your lap. To hear his little voice say, momma, just makes my heart melt. His brother calls him "EE" and he even calls himself "EE" now.

He is my last little boy. I love his open mouth, slobbery kisses. I love how his little lips get all puffy and poochy after he has been sucking on his paci and he falls asleep. I love him to pieces and I wouldn't change him for the world!!

So, it has been a while since I last wrote a post. I can say, that now that Ethan is older, they are keeping me even more busy everyday! Today, it is going to be all about Jonathan.

Jonathan
My sweet little quiet boy. He slept through the night a 5 weeks, which made for VERY happy first time parents! He started saying dada (of course he would say dada first, when he is with his momma all day) when he was 7 months old. It was more like dadadadadada, all day, for everything. When he was about 8 months old he would make a moo sound for the cow.
Then when he was 14 months old, he started trying to say "uh oh", except it was just "uh". Really cute at the time, and we were happy we were finally moving forward with new words! We started teaching him sign language. Not too much, just "more", "all done" and "please". This was helping, since he wasn't saying much and I was tired of him throwing food off the table.
At 15 months, he finally started babbling. Actually we thought he was speaking German, he would say "Augaengaengaen...." Good luck understaning that all day. He was making sounds for animals and was amazingly smart, just quiet. There is a lot of pointing and grunting and whining!!
When Ethan was born, Jonathan was almost 18 months old and basically stopped talking all together. Everyone said not to worry, it was just a regression due to a new baby in the house.
At 22 months old, we took him to a speech therapy consult. They determined that he was age appropriate for everything cognitive, but speech. SHOCKER! They said he would benefit from therapy once a week, but we opted to look for a place closer to home. (this place was 45 minutes away)
We were placed on a waiting list in Gaston Co. and suddenly he started babbling like crazy. You couldn't understand anything, but it was better than nothing! Several people said they heard him say single words like "mine" once or twice, but Matt and I never witnessed. He started saying "daba daba daba" all day, anyone know what that means??
One day we were in the back yard and he said "dog poo". Of course, that would be what my 2 yr old, non-verbal, sweet little boy would say, instead of MOMMA!! Deep breath... Later in May he started singing Twinkle, Twinkle with the words, "duba duba". He could actually carry a tune! I decided to buy the DVD, Leap Frogs, Letter Factory. I put it in the DVD player in the car and played it over and over, everytime we got in the car. He loved it! We had it in the car for over a month, when on Memorial Day he actually said the letter sounds for "H", "F", "G", "A", & "D"! We realized what he was doing when we pulled into the garage. I ultimately stayed in the garage for 20 minutes, just listening! HE CAN TALK!! After that day, we realized that he could make the letter sound for every letter he saw. So, when the FBI warning came on before the movie, you could hear him sounding out the letters.
A couple of months later, he is still sounding out letters all over the house and the TV, but his new phrase is "Da but"! Oh, and finally... I am "bubba"! Better than nothing, right!!
In September of last year, we took him back to a Speech Therapist, in Gastonia. Really nice woman, who told us that he was understanding on a 4 year old level, but need speech therapy for at least one day a week. She really felt like, if we could break the ice, he would start talking in full sentences! The first couple of weeks were hard, because he is so shy, he basically wouldn't even get off my lap! He did start making first letter sounds for the words he was wanting to say. Like, "t" for Thomas(the train), "p" for Percy(the train), "g" for gummies, and "a" for apple jacks cereal. Then on September 24th, he said "up"!! AMEN, the child is talking!! He was almost 29 months old.
After that day, we were hearing new words about 1 a week. First it was two made up words for both Matt and I, together; "mada" or "dama". CREATIVE!! Next, it was "ba-nana"(with the pause), off, on, up, down, in, out, apple, open, rock, bug, bat, stop("bop"), Froot-Loops and applesauce!
In November, it was words like, more("mon"), please("pls"). Then very quickly, he started putting two together. "Help, momma", "up, momma", bathtub and on November 9th, we heard him say "I luv Mada, a lot"!
By December, he was putting fragments and short sentences together. "I want down", I want...". One day it was really windy and he looked out the window and said, "wind fast, leaves down". Wow, he is really talking!! Although, plenty of things he says, only Matt and I understand(even more that only I understand), we are getting somewhere. He tries to count to five. He describes everything as "really really...", hot, cold, small, big... Very cute!! At Christmas, he even finally tried to say Gramme. It came out more like "braby", but it worked! She was thrilled!!
January has been a big month for his talking! He started off the year saying, "momma, you my best friend"! I cried!! He also loves to ask me when I put him down for his nap everyday, "when I wake up, dada be home?" Too sweet, I think! When we put him to bed at night, he tells us, "leave my door little bit open, I close my eyes". He even started telling me, "I sorry momma" and "tank you momma" all day long!!
Just this week, he ran upstairs when heard that "EE" was awake. He opened the door and said, "EE, you awake? Get up and play with me, we have fun!!" PRICELESS!!
This little boy has finally became the big boy! He talks to me all day. It is what I have been praying for a very long time. People told me when he was younger, "don't be sad that he doesn't talk because one day he will start and then never shut up"! That isn't true at all. I love to hear that little voice, singing the words to Twinkle Twinkle or 3 Blind Mice! I love hearing him try to sing the words the the Thomas theme song! It is the most precious sound a mom can hear! Congratulations, Jonathan! Mada is so proud of you! We love you too!!