Ten Months!

Where did the last five months go?

Wasn't I going to be that awesome mom that updates this monthly with new accomplishments, milestones, and funny stories?

That was the plan.

Yeah.

5 months later, here we are.

I mean...

5 months later, here we are!!

(Note to future writer JJ, your choice in punctuation changes everything!)

So, as JJ turns over the ten month mark tomorrow, I am proud to write not of a little baby, but of a little boy. JJ's personality is indescribable. Spend five minutes with the kid and you will know what I mean. We often comment that JJ truly is one-of-a-kind and there will never be another like him.

For one, JJ smiles, laughs, giggles, and doubles over laughing pretty much constantly. The world is his comedy club and there is no greater comedian than Daddy. Turbo comes in at a pretty close second. Things he finds hilarious: sneezing (both other people's and his own -- he will sneeze and then laugh like it is the funniest thing he ever thought of doing), peekaboo (with a door, a towel, his hands, my hair... pretty much anything he can put over his or our eyes), tickles, the vacuum cleaner accessories, the iPad, the puppy mirror on the headrest in front of him in the Element, tearing off produce bags at the grocery store, and on and on and on. I love looking at the world through his bright blue eyes, everything is much simpler and amusing than you can possibly imagine.

In addition to being hilarious, JJ is also now MOBILE. Holy cow, I have a baby who can get around on his own. Chris and I marvel at this daily -- how was he just in my belly ten months ago? He is able to crawl like a champ, although he will really only do it if he's mad or if he sees one of us nearby. He will crawl to us, and then climb up on us to get us to walk him around. He, literally, does not stay still for more than a few seconds unless he is sleeping. For being an absolutely awesome little guy, he's a bit high maintenance in this department. Snuggles and sit-and-play time are few and far between. The norm is walking around exploring. Constantly.

Crawling is not his favorite mode of transportation. The kid wants to walk. And will, undoubtedly, very shortly. In one week (last week), he learned to crawl, pull himself up on furniture, stand up in his crib, stand alone for a few seconds, and take his first steps between us. Just this week he has started to let go of our hands, stand alone for a few seconds, and attempt to take steps toward objects that he wants. He even started squatting down to pick something up and standing back up without any help or balance support. Watching him learn these new skills is absolutely amazing and the highlight of my life.

Another unique and pretty fantastic aspect of JJ's personality is that he does not do anything -- and I mean ANYTHING -- the easy way. In fact, I'm going to be shocked if JJ's first time walking (he can take steps now, but really really walking) is not going to be walking at all -- it will most likely be running. JJ has shocked many a visitor by showing off his desire to climb the stairs like an adult. He doesn't crawl up the stairs. He doesn't put two feet on one step. He wants to hold your hands and walk up, one step, one foot at a time. The last few days he has even learned to try to SKIP a step! Oh, and that squatting down to pick items up thing? Yeah, not on carpet or a normal surface... he's doing it on the uneven woodchips at the park. The sippy cup? Eh, it's okay, but drinking out of an adult-sized GLASS? Much more fun.

Did I mention this kid can eat? He eats anything and everything (although I gave him a little bit of ice cream last night and he wasn't a fan). JJ likes pancakes, spaghetti, chicken, beef, raviolis, toast, bagels, muffins, pizza, scrambled eggs, and especially Grandma's pumpkin cookies! His favorite food, that we've found so far, is peaches. He LOVES peaches and would eat them constantly if we let him. He loves going out to eat with us and getting whatever we are eating. Despite his extreme love of eating, he's still a skinny boy -- currently weighing in around 21 pounds (which would be pretty normal if he was anywhere near a typical height for ten months). He's built just like his Daddy -- all legs, and I think that's pretty awesome.

JJ has recently (knock on wood!) started to sleep pretty well, which means we have been hesitant to change anything in his bedtime routine. This means he is now getting nightly baths (instead of every other night like before), and usually he gets a pre or post dinner bike ride to the swings. He loves his bike rides and walks and would rather be outside more than anywhere else (remind you of anyone? Ahem, Christopher?). JJ currently goes to bed around 6:30 or 7:00 and he wakes up around 4ish to tank up on some milk and Mommy snuggles, and then sleeps again until 6 or 6:30. Although I'm bracing for this fabulous routine to come to a screeching halt (it usually does when we get used to something), I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts.

Another fun development is JJ's verbal skills. He is jabbering away like never before. He is starting to make new word-like sounds and string them together in what he seems to think are sentences. He is attaching meaning to words, which is super fun and adorable. He says "Da" or "dada" when he wants to go see Chris. When Chris isn't here, JJ will insist on walking around to every room saying "Da? Da?" It is soooooo cute. He also recently started saying "Mama" which, of course, makes my heart melt. I'm not sure he's totally connected it to me yet, but I try to convince myself that he does! JJ will say "ba-ba" when waving bye-bye when he's feeling bold. Chris has also been starting to teach him "na-na" when he says night-night to him before bed. He likes to wave and has started to blow kisses to daddy. He still has no interest in clapping, although he'll give high-fives.

That's all I can think about to brag on for now. I am making it a personal goal to keep this blog up -- let's see if I can make that happen now that school is out for the summer and a certain you-know-who finally takes n-a-p-s (shhh, don't tell him that we know...).