LIfe is a Changing...

Wow, this past week or more Jonathan has discovered a whole new world! Although he has had the abliity to crawl, he much preferred his rolling and schooching version to get around and would only crawl a few "steps", but then last Tuesday it was like a light bulb went on, and he realized that if he kept with it, he could get more places faster!!! It has been eye opening to me (as to things to get out of his reach) and so much fun to watch him! And for probably the last two weeks or more, he is really into pulling himself up on EVERYTHING! legs, tables, chairs, the bathtub, toilet if he gets past me, dryer door, dishwasher, drawers in the kitchen, chair that was blocking the top of the stairs, trashcan....you get the the picture. It has also been busy for me in realizing that these are not all things that I want him to have access to, and having to start the "no" stage and discipling, and moving him away from whatever the object is. So, learning consistency has also been on my daily agenda. We did get the baby gate put up this weekend, so that helps some, and I don't have to be as worried about the stairs. It is definately a super fun stage and I am getting my exercise in staying up with him! :)

We have been out enjoying the summer that finally came to Alaska! After 31 days straight of precipitation we were so ready for it! ON Friday night we went hiking with my parents and brother Ben, we went to Flattop, which is just nearby here in Anchorage. Jeremy was along so he got to carry JOnathan inth ebackpack, making it much easier for me! And then I went again today with some good mommy friends, and I got to carry Jonathan, which really isn't too bad, but I was tired by the end! I lucked out and found a great baby backpack on Craigslist a few weeks back and although it doens't get used tons, it is so wonderful to have!! I will try to add on some pictures! :)




His legs are so flexible and he sits in the most peculiar positions, they look so uncomfortable to me, but whatever I guess!



Family picture! :)



Helping Mommy fold the laundry!



Yes that is the binky ring holder in his mouth - he'll take whatever he can get! :)



This was when he was jus starting to pull up, I came back upstairs and he was standing there at the ottoman just looking at me like "look at me Mom!! How cool is this!?!"

New Things

Currently I feel like Jonathan is just changing every day! HIs newest things going on are that he has his first tooth finally breaking through! I can actually feel it! So, although ever since four months I have thought he was teething, finally at 8 months we are seeing/feeling something. I just found that two days ago.

Finally last Friday he actually got his arms and feet to all move in a crawling motion, but still doesn't choose that as his mode of transportation, he woudl much rather roll and flop and flip and get himself to wherever he is going, which seems to work well for him!

AND about two weeks ago we were at my mom's and Jonathan was supposed to be taking a nap, but was just fussing instead and UNcle Dan went in to resuce him and found him standing at the railing in the crib. Ever since then he has been a "pulling up" machine! Every opportunity he pulls himself up, in the crib, on the ottoman, couch, chairs, legs, feet, arms, everything he possibly can find, he pulls himself up on. And he takes his falls pretty gracefully too. And on Monday of this week he actually let go and stood there by himself for a few seconds. SOOO, am not sure what all this means, but he seems much more interested in the idea of walking than crawling. And it doesn't matter where they are left, but as soon as JOnathan sees one of Miles' rawhides on the floor, he goes straight towards it! So we are constantly taking those away and I think putting them away and somehow Miles finds another to bring and share with Jonathan.

It was the same day that he pulled himself up that he started saying "dadadadada" and that is now his pretty constant noise! He loves it, and he even likes saying it really high pitched, which is just great to listen to! :) Jeremy of course loved getting to hear him say it. When he started we called Daddy at work and Jonathan said it over the phone! Very special for Daddy! Funny though that he loves it then, but if it's the middle of the night or early morning he doesn't respond. :)

Fun at Grandma's

Jonathan has a walker at Grandma's that he absolutely loves!! He can roll around on the hardwood floor all over the kitchen and can get going really fast sometimes. Thankfully there are little "ledges" going into each of the rooms bordering the kitchen, so he can't get out, although I heard him yesterday trying to make it into the dining room, he would back up, and speed forward to try and get over, but he wasn't very successful. This has caused Grandma to have to remove cookbooks and the like to higher shelves, as the other day JOnathan wanted to help cook, so pulled out her favorite cookbook and ripped a page out. oops. So, now a plastic Noah's Ark toy sits there and he will go right over to it and pull it down to play with. He also tried to open cupboards and can get in drawers, especially Grandma's desk drawers, he has been seen with an ipod from the desk, cruising with a pen in his mouth, and takes Grandma's purse off the chair. So, he is definately figuring this thing out, and loves the freedom. :) These are pictures of him getting into the dishwasher, he reached down and pulled out silverware to suck on - at least he went for the one with chocolate cake batter - a son after my own heart! :)

Time to Play Catch UP

Well, I often get on the computer and go through my list of blogs that I like to read and when I see that they aren't updated I'm disappointed, and then I realize "oh, I also haven't updated in awhile" so, maybe before I expect more out of my friends I should take care of my own first. :)

So, I am going to try and update you on the life with the Payne's in a few short blog entries. And we're hoping the pictures will come through, but no promises, sorry. It has been a busy few weeks. Mainly surrounding the wedding of Kelly and Ashley. THey have been dating for basically forever it seems and finally got married this last Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding and I am so blessed to have another amazing sister-in-law. I am a little sad that they are going to be in California to finish school and then will go wherever the Army takes them,but also know that that is where God has them right now, and we will just have to look forward to visits, and maybe it's a reason for vacation to California!

Along with a wedding means lots of visiting family, which I just had such a blast with the whole time. Both grandmas made it up, and then 3 cousins, two aunts and two uncles, throw in our largeish family as it is, and the uncle and cousin here and we had some large famliy gatherings! I was very grateful to not be working and to get to spend so much time with the famliy. NOthing in particular, just lots of hanging out, some shopping, and lots of cooking. Jonathan was such a trooper the whole time and just got loved on so much, it was so fun to see how much my extended family loved on him. NOw, I have to go back to being his full time mom, since there aren't 10 other sets of arms hanging out at my house all day. :) I am now going to work on getting his sleep schedule back in order, as he wasn't going to bed until 10 or 11 alot of nights, but he made it through really well.

Maybe?

Ok, I'm going to try the pictures again....

Oh, and now I get to share a funny story that just happened. Being around Jonathan all the time I have noticed that his reach is really extending and he will get about anything he wants. Well, Jeremy was eating his cereal and decided to hold Jonathan in his lap, not even 30 seconds on his lap, and Jonathan reached backwards (Jeremy had him turned away from the cereal bowl) and as you can guess, the bowl of rice krispies went all over Jeremy's lap and onto the floor. And yes, now come the benefits of having a dog. Miles is in heaven!! :)

Early Saturday Morning

Well, it is almost 8 on Saturday and I am wide awake. Mind you, I haven't been able to roll myself out of bed every other day this week before 8, despite my alarm going off at 7. However, this wonderful Sat am, my beautiful son decided he was hungry at 5 am, and really didn't think he should go back to sleep, so after trying to lay him ack down, which was successful for about 20 min, we were wide awake by about 6:00. And in that time we have had three outfit changes as well. But, by 7:30 he was ready to go down for his nap. So, here I am am, wide awake, coffee brewed, and laundry started.

This last week has been a better week than the previous, I think we are settled back into our routines, and adjusted to not having grandparents in the house to play and hold Jonathan all the time. :) Which we love, so we will gladly take the time to adjust back.

We were able to spend some time outside this week, which is what I will post pictures of. On monday we jsut went and hung out in our back yard, and then that afternoon went to Uncle Ben's baseball game.

For the last few weeks now, we have been going to the Music in the Park that is downtown. Jonathan really enjoys the music and it is fun to be outside. We went with both sets of grandparents when they were here and since then have been going with my mom and Uncle Ben. We have been getting to spend more time with Uncle Ben this summer as he comes and runs errands with my mom and I, and even this week came with me so that Jonathan could sleep in the car. We have enjoyed the extra time with him. :)

We are still working on solids, still not a favorite, but I'm trying to be more consistent in offering them, but Jonathan does love to put everything else possible in his mouth. Miles is also learning the benefits of Jonathan eating in the high chair, and is never far away, often with his paws pulled up on the chair. The other night Jonathan learned he could stretch out his dirty hand and Miles would lick it off which was great fun for both of them. I am trying to get us to all sit down and eat dinner together at the table, which is fun to be able to have Jonathan sit with us.

He still isn't crawling, but is getting closer every day I think. ON one hand, I'm excited for him to start, and the other I'm ok with him just rolling and scootching for now, because I know once he crawls he will be much harder to contain.

Rice Cereal

We just had a monumental moment here at our house!! Jonathan ate almost his whole serving of cereal that I made for him. A friend suggested trying with coconut milk and a fruit. So we did - hoping that's all ok for him, but I'm not too concerned. So I mixed the oatmeal stuff with coconut milk and a mango baby food. I didn't make a huge serving, but he ate almost all of it. NOrmally we don't make it past bite #2. He did try to spit it back at me, but quickly remembered not to do that, or he gets flicked. :( So, maybe we can keep going in the right direction here! I would love for him to eat more solids, I think it would help him sleep through the night. He's 18 pounds, no wonder he's waking up to eat, he needs more calories in him I think, so I'm trying my best! :)