It's your half birthday, Jonas!

Jonas is six months old today. Wow. That's all I can say.

We've gone from this....


















to this...
















We Love YOU, Jonas!

Jonas' first *BIKE* ride

We went for our first family bike ride/run last Sunday. Joe's colleague had an old Burley bike trailer gathering dust and cobwebs in her garage. She told Joe if he wanted to clean it up, he could have it. Score!

So we hooked it up Sunday morning and took Jonas for his first ride. I think you'll agree he enjoyed it. The photos speak for themselves.

Joe's training for his fall marathon. To help him counteract the monotony, Jonas and I will be riding along with him as he runs the last 7-10 miles over the next few weeks. Gear up Jonas!

Six month (nearly!) update

While Jonas isn't technically six months old yet, he's pretty darned close. I figured if I wait to post this until he is officially six months old, I won't end up having another opportunity to update you until he's seven months old. That's just the way it goes, I've learned. So, here we are.

Jonas is an absolute delight. He's the apple of my eye. This weekend I ran into a colleague who has a one month old. Instantly, I was thrown back to those early days of tiny, tiny fingers; shrill, lengthy cries that resist all comfort and soothing; and long, teary and sleepless nights.














These were the days that other parents had warned us about. Hang in there, they said. It will get better, we promise. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved our son from the moment he was born. I loved him more than anything, but this early time with baby wasn't exactly what I had expected. What about all those warm and fuzzy photos of mothers and babies looking dreamily into one another's eyes? And what about this ridiculous notion that babies and mothers enjoy a special ability to communicate thanks to their unique bond?? Oh, this does exist, just not for several weeks (read: months). It seemed like an eternity.

Fast forward a few months. It's a whole new world. Such sweet unparalleled joy. My heart melts when I look into Jonas' deep sea blue eyes and he gazes back at me in wonder. Now, I "get it": the love and pride and admiration that a mother experiences toward her child, there's nothing like it. It's wonderful.

Anyway, here's the update you've been waiting for.

• If you put Jonas down on the floor he rolls around all over--left and right, back to front, and vice versa. Probably not going to be long before he figures out the leg movement with the hands. I hope we have a few more months. :-)
  


• He's a pretty good eater but sometimes half way through starts getting a little cranky. Solution: start pushing Jonas around the kitchen in the high chair while making funny sounds. After a spin around the kitchen his good spirits return again.


• So far Jonas has sampled pears, sweet potatoes, apples and peas. Yum!


• He goes *crazy* in the exer-saucer, bouncing, grabbing, pulling, eating. Whereas he used to sit and play with all the toys with interest last month, now it is with **explosive** energy. I was in the basement today and heard him jumping up and down. I thought he was going to come through the floor.
  


• He has learned to reach for, grasp and hold these little dangly toys on the exer-saucer. When he pulls them, they sing a song. It is not uncommon to hear that same song repeat 8-10 times. It's laughable. You wouldn't think you'd enjoy hearing the same baby jingle over and over again. Although I concede it's not so funny when you can't get the song out of your head 3 hours later.


• Jonas is very vocal. His squeals often sound like loud chirps, akin to smoke detector that needs a new battery.
  


• Jonas tries to grab everything! He loves to grab Ginger in whatever way he can. Tail, ears, handfuls of skin and fur. It's all so tempting. And, Ginger's such a pal. She's so patient and tolerates him until she can't take it anymore then she gets up and leaves.


• He laughs hard at peek-a-boo. I wasn't sure when he'd catch on to this little game. I thought babies start playing this at an earlier age. He just started recently, but seems to be making up for lost time with unstoppable giggling.


• When he sees other babies or children, he stares. He doesn't seem quite as interested in adults.

• And last but not least, he is teething! Like everything else Jonas does, it does it with drama. One tooth at a time isn't enough. He's got to get TWO teeth at the same time. That's right. Both of his bottom teeth are coming in. They broke through the skin two or three days ago.

All in all Jonas is growing like a weed. He's probably up to 21 pounds now. Lord knows how long. He's making the move into 9 month clothes. But most important he starting to look like a little boy, still a baby, but on the way to boyhood. And we're loving every minute of it.