Three months!

"Three months" isn't totally inaccurate. Technically speaking, Jonas is a week shy of four months, but so much time has passed since my last update that I thought the three month mark was a good place to start.

It hasn't been easy finding a lot of time to post updates since I've gone back to work. I've taken lots of photos, and I often think of content for the next blog entry while I'm driving to work or walking the dog, but sitting down and actually getting it keyed into blogger often seems outside my reach. Now that I've got a lot of time on my hands to be recuperating this is my golden opportunity to update everyone.


One of the biggest changes for Jonas and me was that I went back to work at the end of May-- three days a week, which makes it very manageable. Jonas goes to a small family operated daycare and is thriving there. He's the youngest of the crew and gets loads of attention from the "older" kids (18 mos. - 2 yrs). The first week was especially hard for me to let go of him, but I knew it was the best for all parties. By now, we've adapted and life is good.

Before my maternity leave ended, my sister came to the east coast to meet her soon to be favorite nephew. Jonas and Auntie Sarah hit it off right away. Like peanut butter and jelly. They were meant to be together.



Joe and I noticed that Jonas and Sarah share some common traits. Both are very passionate beings. And both have the hangry gene. "Hangry" is a term coined by my brother-in-law from the words "hungry" and "angry". Jonas is usually a good natured baby, but when it comes to food, he goes from zero to HYSTERICAL in less than 3 seconds. His auntie is just the same.





We reveled in several celebrations this month. There was my first Mother's Day. Ginger's 8th birthday. And Jonas' first race to attend as a spectator!


I'm holding Ginger's birthday dessert: a doggie biscuit "oreo" with a candle sandwiched in the middle. No, she didn't get to eat the candle.




Memorial Day weekend Joe raced in the Saratoga Duathlon where he took first place in his age group and placed in the top 10 overall.

It's always been Joe's dream to walk up to the podium and claim a race prize with his son. This was Joe's day. First place finishers got a pint glass and a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio.

Look at Jonas' serious expression. ha! At three months he understands just how important it is to wear your 'game face'.



Jonas catching a few z's while Dad rode the 20 mile bike circuit.







Jonas has had a developmental explosion in the past month. We noticed that he was beginning to grasp things.

It all started with these rings that we strung up on his swing.







He couldn't reach and grasp yet, but anything that came near his hands was seized immediately by his death grip, like a venus fly trap. In just a few weeks we've watched him go from being able to hold something with only a finger or two, to wrapping his whole hand around an object. It's amazing!

He also started getting a little antsy with his seating options. The rocker was still "acceptable" sometimes, but he wanted other options than just laying around in a bouncer. So, one day I tried him in the Bumbo seat. He wasn't crazy about it but I just kept trying. At first his neck wasn't quite strong enough to sit here for any extended period of time, so I helped him.


This is him in the "early days" of the Bumbo. Doesn't he look like the football player with no neck?? The Bumbo seat supports his back, but his heavy head would knock around a bit.

















Fast forward a few weeks later and he can sit up in it for tens of minutes at a time, and he LOVES it! I think he enjoys the change of perspective. He wants to look around and see what's going on.

Jonas' energy levels have also catapulted, so we need to be creative about how to tire out this kid. Sitting in the Bumbo seat is terrific because he draws on all those core muscles to support himself. He also loves to lie on the floor and reach up and play with this thing that has sesame street characters that dangle down. When he tires of that, we do exercises-- bicycling movements, rolling over, touching the hand to the opposite foot, and now his newest favorite activity-- trying to stand! If his feet merely graze the floor, he'll try to push up to a standing position. I say go for it, kid!








The last milestone that he reached this month, sad as it was for me, was that he moved into his crib. It happened as a fluke. He had fallen asleep on my lap one night while Joe and I were watching a movie. Joe put him in the crib to see what would happen. I stayed up much of the night, waiting, waiting, waiting, for him to start crying. He slept through the night! And he appeared to sleep much more soundly than he had been sleeping in the bassinet in our room. The timing worked out well because he'd gotten so big (he's 17 pounds now and who knows how long) that his feet were all but dangling over the edge of the bassinet. I was so sad at first. "Joe! This is how it all starts! One day he's moving into the crib and tomorrow he'll be moving out." Joe assured me that it wouldn't literally be tomorrow that Jonas would be moving out, and I breathed a sigh a relief.

One day at a time, that's my mantra. We've just got to enjoy each and every day with him. Just as these three months have flown by, so too will the next 18 years, I'm sure.