Jo Turns Two!

My baby turned two! Because we've been so sick all week, her birthday photos and update are two days late. This is the story of Jo's life. Being the baby in the family, she has to go along with everything! She's very easy going and puts up being shuffled around when we head to all of Oliver's activities and classes. Joanna hasn't really taken classes herself yet. It seemed so important to get Oliver involved in classes as a little one, but that was because he got almost no socialization with other kids at home. Jo has Oliver. Sometimes, they are best friends. Other times, they aren't. Oliver likes to act as Jo's parent, and, sometimes, Jo just wants him to leave her alone.

Joanna is very talkative and verbal. There would be no possible way to try to keep track of how many words she speaks. Hundreds, if not thousands. She has been speaking in two-word phrases from about 18 months old, and she sings numerous songs like the ABCs and "Hickory Dickory Dock" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." It floors me how verbal she is.

She really, really loves music videos, just like Oliver did. She comes up to us all the time and asks for videos by name, "Monsters? Monster video?" or "Ernie? Elmo? Grover? Sesame Street?" We have to really work at limiting her screen time. Books work well to redirect her. Jo loves all of her Sesame Street books, but her favorite book is called, "Once Upon a Potty."

Speaking of potties, Jo is somewhat potty trained. During the day, at home, I keep her pants off, and she almost always does her business in the potty. She cheers for herself when she goes. She doesn't stay dry over nap time yet. I still have to put her in diapers when we go out. I think she associates having pants on with having a diaper because, if I put her pants on at home, she then has an accident. She toddles up to me and says, "Uh-oh, I had an accident." It's adorable.

Jo gets away with a lot because she's just so funny. She'll walk up to Oliver's bucket of pasta and throw it everywhere while yelling, "IT'S A MESS!" and all I can do is laugh. I feel like we're a lot easier on her than we were with Oliver, but she also lacks all the one-on-one time that Oliver got as a little one. I think that's a big part of the reason that she's not completely potty trained. We always have to go out and do something, and so we stick her in a diaper and head out.

Jo is still babied a lot and carried a lot. She loves to cuddle. One of her favorite ways of asking to cuddle is to walk up to one of us, lift her arms up, and coo, "Oooooh, baby girl!" I know I need to be better about encouraging her to head off on her own and play, but it's hard doing that, knowing she's my last little baby.

A funny trait about Jo is she's very organized. She enjoys putting stuff away, stacking things, and lining stuff up perfectly. She received blocks as a birthday gift from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Larry, and she spends probably an hour a day stacking them and lining them up.

I let my kids choose for themselves what kind of activities they like. For example, Oliver loves baking and all things electric (appliances, tools, etc). Joanna loves nature and spooky things. She loves dirt and rocks. Over Halloween, we got really into stuff like monsters, pumpkins, and spiders. She squeals with glee at a picture of a spider. In fact, when she plays with her foam letters, she gets them all right... but she calls the letter S a "spider." Currently, one of her favorite things to hold around the house is a package of Kraft Mac & Cheese with a picture of a monster on it (from the "Monsters University" movie). She was thrilled every time we went to the grocery store because they had banners of spiders hanging from the ceiling for Halloween.

Animal sounds are another favorite of Jo's. She enjoys picking up each of her stuffed animals and making their sound. The cutest is when she trumpets for the elephant. She's getting into some pretend play now, and she has her stuffed animals help eat her food, and sometimes they give her or each other kisses. As you can tell from the photos above, her fox is still her most beloved treasure. We found the fox after ordering a replacement a few months ago. She's very happy to have her friend with her, especially at nap time.

We still haven't even entertained the idea of switching her to a toddler bed. She's never tried to climb out of her crib, so we'll probably wait until we get relocated and acclimated to a permanent home.

At two years old, here are a list of Jo's likes and dislikes:

Likes
*Her stuffed animal, Box the Fox
*Her book, Once Upon a Potty, with Prudence
*Ernie (from Sesame Street)
*monsters
*pumpkins
*spiders
*rocks
*pine cones
*blocks
*Dad
*baths
*Mom
*Oliver
*helping Oliver push the button on the coffee grinder
*closing the garage door when Grandma Judy leaves in the morning
*getting a treat after she goes potty
*Thomas (the train)
*children's music videos
*seeing other babies around
*stickers
*stuffed animals
*dinosaurs
*candles (even the LED kind)

Dislikes
*Getting food on her hands
*Spilling water/milk on her clothes
*Being told, "No."
*When Oliver plays with her blocks
*Public toilets

Happy First Birthday, Jo!

So, somehow, an entire year has passed since Jo's birth. I don't know how where the time has gone, but I suddenly find myself surrounded by not one but two mischievous kids that keep me on my toes, worn out, and laughing.

Joanna is such a sweet little girl. She's (almost) always smiling and loves to talk and babble to us. She lights up when she sees Oliver or when Dad comes home from work. She plays jokes. She grabs people's shoes and puts them on her hands, and then she crawls over to us and laughs. She loves playing peek-a-boo. She likes to grab her nose and my nose at the same time as if to say, "Look, Mom, we both have noses."

She is quite the talker for being 12 months old. Jo seriously has a list of words. They are: Gesundheit, more, Mom, Dad, bye, hi, and fan. Of course, she points and claps and waves and cheers. She's very interactive.

She hasn't taken her first steps yet. She sometimes stands without holding onto things, but she doesn't do it intentionally yet. She crawls up the stairs but has no fear of falling backwards. She likes being held and carried everywhere, and I can only get her to ride in the grocery cart if I give her an object to examine and distract her first (usually a leaf).

As of last night, Jo is officially weaned. I thought I'd be so happy to have my body back--the first time in nearly four years that I'm not pregnant or breast feeding. Instead, I feel a little wistful. Jo just grew up so quickly! She drinks whole milk now and eats lots of food. Jo is not picky and loves to eat. It seems like she's eating all the time!

Sleep is going well after a bit of a rough patch a couple weeks ago. Jo goes to bed around 7pm and sleeps until nearly 6am. She sometimes wakes up once around midnight and fusses for about 20 minutes. During the day, she naps once or twice but not for very long (maybe 45 minutes). Sometimes, I can get her to sleep a little longer on my shoulder after she wakes up from her naps.

At 1 year old, here is a list of Joanna's likes and dislikes:

Likes
*Bath time
*Milk
*Watching Oliver do fun things, like run through leaves
*Leaves
*Being held
*Pointing to things and having us tell her what those things are called
*Food (her favorite is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, diced)
*Watching me do the alphabet song in ASL

Dislikes
*Being put down
*When Oliver takes a toy away from her
*The car seat
*Diaper changes

Joanna is 11 Months Old

This little stinker just keeps growing up! Joanna is 11 months old today. We've started to plan her first birthday party, and I'm flabbergasted that her first year is coming to a close.

Joanna has a sense of humor. She loves to do things like pretend she's going to share her food with us, only to snatch it back at the last second and crack up. She also purses her lips together and says, "MMmm," for a kiss. When we move in for a smooch, she shoves us away and laughs hysterically. These are very funny jokes to Jo.

Joanna is good at communicating with us these days. She's learned the word "more" and points to whatever she wants and says, "More." Her first word was actually "Gesundheit," which she spoke on her 10 month birthday. She also says, "Mom." I cannot believe that she can say three words. It's crazy! She's also practicing new sounds, including a lot of S noises.

She's down to two nursings a day, one in the morning and one at night. She sleeps through the night most nights, and she falls asleep for her naps all by herself (I just put her in the crib).

Jo crawls everywhere. Although she's pulling up to a stand more often, she's still not very keen on it. She really only stands when she wants something, like to see inside the bathtub. She walks while I hold her up, but she doesn't walk on her own at all--not even while holding onto furniture. She also hasn't started climbing the stairs yet. Basically, I'm saying that our lives will become a little more difficult in the coming months as she chooses to do those things.

She loves food. She eats entire jars of baby food and baby yogurt, and she also loves chowing down on crackers, Cheerios, and other finger foods. Her favorite "real" foods are diced peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cheese quesadillas (I smear baby food on the inside of the tortilla to give her veggies).

At 11 months old, these are the things Jo likes and dislikes:

Likes
*Daddy coming home
*Nursing
*Being held, especially by Mommy
*Water--baths, the pool, the shower, anything water-related
*Food
*Tastes of peanut butter
*Playing her jokes on us
*Grabbing Mommy's hair
*Lego Duplo blocks

Dislikes
*Her winter coat
*The "snuffy" (nasal aspirator)
*Hats
*The car seat
*Prunes
*Bananas

10 Month Old Jo

Joanna has done some growing up this month. She's starting to act a little more like a toddler and a little less like a babe. It tugs at my heart strings to see how quickly she's growing, but I also enjoy some of her independence.

After we put them in the same room at night, Oliver and Jo woke each other up regularly. That seems to have settled down now. Jo regularly sleeps through the night from about 8pm to 6:30am. She'll occasionally get up once around 4am, but we just let her fuss and whine for about 15 or 20 minutes, and she goes back to sleep.

She's still at the cusp of wanting just one nap a day. She wants to nap around 10am daily, and that's awkward because she wakes up at 11:30am. It's hard for her to make it all the way to bed time, but she's not ready for another nap until evening. Hopefully, she'll get the one-nap-a-day thing figured out soon!

We've recently started working with Jo to eat more solid foods. Instead of just Cheerios and Puffs as finger foods, I now grate and steam thin pieces of carrot for her (until it's soft). I also scramble egg yolks for her, and, when the cool off, I break the eggs into bite size pieces and let her eat them like finger foods. We're working a little bit on biting off pieces of larger food items. She'll take little bites of strawberries, although I have to be supervising her so she doesn't shove the whole berry in her mouth. She also eats Mum-Mums by herself.

Weaning is going OK. She nurses when she wakes up and before bed, as well as one to two times during the day. She has a cold right now, so she's frequently nursing twice during the day. Once she's over her cold, I'm going to cut out the middle of the day nursings. She sips water from a drinking cup while I hold it, and she is able to drink from a sippy cup by herself. I pull the little plastic piece out that is supposed to prevent spills because I want her to learn to drink and not suck.

Joanna is crawling all over the place. She stands while holding onto things but has no fear of falling. She simply lets go when she's done and gets mad if she falls too hard. She'll learn to drop safely to a sit soon, right? Joanna is working on pulling to a stand, but, so far, she just pulls up onto her knees.

She still loves mimicking. She's also responding well to some words. She understands a number of words I say, including Jo, stand, milk, more, nose, hi, and Oliver. Of course, she's not saying words of her own yet, but she lets us know how she's feeling. When she's upset, she babbles to us about all her grievances. When Oliver takes a toy from her, she lets our piercing squeals. When she's happy, she coos and grabs our faces.

At 10 months old, here is a list of Jo's likes and dislikes:

Likes
*Nursing
*Baths
*Strawberries
*Oliver's music videos
*The bathroom
*Lego Duplo blocks
*The flashlight
*Grabbing yarn when Mommy knits
*Oliver
*Fleece jammies
*Oliver's Guess Who, Abby? Sesame Street book
                                                                                                           

Dislikes
*Being put down on the floor
*Bananas
*The car seat
*When Oliver takes her toys away

Rewind to Oliver's 10 month update

Nine Months for Jo!

Nine months in the womb, and nine months out.  Joanna is her own person.  She has gotten interactive and loves to play little games with us.  She initiates peek-a-boo, and she loves a game that Grandma Colleen taught her: you lean forward, and then she leans forward to touch her forehead to yours.  Repeat that over and over and over again.  She enjoys mimicking, and we alternate drumming on surfaces.

Jo's language is developing a bit more.  Her favorite sound to make is still "Bwa," but she also says, "Mumumum," a lot.  Shrieking has started back up again, louder and shriller than ever before.  She coos a lot, too.  She still enjoys waving and being social.

She has a new appreciation for her brother.  Oliver is the funniest person, as far as Jo is concerned.  She loves reaching for him and pulling on his hair and ears--and he lets her!  Oliver is such an amazing brother, that I'm tearing up just thinking about it.  I really lucked out with these kids. They absolutely adore each other.

Weaning seems to work two steps forward and one step back.  She was down to three daily feeds and one night feeding when her top teeth started to come in. Boy, she didn't like those! After both of those teeth popped through (she has four now), she went back to 3 daily nursings and one nighttime nursing. Then, last week, we decided to cut out the night nursing for good. Jo has done really well with that change, but--wouldn't you know?--she got sick a few days ago. She's had a moderate fever and diarrhea. She doesn't seem to want to eat or drink much, so I've been nursing her for extra feedings to keep her hydrated. Over the past few days, she's been nursing about 5-6 times during the day. Wow! Hopefully, things will settle down to get back on track to having her weaned at 12 months old.

As far as solid foods go, Joanna still loves her Gerber sweet potato puffs.  I also toast some whole grain bread for her and scrape a very thin layer of peanut butter over it.  I cut it into thin strips and let her eat those.  She loves it!  Cheerios are another good standby for Jo, but I have to feed her those one at a time. Otherwise, she just shoves them all into her mouth at once, and I have to fish them out. She usually enjoys a jar or two of baby food each day, too.

There's been one more big change: Joanna is now sharing a room with her brother.  I have my living room back!  It's so cute to step into Oliver's room and see him sleeping on his mattress and Jo sleeping in the crib across from him.  I love it.  Sleep is getting much better, too!  Jo wakes up at night once, and Andrew goes into to pat her and comfort her (instead of me nursing her back to sleep).  It usually takes about 20 minutes or so, but she eventually falls back to sleep. She seems to want to go to bed earlier and earlier. These days, we fight to keep her up until 7pm. She's usually up by 6am. She usually takes one short nap and one long nap during the day. Unfortunately, they're usually just before and just after Oliver's afternoon nap. I look forward to when she's napping once a day so we're not trapped at home so much.

Joanna still doesn't stand well while holding onto things.  Well, she will, but when she gets tired, she just hurls herself to the floor without a worry in the world. She doesn't pull up to a stand and actually has yet to pull herself into a sit. She does, however, easily move out of a sit and into the crawl position. She doesn't work much on crawling. Instead, she cries until we sit her back up. Crawling might not happen for a couple more months yet.

At 9 months old, Jo's likes and dislikes are:

Likes
Oliver!
Dumping over buckets of toys
Being held
Grabbing people's hair and noses (still!)
Peek-a-boo
Oliver's Sesame Street music videos
People who stop to smile at her

Dislikes
Diaper changes
The car seat
Heat
Being put down on the floor
Teething

Here's a flashback to Oliver's 9 month old update.

8 Months Old

Joanna Banana is 8 months old today. She's modeling an adorable little dress that I found at a garage sale for just 50 cents!

I'm in awe that we're 8 months into her first year, and we only have 4 more months to go until her first birthday.

Our little Jo has learned to wave.  She likes to wave at people from her seat in the grocery store shopping cart.  Actually, it's difficult to get very far in the grocery store.  People gravitate to her.  They love to coo and her and play with her feet.  She hams it up for people, too, by laughing and babbling at them with her big smile.  She loves to smile, and she occasionally acts bashful and hides her face from view of strangers.  She'll touch her finger tip to yours, and she bangs toys together.

Jo's working hard at learning to crawl, but hasn't had much success with it yet.  She kicks her feet and pulls with her arms.  Sometimes, she inches forward a bit.  Sometimes, she pushes herself backwards.  Most often, she just moves her body in a circle.  Joanna stands very well when I support her with her hands.  She has done this for months now, but I try not to practice it too much.  I really want her to crawl before she walks!

She is very vocal.  Her favorite sounds to make are still "B" and "M" sounds.  She still makes lots of grunting noises, and she likes to try to yell over anything loud.

Jo's warmed up a lot to her brother.  When she sees him, she smiles, and she usually laughs when he hugs her.  Oliver loves it when he can make her laugh and announces, "She's laughing!"

I'm already working hard at weaning Jo.  She's currently down to 5 nursings a day, and I hope to cut out her night time feeding this month to bring her down to 4 nursings a day.  Jo eats mostly jars of baby food, as that's what we get from WIC, and I can usually get her to eat a whole jar in a feeding these days.  Jo usually eats two jars of food a day, and then I give her a meal of finger foods, like Cheerios.  We've given Jo small amounts of peanut butter now, and she's done well with it.  I simply toast a piece of bread, and then I scrape a scant amount of peanut butter over the surface.  I dice the toast up into teeny pieces, and I give them to Jo a couple pieces at a time.  Jo loves finger foods, and she would shove them all into her mouth at once if allowed.

Sleep is going OK.  Jo naps one to two times a day.  Usually, she gets one good nap in, which lasts about 45 minutes long.  Sometimes, she surprises us by napping for an hour and a half.  She sleeps from about 8pm to 6am, getting up once to nurse.  I put her back to bed awake, which causes her to cry.  We now let her cry in her Pack 'N Play, and Andrew and I alternate going to her to soothe her every 10 to 15 minutes with soothing words and pats.  It takes about 45 minutes for her to go back to sleep on her own like that.

At 8 months old, these are Joanna's likes and dislikes:

Likes:
*Examining toys
*Banging toys together
*Opening and closing the oven door in Oliver's play kitchen set
*Eating finger foods, especially Gerber sweet potato puffs
*Air conditioning at the grocery store
*Being held
*Grabbing people's faces
*Pulling out grass and shoving it into her mouth for Mom to fish out
*Water (this includes splashing at the sink faucet, taking a bath, "swimming," or just drinking sips of tap water)

Dislikes:
*Long car rides
*Seeing someone walk away from her (especially Mommy)
*The heat

(Flashback to Oliver's 8 Month Post)