John's Latest

John is in such a fun stage of development! The rate of his vocabulary production just started to explode, and I LOVE it! He tries to repeat most short words and phrases now, and although most utterances sound only vaguely similar, I absolutely love that he tries. He recently added many new words: non (John, so cute, points to self and smiles), wawuh (water), mio (milk), truck, bowl, bath, bubbles, noo (more...), amen, up, bye, see ya, heddo (hello), baby, buh (book), boh (blocks), dio (dino), choo, appuh (apple), stawbeh (strawberries), nana (banana), nane (Jane), Papa, Gama, beah (bear),

Nemo, Dumbo, Mi-ee Mouh (Mickey Mouse), how (help), and ahhh duh (all done), and I'm sure a few more I'm forgetting now. He loves singing songs with motion (Wheels on the Bus, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, etc.), and cues me to start singing all the time. It's fun to see how much enjoyment he gets out of knowing he can communicate, huge smiles and happy eyes.

Other loves: the iPad, chocolate (out of control, always his first snack suggestion), fruit, chicken nuggets, slides, swings, books, bubbles, puzzles, Playdoh, trains, dinosaurs, Elmo, Mickey Mouse, and wanting to do everything that Matt and I do.

He's also regularly testing discipline and physical boundaries, so that's fun trying to be consistent :)

Part of the physical boundaries exploration- climbing inside of just about anything. Again, I try to be a consistent parent, but sometimes I can't resist and I run and grab the camera:

Helping me pack (house staging)

Helping put away toys

Again, after putting away toys

And laundry baskets are the most irresistible of all!

Finally, John's mastered most animal sounds. It's the best way to distract him in the car, while changing diapers, or any time he's upset. Here's a great video of him from Christmas, when he was first getting the hang of the elephant sound:

I sure love this little boy! He brightens and fills every day with exploration and a genuine penchant for happiness.