Gosh, time flies.  I think that each time I sit down to write these posts.  Jedidiah grows and changes so much each month that I can’t barely get it all down!  And once I’ve gotten it all down… I forget to publish it.  Like this post nearly 4 months later…

Here’s my feeble attempt at summarizing these three months.

General Observations:  In the past three months he has come so far!  He has learned how to dance (I think being around his cousins helped)- at church he loves to go up and twirl around with his hands raised in praise! It is one of the most beautiful sights!

Jedidiah has developed an affinity for small spaces.  He loves to crawl in and just hang out!

He loves animals and can identify MANY different ones (Where is the ___________?).  He knows cat, dog, horse, cow, sheep, pig, chicken, zebra, bird, gorilla, tiger, elephant, giraffe, camel, donkey, monkey, snake, and fish.  Jedidiah also attempts to make some animal noises and does “roar” (albeit timidly) and “neigh.”

Our son has developed a love for books and reading, and sometimes when he’s quiet, I’ll go in his room to see what he’s up to and low and behold, there he is with his Bible in his lap!  It’s the most precious thing!

But he’s pretty content to read just about anywhere!

He’s also started using the potty.  We weren’t full-on potty training but we did know that he usually had to pee in the morning, so we put him on the potty just to see what would happen.  We were successful more than not, and we thought that he was starting to understand the correlation between having to go potty and actually USING the potty.  We’re definitely not there yet, but we did have a break-through moment the other day when he went in and sat on his potty in his clothes.  I asked him if he needed to go potty and so I undressed him and put him on the toilet, and he went pee pee!  SUCCESS!!!  Now if we can just make this a HABIT!

Jedidiah’s daddy made him a little “chill” box with some pillows and a blanket and he really enjoyed going in there to “relax.”  He liked to sit in there and eat his puffs!

He has since upgraded to a real couch of his own, compliments of his Nana!

Body awareness: The kid knows most of his body parts and has taken a particular interest lately as to eyebrows and nostrils.  He LOVES to stick his fingers up our noses!  It’s gross, but he won’t be deterred.  He’s just super curious!  He can identify most facial features, toes, and hands in Spanish as well.  🙂

Jedidiah is also very helpful when he’s getting dressed.  I tell him “arms up” and he puts them up, I ask for his feet or hands or legs and he’s quick to respond.

Communication: His communication is improving daily and he is very good about “telling” us what he needs.  He is signing more and now signs for “eat” as well as for “milk,” “more” and “all done.”  We’re still working on “please” and “water.”

Jedidiah understands so much of what we tell him and he is quick to respond to commands.  “Please put that back,” “close that,” “open that,” “pick that up,” “give that to momma,” “go get your shoes…” which reminds me of a funny story.  We were over at Trent’s parents house and we were getting ready to leave.  I told Jedidiah to go get his shoes.  One shoe was VERY prominently sitting RIGHT in front of us on the coffee table and of course, we expected him to grab it and bring it right to us.  Instead he wandered off and we all thought, “Oh, well, he didn’t understand,” when much to our chagrin, he comes back around the corner with his OTHER shoe… Lord knows where it was!  But HE sure did!  And he absolutely knew what we were asking of him.  He can understand SO much of what we tell him!  It’s AMAZING!!!

Likes: BASKETBALL!!!  Goodness, he loves this game!  He’s so his momma’s boy!  *For the record, daddy loves b-ball too*  He can see a basketball or basketball hoop or basketball game from across the room and he gets SOOO excited about it!  I have one shirt in particular that I liked to wear when it was colder outside- it’s our team shirts from when we coached basketball in China, but every time I wear it, Jedidiah is constantly pointing to it!  One evening we went out to Momma Margie’s (a Mexican restaurant) and we sat down in a booth that just happened to have a basketball game going on right above it… the kid was in HEAVEN!  I think that was the most leisurely meal we’ve ever had out at a restaurant (at least since he’s been mobile).  He just sat there and WATCHED.  It was amazing.  He loves looking at basketballs in magazines- we spent nearly half an hour one morning going through a Tim Duncan tribute magazine.  Every page we turned he’d point to the ball.  We also spent a little bit of time visiting daddy at work.  He had to finish up his lunch duty so we joined him in the gymnasium (which is also their cafeteria).  The second we walked in, Jedidiah started “air-shooting” at each of the hoops that was up.  It was amazing to watch (he’s got great form too!).  It was like he was working on his shot the whole time!  The kids found that pretty entertaining (daddy and I did too).  He also has a basketball hoop outside that he loves to play with.

He is also still enthralled with the kitty cat!  He lights up any time he sees him and of course, chases after him shrieking with delight, which, in turn, sends the kitty cat running off, scared of the kid.  Jedidiah is really gentle with him though and the kitty cat will let him pet him if Trent or I are close by.  Jedidiah hasn’t quite grasped that the kitty cat doesn’t like to play with balls.  And since he’s always carrying one, he wants to throw it TO the kitty.  Despite having explained it time and time again, he simply doesn’t understand that the kitty doesn’t want to play with him.  Another cute thing he does is feed the cat.  He loves to give the kitty cat some food.  I let him dump the scoop of food in the kitty bowl, but he really wants to FEED the kitty.  He’ll pick up one little piece of cat food and walk after the cat trying to get him to eat it out of his hands.  I try to explain that one to him too… but someday he’ll get it.  The cat has a few holes that he can squeeze under to get underneath our fence and anytime he runs off, Jedidiah stands by the hole and squats “calling” for the kitty to come back.  It’s so cute to watch (and kind of sad too).  For now, the two of them are buddies but the cat is smart and keeps a safe distance from him!

Other than that, he still loves being outside and as always, he loves his acorns.  The best way to be out and about on a walk is to have at least one in each hand!

Another thing that keeps us laughing is this little game he loves to play when he gets in the car.  He just peeks around the car seat at Trent or myself and laughs and laughs.  He’ll hide, then pop up.  We’ll hide and then pop up.  It brings lots of giggles!

Milestones and Memorable Moments:

13th month:

• We celebrated our bubba’s FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!  I can’t believe it!  Eventually I’d like to write a post about how that went (he basically cried the whole time), but we still enjoyed the time with family and friends and were thankful that so many people joined us to celebrate our little guy turning one!
• We had a cake smash on his first birthday, and although it didn’t quite go as planned, we all had a good time!  You can check that post out if you’d like to read more.
• He said “horse” and whinnied like a horse (or at least tried to).  I had been watching Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (I LOVE that show) and it’s staged in the old west, so there were a bunch of horses running and Jedidiah got really excited and at first I didn’t know why, and then I realized what he was saying!  Horse!!!
• He got to go in a real train at a birthday party we attended for a friend of ours!
  

  

  
• He started to stab his own food with his fork.
• Jedidiah started turning off the lights by himself!
• During our family Thanksgiving, a TV box somehow turned into a nearly vertical climb.  Jedidiah and his cousin were walking up it.  It was pretty impressive because it was at such a steep angle!  At first Jedidiah just did it on his hands and feet, then he started walking up it straight up!  This kid is like a monkey!
• One morning while we were eating breakfast, Jedidiah handed me the other bib that was sitting next to him and made it clear that I was supposed to put it on.  He then fed me banana chunks!  He’s too funny!
• Daddy made this little box we had into a cozy little spot for Jedidiah- he just threw in a blanket and a few throw pillows and voila!  A perfect little hang out spot for our bubba!
• When we go grocery shopping at HEB, they give these little things called “Buddy Bucks” to the kids.  They get to put them into a machine and hit a button to earn points towards cool prizes.  Now Jedidiah is SO excited when he sees the machine!  Sometimes I have to remind him to be patient in the check out line and that we have to pay first before we can play.  But he LOVES to put the little dollar bills in and smack that button!
• He signed “thank you” and said “off.”
• We usually have a cabinet lock on our cabinets under the kitchen sink, but Jedidiah had been playing with it the day before.  Anyways, Trent yelled to ask me where it was and I yelled back (from the bathroom) that Jedidiah had been playing with it and that it was in our room by the pillows.  Shortly thereafter, I heard the pitter-patter of little feet running down the hallway, and low and behold, what did he come back with… the cabinet lock!  He somehow gathered all of that from “cabinet,” “room,” and “pillows.”  Amazing!!!
• He started giving mommy kisses!
• Of course, we visited daddy at work!
• Jedi has started to turn around backwards and back up into our laps to sit down.  It’s super sweet.  He loves to get a book and then back up and sit down in our laps to read.  One night it was hilarious, he grabbed a book and then turned around and proceeded to back up half-way across the room before he actually got to our laps!
• Jedidiah “cleans” on command.  We gave him a washcloth and then asked him to clean and he would get down and rub the floor!  He really does mimic what he sees!
• He started growling like a dinosaur or other animals (tiger, lion, bear…)
• He helped mommy bake cookies for daddy’s work, our small group gathering and to bring home to my family on our visit!

14th month:

• He kissed daddy for the first time!  We’re pretty sure it was the beard, but Jedi wasn’t big on kissing Trent.  He’d get close and then shy away, but again… the beard.  Finally he’s gotten past that and is giving his daddy sweet kisses too!
• He tried to put his stocking cap back on.  He gets it ON his head, just not OVER it!  It was very entertaining to watch him try though!
• His Popo taught him how to roll a ball.  One night he simply learned and then remembered!  He’s been doing it ever since!
• He started to sign “Milk.”
• He had been playing in my bathroom stuff and had pulled down a container of hair stuff out of my drawer.  He kept trying to put the hair binder in his hair!  It’s so amazing what they pick up on without you even noticing! So I obliged him and gave him his first ponytail!
  

  
• When I got a boo-boo, he came and kissed it!  Be still, my heart!!!
• Speaking of kisses, he spent one entire car ride practicing blowing kisses to himself in the mirror!
• He also comes to me if he gets a boo boo for kisses.
• He started smelling things- like his feet and plants.

• He blew bubbles in the tub!  We’ve been trying to get him to do that for months!  Like ever since he was 6 months old!
• New words this month were “kiss,” “feet,” and “fish.”
• Jedidiah got to play with his cousin (and trade food with her, give her water and her pacifier, and give her sweet kisses and hugs) and we got to spend a lot of time together as a family.
  

  

  
• Jedidiah got to experience snow… and go sledding!
  

  

  

  

  

…And spend some time with his great grandparents!

15th month:

• Jedidiah prays before meals with us and finally started doing what we call “praying hands.”  They don’t last very long, but we try to make our prayers pretty short so that it works out.  It’s really precious.  He does it at meal time and when we read his little prayer book before he goes to bed.
• He learned how to turn the lights ON! (off was much easier)
• He can now reach door knobs (although he can’t open the doors just yet)
• Jedidiah can climb up in a chair and turn himself around to sit down by himself (smaller chairs)
• Jedi got three more teeth this month!  Two upper molars and one more bottom tooth popped through, bringing his grand total to 9 teeth now.
• He started sleeping longer during the day!  There were a few times I got nearly 2 hours in the afternoon!!!  It hasn’t been consistently this way, but he is stretching out his naps to 45-50 minutes as opposed to the 30 they were before.
• He goes down slides sitting up now.  Before he would climb up but not know how to turn himself back around to sit up going down, so he would just go down face first (small slides), but now he can climb up, reposition himself in a sitting position and then slide down.
• We had cornered off a section of our yard using a trellis that we tipped on it’s side.  It had worked to keep him out of that area for a while, but alas, no longer.  We knew it wouldn’t be a long-term solution, but he’s figured out how to simply crawl right through (and he often tries to climb over it as well)
• One day I was outside raking these pesky berries that we have in our yard, and once I had my piles I raked them on to a trash can lid to carry to the composter.  Well… several weeks later, I was weeding and making piles of these, once again, pesky sticky weeds.  Jedidiah brought me the trash can lid!  It was amazing to me that he not only remembered what I had used it for (since the two events were weeks apart), but that he was thoughtful enough to try to help me!
• Jedidiah got a little bubble-blowing lawn mower from his Nana that he absolutely loves to push around our yard!
• Jedi has finally begun to figure out how to put the correct shapes through the lid of one of his toys.  For the longest time he would just take the top off and throw the shapes in the bucket, but now not only has he figured out that they are supposed to go through the top, he’s experimenting and exploring which shapes go where.

Events:

13th month:

• Jedidiah and daddy came to cheer me on in New Braunfels as I ran my fourth half-marathon!  It made my day to see my two boys waving to me as I rounded that last corner!  🙂
  

  
• Unfortunately we attended a funeral in Austin for a dear friend’s mother.  Jedidiah and I were happy to make the trip to support our friends Heather and Zach during this tough time and to celebrate Shelly’s life!  We let off balloons in her honor.
• We went to our local holiday parade.
• We visited Morgan’s Wonderland with Jedidiah’s grandparents and Aunt Katey, Uncle Nathan and his cousins!  He got to ride on his first ferris wheel and second carousel!  He also got to “drive” the cars.  🙂  He LOVED that!
  

  

  
  

  
• We went to see cousin Cohen’s winter performance at his school.  Jedidiah really enjoyed being around the bigger kids and exploring the classroom!
  

  
• Many of you have read about DeVoir Fitness studio in some of my older posts.  This is where I did Zumba for the majority of my pregnancy (at least once we got back from China).  Anyways, they had a holiday party, so I made sure that Jedidiah and I stopped by to see all the ladies!!!

14th month:

• Jedi joined mommy and daddy to go bring some supplies to the homeless on Christmas morning.
• We got to visit a stable and see the horsies up close and personal!  Jedidiah really liked them from far away, but was much more nervous up close.  He did pet them though!

• We visited Austin (twice) and met up with some good friends from China (again).  We were able to have lunch with Rachel, Nicole, AND Eunice!  What a blessing to still be able to be in touch with them!
• Jedidiah had his first experience with the Rainforest Café when we were in Dallas.  We were able to have dinner with some good friends there before flying to MN.
• We flew to Minnesota shortly after the holidays and spent a week with my family.  It was a wonderful trip!
• We finally ventured to the McKenna Children’s Museum in New Braunfels.  It is so cool and had so much for Jedidiah to do.  He just wanted to run around for the most part, but I can see him really enjoying it more as he gets a little bit older.
  

  

  

15th month:

• We participated in the Martin Luther King Jr. Walk right here in San Antonio.  It is one of the biggest walks in the country and it happens every MLK Jr. Day.  Last year about this time, Jedidiah was only a few months old and I remember that it was going to be a yucky day outside, so we opted not to go then.  But this year we braved the mist and uncertain weather with some good friends of ours and I’m really glad we did.  We definitely want Jedidiah to grow up as an advocate for justice and equality for ALL people.
  

  

  
• Trent and I took Jedidiah to two of the San Antonio missions one Saturday afternoon.  We visited Mission San Jose and Mission Concepcion, had a picnic lunch and enjoyed the beautiful day!
  

  

  
• February was the month of the Superbowl and we were lucky enough to be able to attend two different Superbowl parties!
• We went to the Asian Festival downtown to welcome in the year of the rooster!
  

  

  
• Since spending our time in China and Asia, we’ve taken to celebrating the lunar new year as well!  It’s been fun to get Jedidiah all dressed up in his official “China gear” and participate in these events!  Unfortunately, I don’t think he will get too many more wears out of this precious relic!
  

  

  

  
• We were invited to attend a free night at the DoSeum (the children’s museum in San Antonio) as part of a special event to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Parent Infant Program at the Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children.  A good friend of ours has a daughter who is hearing impaired- she’s one of Jedidiah’s buddies!  She and her husband invited us and another good friend and her daughter along.  We had a great time exploring the museum and playing with each other!
  

  

  Jedidiah and I went to the Snake Farm for the first time! For those who don’t know, the Snake Farm is like a mini zoo just outside of San Antonio.  We went with our good friends Vanessa and Elizabeth.  They have a petting zoo and everything!  Jedi really liked feeding the animals!  He did really good until the llama stole the entire food bag and ran off with it.

  

  
  

  

  We went to a mini Star Wars Comic-con/rodeo day at the Wonderland of the Americas.  We saw notices for it in a Facebook ad for fun, free things to do with kids on the weekend.  Well, we like Star Wars… and we like the rodeo, so we decided to give it a try!  We donned our Star Wars gear and headed out.  We enjoyed the rodeo part the most- there was a petting zoo and Jedidiah even got to ride his first pony!  He loved that!!!  Inside, there were booths selling Star Wars stuff, but there were also several people in costume.  One of which was Chewbacca.  We decided to try to get a shot of the boys together and we discovered… Jedi is TERRIFIED of Chewy.  No amount of reasoning could calm him down and the poor kid looked over his shoulder for the rest of the time there!

  

  

  
  

  

  Last, but not least, a day before he turned 15 months, we celebrated Valentine’s Day.  I did a mini photo shoot for Trent so that he’d have some cute photos to put up at work.  Here are two of my faves!

  

  
• He also made this cute LOVE print at the library.  ❤

  There is likely stuff I’ve forgotten to write down or record here, as we have been busy (as always), but we are so very thankful for this little boy and the JOY he brings to our lives on a daily basis!!!