Young master Johnathan is approaching his first birthday, and I am in complete denial. My baby is getting big! He continues to be a pure joy, and is happy 99% of the time. He has mastered the art of crawling, and he propels himself any and everywhere he wants to go. He will crawl the fastest and is the most satisfied with himself either getting to me or into his brothers' room. In Matt & Will's room, he usually heads straight for the drum set. He'll pick up a drum stick and start beating away. He's not even phased by the ear-piercing volume and ferocity with which Will beats those drums. He will stand right next to him and tap away with his drum stick.
He is still a really good eater and will eat most of what I put in front of him. I made some lasagna not long ago, and he went to town on it. He gobbled up the leftovers for days after that too. He loves fruit, cheese, pasta, my greek yogurt, and meatballs. What is truly annoying about his eating habits though is he will rake his arm across his tray in one quick, swiping motion sending food flying off his tray and onto the floor. So naughty. He does this when he is either done or he is dissatisfied with what is in front of him. Or he will flap both arms up and down slapping his tray, which has the same food flying on the floor effect. The best though is his excited kicking legs that thrash about while he waits for me to prep his food. He now has 4 teeth: 2 on top, 2 on bottom.
He has learned how to pull up on pretty much any and everything. He likes to stand on his tippy toes, which is very much like myself. He's getting more solid on his feet, but is nowhere near walking. I'm good with that. He does like to push around the little kid chairs we have. And, he is really good at pushing things around on his knees, like the old push car, Matt & Will's cars and trucks, and even the vacuum cleaner.
He is, however, fully into the naughty business. Steven says that his name now is JohnnyNO. He has figured out what things are no no's, and he visits them every single day. He's still pushing the Playstation power button on and off, he pulls on the floor lamp, he gets into kitchen things, he's discovered he can pull down the board games, he'll dump out the Uno cards, he'll unzip the Bananagrams pouch and eat the tiles, and he'll pull down all the library books and magazines and fold up the pages. And so, the cabinet locks have made their third appearance. This guy reminds me more of Matthew who loved to pull everything out and open every cabinet. To say he is busy would almost be an understatement. This kid has things to do.
He teamed up with Will recently, and together they pulled out all the bath toys from under the sink. The beginnings of a very naughty team I'm afraid.
Will loves his baby brother and can sometimes be a little suffocating. Poor Johnny will be crawling somewhere, and along comes Will either pulling on one of his little scooting feet or plain steamrolling him. J gets so frustrated.
Everywhere we go this boy is the life of the party. He smiles adoringly at anyone who will glance his way, and will full on belly laugh if you engage with him in the tiniest way. You would think he's starving for attention, but that's not the case. I drop him off at the gym and at church and people ask me if he is always this happy? Well, yes. Most of the time. He's a very content kid and is very entertained with all that is going on here. Matt & Will are a lot to take in.
He loves to clap just like Will did at the same age. Even at weird times...like in the morning when I nurse him we will switch sides, and in the transition he will sit up and clap. It's hilarious. His favorite, though, is peek-boo. He can't get enough of it, and it is the most fun game he's ever played by the look of sheer joy on his face. When I buckle him in the carseat he will pull down the shade (you have to say, "Where's Johnny??")and he will start to giggle and then pull it up and just laugh. And then when I have him all wrapped up in his hooded towel after he gets out of the bath he will pull the towel over his face and giggle. He's always up for some peek-a-boo. He busts it out at mealtimes too in the high chair. He'll put both hands on top of his head, and if you copy what he's doing he thinks it's hysterical. So, at least three times a day, I'm cleaning food out of his hair now.
Dressing him or changing his diaper is a time intensive wrestling match. He rolls over immediately and tries to escape. While giggling. I can distract him for a few seconds with a toy or whatever else is within my reach like a lotion bottle or diaper cream tube. And then he rolls over. Since he was born he's watched Will race cars on the couch, and now Johnny is joining in the fun as well. He will grab a car and put it on the couch, pull up, and roll it back and forth making raspberry sounds for his realistic car sound effects. He does interrupt Will's races now, and he is none to happy about that. J has ended up tumbling to the floor more than once due to Will shoving him. Poor #3.
This boy is a delight. I am soaking up all his sweet babyness while I can. He's becoming more and more like a toddler everyday.
