I love to stand here and play with the belts on my booster seat. Right now I'm showing Daddy how to do it, and he's making me smile.
The Belt Game
Playing with Daddy
Don't stop! Ohhh, that tickles! Don't stop!
You are going to let me get the camera this time, right?
Jimmy
Here I am with my big buddy, Jimmy. He is showing me this cool bead thing.
Jimmy is big enough to be pretty amazing, but small enough that I know he's still a kid and I don't get separation anxiety from him. I think Jimmy is just great.
Here I'm playing with Jimmy's dad, John. We found some guys just like us in this mirror, and they're a lot of fun. Jimmy and John live with four other people-Jimmy's mom and sisters and brother-and together, we had a great time.
Family
Here I am with my daddy's family. This is Daddy's daddy, then Daddy, then Uncle Jamie. Down on the bench are Daddy's Mommy, Mommy and me, and Aunt Michelle, who is Daddy's sister. Confusing, huh? Luckily, I don't have to remember that stuff. I just call them Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt and Uncle. They all love me!
Here it is! My new walking toy from Grandma and Grandpa. 
I love buttons, and Grandpa has some on his shirt for me to touch.
Hello?
Yeah, they're letting me play with hangers, too!!!
Here's my new telephone from Uncle Jamie and Aunt Michelle. Mommy had one just like it when she was a little girl, and she used to call someone named "Oklahoma" on it. Mommy must have been a silly kid!
How to have a birthday
Since I got to see some of my relatives at Thanksgiving that I won't see on my birthday, they thought it would be fun to give me an early birthday party. That sounded good to me! Since I got to practice, I'll know how to do it right when the real day comes along.
They let me do some fun things I'm never allowed to do, like tear paper. (I'm about to start in this picture.) I loved that! They also put a little fire right in front of me! I didn't think that was so smart, but they put it out right away-thank goodness. After that, they let me touch something gooey called "cake." I wasn't sure about how it felt, so I knocked it onto the floor. They gave it back to me, and I pushed it away again. I just was not into the cake.
The great thing about a practice birthday was that I got some new toys. Mommy and Daddy have really not figured out that I am a big boy, but Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Jamie and Aunt Michelle have. They gave me some great toys! They also gave me some clothes and pajamas, and my buddy Graham even gave me a book about my favorite thing: dogs. Thanks, everybody, for all the great gifts!
First Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! I just had my very first one. Mommy and Daddy and I drove a long, long way (and saw Graham in the middle) so that we could see my grandma and grandpa and Aunt Michelle and Uncle Jamie. I really liked seeing my relatives, but there were lots of other strange people I didn't know, and I got kind of scared. Mommy and Daddy call it "separation anxiety." I say, I'm hanging onto Mommy and Daddy, and I need my personal space!
Lots of things happened on this trip. I learned to point, to wave "hi" to Daddy, and even to "cruise" a tiny bit. (That means I can take steps while I hold onto something.) I think my favorite thing I learned to do was to stand up in my pack-n-play. That's where I did all my sleeping on this trip. I also learned how to take off my overalls. The funny thing is, I learned how to stand up AND how to take off my overalls during the very same naptime, so it took me a long, long time to fall asleep. I was really too busy to think about how tired I was...at first.
Mommy and Daddy say that Thanksgiving is a time to thank God for what he gives to us, so I'll tell you what I'm most thankful for: cats. I met lots of cats this weekend at different people's houses, and I just love them...almost as much as dogs. My favorite thing about a cat is touching its nose. So, thank you, God, for cats!
Here are Graham and me with our families. Our mommies and daddies were good friends for a long time before we were born. Mommy and Daddy say that they had a lot of fun adventures together before we came, but I really can't imagine what they did for fun without us. I'm so thankful that God helped our parents meet each other so that Graham and I could be friends, too!
A quick visit with Graham
Mommy and Daddy and I took a long road trip this weekend. And right in the middle of it, I got to see my good buddy, Graham. He's bigger now and can do lots more fun stuff. And, guess what! He has a new cousin! Here I am with Graham and his cousin, Davis.
(I don't have any cousins, but I want some! Mommy says I have to wait for my aunts and uncles to give me some.)
Graham has this cool toy in his mouth...
Learning the Language
The last couple of days have been pretty amazing. I've told you before how I have parents who, unfortunately, don't speak baby. And of course, I don't speak much "parent" yet, either! But, we are all making progress.
Mommy has been trying to teach me to show her with my hands when I want to eat or drink or when I'm all done. I haven't done much of that signing stuff, but she is really getting the hang of figuring out my noises and gestures. She's getting a lot quicker at giving me what I want at mealtimes. It makes them a lot more enjoyable for me!
I've been getting better at understanding what Mommy and Daddy are saying. When they say, "Jonathan, where is the ball?" I can go get the ball. And-Mommy and I did this one to show off for Daddy tonight-when Mommy says, "Jonathan, where are your toes?" I touch my toes to show where they are. Daddy and Mommy both got pretty excited about that one.
Even though we are all making a lot of progress, there is still so much to learn...and so much to teach Mommy and Daddy. I bet we will spend our whole lives learning to understand each other.
Sunday
Here I am with my family at church. We are all pretty happy to be here. I get to go play with the kids and sing songs about God, and Mommy and Daddy go with the grownups and sing songs about God, too. Sometimes I get a little nervous being with the kids without Mommy and Daddy, but there are some nice ladies who hold me until I feel better. They show me the fun toys that we don't have at our house. On good days, I get to see Elise and Emma Claire and Caleb. Then, just around the time I think I'm done playing, Mommy and Daddy come to get me.
Skills
I am having so much fun trying out my new skills. I like to practice pulling up on the couch and then falling back down. And, with the tiniest boost from Mommy, I climbed into a soft chair today. Ooh, there was so much fun stuff to see back in the corner behind it! Mommy carried me away before I had time to see all of it.
The most fun to be had is in my bed. Maybe I'll never sleep again. I like to pull up and chew on my crib rail, and I LOVE to pull up and slap the animals painted on my wall. Then I have to talk about it. I'm a big boy now, and I don't need naps anymore. Mommy and Daddy can read stories to me, and they can sing songs to me, but they can't make me lay down and sleep. Yahoo!
I have my own agenda
You might remember that back at my nine-month checkup, the doctor was worried because I hadn't pulled myself up to standing yet. (In fact, I wasn't even interested.) He wanted Mommy and Daddy to bring me back in at ten months if I still wasn't pulling up. Well, of course, Mommy got really worried and talked to lots of people and read lots of baby books and websites, because that's what Mommy does, and Daddy didn't worry about it much, because that's what Daddy does. You might also remember that at my ten-month photo shoot, I was standing at the couch playing with the remote control. (Ahhh...still a dream come true!) But, you know that I didn't put myself there. Anyway, here's a picture of what I was doing in my room tonight while I had both my parents' full attention:
This wagon is the perfect place to stand up and play-when I want to. What nobody thought of (but me) is that I am the firstborn, and I have my own agenda. I'm not going to do things just because of a baby book or a doctor-I'll do them when and how I want to. And, now is when I want to pull up! The funny thing is, both Mommy and Daddy are firstborns, too, so you'd think they would have realized this. Anyway, with all the firstborns in our own house, there's probably going to be a lot of conflict in my life about whose agenda goes around here. (Luckily I'm cute enough to be pretty convincing.)
You might be wondering how my croup is doing. I'm feeling a little better-I'm not coughing as much, and I'm jabbering almost as much as usual, but I'm still pretty snotty and need a lot of sleep. I'll do my best to get all the way better, and I'll tell you when that happens.
Sweet sleep
The picture you see down below is from yesterday. Yesterday was not very fun, except for a long bath and a long walk in my stroller. If you know me very well, you know I don't cry much unless I have a really good reason, so you can see that I just wasn't myself.
But, last night was a little better. I slept a lot better than the night before (with less coughing) and this morning, Mommy let me sleep in so that my body could heal while I sleep. Normally I wake up at the same time every day, so this sleeping in is a strange thing for me! Maybe today will be a better day, and I won't feel so yucky. Then maybe Mommy will let me see my friends soon.
Crummy croup
Happy 11-month birthday to me...sort of. It's not very happy right now because I have croup. Ick. There are tears coming out of my eyes and snot coming out of my nose and coughing-lots of coughing-coming out of my mouth. It's no fun at all. Mommy usually does a big photo shoot of me on the 10th of every month, and I thought it might be fun to escape that for once, but I was wrong. I'd much rather take a million pictures than have croup. And, to make matters worse, I can't visit any of my little buddies right now because I might give them my cough. I don't want to do that, but I'm kind of lonely.
Here is a picture of me in the one place I'm happy today: the tub. Maybe I'll take lots of baths today instead of doing the other playtime things that I usually do. Playing anywhere else is just not very fun today.
I'll just try to look forward to my next month-birthday, which will be my one-year birthday. Then I'll get to learn what cake is and rip paper and play with boxes. I'll be a big boy! Hopefully I won't still be coughing...
Last new buddy for awhile
Here's the post you've been waiting for: news of my last new buddy to be born for awhile. His name is Spike, and he was born on Tuesday, and he weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz. Mommy and Daddy and I can't wait to meet him. (Mommy says that when all of us are old enough to go to school, all of the little boys are going to wish they had names as cool as Spike!) All six of my recently-born buddies- Nathan, Maximus, Katherine, Jamey, Olivier, and Spike, were "due" within one month, but it actually took about two months between Nathan, who was first, and Spike, who was last. (I don't know what "due" really means because we come whenever we're ready!) I'm so thankful that God made lots of babies around my age so I'll have lots of friends to play with as I grow, and that they all made it here safely!
Here I am playing my new favorite game: the Spool Game. You might notice that my eyes are all wet. That's because I was crying the moment before this, but I got over it pretty fast. The more important thing is these spools in my hands. They belonged to my great-great-grandma, and then Mommy, and now me.
Here's how you play the spool game: You take the spools and bang them together. You can also crawl around with one in each hand, or you can put them in your mouth. It's my favorite new game!
Just a year ago
About a year ago, Mark Jackson took this picture for Mommy and Daddy. It's a picture of me, but I'm still in Mom's tummy. (How did I fit in there?) Mommy and Daddy love to think back on all that's happened in the past year, and how much better our life is now that all three of us are together. I like to think about all of us together, too, except that I don't really remember the part while I was still inside Mommy. It looks like a pretty small home-I'm glad to be out here!
(This photo was used by permission and can be found at http://www.mainstreetstudios.net/php/gallery_list.php?cat=3&page=6.)
Our First Fall
I had the best afternoon today. I got to be outside for a long time with Mommy and Daddy, and we took lots of pictures with trees because the trees are not green right now. They are red and orange and yellow, and their leaves are all falling off, so we had to take their pictures. But, the reason I had such a great afternoon is that we found Emma Claire and her mommy and daddy out taking pictures, too. Does everyone who has a baby go out and take pictures all the time like we do? Anyway, Emma Claire and I got to play in the leaves together for a long time.
Emma Claire wanted to eat all of the leaves. I tried to tell her that I had already eaten leaves, and they hurt my tummy, but she didn't listen. I guess she's kind of like me-she has to learn things for herself.
A new trick
I had an exciting day today for two reasons. The first reason is one that Mommy and Daddy would rather forget. I'll leave out the details, but I will tell you that the next time Mommy and Daddy and I go out for Mexican food, they're not going to share the beans with me. That makes me really sad because I just loved the rice and beans I ate last night. Maybe if I wait long enough, Mommy and Daddy will forget about the diaper they changed today, and they'll share their beans with me again.
But here's the really exciting thing that happened today: I waved bye-bye for the very first time. I'm learning all kinds of things I can do with my hands these days! I can sign "more" (sometimes,) I can clap my hands (sometimes,) and I can wave bye-bye (sometimes.) I wonder what my hands will learn next?
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