No No JoJo!

As the title of the blog suggets, I am quite often saying 'no' to Jordan these days! I should rephrase that - I say "that is not for you", "you may not touch the curtain", "Jordan, the cat's toy does not belong in your mouth" and yesterday, "Jordan, it is not okay to poke Liam in the eye".  My goal is to only use the word "no" when he's in a dangerous situation and needs to be stopped immediately.  At first, I thought it would be difficult since "no" is the first thing that comes to mind.  With practice, it has become second nature to use alternative ways of saying no ... and I've been having a lot of practice lately :) At 10 1/2 months, Jordan is increasingly finding new things that he really should be staying away from.  Lately, the only way to get him to stop doing something is to remove him from the situation.  Sometimes he'll crawl back with a grin on his face, but most times he's easy to distract and stays away (for a while).

Quick Updates:

Jordan is crawling "normal" and my goodness, does he go everywhere (and fast!)! I tell people I look forward to him walking, but most days I wish to retract that statement since I have a hard time keeping up with him already! 

Lesson learned: always go into a room before Jordan, otherwise he'll close the door on you then proceed to wiggle and get himself stuck between the door and the frame when you try to open the door.  

Jordan is saying "da da" all the time now and even does the sign (close enough) for 'daddy'.  Saying 'ma ma' and signing 'mommy' are not even on the agenda.  If I ask Jordan to say 'ma ma', he looks at me, smiles a big grin and triumphantly goes "da da! da da!".  little stinker.  Lucky for him he's adorable and I love hearing him say/sign da da.  

The teeth are a-coming! Jordan has two bottom teeth, one top tooth, and 3 emerging teeth on top.  Just in case I forget, he likes to put my finger in his mouth and chomp down.  Looks like "Jordan, you may not bite" will be yet another frequent saying :) 

I had to get creative when it came to giving Jordan his bottle.  My little guy is so active that he rarely drinks a bottle in one sitting and it became quite frustrating for me.  Thank you PBS kids and Curious George!! For a half hour, Jordan will sit on the couch and drink his bottle while watching Curious George.  I have no guilt about this and guess what, I enjoy watching the show as well!  

December Wrap-Up

The month of December has flown by and nary an update has been made! Guess it's time to catch everyone up.  Jordan is 9 1/2 months and is still on the move, if not more! He is slowly graduating from an army crawl to the 'normal' crawl (he knows how to crawl the right way, he's just doesn't want to!).  Jordan is also cruising along furniture and is experimenting standing with only one hand to balance himself.  The newest thing is Jordan loves clapping.  He's been able to clap for a while, but if you say "Jordan go clap clap!" he'll get a huge grin on his face and start clapping.  He also will start clapping if you sing Patty Cake.  Then he'll grab your hands to make you clap and sing it again.  Jordan is also starting to communicate in his own way.  When you show him how to do something (example: I was scratching the couch & the pillow to show him the different textures and to hear the sounds it makes), Jordan will take my hand and place it back on the couch and try to move my hand, thus telling me to do it again.  My smart boy :)

Jordan's 1st Christmas was B-U-S-Y!! We celebrated Christmas Eve with my dad's family and Christmas day with my mom's family.  A lot of people, a lot of gifts (where are we going to put all those toys?!) and our little boy loved every minute.

Here are some pictures from Christmas!

Jordan & Mommy - clapping!

Learning Home

Dump truck - he's not supposed to sit IN it, but he's so tiny he fit :)

Rain Rain Go Away

Today was the kind of day that makes you want to sip hot cocoa and curl up on the couch to read a book or watch a good movie.  The steady fall of the rain, the pitter patter on the roof, watching the drops form puddles on the patio.  I took the curtains down from the sliding glass door in the living room so Jordan could see the rain.  He was so excited! He 'danced', talked to himself and banged on the glass.  Several times throughout the day, Jordan would crawl to the window and babble away to himself as he watched the rain. Too cute :)

Talking to himself

Smiley Jordan

"Dancing"

Gobble Til You Wobble

Thanksgiving this year was spent in Oregon with David's family.  Jordan loved being with his Nana & Papa!! He was full of laughs, giggles and funny faces.  I am so thankful for the opportunities to go up there and spend time with them.  We had fun playing games, eating good food, and watching Jordan explore.  His favorite thing to do was turn on the Roomba (he just randomly hit buttons until it turned on!), place his toy on it then follow it around to take his toy back.  My silly boy :)

Here are a few pictures from the trip. 

   Nana & Jordan

 Papa & Jordan

Jordan's favorite way to get around - 'walking'!

"Does this spoon taste good?"

♥

8 Months Already?

On Tuesday, Jordan turned 8 months.  I'm amazed at how he is growing and learning new things - it seems like every day he does something new! There are times I feel like it's all I can do to keep up - moments like this to sit and use the computer are rare. Why? oh you'll see :)

Jordan has discovered 'walking'.  I use 'walking' in this term to mean that he walks when you hold his hands.  Since he has learned this new method of getting around, it means that he refuses to sit down when you try to put him on the floor or in his highchair.   In addition to 'walking', Jordan is learning to pull himself up - first he's on the floor (army crawl), then he gets on his knees, rocks back and forth, and if he's holding onto something, gets up to a standing position.  The result - a very happy baby banging on the coffee table (or mommy's knees).  Jordan is also starting to walk (kind of) behind a push-toy.  He actually likes to bend over the bar to play with the push-toy and then rock back and forth.

Jordan had his first sleepover last weekend! David and I went away for our anniversary, leaving Jordan with his Gram & Grandpa.  He was practically perfect in every way.  After the weekend with the grandparents, Jordan and I left Monday morning to visit friends in Arizona.  We stayed with the Hobsons - their daughter, Kayla, is six months older than Jordan.  Kayla is walking on her own and Jordan wanted me to help him walk with her!

Where The Wild Things Are

For Jordan's 1st Halloween he was a monster! A very cute adorable monster who did not like wearing a costume :)

For nighttime, we put Jordan in a Halloween footsie that my friend got for him.  Somehow, while taking pictures, I managed to get this one ... absolutely hysterical. 

I finally got the picture I wanted!   

More random Halloween pics -

Family picture (David is a chick magnet!)

Jordan pulling on my costume

Group picture at the party we went to

This picture actually belongs on the last post, but I didn't have my camera.  This is my friend Delane with her son Liam! Jordan & Liam are 7 months and 6 days apart.  Buddies! :)

Jordan Jordan, What Do You See?

Jordan was quite the busy baby this week.  On Monday, I took him to Bouncing Baby Storytime at the library.  You clap, do motions, sing songs, read books and play.  It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun and Jordan seemed to have a good time.  He loves stuff like that :) 


Wednesday we went to the park for M.OM.'s group, which is a group I got involved in through church.  I love it because it gives me a chance to meet other mothers, get out of the house, and Jordan loves to be outside & playing in the sand.  The first time we went, yes, he picked up the sand and put it in his mouth (several times).  Good grief.  This time he was much more coordinated at sitting up and I turned a bucket upside down so he could bang on it, thus eliminating the need for eating sand (whew!).  Jordan also loved being in the bucket swing - I can already tell this kid will be saying "higher Mommy, higher!".  


Thursday Jordan spent the morning at my grandma's house while I went to 'work'.  He had a lot of fun crawling around and exploring a new place.  I never fail to be thankful that Jordan adapts easily to new situations and 'new' people.  


On Friday, I took Jordan to meet Delane & Ben's new baby boy, Liam! Liam is 7 months and 6 days younger than Jordan.  Delane & I are hoping that our boys will be buddies :) I had forgotten (already!) what it was like to hold a newborn.  Liam was so precious & so tiny! He was born at 9 lbs 2 ozs so he was on the 'big' side, but oh, he felt so light compared to Jordan (who is only 5 or 6 lbs heavier!).  Jordan tried so hard to crawl over me to play with Liam - grunts and all.  Pretty comical!



Here's Jordan waving 'bye-bye' to everyone!