John Robert Update

I finally got around to putting Johnny's wall together! All of his milestone pictures organized so we can how he has grown, sometimes that baby 2 years ago was a different child altogether and sometimes I see that little bundle in my big boys eyes.

Last night as Daddy and Johnny were getting ready for nite nite I heard Johnny from the other room counting the letters on his collection box.."1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, and 9!" I ran in from the other room, and picked him up hugging him. All of a sudden my baby boy was a kid!

I thought it was time to take a minute and do a developmental blog for Johnny, he changes so much everyday.

He is about 40 pounds and 40 inches.
He wears a 4T or a 5/6 and a size 9 or 10 shoe.

His appetite still changes a lot on a daily bases, but he LOVES oatmeal, chewies, noodles, granola bars (which he calls hash browns), frozen GoGurt (which he thinks is ice cream) and apple juice. About 2 weeks ago he became so constipated that he had blood in his poop. His pediatrician put him on miralax for 30 days to loosen him up and regulate him again. After a week it gave him diarrhea that had become uncontrollable for him. Since then we have taken him off of it and adjusted the amount and are still messing around with the entire thing. Mostly now we are focusing on making sure he has a very balance diet and a lot of fiber. I have also started to keep him away from too much dairy since I have noticed a correlation between him drinking milk and him getting sick.

Getting rid of the constipation (which had been alternating with diarrhea for months) has really helped with his potty training! Apparently getting his bowels cleaned out and the pressure off of his bladder makes him able to control his pee a lot more. We also started to give him a piece of candy when he goes on the potty. He is still having accidents every once in a while and wearing a diaper at night, but I have been so proud of him!

Daddy recently took the time to teach Johnny the proper way to eat an Oreo. Twisting the cookie apart licking out the icing and then dipping the cookie in milk.

Johnny got a letter from Santa, it was one of those surprises that really took him off guard.

He LOVED it! He also got a certificate that says he made it on the nice list!

Papa has been coming over in the morning to play or go for walks when it isn't too cold. Johnny has started to expect it and asks for Papa when he wakes up.

And what does Johnny do on these walks? He gathers rocks for his collection! Today he has been going through his rocks and telling me what certain rocks look like (a moose, or a long neck.) He got the bag of "shiny" rocks from Winter Wonderland this past week end, he didn't want candy or a toy, he wanted rocks! Uncle Tommy is already talking about getting him a rock polisher one day. I can really see him becoming a paleontologist when he grows up (though I will be proud no matter what he does as long as he is happy)

He loves to organize them, taking them in and out of the special box that he helped Mommy paint.

He has been watching less TV lately, but mostly Christmas movies. This year he loves Frosty and Rudolf...and does not like any Christmas Carol movies or the Grinch. He still loves Dinosaur Train and Sesame Street, but also The Wonder Pets and Backyardigans. He has started the favorite game by making sure everyone knows that Ming Ming (the duck) is his favorite Wonder Pet and Tyrone (the moose) is his favorite Backyardigan. As a special treat or when he doesn't feel well he gets to watch a Land Before Time movie or Shrek.

I have been trying to figure out what he should know or how to state what he does know. He still struggles with his colors, but knows his shapes and can count to 10. He can also recognize many letters and certain names. Wooden peg puzzles have become far to easy and he can do other wooden puzzles with about 10 pieces very easily. He also can easily master matching games and will organize things by color or size. He loves to color, he doesn't stay in the lines but no longer just scribbles on the pages, he focuses certain colors to parts of the pictures of the page. He forms full sentences and can understand reasoning. He will say "Momma I want a hug" or "Please I have ice cream." We have full conversations now and I can see his mind working through my reasoning when I tell him why he can't have an ice cream. He can tell anyone who asks "I Johnny" (or "I Jack" when he is with Grams and Pops) and he can tell them "this my sister, this Lily." Most of the time he listens well to instruction and can do small chores for me, like going down stairs to get a binky.

Mostly he has an amazing imagination. He has never been a fan of the toys that talk or make noise, he doesn't need it. He will take his stuffed Frosty and play hide and seek with it, or make it have a conversation with the T-Rex. All of his toys will line up or get in to his school bus and travel around the house, usually ending at his dragon house which they then guard. He also loves to pretend to be a dinosaur and crawl around the house growling and roaring, he also likes to pretend to a dog and crawl around panting.

But the most perfect way I have ever heard him described was by Grams, she said
"If he isn't falling down he is jumping off of something." He is not fearless, but he has a lot of energy and his play is often physical getting his heart rate up even when we are just in the house.

I think I could write forever! He is just so amazing in every way. He is happy, sweet, smart, hansom, strong and loving! He will cuddle and give kisses no matter what and he always wants a hug and will tell you he loves you at every chance!