I've got personality!

The past week and half have been fun filled, with never a dull moment in Jeremiah's days. He did have one rough day at Shelly's last week. He was all out of sorts and was in trouble when I arrived to pick him up because he had kicked another little girl. Earlier that day he was in trouble because he threw blocks. It was just not a good day at Shelly's, but the rest of the week seemed to be fine.

He is missing Shelly this week because she had a death in the family and had to go out of town, but her friend Theresa graciously offered to watch the kids. Jeremiah knows Theresa well because they spend time together often. Daddy thinks that Theresa is always feeding Jeremiah because he seems to go to her to get food when we see her in public.

Other highlights of the past week include the arrival of a much anticipated baby gift, an embroidered baby blanket from Great Grandma Schnitzler. Jeremiah sure liked it because he curled right up on it when Mama and Papa S. brought last weekend. Jeremiah has recently delighted in giving Ally treats - several times a day. We have to tell him that she is full and we'll do it tomorrow but he still returns to the cabinet. He has also started playing with her, dragging a shoelace around the house. She gleefully participates in this game until he comes lunging towards her.

He's been working very hard at using his fork and spoon more often. He's far from learning the stabbing technique with the fork but if we load him up, he uses it. The spoon is a similar situation but he can dip it in yogurt or apple sauce with some assistance. We have some video of yogurt eating, illustrating his delight with how it tasted but I have to figure out how to downsize it before I can get it up here.

Soon to come - Jeremiah's Super Bowl Party highlights! He's providing the entertainment because who wants to watch NY and NE?

Visits and more

Last weekend, Grandma and Grandpa Todd visited. It was really special to have them at our house for a few days to interact with Jeremiah, get to see his antics and give him a few extra snuggles. On Saturday we all drove to St. Louis to spend some time with Great Grandma Todd. This was the first time that she had met Jeremiah. He was a hoot - playing with her, entertaining other residents of the nursing home, and generally being a good boy. Side note - we stopped at Subway for lunch and he tried to con a lady at the booth behind us out of some chips. I think she would have given them to him if we wouldn't have said no. What a mooch!

On Monday night, John had to work and I went to the annual county Farm Bureau meeting so Grandma (who was staying in town for business) and Jeremiah had time to themselves. From what we hear, he was good.

As Grandma learned, Jeremiah is becoming very response to us telling him that it is time to do something. If we even mention dinner, he's headed to the bedroom to get a bib and wants in his chair. Similar "johnny on the spot" reactions come with the mention of teeth brushing, putting on his coat, a bath, and, honestly, even night-night. So, we're starting to learn to spell things out or be darn ready to do it if we say it in his ear shot.

One of his favorite activities right now is taking things in and out of somewhere. For example, he likes to unpack his farm blocks from the bag and put them in the ceramic crock that we have in the living room. This process goes the opposite direction as well. He can occupy himself for quite some time with this game.

Bye-bye paci

Getting rid of Jeremiah's pacifier was easier than we expected it to be. Since returning to the sitter after the holidays, he has been napping without it and now, he's been without it at night since Sunday. WhooHooo!! He's still gleefully heading for his bedroom to go night-night when we mention it so now I know that paci wasn't his only motivation to want in his crib.

Jeremiah had a great time over the weekend visiting Uncle Roger and Aunt Sandra and "helping" decorate their new bedroom. He helped Papa Schnitzler throw away trash, some of which Mama had to dig back out. He was a little over-eager. He played with Emma, Isabella and Sophia and delighted in all the food, including eating corn on the cob for the first time. It was hilarious to watch him bite right in to it.

Each day brings a new discovery or way of playing/engaging with his toys. He's enjoying pushing his cars and tractors and has finally figured out the pull toys and how they are supposed to work. He has balls, which he got for Christmas, that imped inside each other and last night it seemed to click that he can put them in each other and pull the two halves apart to watch the ball inside some out.

He's looking forward to a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Todd this weekend, and a quick trip to St. Louis to meet Great-Grandma Todd. Hopefully we can post some pictures of a fun weekend. I failed at taking pictures this past weekend.

Taking walks and other January activities

After nearly 2 weeks away from daycare, Jeremiah's routine is returning to normal. We think he really started to miss his little friends from daycare over the holidays. We finished out the week with him back at daycare and then went for pizza on Friday night. He really likes pizza.


Our weekend was really low-key, but today we went for walk in 65 degree temps. I could tell that he was really happy to be back in his stroller. Another highlight of the weekend was finding a new place in our undecorated living room for his toys. I think the new arrangement works better for everyone. He also delighted in "helping" us vacuum.


In case you were wondering, Jeremiah spent New Year's eve headlining the entertainment at Marge and Wayne Builta's party. We were by far the youngest people in attendance (since the snow kept Krista and Trever away) but we had a great time. Jeremiah was in his glory with lots of people paying attention to him. Then, after some not-so-great travel weather, we watched the Rose Bowl game at Trever and Krista's, where I think he was very well behaved. He ate his fair share of tailgate food, got hissed at by their not-so-friendly cat, and loved playing with Trever's blocks, which he even cleaned up when he was done with them.


New tricks include starting to help around the house, a couple more words, and getting his own opinion. We've been more diligent about having him help us pick up, throw things away, etc. This has back fired a bit, as some things that we don't want thrown away have found their way to the trash. Tonight he was assisting me in changing his bed sheet and took it to the hamper in his room. Then, he decided to contribute to John's effort of folding laundry by "putting things away" in his dirty clothes hamper. At least he has the right idea.


His verbal skills are getting interesting. He is delighted each morning to yell "dat" at Ally. We respond, "yes, that's the cat". We think he has also learned to say "like them" or "want them" but we're not sure which it is. This phrase debuted when he wanted some of the Christmas cookies that Grandma sent back. He also announced "Hi Dad" quite loud and clear in church this morning when John sat down with us. It was embarrassing but cute.


Finally, he is definitely developing his own little opinion. When he announced "like dem" (see above) and John told him not until after dinner, he was not a happy camper and he let it be known. Similar situations occurred before and after that incident illustrating that he is becoming his own person - who is often not agreeing with what mom and dad say.