While September nights are cooling off and giving way to an earlier dusk, we have been making ever opportunity to enjoy the remaining warm, sunny, Fall days watching the squirrels gather nuts, crunching leaves under our feet, watering the mums, sticking our fingers in rotting walnuts, and chasing balls into the street. With these nice temperatures, we go to the park to swing, going down the slide, or digging around in the sand with our shovel. Here at home, we play in the water table and sit outside for snack time. This time of year is also Maestro's favorite season as we open the windows so he can enjoy the fresh air and the sound of the birds with us.
Judah's favorite activity this fall has been to play ball. Constantly, we are chasing balls of all kinds into the street: basketball, football, kick ball, and wiffle balls (he knows that mommy and daddy has to get them and he cannot go in the street). He points at you to play with him which often consists of him holding his little football and you holding the big, adult football at the same time. Other times we sit down and roll the balls back and forth or kick them back and forth in the driveway. We even have learned to throw them into the bucket and hit them with our bat like playing golf. Even the walnuts have become "balls."
Judah's sense of humor has really come out in funny ways that just make you laugh and realize how smart he really is. Often you will catch him trying on our shoes and trying to walk around the room. He loves to play a game that entails spitting out his Bink in the car. Often Tim will pat him on the back when holding him and Judah now likes to pat daddy on the back in return. Even more so, he really likes to pretend to tickle you, finding your belly button or your toes. Still, he copies your sighs and say uh-oh at the most appropriate times.
Judah has become a walking dictionary almost overnight. He constantly mimics your vowel/consonant sounds and repeats your words. His vocabulary has increased to include more words than we can count: juice, leaf, this, my ball, apple, please, blue, uh-oh, hot, dog, daddy, mommy, Papa, wow, hi, bye, duck, beep, baby, mine, up, and so on. He likes to wave and say "hi" or "bye" to almost everyone we meet. He also sings with you saying the words to Old McDonald, making the animal sounds and saying E-I-E-I-O. He is now starting to enjoy the Your Baby Can Read Videos as he listens to the words. His favorite books right now are the flashcards and flap books that go along to the videos. He is pointing to the objects while you name it and many times he will request to read these books over and over.
He is really matching similar items and sounds together too. He can match his puzzle pieces to the like pattern placing them into the correct open spot (after some maneuvering of course). He also will pick up the two matching identical blocks. He even will bring the right shoes (both pair) to the right person when he wants to go outside or when you ask him to bring your shoes. He is also really good at pointing to objects in a book that you want him to find. When he sees an animal or you say the animal, he will point and give you the correct animal sound. He moos like a cow, cries woof like a dog, meows like a cat, quacks like a duck, clucks likes a chicken, and pretends he is a monkey.
With the cooler temperatures, Judah got his new high-top tennis shoes for the fall (size 4). Judah also got new, warm 12 month clothes from garage sales and our favorite consignment shops. At his 15 month doctor's appointment, he weighed in at 18 pounds (which means he is still in the infant car seat). However, by the end of the month he weighed in at 19.6 pounds at his six month ear check-up and started wearing size 4 diapers. He went with Daddy to get his second haircut since his hair grows so fast and thick. This month he also got four molars (first top and then bottom) adding a ton of wet drool that you can see smeared all over the windows and mirrors. Judah has also become a climber, climbing on the couch and standing on his chairs. His ability to come down the stairs carefully backwards and sitting nicely on the bottom step has increased mommy's confidence. Judah has also been walking to and from places more always holding mommy's hand in the street and parking lot.
Judah really has learned to use his fork and spoon to eat. He is now not so eager to throw his plate on the floor but instead attempts to put food on his fork or spoon (even with his hands). Judah likes to eat his meals one course at a time; we discovered that he does better with one food at a time before the next. He tries to use his fork and spoon, sometimes succeeding to get the food in his mouth and always succeeding at throwing everything on the floor. Sometimes he will not eat it on his try but pick up later on the floor to eat (stinker). He not only likes bananas, grapes, and corn this month often gobbling them down when he gets an opportunity, he eats a ton of bread and crackers. This just shows that he is eating less casseroles and mixed food and more single foods one course at a time. He enjoys eating meat more often like chicken and hamburger. New food this month include raisins, peanut butter, and strawberry malts.
Our daily routine has finally settled down. Judah wakes up sometime between 6:00am or 7:00am in the morning. The first thing he wants to do is read books or play with puzzles for about thirty minutes. Then we go downstairs for breakfast of bananas, yogurt, and sometimes toast for breakfast (he refuses cheerios now). After getting dressed and doing a few chores, we typically go outside to play or run errands. Judah has helped with a few chores himself. He helps with the recycling by taking the recycling upstairs (mostly empty water bottles) and putting it through the gate and then watching it go down the stairs. Later when we are downstairs, we collect it together and put it in the recycling container. Judah has also helped with dusting and vacuuming with the Swifter lately. He especially likes to stand on the picture frames while dusting (perhaps I should put socks on him and let him dust them that way). If we are outside, we walk to the park to swing and play in the sand, get the water table out, or play ball. Occasionally we will have a morning snack but usually we are ready for lunch at 11:30am. By 1:00pm, Judah is ready to nap for a couple of hours. Then once we get up, it is time for an afternoon snack of crackers, raisins, or something similar. If the weather is still nice, we walk/stroll to get the mail and then come home to play some more ball or in the sand box. Often Judah will play with the neighbor boys Zach and Porter in the late afternoon.
Our nighttime routine is still pretty much the same. Suppertime is always crazy around here and so Judah usually watches a thirty minute Baby Einstein video while supper is cooking and being prepared. At least once a week, we combine dinner efforts and eat with our neighbors, the Schempers, often trading between homes. After supper, we may have a short time to clean up the dishes, pick up the outside toys (thrown all over the yard), and get any last minute playing in before making our way upstairs. If he does not have a bath, then he gets wiped down before bed. We brush our hair and teeth (using two tooth brushes of course) again before bed now. He also gets to have a drink of water before bed. Daddy will read a few stories always ending with the nighttime book (by this time, Judah has learned to cuddle up). Still going to bed at 8:00pm, he has for the most part been good about sleeping through the night.
Now that the summer activities are gone, we have started to fill our time with other opportunities throughout the week when we can. Judah still likes to attend story time at the library every Friday where we do rhymes, sing songs, do actions, read stories, and play. We have made some friends about the same age that we see every week. Then we have started having play dates once a week on Monday mornings at our house with our friend Sarah and her two younger boys, Sean and Brendan. At home, we fill our days with chores around the house or run errands around town.
We started this September out with our annual trip to the Steam Threshers Show in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, over Labor Day Weekend. Judah enjoyed looking at the antique tractors with Grandpa Kreis, Uncle Philip, and Uncle David. Judah, dressed in his engineer overalls spent the day being strolled around the grounds watching the steam engines toot their horns and let out puffs of smoke. Judah rode the steam-powered Carousel, his first fair-type ride. We took a trolley car out to the homestead area to enjoy banjo music, reenactments, and eat pickles and drink old-fashioned root beer. We also toured the old western village (although by this time in the afternoon Judah slept through this) watching the train get robbed. Judah even got his own train hat! Tuckered out, we enjoyed dinner at Pizza Hut before heading back to Harold Munson's farm for the night.
Judah talked Harold's ear off about the day while running around his living room carpet. The next day after we ate breakfast with Harold, we went to church with Harold at the Fairfield Baptist Church. Before getting on the road, Harold treated us to a nice dinner at Pizza Ranch. We then took a ride out in the back field to do some early scouting for deer hunting season. Finally on the road back to Des Moines, Judah slept until we stopped at the Williamsburg Outlet Mall for sidewalk sales. On Labor Day, we relaxed during the morning and then spent the evening with the Book Cousins (Caleb, Hannah, and Isaac) in Knoxville. While playing Simon Says and invading the toy box, we got to visit with Becca and help Ethan on the farm.
Judah experienced the zoo for the first time. One sunny day, we met Becca and Cousins Caleb, Hannah, and Isaac at the Des Moines Blank Park Zoo. Walking around looking at the animals, Judah got to see giraffes munching, the lions roaring, the prairie dogs digging, the sea lions swimming, the fish eating, and feel the goats lick his hands. Judah got so excited though when we found the monkeys. He new exactly what they said. We ended the trip to the zoo with a train ride.
Toward the end of the month, Grandpa and Grandma Kreis came to Des Moines and stayed with us while Tim was off on his retreat. Dad went to Farmers Market in the rain with Philip while Mom went with us to the Craft Show at the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Judah really enjoyed walking around and helping pick out Christmas presents. The rest of the weekend we spent visiting and eating out to include my other siblings and even Aunt Amy! Judah especially wanted Grandpa Kreis to read his library books to him.
Much of our time this month was devoted to Emma preparing and having surgery to remove her gallbladder. With surgery scheduled for September 10, much of the week before was spent cleaning, running errands, and putting a couple of meals in the freezer. We had doctor's appointments to meet with the surgeon and doctors. Judah also went with mommy to the Dentist where he sat on her lap the whole time watching her get her teeth cleaned. He even got a new toothbrush! Day of surgery went well, getting all prepped before 9:00am. Recovery thankfully was easier than anticipated. Released in early afternoon, we went home to find Papa, Gigi, and Judah napping. Papa and Gigi had arrived early that morning around 6:00am to babysit Judah and take him to story time. While sleeping the rest of the day, the rest of the family enjoyed dinner and settled down for the night.
It was very much appreciated to have lots of help on hand during the next week of recovery. Judah ventured north to the Rittgers farm Saturday through Monday all by himself with Papa and Gigi. He played with cousin Jacob, rode the gator, and even had cheesecake and strawberry malt (and you thought mommy would not find out). At home, we just enjoyed the quiet especially during recovery. Grandma Kreis then brought Judah back to Des Moines on Monday and stayed through Friday afternoon. This way she could help lift Judah, watch him during needed naps, and help around the house. Of course, Grandma and Judah played hard together. Judah learned to climb up the couch, climb up his to his seat, go down our steep stairs, and eat peanut butter (all thanks to Grandma).
The Boys and Girls Club of Central Iowa has also moved administrative offices leaving Tim extra work organizing a new office and closing down the old building. The new office is in better shape and a safer neighborhood on the south side of Des Moines. This month he also started the Des Moines Leadership Institute's Community Leadership Program with their Fall kickoff retreat at Lake Panora. Old Bags, the annual fall fundraiser for Boys and Girls Club of Central Iowa was successful.
