JONATHAN MICHAEL TORRES

 Day after day I find myself repeatedly saying, "Good morning Jonathan, no, no Jonathan, let's change your diaper Jonathan, are you hungry Jonathan?" and  "Isaiah, Jonathan's awake, or sssshhhhh Jonathan's sleeping."  How could my handsome Mr. J  not know his name yet?  On a daily basis we probably say his name well over a hundred times.  Although in all honesty, we have been so infatuated with how sweetly Isaiah pronounces, "Jonathan" we can't help but call him "Johnnon" too.  Luckily Jonathan has caught on and responds to both pronunciations.
    Once again, Jaime and I  found it difficult deciding on our second son's name.  Not only did the decision have to be agreed upon by both of us; we also wanted a name that coincided with ISAIAH (our first son's name).  We would go for weeks referring to Jonathan as "Aiden, Adrian, or Ethan but none of them ever seemed to harmonize within our happy home. As much as our final decision was determined on a "good feeling"   logistically it made PERFECT sense. First off, Jonathan is Hebrew meaning "given of God." Ideal, for the Hebrew theme we started with Isaiah.  Jonathan is three syllables and Isaiah is three syllables.  The letter "J"  follows the letter "I" in the alphabet.  My maiden name is Johnson so saying the name "John" felt natural and in a certain way representative of me.  And most importantly, Jonathan is a strong, masculine name that holds up to a name like Isaiah. Saying aloud, "Isaiah and Jonathan" we didn't feel one name overshadowed the other.  The two names seemed to support one another exactly how we hope our two sons will support each-other in life.

     Jonathan, I am so happy to see you respond to the name we so diligently chose for you.  I hope you will represent this name with dignity.  Everyday I am so grateful that I get to see you exclaim with excitement when your Dad, brother, or I call out your name.  You will always be our JONATHAN MICHEAL TORRES that rounds out our family beautifully.

Jonathan at 9 months

-TWO BOTTOM TEETH ARE IN!
-He has now been upgraded from the infant car seat to his very own toddler car seat. I look to the back seat of my car with the TWO MATCHING CAR SEATS and would swear I have TWINS!!???!!
-Loves to be in the upright position.
-He recently stood on his own for a brief moment.
-Loves when you hold him upright and help him walk around.  When you go to put him down he crys with frustration because he wants to keep walking.
-He gets a kick out of me pushing him around on the four wheeled zebra we have.  He will crawl up to it and start to squeal...his way of getting my attention for a ride.
-NEVER CAN LAY STILL TO GET HIS DIAPER CHANGED.
-Endless drool but at least the spit up has decreased drastically...in fact today he didn't even spit up once (that is remarkable)
-Has found a new love for stick pretzels
-Loves putting his face in the water.  In the pool he is always trying to dunk himself and now in the bath he dips his face in the water too?!?
-He eats three "baby food" meals/day.
-Still drinking 6 ozs of formula 5-6 times/day.
-Wakes up around 3:30-4 am to drink a 6 oz bottle. (When teething he has been waking up 3-4 times/night)
-Rises at 6:30-7am, bed by 8pm.

Me, Mom, Grandma Metro, Isaiah and Jonathan

Enjoying Great Grand Parents Back Yard

Proof of the endless droll and two bottom teeth

Meeting Great Grandpa &Grandma Metro for the first time

-Finally made the five hour trek up to my homeland and he did great on the car ride.  He got to meet his great grandparents, aunts, and second cousins on my side of the family for the first time.

Pool Time-2012

We have been enjoying our pool once again during the blistering California heat.  Jonathan loves to be dunked under the water while Isaiah has found new independence swimming all around the pool in his life jacket.  It has been so much fun spending our summer evenings taking a dip in the pool and making one last ditch effort to wear out our rambunctious boys.

Goodbye Toy Story, Hello Cars

    Isaiah is changing so much.  He no longer drinks from bottles and  his language is improving everyday.  He is able to tell me when he is hungry, thirsty, and what he wants to eat.  He'll say "I want yogurt or I want an apple, or I want soup Mama."  He is very good at using please and thank you too.  When he asks for a cookie (Oreos are his favorite) he'll keep saying "peas... peas...peas, yeah I want cookie...peas...peas...peas."  When I ask him if I need to change his diaper he will respond, "no it's dry or yes it's wet."  He has also started to read along with me and piece together the ABC song while I sing it aloud.
    Along with these changes has come his switch in preference of toys.  Isaiah was enamored with Buzz and Woody from the Toy Story movies.  Everyday he carried his Buzz and Woody figurines around playing make believe but now all his focus has turned to cars.  He loves watching the Cars Disney Movies while having his toy cars in hand.  *Note to self-(I have a great home video of him singing to the Cars 1 intro song and mimicking the cars in the movie with his own cars.) All his make believe play revolves around his cars.  He always has one in his hand and has to take at least two of them with us when we go out on outings.  It makes me sad seeing Buzz and Woody sitting on the shelf all by their lonesome.  Hopefully Jonathan will take interest in them soon:)

Goodbye Bottles

Isaiah's final days with his bottle

Isaiah at 28 months

When I took Isaiah in for his two-year check-up his pediatrician and I had a lengthy discussion about his love for drinking bottles with milk throughout the day.  As his mother it was hard not to give into his plea for a "ba, ba" and a moments' peace as he relaxed on the couch while drinking it.  But as his pediatrician recommended it was time for Isaiah (and me) to retire his bottles.  Her suggestion was to fill the bottles with water instead of milk and his love for the bottle "should" gradually wean.  Four months later and after enjoying countless bottles filled with water Isaiah is finally bottle free.  I have to admit, a small part of me is sad because it is a HUGE step toward my first baby turning into a little boy. Now when you ask Isaiah if he wants a bottle his response is, "No, Johnnon." (No, bottles are for Jonathan).

The Game of Clue

It wasn't difficult pin pointing two suspects in the case of who broke Quincy' tail; but narrowing it down to one suspect was never accomplished.  What we do know is that Isaiah knows how to open and close doors and Jonathan likes to pull the dogs' tails when given the chance (either one a valid opportunity to unintentionally break Quincy's tail right at the base.)  Fortunately after five days of being on pain meds and laying low Quincy was back to chilling along side the dangerous duo. 

Stair Gate

Since re-applying the stair gate for Jonathan's safety all my two boys want to do is go upstairs!?!  You would think I was running a carnival on the second floor by the way they beg to get up those stairs morning, noon and night!!!

Trouble, Trouble, Trouble

Jonathan is on the go and quickly learning the word "NOOOOOO!"  Even Isaiah tells him "no, no John Nan," when he continually does something he's not suppose to be doing.  Items of trouble for this eight-month-old is the dog food bowls, doggie door, glass doors on fireplace, and the stairs.

Our "Green" Donation

We have a man-made stream in our back yard.   This year I decided to let it become a breeding ground for hundreds (possibly thousands) of frogs.  Minus the chlorine and chemicals the murky green water surged with tad poles.  Collecting these wondrous creations became Isaiah's evening entertainment.  Jonathan happily strolled along in his walker examining our random bushes while Isaiah and I fished out tad poles.  We watched as the tad poles sprouted their limbs and turned into tiny frogs.  It was hard to say good-bye but as the summer heat became too unbearable the water turned into a repugnant sludge that we couldn't stomach any longer.  Until next Spring my slimy amphibian friends!  

Welcome to the Jungle

When Isaiah was eight months old I was upgrading him from the baby bath to the big tub.  Jonathan has been in the regular tub for some time so his bath time experience at eight months is a whole different story.  Jonathan at eight months is finally sturdy and tough enough to handle being thrown in the tub with his Big Bro.  Water to the face and kicks in the groin Jonathan has gladly accepted having his daily bath with his partner in crime.

Jonathan at 8 months

-We had to lower his crib mattress because he began pulling himself up and teetering over the rail.
-His army crawl goes into a full on crawl but then back into an army crawl if he really wants to get somewhere fast.
-Still no teeth, but he is constantly drooling and irritable for no apparent reason.
-He has started to pull himself up onto furniture and diligently tries to pull himself up onto my legs while I stand at the kitchen sink or stove.
-He has joined his brother in the bath because I finally trust his "sturdiness" and abilities around his wild big bro.
-Without teeth I am still pretty much just sticking to baby food and have only ventured onto bananas and avocados.
-He  loves when we turn the music on loud and dance.  He starts kicking his legs wildly and bucking his body.

Costa Rica!

   Jaime and I left these two beautiful boys with their Grandma Betty for twelve days while we took a vacation to Costa Rica.  Thanks to technology we were able to face time (they see and talk to us on the screen of our I-Pad while we are able to see and talk to them on the screen of our I-phone) almost everyday.  Being able to see how happy and content they were at home with their SUPER GRANDMA made it so much easier to be away.

    When we arrived home Isaiah was standing at the top of the stairs and wanted to show us the "owie" on his finger.  I swooped him up in my arms and for a good while he refused to let me go.  Jonathan's reaction was priceless.  Betty was putting him down for his mid-morning nap but once he heard our voices he was wide awake.  We went to the nursery to smother him with hugs and kisses and he would not stop giggling and smiling to any of our gestures.  He was so overly joyed to see us I could have been screaming bloody murder and he probably still would have been giggling.  It's nice to know we weren't forgotten.