The Life of Jo

We are not blogging enough, and have all the usual excuses. I am stealing a few minutes while Co makes her delicious tomato sauce (I highly recommend Italian wives) and Jo plays with his highchair to update you all on his world.

*He walks. We did write here about his first steps, about three weeks after his first birthday, but it took him several more months to get serious about walking. Now he walks around everywhere and almost never resorts to crawling. There is this short little person walking around our house!

*He says about fifteen words. Most of them are animal noises. (For those keeping track, he knows that a cow says "moo," a a sheep says "ba," an owl says "hoo," a duck says "quack-quack," a dog says "woof" (usually sounds more like "oof"), and of course his favorite is the lion that says "ra-ra." Co is working on cat. Currently he will tell you that a cat says "moo."


We are animal lovers, and the number of jungle and farm animals in board books is really quite astonishing (my mother bought our urban boy a book about the subway in protest). I also remembered recently that in the "long profile" the donor mentioned having a "Dr. Dolittle" gene, which was one of the reasons we chose him. Hmmmm.

*He also uses his talking to, well, communicate! He asks to nurse ("ba-ba"), to eat ("na-na," his version of "num-num") and makes sure we know every time a dog crosses or path ("oof!).

*Yesterday at the bank, Co gave him his keys to play with, and he tried to put them in the keyhole of the door! He doesn't miss a trick.

*Jo still only has five teeth (and we think he's working on a sixth). Nonetheless he's become more and more interested in food and loves to feed himself. He loves pancakes and bread made by Mommy (our little carb fiend) and has developed a passion for Annie's honey bunny grahams. Nothing is cuter than watching him tackle a whole apple or banana.

*He has developed an obsession with balls, and often says "ball!" for no apparent reason. He has three at home, and likes to hold them all at once.

*He just gets more and more fun as he develops into a little person. I am so excited about taking him to a seder in a few weeks!

Our lives continue with the usual breathless pace of working moms. The plan is for us both to take some time off this summer, and I can't wait. Hopefully you'll hear more from us then, too.

Can't sign off without a picture, so here are a few.

Here he is taking a walk in the park, in his snazzy silver shoes:


Here's the homemade Cookie Monster costume he sported for Purim (you can sort of see the eyes on the top):


Here he is playing with our mah-jongg purse (you can also see one of his beloved balls in the corner):