At it again...

While we were cleaning the church today, Mark had J with him. Mark started to notice something really funny. J would take the black doorstop, put it to the side of his head, then jabber. To test a theory, when Mark was strapping J into his car-seat  Mark gave J a cell phone. J put the phone to the side of his own head and started jabbering! J has caught on to the concept of talking on the phone! Here's proof! Don't mind me in this video, watch J!

Testing Out the New Camera (Click on the picture for better quality)

J's First Baby Steps!

Halloween Pt. 2

Halloween

Happy November! It has been a fun last couple of weeks! First off, we went "trunk or treating" at our ward Halloween Party. I was princess Jasmine, Mark was Aladdin, and J was Abu (Aladdin's monkey). We won the family costume contest! I'm not normally competitive with contests...but I was really hoping we'd win this year! My mom helped me make my costume a couple of years ago, Mark put his together and our friend lent us her little Monkey costume (I made the vest and hat). The party was fun and Joshua got a good haul of candy...which his parents ate, of course! Joshua also got his first kiss that night! A cute little 1 year old girl came up to J and planted one right on his lips! She then proceeded to try and kiss J again and again that whole night. It was so cute!

A couple of days later, Hurricane Sandy hit. The coast definitely had it worse, but we still felt some of its force. The wind was brutal and we stayed inside out of necessity. We were really lucky but many of our friends lost power for days, fallen trees and branches destroyed friends' cars and huge old trees were uprooted and lying in the middle of streets. Despite the trial of the storm, it turned out to be a blessing for those in our ward. I have never seen so many people come together and share their resources. I was so blessed to witness and learn such compassion!

Halloween was postponed for the Sunday after and so we didn't go door to door. That was okay, J doesn't understand Halloween yet. :). Speaking of J, he's a sweetie pie. He is all smiles and loves to cuddle up (even if it's only for a minute). He babbles a ton and loves to climb up on things. He has started to climb up on the couch! He can stand unaided now... but has no desire to walk yet.  He has four teeth, with three more coming in. He loves playing with daddy and he loves to read...but he likes being in control of the book. He loves his toy cars and playing catch (catch turns into him flinging the ball while parents retrieve it from underneath the couch). He is still hanging out at 25 lbs, and looks more and more like a toddler every day.  Here are some pictures!

The colors of fall in Cleveland! I love autumns here!

Posing for Mommy

Abu, Princess Jasmine, and Aladdin. It was so cold!

Note the banana in the costume pocket!

Top view of the costume

Looking suave...no, I did not buy that hat.

This is J when we got his ears pierced...Just kidding!!!! This is me when I was in Kindergarten  Now we know where Joshua gets his chubby cheeks from!

Teeth and Fun

Another quick picture post

Finally got a shot of his teeth!

Sitting in his toy bucket

J-9 months

 Today we had J's 9 month check-up. He's 24 lbs and 30 inches tall. That puts him between the 90th and 95th percentiles in both categories! He's a big boy! He crawls, pulls himself to standing while holding  furniture and goes from furniture to furniture. His new favorite thing to do is pull out a kitchen chair, stand while holding the chair, and then slide the chair around. He can climb stairs, which was a huge shocker for us! He also likes to jump in his crib..."Three Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" hasn't quite made an impact yet. He loves peek-a-boo, hide and seek, and tag. He has 4 teeth now, two on the bottom and two on the top! He likes to dance and will dance to music, especially if it's Yo Gabba Gabba. We let him watch Yo Gabba Gabba when he is sick and he loves it! He prefers whichever parent is not holding him at that moment. He can wave, clap, shake his head when we ask and put his arms up when we cheer. He loves his BYU Cosmo stuffed cougar and loves the BYU fight song (we're brain washing him). He likes his sippy cup and finger food. He is always smiling at home and loves to laugh. He can't help but giggle when he knows he's doing something he's not supposed to. He still sucks him thumb...but it helps because he doesn't give us much of a fuss when we put him down to sleep. He's quite adventurous and is always busy.

Flashing a goofy face for the camera...takes after his grandpa Cook.

Trying to hold her hand...or steal her ball. She was sweet and just handed the ball to him right after this picture.

Cutie-pie

We saw some squirrels fighting

Practicing a little Tai-Chi

Rise and shout, the cougars are out!

Yes, Mom. I finished my green beans.

Partners in crime!