Thinking Baby

Jonathan is showing signs of true thought! Developing new skills all the time! He is ten months old and truly developing into a little person. He has clear wishes and protests loudly when they are not fulfilled. He is also turning into glue – that is becoming inseparable from his mommy...

Ever since Jonathan was sick last week, and thus permitted to spend the ENTIRE! day on mommy, he has been regularly coming back for more! I guess I can relate, I would love to able to cuddle into something soft, warm and large, but those days are over for me! I am an adult now! It can sometimes be a bit of a nuisance, hell, I can't leave the room anymore without hearing his crying protest following me! For the first time I can understand why my mother always protested that I was like glue! As a little child, I loved to hang onto her handbag when we were walking somewhere and it drove her nuts!

It's a mixed feeling though, after all Jonathan is still so small and so cuddly that its nice when he comes to me for a hug, and yet he pulls so when I try to get up, and carrying him about with me is not always an option. Sometimes he really gets it on and cries whole heartedly as soon as I am out of his sight! It can really put the strain on a mother! After all,hearing him cry can break my heart...still, life must go on and I continue with whatever I am doing despite Jonathan's protests, I do call to him to let him know I am still near by (that is if I did not leave the house). And he follows my voice!

My mother says that when she was babysitting him two weeks ago, he was crawling all over the house, as if looking for me. Even if he is crying his heart out he crawls slowly in the direction of the kitchen (usually where I come from when I disappear...) The crying may slow his motion, but it does not slow his wits. He is clearly thinking when he crawls towards the direction in which I had gone, knowing help will come from that same direction. Sometimes following my voice is a game. He comes near and takes peak at me, as if playing hide and seek. Then he goes back a bit and returns to take another peak...did I say a game? Did I say thinking baby? I think this peaking game is proof enough!

Want some more proof that his thought is developing? He has been pushing chairs about and walking after them for about a month now, but he always got stuck, having pushed the chair into another one, or into a table or up to the carpet, there are many obstacles in our house. Now he just turns around pushing the chair and trying to see in which direction it would move again. Once he has found that direction, he just starts pushing and walking again, happy as can be! This exercise of turning around the chair and fixing the problem of its not moving is definitely a new development! He has also become sure of his actions when trying to get of a high chair or our bed. We only had to show him twice that he needs to go down backwards, now he is doing this almost as second nature and his actions are growing more confident every day! My sister also reports he can push a slide door open, but I have not yet seen this.

Another new trait is returning his toys into the red basin in which they are kept. He likes to throw them all out and then return some of them back to their place, to only throw them out again! He also has discovered the two large drawers in his room, which contain more toys. So now he has the full variety – not only two locations of toys but the choice of the entire inventory we have. Yesterday we played with a box full of cubes. I had to empty it for him , but then he gladly returned the cubes into the box.

He is also eating small pieces of soft foods like banana and tomato (saying “mumum” when indicating that he likes the food! Or is he calling to his mum? I do not know that yet for sure). He loves to munch on a piece of bread, especially with the crust. When a piece is too large he will usually spit it out and sometimes he coughs them out, I rarely need to assist him. He seems to be coping well enough with the experience of eating and taking action if something is wrong! My thinking baby! He grows so fast!