J. Walker

That's my new nickname for Jonah. Not because he likes to drink or because he disobeys traffic laws. No, it's because as of yesterday he's become a walker!!! We practiced unassisted walking for two days. Jonah started off walking from dad to me, then back. He got more and more courageous about walking in his own until he started to trick us. He'd walk over to me, but turn around to walk back to dad without touching me. Then he added an extra turn until it looked like he was dancing. Of course, he was laughing and squealing with excitement the whole time. Two days of practice was enough. He then decided he was ready to use walking as his main mode of transportation, though he still crawls when he needs to.

He loves to walk so much that he sometimes gets going a little too fast and loses his balance. Today he walked on pavement, alone for the first time and fell on his face. Not hard, but he did get a little scratched. Ah, battle wounds. I guess they are a part of growing up.

Tim's cousins April and Peter came into town to see us today, which was nice as usual. They got to witness Jonah's brand new skill as well as the fall. We had lunch and walked around Saturday market, their first time there.

Other than walking on his own, Jonah has been learning new words. His first word, about six weeks ago, was mama. Now he can say "mé" (abbreviation of bear), "kočička" (kitty), "kačenka" (ducky), "kytí" (flower), "co je to?" (what is this?), the door" or just "door", "book", and he's starting to say "papat" (to nurse). He understands several things that he can't yet say: "up", "chceš papat?" (do you want to eat/nurse?); "chceš vodu?" (do you want some water?), "táta" (dad), uncle Andy, "babička" (grandma), and "no!" I think he's starting to understand the word "bath" as well.

That's pretty good for a twelve months old, I think.