jack milestones

I'm very curious to see who Jack becomes. At one point, I thought he would be the sweet, sensitive type. Now, I'm not sure. He may still be sweet, but I think he may end up with more assertiveness than I would have originally thought.

Here's an example. Sean noticed this one first. While feeding Jack, he will sometimes absentmindedly attempt to pull his bib off. So, I (or Sean, whoever is doing the feeding) will remove his hand from the bib and say, "no." while shaking my head. He will then continue to do this repeatedly, and he looks me directly in the eye, almost as a challenge. He has this slight smirk. Then I say "no" and he starts shaking his head. Maybe he just thinks it's a game, but it's pretty funny.

Jack is starting to crawl more. He's been able to do the knee crawl for about a month. But, he would generally only do it just before reaching something on which to pull himself up. This past Sunday, he started using it more as a means of getting from one thing to the next.

Jack is also signing. He signs "more," which, given his appetite, he uses pretty often. To the untrained eye, it looks much like clapping, but he does it in response to the word "more" and generally only if he wants more. What a smart boy.

Pray ... not talk!

I had to get this posted before I forgot about it. Every night we hold hands and pray before we eat supper. Well tonight, Shannon must have been hungry. As soon as I called that supper was ready, Shannon set aside his new books (we had just returned from the library, so Shannon will spend up to an hour sitting on the couch reading his books) and ran to his stee-uew (stool). Sean came fairly promptly, but he started telling me about something as he sat down. Shannon's hands were outstretched waiting for prayer, and when Sean continued talking, he said, "Pray, papa!! not talk!!"

I be nicely, otay?

A few things happening around here:

Jack pulls himself up. At the end of December, Jack pulled himself up to a standing position. He had started with his knees, after which I very promptly urged Sean to lower the bed of the crib, for fear that Jack would launch himself over the edge with just the slightest bit of leverage. Sean obliged quite readily, recognizing the need. And, just a few days later, Jack was coming to a full standing positing. It is really quite cute to walk in and see him standing in his crib, waiting to be picked up.

Shannon and adverbs. Those who remember my teenage years may recall my propensity for adding "ly" for anyone who seemed to forget its proper placement in an adverb. Well, I'm happy to tell you that Shannon seems to be doing very well with his adverbs. He tells me he is going to do something "swowly" or "nicely." However, he is occasionally over-ly-ing. He often says, "I be nicely." :)

Shannon-- I otay!! Shannon loves to tear around our house. And, because he is wearing socks and running on wood floors, he often meets the floor quite abruptly. I will be somewhere else in the house, and Shannon will yell, "I otay, Mama!!!" I love it.

Jack and Aunt Erika's crocheted edges. My cute little thumb-sucker loves his blanket. At first, he just seemed to be attached to blankets in general. Then, the attachment became stronger to the blanket his aunt Erika made him. Then, his attachment centered specifically around the crocheted edging around the blanket. When he is very tired he will grow a little frantic if he cannot locate the edge. Erika also crocheted an edge for a small burp cloth of the same pattern fabric (different color). I have started introducing this as a surrogate so in the summer time, I can have it handy without overheating the poor boy. He seems equally pleased with the burp cloth as the blanket. He even enjoyed sucking his thumb with the blanket Erika made for Shannon. He wandered into Shannon's room, pulled himself up standing against Shannon's bed, found the edge of the blanket, and quietly stood there for a minute or so.

Shannon and "I love you!" For a long time, Shannon would simply say, "I you" for "I love you." Well, this past Sunday, he decided to add the word "love." Now he loves to say it all the time, much to his mother's delight. He especially loves to say it when he is in trouble, when he is trying to avoid doing something his mother has asked of him, or when he is supposed to be going to sleep. And, in those times, he will also say, "I need a hug" or "I need a tiss."

Household order. I have long struggled with keeping my house somewhat clean. I love a clean house, but other things get prioritized above the efforts needed to keep it that way. I have managed build a schedule that I have stuck to for two weeks now, which is pretty good considering my track record. It includes "family clean-up time" after supper three days a week. That just means that Shannon and I put toys away and vacuum. (Sean is allowed to participate if he is so inclined, but since he's on his feet all day, I decided to leave it up to him.) I've also added Pilates just before bed (odd time, I know, but I find that it is relaxing and stretches my back). I built the schedule in such a way that it would be flexible, but still have enough structure to actually have a chance of working. Of course, now that I've said that, things aren't looking so good for today's scheduled activities. I got sidetracked this morning by some awesome online clothing sales.

discoveries

Here are a few discoveries from the past weeks:

1. Both of my boys prefer to be left alone in their beds when sleeping. Every night, Sean and I go in to kiss Shannon goodnight just before we go to bed. He remains mostly sound asleep, but he will often respond to questions. Sometimes, we get quite humorous things out of him. And, he loves it when I make up stories for him to "dream" about. But, if I ask him if mama should snuggle with Shannon, he will generally shake his head no. And, sometimes, he will push us away and say, "leave" or "go away." So, after being shooed out of Shannon's room, I go feed Jack. Given his love of being by mama during his waking hours, one would think he would desire the same in his slumber. Such is not the case. He will eat his fill and then fuss and cry until he is laying in his bed with his blanket and thumb.
   
2. Shannon discovered computer games. About a week a half ago, I decided to let Shannon give computer games a try. There are a large number of computer games online for his favorite cartoon characters. While many of them are simpler for younger children, I honestly didn't really think he'd get it. I thought he would just randomly click and move and enjoy seeing some animations. I feel bad now that I underestimated him so. I gave him about 30 seconds of instruction with the mouse, and he figured it out. He figured out the games too. I was amazed. He played tic tac toe; he "painted" various Bob the Builder characters. And then I gave him another minute of instruction and he figured out the drag and drop function. Sean and I were both astounded.
   
3. Why?? Some time ago, a friend of mine who has a boy about a year older than Shannon told me that she thought three was harder than two. She said that as a two-year-old, he had pretty much done what she asked. Now, he was questioning her and challenging her, which made for more complex discipline issues. I could see how this would make things more difficult, and recently had a taste of it. Several days ago, I was in the kitchen with Jack. Shannon decided to join us and he rode his "truck" into the kitchen. Since my kitchen is microscopic, I said, "No, Shannon, you may not ride that in the kitchen." Shannon looked at me and said, "Why?" I had not previously been questioned by my almost-three-year-old, so I just looked at him dumbfounded, not sure how to respond. So, thinking it might be a fluke, I just repeated that he could not ride his truck into the kitchen. He again asked me "why." I did not respond and just looked at him. He tested me for a moment and then backed up into the dining room. Then, later at lunch, I sat down with my food and hit my knee on the table. I said, "Ow!" and Shannon said, "too hot?" thinking I had burned my mouth on the food. I said "No, I hit my knee on the table and got an ouwie." He said, "why?" I said, "because I hit my knee on the table." He asked, "why?" I told him it was an accident. The use of "why" has not been repeated since then, but I have a feeling it will return in full force very soon.
4. This one isn't so much a discovery as a recovery. Jack has been sick for about the last week and a half. He had a variety of the stomach flu, thrush, and general lack of appetite. He went from being mostly content playing to desiring mostly to be held. He went from eating like a horse, to refusing almost all solids. Thankfully, he appears to be returning to normal. Yesterday, he was quite a bit happier and more content. And, his appetite appears to have returned full force. This morning, he ate more than a cup of applesauce, mixed with some oatmeal cereal.
   

jack's baptism

I know there aren't any pictures at the church, but I promise, he was baptized at church. :) In some of these pictures, he's posing with the bowl that Sean used to propose. Sean proposed by washing my feet in this bowl. We've had both boys baptized with it.

Another important detail is the gown Jack is wearing. It is a gown that has been in Sean's family for many, many years. Sean and his brother wore it. And, I believe Sean's mother and her father and uncle wore it. It is really quite beautiful and intricate. We weren't sure Jack would be able to fit into it, but he did.



I nearly forgot the funny part of Jack's baptism. At our church, the practice is that after our pastor baptizes the baby, an elder takes the baby and prays for him/her. Ruth was the elder praying for Jack. I had my head bowed, and I start hearing this racket--like someone messing with a microphone. I'm thinking, "who is messing with the microphone?" Then, it dawns on me. My very tactile son has gotten hold of the microphone. I look up and, sure enough, he is trying to eat the microphone. Poor Ruth. She was saying such a nice prayer, and Jack eventually turned the microphone off. Everyone laughed at the end of the prayer.

all the love

Those of you outside my family might be surprised to know that I am very expressive when it comes to demonstrating/speaking love to my three boys. Shannon has gotten so used to my little pronouncements of love that he preempts them. I will often say, "Shannon, guess what?" And, since he now knows what I'm going to say, he says, "I you." (This is how he generally says "I love you.") Even if I just say, "Shannon Michael Charles!" in a happy way, he anticipates my response and says, "I you!"

So, tonight I was in the kitchen making supper. Shannon was playing with his legos in the living room. I said, "Shannon Michael Charles!!" I waited and heard nothing, so I said, "Shannon Michael!! I love you!!" Again, I hear nothing. So, I say, "Shannon!" He responds with, "Oh yeah, I love you!"

jack and his thumb

I have commented before how attached Jack is to his thumb (aside from the obvious fact that it is attached to his body). Those of us who regularly put Jack down for naps (Sean, my mom, and I) have noticed how his eyes roll back and close as soon as you place his blanket next to his right cheek, and he automatically puts his left thumb in his mouth.

We have also discovered that his thumb is to Jack as salt is to Sean. For Sean, salt makes every bite taste better. (Okay, maybe not every bite. I don't recall seeing him salt his ice cream.) For Jack, his thumb makes every bite taste better. We place a bite of food in Jack's mouth, and he immediately follows it with his thumb. Then, when that bite is sufficiently enjoyed, Jack will pull his thumb out, open his mouth expectantly and wait for the next bite. And, you cannot convince him to take another bite any sooner than he's ready. A spoonful of food hovering in front of his face will do nothing to motivate him to remove his thumb any sooner than he would have otherwise. In fact it is kind of funny, because at the beginning of a meal, he will look at that bite with wide and excited eyes and rock back and forth. Then, after sufficiently milking his thumb of the last bite, he will pull himself away to accept it. You can tell when he's satisfied when he just starts absent-mindedly chewing on his fingers.