June update

Well, we're still in technology purgatory. The computer crashed ("Blue screen of death," they call it) days after we arrived home from Alaska, and the printer gave up its will to live the day before. Replacements for both are in the works, but in the meantime my ability to upload photos and do anything other than some basic email is pretty limited.

In the month since our return from Alaska Jonathan's sleep / bedtime routines have returned to normal, thankfully. Took nearly 3 weeks, and I understand why so many Moms are hesitant to take vacation and return home exhausted, but I think we're back to baseline again. I expected it'd be a rough week in the return, but I hadn't anticipated quite this duration. Looking back, it's actually better than last year. After last year's family vacation to Ixtapa I think it was months before Jonathan slept through the night again.

Despite the challenges of bedtime and the usual struggles of toddlerhood, Jonathan's an absolute delight. Since our return he's spending his days with his friend, as we're now nanny-sharing. Jonathan adores Nathaniel, but the daily struggle to share toys has been well... a struggle. A few days into the transition he reached a point where at the knock on the door he'd run around and collect his treasured trains, exclaiming, "No share!"... to my dismay. Yesterday's declaration reflected a big turning point. We were stopping by one of my friend's homes to drop off some borrowed clothes from the cruise, and I told Jonathan we're "going to visit one of Mommy's friends." At the sound of the word "friend," he announced he was willing to "share Monkey!" I don't know what he'd have done if Caroline had actually wanted Monkey, but the thought in and of itself was an improvement! And the boys are definitely getting better at offering a treasured toy to one another... most of the time.

Some of my other favorite moments from the past few weeks...

* One of Jonathan's favorite exclamations right now: "I'm makin' a mess!" And he usually is.

* A few days ago I was humbled to find what a help my 1 year old actually is. I had put him in his car seat, loaded up for all kinds of errands, and closed the trunk when I got in the car, took a deep breath, and put the car in reverse to back out of the garage. I heard Jonathan saying, "Close it the .... one. Close it the ... one" over his Go Fish CD. I turned down the music.
"What's that sweetie?"
"Mommy close it the other one?" -- pointing to the open car door on his right. OOOOH!
"Yes, Jonathan! Mommy needs to close the other door. Wow, thanks!" Yeah, I think the toddler saved me from nearly ripping the door right off the car on our way out the garage in the middle of an already crazy day.

* I still love the way he says, "Mommy kiss it the boo boo?" holding up a myriad of (sometimes fictitious) boo boos on hands, fingers, and toes.

* The bedtime routine we've settled into goes like this: Bath time, put on the jammies, and start stories. After a few stories with Daddy, we say prayers, but only after assuring him we'll read one last story after prayer time. He loves to fold his hands and lean his head against his Daddy's chest, but can only keep his eyes closed for a few seconds at a time. And Jonathan can't resist interrupting to remind us of our promise -- "one book! one book!" holding up a single finger for emphasis -- before piping down again to listen as we arrive at "Amen!" which he declares with the enthusiasm of a gospel choir. Then it's one last story, as promised. As we approach the end he hits last-page-panic and begins urgently suggesting other books within reach. We grab Monkey, remind him it's Nightnight Time, and he acquiesces as long as I agree to, "Mommy rubba da back." A few minutes of back rub, leaning my big belly against his crib to reach down to the little toddler curled up with two monkeys, a tiger, a blankie, an elephant, and at least another or or two of the tribe... if I stop or move my hand he's quick to remind me with his sleepy voice, "Mommy, rubba da back... one time... one time..." One time meaning, again and again. And now we're fortunately at the stage where my last "I love you, good night" is met with only a sleepy half-hearted, "Mommy?..." before he (usually) puts his head down as I slip out. Such a nice change from the drama of a few weeks ago, and I love the quiet minutes of rubbing his little back as he settles in for the night, well aware that these moments won't last forever.

* He continues to congratulate himself consistently to highlight for us his achievements. Whether it's throwing the trash away or buckling a seatbelt on his own, Jonathan will often celebrate by declaring "Good job! I did it. Good job." It's hard not to laugh.

* One of the funniest moments of the past month started out not so funny. A few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon, in his excitement over something or another Jonathan reached down and bit my arm. Immediately I turned a disapproving look his way to declare we were headed for Time Out. Before I could get out anything more than, "Jonathan!!!..." he pointed to the door and suggested in exclamation, "Mommy go to church!" I was laughing so hard in surprise at his attempt at distraction that I had to turn my face away until I could compose myself to finish my reprimand, during which I reminded him that God would in fact agree that we cannot bite Mommy.

* It's been fun to see him trying to grasp at the whole idea of Baby Abby. His understanding at 22 months is clearly limited, but to a certain degree he gets that we're talking about a baby. He'll pat my tummy declaring, "Baby Abby here!" and then make up random things she does. Today his announcements that "Baby Abby drinkin' the water" and "Baby Abby splash in the bath time" were surprisingly right on. Other days he approaches the infant swing we have awaiting her and tells me "Baby Abby sleep here. Baby Abby sit down here. Jonathan push Baby Abby." But then there are moments he pats his own tummy and asks, "Baby Abby here?" Umm... no, no Baby Abby there. We've been reading a book all about becoming a big brother, and he seems to find the idea of a baby fun. While he's in for quite a surprise with her arrival, his enthusiasm is really sweet.

And the day's approaching! We've rolled into the 3rd trimester this week and our due date is now just under 90 days away! Abby's growing, as am I. She's become more and more active the past few weeks, especially nights that I'm on call. Maybe she's always been a night owl and I'm just noticing more that I'm up at night now, too. We're really looking forward to her arrival and have lots of preparing to do in the meantime.