Quick trip to Grandpa's

Last weekend Jon and I made a trip out to Phoenix to meet with members of a mission agency we are looking into as a possible sending agency. Jon went out Friday and I followed Saturday. Since our flights conveniently had layovers in Chicago going both ways I asked my dad to babysit Jonah so we could make the most of our short time.

The trip with Jonah from D.C. to Chicago was a bit of a challenge for me. I had to park in the extended parking lot, catch a shuttle to the terminal, print my boarding pass (thankfully I wasn't checking any luggage), get through security with Baby, stroller, backpack, and small rolling suitcase, take a shuttle to the gate, realize that by printing my boarding pass at the self-service kiosk I didn't have a boarding pass for Jonah, get the boarding pass... By the time I accomplished all this we were about last to board on the full flight. I had to get down the aisle to the back with the rolling suitcase, backpack, and wriggling toddler and hoping not to hit too many passengers along the way. I thought we were going to have to sit in a middle seat (totally miserable) but a kind man offered to move to the middle so we could have the aisle. After sitting there for about 20 or 30 minutes the woman in front of us turned around and asked if we could switch seats because she didn't think she could handle Jonah kicking her in the back for the entire flight. So we switched and thankfully had another sympathetic seat-mate next to us who didn't mind Jonah handing her his cup and toys and examining her extremely long fingernails.

While we waited to meet Grandpa at Midway we found a Kids Corner with a big screen playing cartoons AND a payphone. What could be better?

He's only one year old, but he has plenty of important calls to make.

We found Dad waiting outside security and Jonah was very quick to shout, "Grandpa!" and then looking at me, "Bye Bye!" No separation anxiety from this kid! I was just so glad not to have to struggle through a similar flight ordeal on the four-hour trip to Phoenix (and four hours back on Sunday). So Jonah got to have some nice Grandpa bonding time and was a very good boy, judging from the report I got. He even pooped on the potty for Grandpa (the first repeat performance of this accomplishment since he did it for me the first time two weeks ago!)

After a quick visit in Phoenix Jon and I turned around and came back on Sunday afternoon. Dad and Jonah were waiting outside security and I knelt down for Jonah to come give me a hug. He came running toward me and I thought it was going to be a wonderfully precious Kodak moment... and he kept running right past me shouting, "Daddy! Daddy!" Oh well. Maybe next time he'll be happy to see me too.

Our Nightly View

We get to see a spectacular sunset over the mountains every night.

A Prodigy?

Trying on my vest

It seems like I've been blogging a lot lately, but I feel like interesting things have been happening that I wanted to share with you all. The sad thing about blogging is that you never know who reads your blog and if the people you're thinking of when you write are actually reading, or if it's just your parents and a certain friend from Colorado. Anyway...

This morning while Jonah was in his high chair I randomly started singing the theme song to a cartoon show we've watched a few times on Netflix. It's one of those annoying songs that gets in your head and I didn't really know the words so I was just singing "dee dee dee". Jonah perked up and happily announced, "Caillou!" I couldn't believe he could correctly name a song I sang without the words! When Jon got home we repeated the trick and then I tried with "Three Blind Mice" which he identified as "Me Mah Mahce!" and "Old McDonald" - "Eeeeeee-I-E-I-O!" I was totally amazed. Is this normal for a 16-month-old toddler? Maybe lots of other toddlers could do the same thing but don't have the verbal ability to say the name of the song. Maybe all toddlers do this and I'm just dumb to think it's special. But whether it's unique or not, I was very proud to see his little mind working and to know he was learning new skills.

One of those SuperMom Days

Today was one of those days where I just totally kicked butt and felt like Supermom. Maybe something magically happens when you cross that 13 week mark into the second tri-mester and energy suddenly reappears and you can conquer the world. Or maybe it was just an anomaly and it will never happen again. Either way, I'm very proud of my accomplishments today:

Made dinner in the crock pot
Made dinner rolls from scratch for the first time (they were awesome!)
Paid bills
Cleaned both toilets, which were totally nasty
Vacuumed the whole apartment
Did five loads of laundry
Cleared out Jonah's room which was still full of boxes and miscellaneous junk
Unpacked and organized three lingering boxes in our bedroom that I've been dreading
Loaded, ran, and unloaded the dish washer
Cleaned a stain Jonah made on the carpet this morning
Served dinner by 6:00
And of course the normal duties of feeding, bathing, diapering, nose wiping and entertaining a very active toddler! Whew!

On the verge of manhood (or at least boyhood)

Today marked a very special event in Jonah's life: He pooped on the potty. He was in his high chair at lunch and I noticed that he was working on something in his diaper. I asked him if he was making some poops and he said, "Potty!" I ignored it for a few minutes figuring he didn't really know what he was talking about and that he had probably already done what he had to do in his diaper. But after a few more requests for the potty I took him out of the high chair and we headed to the bathroom. I found that he had not done much in the diaper and after a minute of sitting on the potty he performed his task! I was so happy and proud of him!

Somehow I thought this would be a turning point and he would poop on the potty from here on out, but we found a very messy diaper when putting him to bed tonight. (Veteran moms are probably laughing their heads off right now. One poop on the potty? Ha! You've got a long way to go, sister!) Oh well. It was ground breaking. Let the potty training begin!

One for the books...

I keep trying to get Jonah to say, "Love you!" and he kind of tries, but he isn't really enthusiastic about it and it doesn't really sound close. But yesterday he made up for it in the most precious way...

He has one of those little baby photo albums with pictures of us and various family members. He often picks out Daddy and Grandpa and always himself ("Baby!"), but rarely Mommy. Yesterday while on his changing table he not only recognized me, but he said, "Mommy! Pretty!" I just about melted! I promise I have never prompted him to say this. I only taught him pretty when he's looking at my rings or earrings. It's possible that he saw my ring in the picture, but it's still precious.

He's starting to put two or three words together - I think sentences are not far off. He says "read it", "car keys", "mail box", "this is how", "no no touch", "choo-choo train", "all better", "all done", etc.

He names things off in the grocery store as we pass. "Nanas" (bananas), "beans", "chips", "juice", "an-ich" (sandwich when he sees bread), "nuts", "cheese", "milk", and of course "oh-dirt" (yogurt). Not only does he go ballistic when he sees yogurt, but he's convinced that everything with a plastic lid is also oh-dirt. No amount of convincing will make him realize that it's margarine, sour cream, or coffee.

We're also getting a kick out of how he enunciates his "t" on words like "out" and "hot". It comes out more like "ou T!" He occasionally wakes up in the middle of the night for no good reason, especially in a new place or times of transition. Now that we're settled in our own place and don't need to worry about waking other people up we've been letting him cry it out. If we get up with him the episode usually lasts about 2 hours and we usually end up letting him cry anyways. If we don't go in at all and just let him cry it only lasts 15 minutes. It's heart-wrenching to hear him cry, but we know there's nothing wrong with him and we'll all get more sleep if we don't get him up. The other night he had us laughing out loud in our room when we started hearing, "WAHHHHHHH!" Pause, and then in a normal voice, "Ou T!" Then back to, "WAHHHHHHHH!" Apparently he hasn't learned how to scream words, yet. Let's hope he never does.

Keep working on it

Jonah is really into trying to dress himself lately. The pictures are a little blurry because it's very hard to get him to stand still and because the flash was off, but you get the idea.

He pulled this shirt out of his hamper and managed to get it around his head. This was complete success as far as he was concerned and he didn't bother to try to get his arms in.

This, on the other hand, has me a little concerned. While I was getting dressed he pulled these out of our hamper. I guess since underwear has large holes it's easier to get over the head than a shirt. No matter how many times I tell him that it's undies and not a shirt and that it's icky... once I turn my back this is what I find.

The Grapefruit Part 2

I couldn't decide which video was funnier, so I decided to post them both. This one also has the priceless sour face with an added, "Yummy!" and request to drink the juice of the grapefruit.

The Grapefruit Part 1

It's a blessing that my child will eat anything. It's also hilarious sometimes. I love the sour face and then the huge smile and request for "moooooooore".

My new favorite video

Jon's dad drove across town with Jonah in the back seat (I know he wasn't in his car seat. Please don't report us. It was an emergency. Besides, none of us had car seats when we were kids and we survived, right?) Jonah was being very quiet in the back and Jon's dad didn't know that silence is a very bad sign when it comes to toddlers. This is what he discovered when they arrived home.