Jonathan

I'm still pregnant, in case you're wondering.  And feeling pretty good actually.  My due date is this Thursday.  I keep wondering if every little cramp or pain is the beginning of THE contractions.  It's such a weird place to be in.  Part of me hopes it will happen soon, and part of me is scared to death it might happen too soon.  I had an appointment on Friday and was 80% effaced but still closed.  Before checking me, my midwife said that if I was dilated, she could strip my membrane and try to get things going.  Up till then I thought I couldn't wait for this baby to come out, but when she said that my heart stopped and I thought, "Wait, that's too soon maybe!"  I just feel like I'm going to be forever in pregnancy limbo and it's hard to really grasp that pregnancy is a means to an end -- that the reality of the situation is an actual, living, breathing, demanding and unbelievably sweet baby is going to be lying in my arms in a matter of days.  Maybe hours, who knows?   

Anyway....

I just wanted to post a few pics of Jonathan and write a few updates on him before the next baby comes because Baby 2 may steal the show for a few weeks...

Jonathan's almost 15 months now.  He is such a happy boy lately.  I feel like since he started walking his temperament has really changed a lot.  He just seems more content.  We've been having so much fun with him.  Right outside our front door is a huge park area and he loves to run around outside as often as we are willing to take him out.  We live close to a few different hospitals so we have a helicopter flying over us every few minutes. And we live 15 minutes from the airport so we also have lots of airplanes passing by, too.  

Jonathan is always quick to hear them and stops what he's doing to watch.  Here's a pic where we caught him in the moment:

It also kind of looks like he's seeing a vision :)

Our new place is also RIGHT NEXT to a train track. Bad news is it's pretty loud.  Only a problem at night.  We can't open the windows while we're trying to sleep or else we are woken up every time a train passes, which is not infrequent.  GOOD NEWS is that Jonathan loves the trains.  He calls them "choo-choos".  It's so darn cute.

This is him playing right outside our door in the dirt.  He sits there for 30 minutes at a time just putting dirt in the bowls, stirring it around with a spoon, dumping it out, and starting over again.  I bring a book with me while I watch him because I get pretty bored with the repetition.  Isn't it so funny how babies get so obsessed with something and can repeat that activity ad infinitum?  I'm so fascinated by watching him learn and explore and wonder what on earth is going on in his head.  He's also obsessed with light switches, microwaves, computers, phones, his toy fire truck... really anything with buttons or switches. 

And he also LOVES to sweep, or he tries to at least.  From the time he was just a few months old, he would always stare intently at me was I swept the floor.  Once he could walk, he was excited to get in on the action.  He walks around the house for 20-30 minutes at a time just moving the broom around the floor.  I can't understand why this is SO fascinating to him -- what is he trying to accomplish?  It's so interesting to me to watch him so intent on this activity.

Do you remember me blogging about this rubber chicken?  

Jonathan used to be so scared of it.  When you squeeze it, it SHRIEKS in a really awful way.  Now Chicken is one of Jonathan's best friends.  In fact, Jonathan can only say a few words, and "chicken" is one of them.  He's says it surprisingly well, too!  The other words he says are "Dadda", "again" (sounds more like "uh-nuh") and "choo-choo".  He has been stringing together lots of other vowels and consonants that sound like words but he doesn't seem to know how to use them.  But he is understanding so much now.  It's such a fun stage.

Here are a couple cute smiles:  

This is him right after he threw a tantrum because Daddy wouldn't let him play with his nice camera.  He was finally calming down here but you can tell he's still flushed from the exertion of it all.  I just thought he looked so handsome so I posted it :)  I love his blue eyes and toe-head blonde hair.  

In our Stony Brook apartment, we didn't have room for a rocker or glider.  We bought a glider at a garage sale for $8 a week or so after moving here and we love having it in Jonathan's room.  We rock him and sing to him for 10-15 minutes before his naps and bedtime.  He loves it.  Honestly, they're some of my favorite moments of the day.  He just lays his head on my chest and hugs his little teddy named Gregory as I sing to him.  When I finish a song, he immediately looks up at me and says "uh-nuh" which means he wants me to sing another song.  I can't even explain how precious it is.  Pure love.

Here he fell asleep as I was rocking and singing to him and Stephen came in and snapped a picture.