JAB blab

When you have a child, one of the many things you ponder is  his/her characteristics. This is not surprising, I suppose. Though it  is  rather amusing how quickly it begins…fresh out of the womb in most cases. “Oh, he has T’s eyes, T’s hair,  K’s  lips, K’s brow, and Granna lays claim to his nose, etc. etc.”  With each passing month and the development of new features, you shift the responsibility of the genes accordingly. These ponderings are by no means restricted to mere physical features. Temperament is examined quite closely and the “responsible parties” lay claim (or are forced to lay claim in the case of the not so charming traits). All of this is still going strong at 18 months, but as we move into a new stage of development in which Jack is more independent and able to communicate his likes, dislikes, and inclinations of the moment, I find myself analyzing the types of activities he likes to do and matching that with his ancestoral gene pool. I am well aware that all of this is a ridicuous exercise on my part…even more so than his physical characteristics, these inclinations will change and right now he is interested in just about anything at different moments. But I still find it amusing to contemplate.

This morning, Jack was very clear that he wanted K to read a book aloud to him and me. He gave the book to Kieran, sat across from him in my lap, and listened as he began. The story progressed and as K was reading, he jumped up, ran over to his little red piano and began pounding out some “music.” Approvingly, I thought, “we clearly have a musical theatre composer in the making.  Move over Stephen Sondheim.”

This seemed like a good gene compromise. K and I don’t really have the music thing going, but I have the theatre thing in spades. K’s mom, sister, and extended family have a ton of singing talent that I would kill for. My brother primarily plays trumpet but is no slouch on some other instruments. It all fits quite nicely. I should add, however, that out of nowhere Jack has been picking up objects from around the house and turning them into horns. Cups, most things cylindrical or box-like, well, anything is fair game for a tootin’ good time. Now whose genes are in the lead?

With the onset of a nasty little cold, Jack has been very snuggly. In fact, the last three days he’s fallen asleep in my lap prior to his nap. We worked so hard at teaching him how to fall asleep on his own that it has been a long time since he’s done that. I have to admit, it’s really quite fluverly.

Even before he got sick, he’s become rather demonstrative in his hugs and kisses. There’s nothing better than being greeted with a big smile and a hug when you walk into the room. We adults should take note…it feels really good! Oh and the spontaneous unrequested kisses are also pretty fabulous (albeit a little slimy at times).

Cousin Graham turns 1 on Thursday, but celebrations were in order this past weekend.
We hate that we had to miss it (damn the distance!) but seeing his cute little frosting covered mug makes me even more excited to head out there in a couple of weeks.  I only wish we were staying longer!! I can tell by looking at the rest of the birthday photos that Graham scored some serious booty. Jack won’t want to return home.

check out crowdedfire.org

Isn’t Cousin Graham cute?

For more photos of this little guy, click on the picture.

I think it is safe to say that I like structure and organization. This has certainly extended into my parenting style. We operate on a pretty predictable schedule. The things we do within that schedule often (though not always) vary, but the chunks of time in which we do them are fairly consistent.

Sleep used to be such a struggle that I remember hating if when bed time would roll around. Despite all of that, we established a routine very early on. Jack has pretty much had a bath every night, even though he didn’t always “need” it (those days are long gone!). We scrapped the advice of many a book and he’s always had a before bed feeding in the evening. And he has been read to in the rocker every night since he was probably a month old.

Now that sleep isn’t such a struggle, I think we all look forward to the evening wind down. K really tries to get home from work these days for it, even though it often means heading back to the office after. On those nights, we have dinner together and catch up on the day. Jack eventually grows weary of conversation and food, signs that he is “finished,” stacks his dishes on his tray if he’s feeling super helpful, and we clean up. When we pop him out of the chair he usually gives the sign for bath and off he and I go. Once out of the tub, it’s a perfunctory teeth brushing and on to the night diaper and pj’s with lullabies playing on the cd player. K then takes over when he is home, so it’s a kiss and “sweet dreams” from mama as they settle into the rocker. The book selections vary, of course, depending on who puts him down at night. (Though lately he has started selecting books he would like to hear which, I must admit, is one of the cutest things EVER!) As he starts to get sleepy, the reading lamp goes off, he often snuggles in and we recite a final passage from a book before heading to the crib. “Night night” and a kiss usually suffice, Jack rolls over and finds his way into slumber land on his own.

When K isn’t home and I put Jack down, I have taken to always reciting the first half of a book called The Napping House. My sister turned me onto it. It catalogues all of the house’s inhabitants that are sleeping and it is very repetitive in a “The House that Jack Built” sort of way. Anyhow, I recite up until…

And on the cat was a slumbering mouse,
On a snoozing cat,
On a dozing dog,
On a dreaming child,
On a snoring granny,
On a cozy bed,
In the napping house
Where everyone was sleeping.

(I stop there because after that a flea bites the mouse, all hell breaks loose, and no one is sleeping. Defeats the point, you see? So, sometimes I recite that part when he wakes up.)

Anyhow, tonight was one of those nights when things got a little out of wack. We’d had a bath before dinner so no need for one after; we had a friend over for dinner; K had to get back to work so he left after we ate; and Jack struggled to “give it up.” On my fifth trip back into his room I realized I hadn’t recited The Napping House, so I rubbed his back and gave it a shot. Immediately his little body relaxed (mind you I had tried the back rubbing on previous trips in); he rolled over and was snoring softly by the time I hit our stopping point.