Jonah, you are at that age that I would like to be able to record your conversations 80% of the time. You can be SO funny...definitely, an unintentional funny. The ironic part is...you don't let anyone else see this side of you, other than a hand-full (at best!) of people.
You are very VERY introverted/shy. You turn your head away if people, even people you somewhat know, talk to you OR you act as if you are instantly sleeping (by rolling your eyes back, and dropping your head to the side in a quick "dead like a possum kind of way"). It may or may not be a bit embarrassing, BUT, we cannot force you to be outgoing or friendly or talk to anyone in general..so this is what happens for now. For Sunday School, you go....but Daddy is in the room the entire time, and you are getting to the point where you WANT to join in, but then back out and sit there. It'll come, I just know it. It's not worth pushing you because you have proved that you will hold your ground all the more if we try and make something happen.
You have personality for DAYS! Mercy sakes, you have some very dramatic ways for being such a 'shy' individual. If you don't like something we ask of you, especially a compromise, (example: I'm not going to give you your leche if you're going to throw it out of your bed when your done.) and yet you REALLY want whatever it is, you will give a very thorough eye roll and say, "fiiiiiiiine."
If you get your feelings hurt it is just terrrrrible! You will cry very very sorrowful and come wailing, "Christian hurt my feel-wings! Christian won't let me in his room, he hurt my feel-wings!!" And often, I just need to say, "REALLY?" or "Does that make you sad?", followed by a "I better go talk to him (or whoever the offender is)." And that usually calms those tears down pretty much immediately. You do NOT like to be the center of attention (goes along with being shy), but its a dramatic avoidance...run-to-the-other-room if FaceTime is on and you might be in the screen type avoidance. You can be quick to "fight" but are also quick to forgive. It amazes me, how sometimes if you have a toy taken from you, you are up and ready to rumble (and how you know the wrestling moves that you do is beyond me!). BUT, when its all said and done, you will get up on your feet and say "I'm sorry, with a long drawn out hug...followed by an I wuve (love) you." This melts my heart every time. And your sincere side is just about the sweetest. I have not seen you show this anywhere else but home. If one of us gets hurt, you are very quick to say, "are you okay?" (while rubbing an arm, leg, head, etc). If its real bad, you RUN to get your blanket, and cover the wound/hurt spot with your blanket (informing the person that you brought them your blanket!) or you'll run to the freezer and grab the "ice truck" with no prompting to put on the injury...and then give them a kiss on the cheek when you know its okay.
You are finally potty trained, as of April this year...and glory be, that was a BEAUTIFUL victory! You are actually more potty trained, throughout the night than either of your brothers were. It started when I said we were out of diapers (which was 'kinda true'...as we were running very low, and Isaac needed to use the ones we had left). So you said in your true annoyed fashion when you don't like something, "fiiiiiinnne." And you peed on the toilet. And then you did more and more..until you just started saying you needed to go. Now, you will announce that you need to go, and when we get up to come help you, you'll turn to us and say, "no...I don't NEED your help, I can go all by mine-self." You also like to "have to go pee outside". I had told you when first learning, its okay to pee outside at our house when its an emergency. So now, you will be playing and you'll even go as far as to come to the door, yell inside the house, "It's a-a-merge-ncy!" And I'll tell you to come in to go pee, but no no no, you want to go outside. So I have to pull your pants down and you'll stick your belly out as far as it'll go, and you pee. "Whew. I sure did water that grass. That's sure good."
Bedtime is so far from "normal" for you. We try to avoid naps for you most days (some days, you just flat out NEED one, and that is what we do), as you become super difficult to lay down at a decent hour at night. But even on days of our best attempts, you just CAN'T hang...you crash, wherever/whenever you're body says so. (And every single time it makes me stop and stare..you look so sweet and little). You sometimes feel it coming and say, "I'm very ttiiiiiirreed, I need to go to sweep."
You HAVE to sleep with your blue blanket. You pick at the satin trim...so much so, that it has started to wear down in areas, and you have said, "UH-OH, look...there's a hole!" (As if something that is unknown has happened to it...it is not a mystery why this is taking place.) You also like to sleep with very random items, ranging from kitchen tongs to toy cars to Lego men to pipe cleaners. In order to do so, we have made it a rule that he has to put whatever item in a ziplock baggie and set it to the side of his bed. And if you were to just go to bed, and go to sleep after being in your bed that would be one thing.....but oooooooooh no, that ONLY happens when you are completely exhausted and you fall asleep when your head hits the pillow. We're talking about 5% of the time. What your 'normal' looks like is, "I need my leche." (You drink warmed almond milk, that you only refer to as leche.) After that, you "used to" (as of several weeks ago), chuck it out of your bed, get out of bed with your blanket to come find Daddy. And then you usually spend at least 30 min -1 1/2 hours putzing around, talking about ALL KINDS of things (those are actually my favorite, because its the funniest), reading/looking at books, or just laying next to Ben flip-flopping or pulling at your blanket. Once asleep, it is highly unlikely that is the location you will remain asleep...you'll end up all kinds of places (couch, floor, our room/floor).
You LOVE LOVE LOVE your Daddy!!!!! No doubt about it, we would be in BIG trouble without Daddy around! I can't even tell you how many times a day I hear, "I want Daddy. I need Daddy. When is Daddy coming home? Where's Daddy? I want Daddy. I want Daddy. I want Daddy now." I have come to just reply with, "me too" and sometimes I add in there "should we cry together and see if that makes him appear." And its not that Ben is even gone an overabundance of time....just normal work schedule stuff. When you were still wearing diapers you would want Daddy to change you, Daddy gives you a bath, Daddy needs to take you potty now, etc. I will say..you are not 'typically' a stickler about this when you are home with me during the day (I know you tolerate me...haha, no, I know you love me too. You just have a special bond with Daddy). It's mostly in the evenings, or if Daddy is around and you know he 'could be' available to you. I love that you love your Daddy, its about the sweetest thing to see you snuggle up on him. I would be okay with you not INSISTING on needing him in the very early morning hours when he has already gone to work, or at times that he is already occupied with someone/something else when he's at home. But I agree, Daddy is awesome and he is worth loving whole-heartedly.
You have interesting relationships with each of your brothers:
With Isaac...you can be so so sweet with him. You will come up to him, and just kiss his head or head very softly. And then you'll look up and inform me that you "just kissed Isaac". You will also try and parent him, "Isaac no-no, you can't have that. Isaac get down, that's dan-grous." This does have its benefits, as you have helped catch things that he is getting into that he really shouldn't. Usually, Isaac is NOT a fan of this, he will squawk VERY loud. And with you, he will even bite you when he is seriously dissatisfied with something you are doing. It is not kind...and is not encouraged (but I do remember NOT that long ago when you were a 1 1/2 year old, you did this VERY thing to Noah). You and Isaac can play and giggle and chase, it is so cute to watch when you are interacting on your own in a playful way. You fill the BIG brother role to him in such a proud way, where you look out for him and make sure he is taken care of.
With Noah...you and he can play very nice together when its just the two of you. You push each others buttons and you do the most physical "fighting" out of the 4 of you, but you also "need" each other the most. You both are timid/shy/reserved when it comes to interacting with other kids outside our immediate family. At church, you will go if the other goes to children's church. At home even, you will go downstairs and play if Noah goes with you. You each will say, "I need Noah" or he will say you to go with them in order to do something. People are slowly starting to not get you two so confused...you have completely different looks (in my mama mind anyway!), but you wear same size clothes, so your closet is very interchangeable.
With Christian....ooooooh with Christian. You two are way to similar it is not always good. You can laugh and play and rough house SO hard and get along GREAT! And literally within minutes, something will go awry and you two are screaming at each other and running around with your heads cut off trying to tattle LOUDLY about what the other person did. I'm not going to lie, you guys can drive me really really bonkers. However, you look up to Christian and you want to do things for him that you know he will like...you will share the things that are special to you in hopes you will please him. It is so sweet when you do this. You also know eeeeexxxaaaacccttttllllyyy the wrong/right buttons to push of his to send him over the moon crazy, and that is a work in progress with him to not allow you do get to him. That is certainly not so sweet to witness, and I'd be okay if you quit doing that immediately.
Things you like:
Making smoothies with Daddy. You man the blender. You put the fruit and spinach in, you tell Daddy what step is next. And then every time you say, "Ready? Can I push it?" and then you verify once more before pushing the button to mix it all up. You love smoothies, and you are a excellent smoothie chef!
Playing outside. You love to be outside; riding your bike, playing in the sand pile, collecting SO many sticks and carrying them around, swinging, playing with Grandma and Grandpa's dogs.
Playing with Lego, plus-plus's, cars. You may destroy some of the creations that you see built by others as well...which does not go over well. But you stack, build, and create...and my favorite is when you make them "talk" and you have different voices and long drawn out conversations...so so funny!
You like to watch "shows". I get asked everyday, "Can I watch a show??" Many times, said quickly in a row. You do get to SOME DAYS. Your favorites include...but certainly not limited to: Paw Patrol, Veggie Tales, Wild Kratts, Zaboomafoo (another animal show), Daniel Tiger (although not your first pick anymore at all). And since you've been potty trained, there for a little bit I allowed a treat of playing a game on the iPad as a reward for pooping...so now you will say, "That was a REEEEAAALLLY BIG one, can-I-play-the-iPad???" (read: must say that part really fast) It is no longer used as a reward, but it doesn't stop you from trying.
You like to help me in the kitchen. You actually do really well with helping too! We get the stool out, and you stick it out for quite awhile! (I know this picture is blurry, but its still a special one to me.)
You like to sleep in our room. Sometimes when we lay you down in your own bed, you'll be sleeping, and by the time we go to bed..you'll have gotten up and are laying in our bed taking up the MOST space possible you can. You get moved back to your bed, but often in the middle of the night you'll come back in our room...so I leave a little "nest" on the floor for you to sleep if you do that. *You like to snuggle on the big brown blanket on the couch in the morning...and we also refer to that as a nest :)
You like to put on accessories. Glasses, different peoples shoes, hats, boxing gloves, helmets, you name it..you'll try it.
And lastly, here are just a few things that you have said in the last couple months. And its not only what you're saying it, but definitely HOW you're saying it.
On the way to the doctor's office, you said, "We're getting close." (It wasn't really the office, but the same color.) You continued, "I know that we're getting close, I see it!" And then he went on, saying in a sing-song voice, "I know it because I am a genius."
Your fingernails have been weird, as in they are peeling up from the base up (from the hand foot and mouth you got a couple months ago), you looked up and said matter of fact, "Bite your fingernail and then it comes OFF!" (as if it was a brand new discovery!)
Passing by a corn field, you said, "WOW! That corn looks good! Mommy they planted that corn super DUPER good!" Pause. I said, "yeah, they did."
"Yeah they did. Yeah its REAL tall!"
At storytime, you didn't want to leave my lap, yet you wanted to listen. You finally sat down next to me, and certainly wouldn't stand up for the songs. BUT, you sang them to yourself. Then you stood up, whispered in my ear, "I DID sing it! I just sing it quietly!"
You do this often, you will sing many songs, whether it be at church, home, in the van, etc...you just don't want anyone to notice you doing so!
You are growing, both physically and developmentally...and it is happening so fast all of a sudden. I hope to remember the little things you say, and how you say them. You are funny, kind, sincere, and seriously stubborn. I love you Jonah and look forward to watching you grow!
