Change is in the Air

... And I think Jack can sense it. He and his brother must have some telepathic thing going on, and meanwhile he's got the rest of us fooled into believing that he thinks "baby" is synonomous for "belly button." For example, when we say, "Jack where's the baby?" he smacks my poor, protruding-under-some-serious-pressure naval. Gotta give him credit though, that IS where the baby is located. Then again, if he knew his sweet baby brother was in Mommy's belly, he wouldn't step on my stomach, or do that flying eagle thing he's so good at when when I'm laying on the floor ... or would he? Ah, brothers.

Anyway, Jack must know something is up. Things have been a little different around here the past few weeks, particularly with sleep. He used to go to bed and take naps so easily! I've been missing those days. :( At first, I thought we were just transitioning to one nap a day. But I think we're past that now. After much stalling on Mom's part, Jack is officially down to a singular afternoon nap, which I'm very happy to report generally lasts somewhere between 2-3 hours. It's usually longer when I'm least expecting it and shorter when I'm in the middle of a million projects. Occasionally, he still needs a morning nap. Usually if we've been doing a lot of traveling, or on Saturdays if we didn't get home from our church Small Group until late the night before.

We just got the nap thing figured out and Jack started waking up in the middle of the night. We guessed it was teething but what we didn't guess was that he was cutting ALL FOUR MOLARS. Geesh! Well they are now fully present and accounted for, and all I can say is I'm very grateful to have it over with now rather than after the baby is here. In fact, while we're at it. Bring on the rest of the teeth! Mama's ready!

So we figured naps out and Jack's molars are all in, but we haven't been able to figure out why, oh why, he's been waking up 5-10 minutes earlier every morning for the past month or so now. Jack used to go to bed at 7pm and sleep until at least 7am, sometimes later. As of last week, his wake up time was 5:50am and seemed to be getting earlier and earlier. And I cannot get him back to sleep! He is wide awake and ready to play! We had a similar issue at this time last year, so I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that Jack's room gets brighter, earlier this time of year. We already have blinds and two sets of curtains on each window to keep it pretty dark in there. And it was still an issue after two cloudy and rainy mornings, so I was beginning to think it may not just be sunlight. I decided to stick things out until Daylight Savings this weekend and wouldn't you know? This is the second day in a row that Jack has slept his straight 12 hours, not only not waking until after 7 but actually waking up happy again. And that is always a plus!

Fortunately for him, Jack continues to get cuter and more entertaining every day. Otherwise these new changes might be a tad unbearable. He learned how to say "dog" recently. Actually, he says "gog" but we know what he means. He has a shirt with a dog on it that he'll point to and say "gog." So we brought out our Weimaraner book (because that's our future dog someday!!) and showed him all the "gogs." And now that we're able to spend more time outside, Jack goes crazy, pointing and yelling, every time a dog walks by. Most people think it's cute, but I'm always surprised by the number of people who are uncomfortable with a 17 month old's attention, and hurriedly walk by without saying "hello." I mean, I know I'm his mom and all, but how can you ignore that adorable little face yelling "gog, gog!!"

Jack's been saying "look" (which comes out "yook") for a while now, but this past week he's pulling out all the stops. He says it all. The. Time. And usually 3 in a row, each getting progressively louder and an octave higher. Pair this phrase with a point and some happy feet, and you have a typical Jack moment. For instance, when he knocks over the small side table, "Yook, yook, yook!!" As if I didn't hear it bang to the floor from the kitchen anyway. Or when he spills his drink on the floor - "yook, yook, yook!!" It's amazing what excites him.

Finally, he's brought "Dadda" back in full force. He took a brief hiatus from calling out his dad's name for a while, but now uses it on a regular basis. We can see Jon pull in the driveway when he gets home from work, so usually Jack will pound on the window and yell "Dadda!", then run around to the top of the stairs to wait for him. Or if he knows Jon is in the bathroom, he'll stand at the door, pounding and yelling "Dadda!" until he comes back out.

We love to post pictures on our refrigerator. Mostly of family and a few of our friends' latest birth announcements. Jack likes to point at peoples' faces and go over their names. His favorites are "Dadda" and himself. But we're working on the rest!

But this isn't all Jack's doing. I've finally realized that although I think it's hard to carry Jack around now, it's only going to be more difficult, nay impossible, to carry both him and the new little guy in a few weeks. So I've been encouraging more walking on his part. And he's been more than happy to comply. His favorite all-by-myself activity is "walking" up and down the stairs. Although he still likes to hold my hand for the journey. He is so stinkin' proud of himself for walking up the stairs like a big boy. And I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I clap and cheer and tell him how grown up he is at the top. Going down is a bit more tricky. For some reason he prefers to use both feet at the same time on the way down. He enjoys the thrill so much that he generally opts to continue down the second set of stairs (the ones that lead to the front door, i.e. nowhere), and occasionally misses a step. Just today he almost took his Mommy, and baby brother, for a tumble down the stairs. Who knew stair climbing was so much fun?

The less I have to carry Jack the more I can carry other things, like groceries. But you have to watch the little stinker. Ever since that one beautiful weekend we had, he LOVES being outside. And the moment his feet hit the ground he's off running ... and tripping and falling and getting all dirty and then mommy picks him up and gets mud streaked on her shirt and dirty palms rubbed in her hair... And I end up force-carrying him inside anyway. So much for freeing up hands for groceries.

And finally, my favorite new development, the one that just warms my heart, is how he blows kisses - palm to mouth with three kissy noises. He does this when Jon puts him to bed and tells him to say goodnight to Mama. And since Jon usually puts Jack to bed when Mommy is either too tired, exasperated, or a tad grumpy about Jack's most recent antics ... those air kisses make me feel a little better.

So yes, change is in the air. The question is, "Are we ready for it?"