Are you my Friend?

It is both interesting a frustrating to understand that my son is his own person.  They say kids figure this out around age 2, and thus begin acts of defiance to establish their independence.  I guess a similar transition happens for parents, too.

I suppose I always accepted that there were "clicks" at school, but it is completely rational to play with a couple kids at a time and not an entire class.  But I foolishly assumed they all get along.  We can ask who Jonah played with at school and the answer is always some combination of the same few kids.  Then I ask about some of the other kids in the class, and the answer is a firm "no" or even "he's mean".  Even if grown-ups are always calling all kids friends, toddlers seem to know better.

While it's delightful for Jonah to make friends or recognize a bad apple, it is sad when his judgement differs from my own.  A very sweet, but very shy little girl from playgroup kept asking Jonah, "are you my friend?" to which he kept replying, "no!", crying and running away.  The poor little thing!  I felt so sad for her, but admired her resilience.  She must have asked a hundred times.

I want Miss Jacqueline!

A good college friend came to visit over the long weekend and spent lots of time entertaining Jonah playing ball, cooking, reading, etc.  If she so much as left the room Jonah would ask me, "Mom, where your buddy?"

When we hurriedly dropped her off at the train station today, Jonah gave the loudest and most emphatic cry I have ever heard from him:  "I want Miss Jacqueline!  I want Miss Jacqueline hug me!"  With HUGE crocodile tears.  The poor kid was clearly distraught at her departure.

We took a walk down by the tracks, where five tracks simultaneously pass above a river and below a pedestrian walk, all of which tunnel under the mall.  He loved it... but kept intermittently crying for Miss Jacqueline!  We waved to the commuter train as it passed to say good-bye (although her Amtrak train had departed 20 minutes prior.  Shhhh!)  Bye, Miss Jacqueline!  We miss you!!!

Fast Friends

Happily, Jonah decided to be best buds with the son of my college friend.  They had met before as babies, but now 2 years old they can actually play together.  They immediately found they have a lot of similar interests, including basketball, soccer and bounce houses.  Unfortunately, these hobbies intersected in a rather competitive way.  Even with 6 balls in the yard, they always wanted the same one at the same time, even though the favorite varied throughout the day!  They both did a great job "using their words", but understanding one another was another issue entirely.  ;-)

New Year's Eve

Jonah had a New Year's Eve party with his cousin Addison and some of her little friends.  It was an interesting change from earlier in the day, when he was the youngest with his cousins Cailin and Declan.  Jonah has 6 months on Addison and Adam, which is the difference between sitting & batting at toys and running & very deliberately manipulating objects.  Jonah was very defensive when I tried to interact with the little ones.  He insisted on having a turn holding my hands to walk, bouncing on my knee, or reading a book.  He is too old for the bouncing game and certainly didn't need help walking.  He wasn't looking for just his turn, Jonah wanted to make sure no one else had a turn with HIS Mommy.

Happy 1st Birthday, Jonah!

Can you believe our little guy is a year old already???  I decided to celebrate (who deserves it more than Mommy?) and took the day off.  Having nothing to do all day, we invited his playgroup over for a birthday party  ...and the moms from our church group who would probably be at work anyway  ...and the neighbor who probably wouldn't have her grandkids this week anyway.  And thus "having a few friend over" turned into 10 moms/dads and 15 kids between 2 months and 4 years!  It was crazy - kids everywhere - but we had fun in an overwhelming sort of way.  :-)  A few of the older kids loved Jonah's colored sand table on the porch and the younger ones stayed inside.  Jonah loved walking around with his balloons.  Everyone sang Happy Birthday, but Jonah wasn't so into the whole cake-smashing thing.  In fact, he got his hands dirty, but wasn't so interested in eating the cupcake, even after a taste of frosting!  Jonah was left with a giant pile of gifts he was too exhausted to open.

After nap, Mommy was eager to let Jonah play with some of his new toys, including a ball pit (in his pool!) and bouncer.  It's amazing that he seemed to know exactly what to do with them and loved every second.  Such joy.

When Daddy came home, we had cake (again!) and more presents.  Spoiled?

Book Idea: Where is Starbuck?

Jonah met his friend, and future ND roommate, Blake!  Blake is 2 months old and still very newborn.  Ahh.  The nostalgia.  Although, Daddy enjoys playing with his very active big boy.

Blake's mommy pointed out the ridiculousness of an old book of her childhood, "Where is Spot"?  In the book, mommy dog goes looking for Spot for dinner.  Along the way you lift the flaps to find a bear behind the door, a snake in the grandfather clock, hippo in the piano, lion under the stair, etc.   It did seem ludicrous.  Then I got home and it hit me.  It was just like our house!  I took stock:

• elephant on the hearth
• alligator in the bathtub
• lion under the desk
• bird under the armchair
• koala in the organ
• duck under the bed
• whale under my nightstand
• crab under a dining room chair
• dolphin on the porch
• chipmunk behind the file cabinet
• bear under the stair
• penguin behind the toilet
• clam under the couch
• hippo in the bookcase
• snake under the lampshade

Between Jonah and Starbuck, our house is littered with zoo animals!  And Starbuck has put most of them in her favorite hiding places.  So really, what was strange about the book was not the animals you find along the way, but that you are searching for a puppy instead of a ferret.

Grinding

With only four teeth (2 top and 2 bottom), Jonah has already figured out how to grind them! He manages to make quite a horrible sound rubbing them together. Maybe it's just because the teeth are new and feel funny. I remember running my tongue over the spot anytime I lost a tooth, braces changed, etc. Or maybe it's because I complain they are too sharp and he is kind enough to smooth them for me. Whatever the cause, I sure hope it doesn't become a habit!

Mortal Enemies

We went to my company summer picnic and had a lovely time showing off our walking.  Jonah climbed the deck steps (much to Mommy's surprise!) and followed the other kids right to the pool edge, where Mommy intervened and spoiled his fun.
One might think Jonah is too young to make mortal enemies, but here it is:  Dana held Jonah for a short while to give me a break, but we didn't immediately notice her 2-yr-old son, Theo, silently watching.  When Theo noticed this injustice, he broke into a screaming fit.  As soon as his Mommy picked him up, Theo calmed and stared Jonah down with the evil eye!  Jonah, on the other hand, smiled and waved back, happy to have his own Mommy and completely oblivious.  But from Theo's perspective, they will never be friends!

16 Babies, 10 Moms, and a Dad

= Mila's 2-year old birthday party! Everyone from playgroup went (most Tues. playgroups are some subset of the list) plus a couple other friends. The kids were between newborn and about 3 yrs. Crazy.

Jonah really liked playing on Mila's toy piano. It was a little upright, sized perfectly for a baby to sit on the floor and bang the keys. He looked just like Schoeder from the Peanuts!

He composed rather interesting music too. It had all the marks of a symphony, with soft interludes between very powerful choruses. Arguably, it was better than a piece Daddy and I recently saw by Augusta Thomas, commissioned and performed by the BSO (the only time the orchestra had ever given us both a headache). Certainly, it was more enjoyable to my ears! And between his back-up band of a drum and guitar and kids screaming in the background, I may not have been the only observer to think it the nicest sound in the room!
 

Baby Shower for "Bundle"

Jonah's future friend, currently of ambiguous gender and known as "Bundle", came to visit this weekend for his/her baby shower!  This meant that Mommy's friends Caitlin (Bundle's mommy) and Jacqueline were also visiting.  :-)  

Jonah had a wonderful time playing with Jacqueline, who is a natural with babies.  Mommy was thrilled to have an extra pair of hands to read stories, play games, give baths and otherwise entertain Jonah!

Jacqueline nicknamed Jonah Little Pollywog because of his affinity for water.  She is a linguistic anthropologist, and had an interesting perspective on our cultural interaction with babies and the English-sounding babble they produce.

During the afternoon we pulled out the Sandra Boynton CD "Philadelphia Chickens" to try it out.  While Mommy and Jacqueline were dancing and singing along, Daddy came and snuck Jonah upstairs to play in the peace and quiet.  LOL!

Bundle's shower was wonderful in that Mommy got the chance to be at the same time an adult, socializing with other grown-ups, and a kid, enjoying time with old friends (without the immediate responsibilities of Mommihood).  Jonah hung out with Daddy doing boy things, I am sure.

Tracking

Friends Dave and Kate came over the meet Jonah and add to his scientific instruction.  Dave and Daddy did an experiment to see how well Jonah would track a flashlight beam on the ceiling!  He would follow the light a full 180 degrees around the room!  Next time: object permanence.