We are at that stage

********I wrote this on Sunday but didn't post it until now so when I say today, I mean Sunday. So much for real time blogging

First this is for my sister who complains that my posts don't have enough pictures.


Jonathan, his whole 18 months, has been incredibly easy going and flexible and I could pretty much take him anywhere. I realize that we are fortunate and not all kids are this way. But this is our normal. And when the status quo no, matter what it is, takes a turn for the worse, it's hard.
No matter what.
Now that Jonathan is walking more and more as well as verbalizing more and more, he is becoming less and less inclined to sit still and be quiet. Thankfully our life doesn't demand this very often. However we had two such occasions this weekend.
Jonathan is also straddling the fence on this whole nap debate. Sometimes he has two solid naps, sometimes two quick naps, or sometimes one looong nap. He just can't decide what he needs/wants.
This also makes things a little more hairy.
Saturday we went to a Habitat House Blessing. Sometimes they are outside, sometimes they are in (most often inside). This one was no exception. Jonathan did ok for the first half, but he started the "go-limp and squeal". Those of you who have kids over the age of one know what I am talking about. We tried food and toys but nothing was working. So I had to wiggle through the crowd to get to the door. I considered jumping out the window, but there was no grass on the lawn yet.

So I spent the rest of the time walking up and down the driveway with Jonathan.

Today Everette's cousin received His Eagle Scout Award. Kind of a big deal. I was looking forward to going. His other cousin received his a few years ago and the ceremony was only about 30-45 mins long so I thought we could manage.
I think we made it in the church about five minutes before we headed out, to the all tile super echoey lobby. I thought I was prepared, I had lots of quiet toys to play with. Those were fun for about two seconds. Did I mention that I woke him up to go (important details).
It's amazing how highly sensitive you are when it is your own kid making the noises. Every tiny sound makes you totally freak out and you are positive he is totally annoying everyone in the room. Which is funny because I can count on one hand the number of times I have been annoyed by someone else's child.

I hate this stage because I am torn between wanting to hear what is going on and trying to keep Jonathan from pitching a fit. Then when I am out in the halls with him, I wonder why I came to begin with.
My mother-in-law had mercy on me and showed me where the reception was going to be across the hall. Which was fine, I could keep the door cracked a little and I could hear most of what was going on, and Jonathan had a giant room to run around in, except he wanted to go through the tiny crack in the door. Meanwhile, he had a failed attempt at a solo-stand-up and did a faceplant in the middle of the floor. Rug-burn to prove it. So at this point the whiney limp- and-squeal escalated to a full wail. So another "helpful" woman banished us to the nursery. I am sure she really was trying to be helpful but I totally felt like she was "shooing" us to the back so we wouldn't bug anyone anymore.
After Jonathan settled down and began to happily play with the toys in the nursery. I began to throw myself a pity party, complete with the tiny table and chairs. Why on earth did I wake my sleeping son up so that I could bring him to another church's nursery to play with their toys? Not to mention, I HATE feeling like I am missing out on something. I have always been that way. This is one of my biggest struggles as a mom--staying home. I hate feeling left out of conversations or any other event. And I definitely felt like I was missing the party. I felt like I had been sent to my room, I was afraid to come out and face the lady. Then I started thinking about conversations I have had with Everette, the ones where he tells me that I care too much about what other people think. And I realized that I didn't even know this lady's name and I was afraid of offending her. SO I grabbed a few more toys and headed back out. This time we made it through. We had a few rough spots but we made it.
I should also mention that this particular ceremony was an hour and a half, two or three times longer than we had anticipated.
Aren't these pictures of Jonathan just so cute!