unbelievable

First off, the sleep report.

Last night, I refrained from blogging how it went, and that’s a drag because I already can’t remember. I was afraid I’d been blogging the sleep too much.

But it’s what’s going on with us right now, and I want to remember it.

So, piecing it together…

Despite a full and exciting day at the aquarium…

…he didn’t nap till after 3, woke around 4-ish. We ran through the paces, put him down at 7:30. At 8:17 I posted on Facebook (I had to tell someone) that things were not going well, and again around 8:30pm that the boy was screaming, except when Scott would go back in the room — then he’d start laughing.

I recall rounds of letting him cry, and going back in for brief consoles. Then we were going to try this idea of giving each other 20 minute periods of sitting with him, taking turns so one of us didn’t burn out, but then I went in for my turn too soon and messed up whatever Scott had going. It was completely unprofessional, if one may rate one’s attempts at putting a child to bed that way. At one point, after the boy had cried for a while again, I went in and he said, “Scared. Jonah. Scared.” So then I cried. And Scott took over, and sat in the chair next to the crib and waited with Jonah till sleep came.

Today he had another full and exciting day running around the Antiques and Collectibles fair with daddy, with a 45 minute midday stroller nap included, while mommy did self-care things like yoga class and generally decompressed from all the recent stress.

Here are my guys, all suited up and ready to scout for Megos:

They did find a $3 Superman Mego that just needed a little TLC and maybe a new cape, plus Scott’s colleague who is such an amazing collector I can’t even begin to describe it had a table there and he gave Jonah a tiny wooden house with a wind up music box in it that was made in Switzerland and has a little Heidi-type wooden doll that pops out the wooden-shuttered windows in time with the music. Except we all thought she was a clown at first, so we call it the “Clown House.”

Jonah had also had his eye on a “Giyant Pulasstick GOOSE!” at another table, but just when daddy was getting ready to negotiate, a woman swooped in and took it away. Of course not without an elaborate goodbye ceremony and the goose is going to live with the lady now, and all that. Jonah took it well though.

When they got home, he was very excited to show me his Clown House, and then he busted out his first almost-seven-word sentence, “WeSaaw. Giyant. Puhlasstick. GOOSE. Todayyye.”

So cool.

Another first: He talked on the phone.

What, you say? What do you mean first? This kid talks on the phone ALL THE TIME. He talks on anything remotely shaped like a phone. Like all the remotes int the house. He talks into his phone shaped fist. He gets phone calls from the Zebra, the Giraffe, the Monkey. He points to phones and lists the grandparents he’d like to speak to.

Yes, yes. True. But when we actually call the grandparents, he just listens, smiles, and punches the phone buttons.

Lately his play conversations have gotten more elaborate. His “Hell-ooooo?” more nuanced. “Howuryou? Iym faiyn. TalktoyuLayyturBYE!”

Yesterday, in play-talking, he’d “called” his “AUNT JjEnnnieee.” So, today, when I was on the real phone with her myself, I put him on.

She talked.

He listened. Intently.

“Aunt Jen-ny,” he said. Pleased.

He listened for a bit more.

“Playing, Chair,” he said, reporting on the Star Trek Mego chair that was in fact in his hand at that moment, and had been the center of his attention lo several minutes before the call.

He listened a little longer.

“Aunt Jenny,” he said again.

When the conversation appeared to be winding up, I suggested he say goodbye.

“Bye!” he handed the phone back to me.

That is, as far as I know, the first time  he’s ever reported on his activities on the phone, either real or pretend. It is also, I think, the first time he said bye before hangng up or handing over the phone.

Amazing.

Tonight we were resolved to try the Scott sits by the crib quietly thing again. We did dinner, bath, books. I sat Jonah in my lap and rocked in the glider while he drank his bottle and I sang to him, just because that’s how it happened, not that I’d planned it. The night before there had been no rocking, or was there rocking that got us nowhere? I forget.

And then I felt him nodding off. So I kept on rocking, humming, holding. He was asleep by 7:35.

Unbelievable.