I had to smile when I opened up our blog because of the photos of Jonathan from Christmas 2010. It really has been that long! It caught me a little off-guard because it is still early enough in the year that Christmas (2011) wasn't that long ago, so I connected those pictures with this last Christmas and thought "Wow, he has grown alot the last couple months!"
I feel like alot has changed over the last year, since the last time Shauna posted to our blog; yet I also feel like nothing has changed. I'm still at the same job, working for the Air Force. We still live in the same house, attend the same ward, etc. Just a few years ago, with college and the newlywed life, stuff happened fast and drastically--blog-worthy stuff--all the time! I don't know how to explain it. It's just different.
Jonathan is now nearly 18 months old. New LDS parents know what that means: nursery! Shauna has been way involved with her Primary calling, so I've been watching him at church. I haven't really been attending church, per se, I just watch him physically at the church--wandering the halls, slamming doors, playing with the drinking fountains. (And he's been doing some stuff too... Haha!) So, in a couple weeks, I will gloriously return from less-activity... Or I'll drop him off at the nursery and go home to nap. =) You know, it's been tiring and frustrating on Sundays, especially when I've had a day full of meetings (I'm serving as Executive Secretary), but I think I'm really going to miss hanging out with him.
The last few months have been even more fun with Jonathan. He has always been very expressive, but I think even more so recently. It is a wonderful feeling showing him something new and cool and seeing the amazement in his eyes and the huge smile on his sweet, small face. He hasn't started talking yet, really, but he is very close. He can say "Bye bye" and "Night Night", and everything else is various intonations of "Meh" or, for Mommy and Daddy, "Dah". Shauna informed me the other day that he can now expertly climb from the floor to the kitchen table using the rails on a chair's legs. He also thinks it's a great idea to stand on the edge of the arm of our recliner, lean all the way to the dresser in his room, and form a little bridge with his body, placing all his weight on his hands in a push-up position, and then he'll complain for Mom to come get him (sometimes he doesn't even complain; we just walk in on him like that).
So what is happening other than Jonathan? That is all I can ever talk about--ever! I love it, and yet, there has to be other topics to engage other adults in other than kids or diapers or funny noises they make. Well, for one, for a big one, Shauna is expecting! Jonathan's little sister will be joining our family on (or around) July 2, 2012! Shauna is amazingly taking care of Jonathan and growing a new baby girl. We've already setup a matching crib in Jonathan's room (he's still sleeping in his, and will be for awhile, Mom tells me), and Shauna's friend gave us a bunch of cute girly clothes.
I really have to get used to the idea of having a daughter. I actually just have to get used to having another child, period! I feel like I've got Jonathan down, and I am happy with him. I have all these great plans for when he gets older... But, now another kid is coming? And it's going to be a girl!? I don't know about that! It's safe to say that I'm mildly freaked out. But, I will readily admit, I was warming up to the idea while we were sorting through the cute girly clothes, and seeing how small they are! Jonathan is getting to be big boy now (though still quite cuddly), and I miss having a little snuggly baby. So, I guess I can get used to having another baby and another girl in my life. I can definitely get used to having some more sweet smiles running around our house. Plus, then, as Shauna says, the girls and the boys will be evenly matched in our family.
3 hours ago