Jonas at 20 months

I shouldn't write this post now because it's been a really hard week with Jonas, but I guess it's good to record the good and the bad sometimes. He's had a high fever since Saturday afternoon and has fussed and cried with no naps all day every day since then. I took him to the doctor yesterday and they couldn't find a source of any infection so we're just waiting it out...but by about 5:00 today I put him in the car and started driving towards Dave's office. When we passed each other on the street I flagged him down and made him switch cars with me and I drove away...with no shoes. I just couldn't be with that boy for one more second. He is on a sleeping strike and is going to bed super late and not napping so I'm just exhausted every moment of the day...then you add in the constant crying and fussing and it's a bit overwhelming. I just wish he would sit for a minute without whining. I'm not exaggerating when I say he whines and cries all day long. He doesn't play by himself at all, and Finn won't play with him, so I find myself sitting and trying to teach him how to play for hours a day. I am getting nothing done and I'm just so so tired.

When he is happy, he is the best to be around. He's so funny and talks like crazy, repeating everything we say. He says all of our names but is especially good at "Finn" and "Noah." He loves to point to the pictures in the hall and say everyone's name (though he gets confused by Finn because the picture we have of him is his baby picture!). He says "I Keem" for ice cream and requests it multiple times a day (it also means otter pop). He hates clothes and diaper changes. He is learning aggressiveness from Finn and has started fighting back and screaming because he knows Finn hates loud noises.

Jonas weighs 27 pounds 7 ounces and is wearing size 4 diapers and 18-24 month clothes. He's tall and skinny (skinnier than my other kids anyway) so clothes that fit his waist are too short. He has an obsession with shoes and wears his and other peoples all day. He'll bring Dave shoes all day long and Dave is so nice to go out with him. He gets into everything. He has lost and destroyed my make-up more than once. I've started keeping everything that matters to me on top of the armoire in our bathroom because nothing is safe within his reach. Nobody has a toothbrush today because Jonas got them all and who knows where they've been, so I have to go to the store tonight and buy more. I caught him in my bathroom the other day with my Kiehl's eye cream all over his face (and hair, and the cabinet, and the floor) and was using Dave's (thankfully empty) razor to "shave" his face. It was cute, but seriously, that eye cream is expensive. Ugh.

 Hanging at Noah's track meet and helping Dad roto-till the yard:

I have been majorly unsuccessful with potty training Finn but as Jonas has watched he has started asking to go potty, and actually does it! It's super exciting and I'm hoping to potty train him early and be done with diapers in the next few months.

 Jonas seems to like nursery. There are only 2 other kids in there right now so it's quiet, and the boy who's 3 is super sweet to him, so they play well together. I really appreciate it and should probably thank his mom because Jonas hasn't seen kindness from 3 year olds before. He's always happy to see me but mostly Dad. He just loves Dave with a vengeance (all our kids have at this age) and wants him constantly. Dave is super patient with him when I'm at the end of my rope and I am so grateful.

 Loves his brothers and his daddy!

Jonas loves to read books and especially loves all the new Usborne books we've gotten this year from my friend Ashley. He especially loves the sound ones, but he really just loves all of them. He'll almost always sit down and read with me. He doesn't really play with toys but wants to be outside all the time. We go out in the front yard in the morning when the sun is on the other side of the house and he'll run and play forever. He calls every beverage "coke" no matter what it is and wants coke all day long. He doesn't eat much but will usually have a bite or two at each meal. He'll eat yogurt and cheese most of the time but is pretty much a non-eater these days.

The time with this last baby of ours is going fast. I don't want to wish it away because I love this age so much and I know I will miss it. But it's been a really hard couple of months. Maybe he'll be happy tomorrow. We can only hope.