Twice a day, I lay down next to Jameson while he drifts off to sleep. He doesn’t mind sleeping on his own “special bed” as long as someone cuddles with him for those 10 minutes. And I don’t mind obliging. Call it a crutch or a prop or whatever else, I’m not too worried. In fact, I love it. I realize that at least for now, with this child, it’s an opportunity for my pregnant body to lay down midday and rest, even if I don’t take a full-fledged nap. And in the evening, it’s a chance for me to slow down, to turn off the energy and agenda of the day.

And most of all, I know it won’t last forever. In fact, chances are, Daddy will do more and more bedtime with Jameson come late October. So for now, I’m loving those dimpled little arms wrapped around teddy’s neck. I love watching his eyes, wide open and staring into the dim evening, wondering what he’s thinking about and what far-off sound he’s taking in. And I love when he suddenly decides he needs to be curled right up against me as he drifts off to dreamland.

*****

As soon as we left New York, Jameson decided to begin adding to his small vocabulary of “yes” and “Mama.” One of the first new words, of course, was “Dad.” Now that he’s got that one under his belt, I hear it all day long.

He looks out the window: “Dad?”
We sit down for lunch: “Dad?”
Little feet hit the floor in the morning: “Dad?”
I open the door to get the mail: “Dad?”
We drive past the road Ryan’s office building is on: “Dad?”

Too cute.

*****

I have real cleaning on my agenda for this week. I knew I wouldn’t have to worry too much about how to entertain Jameson while working, and sure enough, this whole clearing furniture and rolling up rugs thing is totally exciting to his sanguine self. When I unzipped a pillow cover this morning, his eyes got huge and I got a big, “Wow!” in response. He’s such good company.

*****

Speaking of sanguine:

Last week we started doing devotions together. I wanted to start having some regular church practice, as well as just learning to sit still when I say so. At first, when I plopped him down on the couch next to me and pulled out his “Bible,” he wasn’t too happy about the whole thing. But when we moved from reading to prayer time, he started to catch on that we were doing something new and special. The best part, though, was when I sat him on the piano bench next to me while I sang “This is the Day.” He sat straight up the entire time, ankles crossed and hands folded in his lap, beaming up at me. And he couldn’t wait to sing the song for Daddy the next day.