History of the J Man

A friend of mine was looking for new books for her 10 month old son so I created this list for her.  Her son is into animals and trucks so that was my theme here.  Those also happen many of our favorites too.  We’re getting more into longer stories and Dr. Seuss books these days but I thought I’d capture a list of what we’ve really liked up until 2.5 years old.  There are some obvious favorites missing like Good Night Moon, Bear Snores On and Runaway Bunny but most of the moms I know already have those. 

Perfect Pets – Bright Baby Touch and Feel

          There are others of these but this is my favorite.

Big Red Barn – Margaret Wise Brown

          Also one of my favorite bedtime books. 

Sheep in a Jeep – Nancy Shaw

The Going to Bed Book– Sandra Boynton

          Love the Sandra Boynton books but this and Horns to Toes are my favorites.

Tails – Matthew Van Fleet (also like Dogs by the same author)

          We’ve already done through 2 Dog books but these are both fun.

Little Blue Truck– Alice Schertle

          One of my favorites!  A fun story, Jonah can make the sounds and it has a good message.

Roadwork – Sally Sutton

          This is a clever truck book that I don’t mind reading.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night– Jane Yolan & Mark Teague

I like this series of Dinosaur books we have a few in the series. 

Move it! Builders– Mike Brownlow

As the due date for this little one comes closer, I’m happy to report that Chris and I have made a major decision regarding his delivery.  Three years ago, we decided to have Jonah at Illinois Masonic Medical Center down the street from home partially due to the fact that they have 2 Alternative Birthing Center (ABC) rooms.  ABC rooms are meant to be treated almost like a hotel room where moms can go to deliver babies in a hospital but free of the hospital room setting and free of interventions (unless they have complications).  If you’ve read the details about my delivery there though, you know that we didn’t get to use those rooms.  They weren’t available when we got there then they weren’t staffed for the next morning so we delivered in the standard hospital setting. 

All along, it was our goal to have a natural childbirth.  Due to a number of factors and interventions, however, that didn’t happen.  I ended up with an IV, amnio flush, fetal monitor and epidural.  All-in-all it turned out fine.  Jonah was born healthy but it was a long, uncomfortable 30-hour process followed by a couple nights at the hospital.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I’m not a good sleeper.   I like my bed and my pillows and I like things dark and quiet or I don’t sleep.  The hospital is not exactly my ideal venue for a good night’s rest.

So this time around, after doing our research and looking into options we’ve decided that we are going to deliver this baby at home.  We’ve hired the same doula that helped us with Jonah and a homebirth midwife.  Both ladies and one assistant will come to our home when the time is right and help us welcome this new baby into the world within the comforts of our own home.  We’ll get to relax here before, during and after the whole process then sleep afterwards in our own beds.  We’re hoping it keeps all of us more relaxed and happy which will, hopefully, lead to a shorter labor and a nicer experience for everyone.  It will also let us avoid the uncomfortable stay in the hospital and any extra time away from our first baby, “Big Boy Jonah.”  I love the idea that he’ll be able to come home and be with us as soon as we’re ready for him.  No dealing with visiting hours, no hospital beds, no hospital food, no nurses coming in and out of the room at all times and no one telling us when we’re allowed to leave or see Jonah.

My decisions to do this were helped along by 3 other women I know who’ve already had their babies at home.  Two of which are in the medical profession themselves.  That, and recently seeing a friend of mine in the hospital in a coma after his heart stopped really made me feel that hospitals are for sick people.  I’m not sick, I’m just going to have a baby, my body is built to do this and in fact has already done it once.   

Chris has done a great job helping me with research, doing his own reading and asking questions that I haven’t thought of.  He’s gone with me to info sessions and midwife consultations.  He’s been great at helping me with relaxation techniques, massage and being overall supportive and on the same page as me this whole time.  He doesn’t want to have to sleep on one of those hospital cots again either! 

I’m excited and looking forward to it.   Not too soon though! I still have at least 6 weeks to go and we need that time to get the house in order.  We still have to set up the crib and pull out Jonah’s old baby clothes, blankets and gear.  We’ll get to that part one of these weekends…

(I’m feeling like we need to post some new photos here but first we have to take some!  With Passover and Easter coming up that shouldn’t be a problem, stay tuned.)

For now I want to post a quick potty traing update.  As of this morning Jonah has spent 2 dry nights, in a row, in underpants.  It was his idea the first night and the 2nd night I didn’t really give him the option.  I thought this would be a tricky transition becuase he’s always gotten so wet at night.  For about 2 years now we’ve been buying the super absorbent Huggies Overnights because regular day-time diapers would leak before he woke up.  Those were the only ones that worked.  Hopefully now they are no longer needed!  We’ll see, I know it’s early to proclaim success but he gets it during the day and during nap time so maybe this is just the 2nd step.  We cut out his drink before bed and I think that helps too.  Keep your fingers crossed….

Now - if anyone has ideas on how to get him to poop on the potty I’m all ears.  So far he still asks for a diaper when he has to do that.  We’ve tried promising him stickers or other rewards for sitting there or even for trying sometimes but so far those don’t seem to work.  He likes to do it in his diaper after our nanny leaves.  He asks for one, we put it on, he tells us to leave the room then comes walking out, legs spread when he’s done and says, “You change it,” pointing to Chris or I, whomever he deems worthy at that moment, usually me, lucky me.  I’m anxious to give up that duty and only have to buy one size of diapers at a time once his baby brother arrives.  If you have ideas, send them our way!

Unfortunately, Julie has not been feeling well lately, so Jonah and I spent a lot of time together this past weekend.  Even though we missed Mama, we still had a really good time.

For new parents looking for a cheap diversion, I highly recommend the pet store.  Jonah and I went there on Saturday and we had fun looking at all the animals.  Jonah especially enjoyed the fish and birds.  There was a little kid there who was buying a hamster, and he was interested in watching the pet shop worker take it out.  And as always, he enjoyed seeing the cats.

Saturday evening we visited our friends Amit and Amber and played with their 20-month-old Kalyan.  Jonah hadn’t seen little Kal since our big trip to California and the San Diego Zoo just before New Year’s, so it was great to see him again.   Jonah loved playing with all of Kal’s toys, especially a four-wheeler that he enjoyed taking for a spin at Kal’s apartment.  We looked at some photos on TV and Jonah got a kick out of seeing himself on a big flat screen, which is a lot nicer than the TV we have.  Jonah still looks like a giant compared to his friend, but then, he’s still pretty big for his age.  He stands about a head taller than Kal, but I think Kal is at around 2nd percentile for h/w, and Jonah is at like 75th percentile, so comparisons aren’t really fair.

On Sunday I took Jonah to Chinatown with his Aunt Kelley and Uncle Jeff for dimsum brunch.  Unfortunately the place we wanted to go was too crowded, so we went to a smaller place around the corner that was just as good.  Aunt Kelley was nice enough to buy him an action figure from some anime program and of course load him up with candy.  And I got my BBQ pork bun that I always have to get when I’m down there.

As far as milestones, in the last week or so, Jonah has been counting everything.  for the longest time, if you’d ask Jonah, “How many?” his answer was usually “One” if there was one, and “Two” if there were two, four, seven or 25.  But now he is able to count to 10 usually without any help, and he can get up to 20 if you help get him rolling.

I’m also impressed by Jonah’s singing ability.  He now loves to sing songs by himself.  He is able to sing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” without any help.  He really loves the “One, two, three strikes your out” part, delivering that line with particular gusto.  He’ll sing “Wheels on the Bus” but usually asks for help on that one.  He also likes the teeth brushing song and will correct you when you’re wrong, which is entertaining.

Potty training gone OK thus far; he’s able to recognize when he has to go #1 and there haven’t been too many accidents there, though #2 is more of a challenge, as he likes to go in his diaper still.  We’ve been encouraging him to go on the potty, offering special treats and such, but thus far, no substantial progress.  We’re not worried at all, but it will be nicer once he’s out of diapers.

Finally, we are doing what we can to prepare for the birth of baby #2.  Julie keeps telling me I need to change the name of the blog, which I guess I’ll have to do, maybe after we settle on a name for the new guy.