Machu Picchu

Almost every stage of Jairus growing up has been fun. (I won't elaborate on that "almost" right now...that may be for another blog.) Daily Joe and I both are amazed and amused by Jairus. One of the best parts of this early toddler stage is watching his little personality develop even fuller. And one part of that would be his emerging sense of humor. Which brings me to my blog topic...

Jairus is a pretty smart little guy, if I do say so myself. Right now he loves to identify as much as his vocabulary will allow. Actually, he probably says a lot more but we just don't have his vocabulary. :) Anyway -- last Sunday afternoon Jairus and I were playing and talking in the living room. I pointed to our big Peru painting and tried to get him to say "Machu Picchu." He responded with "clock." Clock was probably one of his first five words -- he has known clock forever. And he has been known to identify anything round as a clock...but lately he has gotten his shapes figured out. So, I again said "Machu Picchu" and he again said "clock." It was at this point that I looked at his face to see if he was looking at our clock in the living room. But, he was looking at me. I said "Machu Picchu" once again...and with a BIG grin on his face he answered "clock." I responded with a playful "no" and some tickling to urge him to say Machu Picchu -- but every time he responded with clock and a giggle. This is funny to me. Jairus was teasing me!

That night when Jairus said good-night to almost everything in the house, he did say "night night Machu Picchu." So, he did learn the word! :)

Now every day, we play a little game. No matter where we are, if I say Machu Picchu, he answers with clock. If I whisper, he whispers back. If I say it slow, he answers accordingly. And each and every time he giggles...and we laugh together. What a great joy!

Not what I expected

As promised, I am going to share a Jairus story. But, it is not a story I planned on writing. I have a cute Machu Picchu story or a burrito boy story or rejected kisses story. But tonight's incident caused Joe to say "well, now you have something to write about on your blog." And I knew it was true. The other stories will have to wait. Tonight we experienced a not so fun poopy story.

Please let me clarify that I know that tonight's incident is not unique to us. I have heard of other situations like this. But until it happens to you....well, you just have no idea.

After a long day of playing outside at Joe's company picnic and enjoying a fun time at church tonight, it was time for a bath. Nothing unusual about that until I noticed "the look." But I noticed it too late -- the tub already had some poopy in it. Oh no! (It also doesn't help that I am talking on the phone with my dad and trying to stay calm as to not totally freak Jairus out.) I call for Joe's assistance. I try sitting Jairus on the real toilet, but he doesn't like that. We tried his toilet, but he didn't want that. After wiping off the residue from those failures, we get a diaper on the boy. Bath time is done. No need to put PJ's on the munchkin because I'll have a diaper to change in a few minutes.

As Joe loaded up the dishwasher with bath toys, I finished my conversation and checked facebook. When I walked into the living room, I discovered the worst. For the first time ever, Jairus had taken off his diaper. Sitting on the floor with a FULL diaper in front of him, he had poop on his hands and feet and on the carpet. Oh boy! Again, I know others have experienced this but when it happens to you...man! I calmly began to clean up Jairus and explain that we don't take off our diapers and we don't play with poop because it is icky. (to which he cutely repeated icky). Joe found the carpet cleaning stuff. Now both boy and carpet are clean and everyone survived this toddler incident.

Well, here we go...

So, I am thinking about starting a blog.

I know, I know -- I am a step late as usual. And I am still not sure about the decision. But I figure I can play around a bit with the idea.

My reason: to capture life with Jairus and share it with whoever is interested enough to read it. Plus, I can keep the memories for later. This seems easier than writing in a journal and it has more accountability. Maybe I will write if I know 1 or 2 people read it. Maybe not.

Now, my sister is the master blogger. Once I figure this all out, I'll put a link to her site. You really need to check it out! :)

Ok -- so maybe this weekend, an actual Jairus story!