A few things that happened during Pepe's visit for the inauguration:

Jonah, Pepe and I saw the baby gorilla at the zoo, nestled in its mother's arms. We also saw the baby elephant and learned it weighted 325 pounds at birth.
Pepe taught Jonah how to shake his head "no" for fun.
Jonah exclaimed with amazement at the sight of a big box of soft blocks that were a gift from our neighbors Bill and Thom.
I made beef stew. Then, I didn't cook again all weekend.
Matthew worked a lot.
I studied the newspapers each day trying to figure out the best plan to get a 13-month-old baby and my 63-year-old father to the Mall on inauguration day without any tickets to the ceremony.
We got tickets the night before the ceremony.
We got a second offer of tickets the night before the ceremony. I had the gall to ask, "Where are they?" and then say, "No, thanks."
A white stretch limo arrived at 3 a.m. on inauguration day to pick up Matthew. He arrived home at 1:30 a.m. the next day.
I got annoyed after hearing my dad say repeatedly how sorry he felt for Matthew to have to work so much. "I work that hard every day," I said. He laughed and said, "Yeah, and you don't even get paid."
Pepe, Jonah and I waited in a huge mass of people to get into the ticketed area on inauguration day. Jonah freaked out at one point. I nursed him standing up in the huge mass of people.
A couple from the Midwest gave us two hand warmers to put in Jonah's shoes. Our own hand warmers remained in the packages inside our coat pockets.
I carried a baggy full of cut up apples and pears in my coat pocket all day on inauguration day.
After not moving more than a few feet in a hour, we decided to go inside.
I cut in front of everyone in the security line to get into the Rayburn House Office Building because I had a baby in my arms.
I changed Jonah's diaper on a random piece of office furniture in a hallway in the basement of the Rayburn House Office Building.
I had a little freak out of my own in the Longworth Building trying to figure out whether we should venture back outside or stay indoors.
We watched the ceremony from inside the office of Congressman Cohen from Memphis. There were coffee and donuts. And, floor space for Jonah.
Jonah walked and crawled around in the gleaming hallway of the Longworth House Office Building.
Other than the freak out, Jonah was quite the trooper on our cold, crowded trek to and from the inauguration.
Jonah slept almost the whole way home, wearing Pepe's big gloves on his hands.
We made it home to watch the parade from our cozy couch.
I forgot to have someone take a photo of all three of us on inauguration day.
We ate at The Diner in Adams Morgan twice. Each time it was super crowded and each time we had really great service AND Jonah remained happy during the entire meal, including dessert.
I had to call Connie to find out where the nearest Catholic church was so Pepe could attend. Connie said, "I'm happy to be your Catholic church guidance counselor."
Despite Pepe offering to go "buy us a couple of grinders," we did not each grinders as there are no grinder shops in Adams Morgan. Yes, according to Pepe, we "people are weird."
Pepe asked me what the unemployment rate in DC is and I did not know the answer.
Pepe did our dishes and cleaned our kitchen every night.
Pepe read books to Jonah every night.
Pepe got teary-eyed watching Barack Obama being sworn in as the 44th president.
Pepe got teary-eyed when Jonah and I dropped him off at the airport. Jonah was asleep in his car seat. Pepe said, "Give Jonah a kiss for me."

Just a glimpse

It's been hard to find time to write lately. I have snippets of thoughts of things to share, then Jonah will start turning the radio dial, which he's not supposed to do, or he'll remember that he can push the cart under the kitchen counter to make his way to the other side, or he'll tell me he's hungry and needs to eat right now! Jonah does. He's busy. I've written a lot about what Jonah does. What milestones he has reached. How big he's getting. How many teeth he has. (A new one on top is coming through! Tooth number five!) But, I realized recently that I haven't written all that much about who Jonah is. Jonah is. Who he is as a person. A little person. With a big, sparkly personality. So, I'll attempt it now knowing that I won't get it all down. I won't capture it all. But, I think it's worth trying.

Jonah is happy. Happy, most of the time. Truly. And, he really doesn't cry much. I mean, he does cry. Don't get me wrong. He can be very good at crying. Like when he is protesting being confined in his stroller or car seat. He can cry strongly and loudly. But, it passes, usually pretty quickly these days. I do believe Jonah is a happy child. He seems pretty content most of the time. Pretty pleased with the world. He seems to get true joy out of things and people around him. Staring out the window, watching the birds or the tree branches sway in the wind. Seeing a dog walk by. Watching raindrops and colorful umbrellas, people waving at him. Turning a corner to see the playground before him. Big smiles. Bright eyes. The sweetest most infectious laughter. Jonah is sweet, too. He hugs us tight. He gently touches my nose, looking closely. He puts his whole palm on my cheek and presses his face against mine. Yesterday, I was walking down the street carrying him in the Ergo. I said, "Jonah, I love you" and then, he rested his head against my chest. A fluke, I thought. A coincidence. I said, "Mama loves you." He did it again, laying his head on my chest. Telling me he loves me, too, I suppose. Jonah is curious. He looks at all sides of his blocks for the numbers, letters and pictures of animals and trees and bugs and cars and airplanes. He puts his finger in my belly button, touches Matthew's scratchy face, points at things with a questioning look on his face, asking us to help him understand his world. He can be serious, too. A look of concentration. Wariness at times. And, silly. This is kind of new. But, Jonah likes to do things just because they are silly or funny. He rolls around on the floor making funny noises, pretending to sleep, laying his head on a pillow and smiling at me. While eating in his highchair, he sometimes takes a piece of food in his hand and pretends to put it in his mouth, then pulls it out again, over and over until he eventually eats it and smiles. He does this most of the time when he thinks I'm not even looking at him, so I know he's doing it just for his own pleasure. I'm sure there are many, many more examples and Matthew probably has more than a few of his own. Jonah is. He just is. He is his own small person and he's growing up so fast and he loves his world, his kitties, his people, his windows, his highchair, his bunny and duckie, his baths, his doggies walking down the sidewalk, his wind, his clouds, his sunshine, his kicking feet. Where he came from I still don't know. But he is. He just is. Jonah is. ~ Nicole