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