Five for Friday

1. Last night Jack slept in his bed (in our room) from 9 until 3:30. This is a big step for him, as he normally sleeps in his carseat. He would have made it all night I presume, but I got sick of hearing him making noise and put him in the carseat! I tried to swaddle him to put him to sleep, and he's too big for his swaddling blankets! I used a receiving blanket and he was very happy. He's currently in his crib sleeping, swaddled tightly! I'll be moving him to our room when I go to bed but am *considering* having him sleep in his crib tomorrow night. This would be a HUGE move for me, as I kept the other boys in our room until they were over six months. Not for any reason, other than I like to have them near me.

2. Monday will be the two year anniversary of my grandmother's death. I thought about her a lot today, mostly how it makes me sad that she never got to meet Jack. I know she enjoyed David and Henry tremendously, and would have loved Jack as well. Especially his name. Each of our children has a family name for some part of their name. David Ray is named after both my dad (David) and Chris' parents (Ray). Henry Roy is named after my dad and grandmother (Roy is my dad's middle name and was my grandmother's maiden name). Jack is named after my uncle Jack, who was my grandmother's brother. And the family story is that my grandmother named Jack. My gram could be a bit eccentric at times (Hello, she gave me Spam for Christmas one year), but in her own way she loved us very much. I am very fortunate to have her wedding and engagement rings, which I treasure. I have very fond memories of spending weekends with her and my grampy before he passed away. She was the only person who would play school with me when I was little, because I was so mean! I would go to her house when I stayed home sick from school, and she would make me chocolate milk and sandwiches out of Pepperidge Farm bread, cut into four triangles. We would color forever, and she wouldn't get upset when I came down all of the stairs at her house on my bum. She would ask me if I had to "tinkle" before we went someplace, and I thought that was a riot. Her name was Betty-Jo and my grandfather's name was Chet. I called my grandfather Grampy Chet, so I called her Grammy Chet. As silly as that is, I continued to call her that until she died. I remember going to the grocery store with her and riding in the basket part of the grocery cart. I sat on a tomato while we were there, and I swear we laughed together about that story until I was 25. We both loved charm bracelets, tote bags, and the Republican party! The thing I miss the most about her is the little notes she would write to me when she would send me a card or something in the mail. She had very distinct penmanship, and I'm glad I saved some of those notes. Like me, all of her children were boys. I was the first grandchild, and I think she enjoyed having a girl. I love you Grammy!

3. Tomorrow is Henry's third birthday. Today, as he was sitting getting his hair cut, I was struck by what a juxtaposition he's at. He was sitting in the chair with cotton around his neck and that smock on that you wear when you get a haircut. His face looked like such a baby face, yet his hair looked like a big boy. I wanted to cry! He can sometimes still act very much like my baby, but that portion of him is showing itself so much less now. He still has baby features -- chubby arms and hands, baby fingers, fat baby feet -- but is very much a big boy. And is it a coincidence that today he went accident free all day in his underpants??

4. Tomorrow Jack will be three months. That too makes me sad! There's a very distinct posibility that Jack will be my last baby, so each month that goes by I get a little sad about that.

5. This morning I was awakened by -- wait for it -- an earthquake! My bed was shaking, the windows were rattling, and I had no idea what was going on. I turned the news on shortly after, and it was all over the news that there had been an earthquake in southern Illinois. I cannot believe it was felt strong enough here to wake people up!