Today

Whenever I talk to Jack on the phone mid-day and when he's home in the evenings, I find myself telling Jack about all the things Jackson says and does during the day. It makes me really glad that Jack likes him as much as I do, because otherwise it would probably get kind of old to hear about this kid all the time. But when he consumes all my time and attention all day long, that's what I think about and talk about.
Today:
-Jackson did not want me to shower. Most days, I'll sneak away while he plays with cars or watches Baby Einstein. No sneaking away today. He wasn't just opening the shower curtain like he sometimes does--he was pulling the whole thing out of the shower so water was running all over the floor and all over him. Uggh.
-We went outside to draw with sidewalk chalk. He made requests, and I drew. All the usuals: a choo train; daddy-, mom-, and Jackson-sized airplanes; daddy-, mom-, and Jackson-sized sun; daddy-, mom-, and Jackson-sized hearts; daddy-, mom-, and Jackson-sized ants; etc. He'd start to run away, then stop and look over his shoulder at me and give me the I-know-I-shouldn't-be-doing-this-but-I'm-going-to-tease-you look, laugh, and run back to me. Silly goose!
-I had a headache and laid down on the floor. He came over to me and laid down with me and said, "Mom, snuggle. Mom, snuggle." Such a sweet boy :) I do love how snuggly he is!
-As I was making dinner, he wanted to sit up on the counter to help me. I was chopping cabbage. He knows he can't touch the knife, but he wanted to help chop...so he grabbed my arm and would move it up and down while I held the knife. Creative way to help, eh?
-I guess he decided he didn't want what I was making... he opened the cupboard and got out the mixing bowl and said, "Pancakes? Pancakes?" He helps me make pancakes for breakfast a couple times a week. Not for dinner today though.-Jack has been speaking Chinese to Jackson a lot lately, in hopes that it rubs off on him. I said, "Wo ai ni" (I love you) to Jackson today. He replied, "Daddy, wuw hiney. Daddy work. Daddy year (Goodyear). Daddy wuw hiney." Yep, you got it, dude.
-His nap (and mine) was cut short when the maintenance man came today. He was still happy in the late afternoon, but was definitely tired. He requested bear, monkey, and blanket and then laid down with them, saying, "Jackson sleepy. Jackson night-night." He didn't sleep, of course, but it was still cute. I like that he's recognizing when he's tired.-We went to his room to read stories before bed like we always do. I picked out a book, but he took it from me and put it down. Then he ran out of his room and came back carrying the Book of Mormon. That's what he wanted for his bedtime story. So that's what we read.

While the days can be long sometimes---like today, when he woke up early and didn't go back to sleep like he usually does, and then has a short nap, and then Jack is later coming home from work--- they sure are great. The days kind of all run together and most days we don't really do anything spectacular, but it's all those little things all day long that make my job great.