A Summer of Sleepovers

CJ took this photo during this sleepover at the
Natural History Museum

It's been a big summer for sleepovers for CJ. Before this summer, he had only had 1 sleepover at his friend Liam's house and that was last summer, not counting a few nights here and there at Grandma and Grandpa's house in VA.

This summer, CJ went on a 4-day trip to Pittsburgh and Johnston with my in-laws.  I was a little worried about this trip since CJ was going to be away 3 nights, the longest time away from us AND he was going to be out of state. Grandma and Grandpa said he handled the trip like a champ. He was well behaved, he ate well, he was very entertaining to Maki's great aunt, and he didn't seem to miss home too much.

He also went to a friend's birthday party sleepover that started with hitting balls on a driving range, miniature golf, watching Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and then sleeping with 21 other boys in one room! I know, talk about brave parents.

CJ and his buddy slept under the left fin of
Phoenix the Whale

Last Friday night, CJ attended a sleepover at the Natural History Museum in DC with one his buddies and his buddy's dad. The program started at 7:30pm and ended at midnight but the boys were apparently up past 1am. They heard some lectures, they went on an adventure hunt, they watched an IMAX movie, and they slept under Phoenix the whale. Is this kid lucky or what?

He's also spent a bunch of time with my in-laws during the weeks he didn't have summer camp at the beginning of the summer, before all the camps started.

It's very quiet in the house when CJ is not around. Yes, we have MJ, but he's a lot more subdued when CJ is not around. We joke that MJ gets some "only child" time when CJ has a sleepover. I miss CJ terribly but I know it's super good for him to be away from us.

When CJ is away, we call him every evening. Sometimes, he talks our ears off. Other nights, he just wants to say good night and be on his way.

What's MJ Up To These Days?

It's been an incredible couple of months for MJ and for the rest of us. My friend Alyson, who sees him every few weeks, says it's amazing how much MJ changes during that time and I agree. Here are some of the things he's now doing.

He likes to eat on his own. Whenever he can, MJ prefers to feed himself, using a spoon to eat yogurt, applesauce or cereal, or using his fingers to eat pasta, fruit, bread, crackers, etc. It's hilarious when he jams 3-4 blueberries into his mouth, or a handful of pasta. He usually ends up using his whole hand to shove all of the food into his mouth.


He's not only walking, he's running, going up and down stairs on his own (by holding onto the wall, of course), and taking the 1 step in and our of house on his own, without holding on or having to stoop down.

He's still signing, but he's now preferring to talk. He can say soooo much, including: mama, dada, ceej, yaya, froo (fruit), co (cold), wa (water), fire truck, ca (cow), do (dog), meow (cat), ca (car), truck, key, pho (phone), sit, piwo (pillow), fyower (flower), mi (milk), pa (grandpa), ma (grandma), sandy (short for alexander), one, two, bre (bread), blue (usually referring to blue's clues), up, da (down), outsi (outside), dri dri (drive, drive), shz (shoes).

He can get into his car seat on his own, which saves my back.

He seems to understand nearly everything I tell him, including conditional statements, like, "if you put on your hat, I will let you go outside." I said this tonight and he reached for the hat after initially refusing to wear the hat.

He's definitely blossoming into full toddlerhood. His favorite word is a vehement NO and when he's not happy, he proves to us time and time again just how loud he can be.

He loves music. He will bounce up and down on his legs, and shake his head when we have music on. And when I exercise to Everybody Dance, he sits contentedly on the couch and watches me.

He loves his ladybud pillow pet. Santa gave him a mini pillow pet and he just loves it. He won't take a nap or go to sleep at night without it. He calls her BA, which is short for ladybug. He carries BA around all over the house.  I got a back-up BA just in case we have a BA disaster, although we try very hard to NEVER let BA outside the house.

TimehopeAbe tells me that a year ago today, I posted this on Facebook: "It's been an incredible month for baby MJ milestones. In the last few weeks, he started pulling himself up and down, he is starting to hold his bottle, he is cruising a few steps while holding on to furniture and he's signing "more" and "milk." So fun.