Trading Places

Do you ever wonder what it would be like if your day was more like your child's?

If my day was like Jack's today I would have watched Sesame Street before work. I would have yelled "NO!" when asked to put on my jacket this morning, and then someone would have helped me put it on anyway and kissed me goodbye. I would have had a 5 point harness in the car and sucked my thumb the whole way to work. I would have done a good job with part of my day and been praised -- and I would have had problems listening to my superiors during another part of my day. For that, I would have been kept inside while all of my coworkers got to run around outside. Around 12:30 pm I would have laid down in my office with a pillow and blanket and taken an hour and a half nap. My brother would have been with me all day.

At the end of my day, I would have left with a note saying how my day went:

Name: Jamie's Special Activities Today
Today I ate Jimmy Johns sandwich and yogurt
I ate all _X_ most ___ I tried ___
Today I: napped _X_ rested ___
Other activities I did today:
Group Operations Meeting
Art Drew tiny circles for seating chart for event
Large Motor Replaced department's Culligan Water jug
Small Motor Writing with a pen
Math/Science Budgets
Other Event verbal walk-through
____2.17____
Today's Date

I would have gone home and had a snack, then danced around the living room for half an hour to "Roll Call" from the Thomas and Friends website. I would have moved my peas from my dinner plate onto the counter, then thrown one at Chuck when he wasn't looking. Now I would be wearing fleece footie pajamas and Chuck would be reading to me, then tucking me into my race car bed for the night. And the biggest thing on my mind right now would be what socks I will wear for Silly Sock Day at work tomorrow.

You Know You're a Second Child If...

...you are missing one sock already and then you spit up - and your mom removes your remaining sock and wipes your face with it.

I guess you're a third child if she then put the sock back on you. I didn't do that.

Jackisms

While I'm in the business of giving Jack Uber-Blog-Attention, I thought I'd share some recent Jackisms.

Jackson: "Momma, why is Ryker asleep in your arms?"
Momma: "Because he's SOOOO sleepy."
Jackson: "And he just can't hold it together."

In Target - Jack was leaning in to Ryker's face and laughing really hard:
Momma: "Funny - what is Ryker doing to your nose?"
Jackson - loudly: "He's pwucking me!" (Pwucking is how Jack says "sucking" but he says it fast and it sounds really bad.)

Jackson: "Momma, there's gonna be a witch comes out pretty soon in dat movie I'm watchin'."
Momma: "Really?"
Jackson: "Yeah, it's no biggie."

Jackson: "I want to be the tillerman."

Jackson: "Mommy, I'm tired of you talkin'."

Momma: "Jackson - what goes through your head each night when you decide to come into our room?"
Jackson: "Oh, I know! It's because I have such a big brain!"

Over-Compensation

It has come to my attention that this blog and our Flickr page are missing photos of something - something that is about 3'6" and adorable. Oops. I think Chuck and I, both being youngest children, were worried that we wouldn't have as many pictures of Ryker as we do of Jack, and we over-compensated. My mom said she was trying to find good pictures of Jack's face to show her students, but instead kept having to point him out in other photos.

"Oh, here's another one of Ryker, but that's Jack back there in the background. He's the blurry one."

So here is my ode to Jackson.

And I forgot to put in my Top 25 List for him that I love that he eats hot dogs and buns - separately (eats the hot dog cut into pieces and eats the bun like it's dinner roll). Here's proof:

And while I was putting photos on the computer I need to put them on Flickr also or they're going to be lost in the ethos that is my Photo Folder. So I'm updating Flickr, and yes, there will be pictures of Ryker in there as well. But there are these and some others of Jack!

Wookiee

Here is our Chubby Wookiee:

Fluffy Wookiee:

Eating Wookiee:

Drooling Wookiee:

Little Brother Wookiee:

Want more pictures? Of course you do. =) Flickr has new ones (link to the right).

The Legend of John Millman

Jackson and I spend a lot of time sitting in the same place, whether it be in the car, in the bathroom or at the breakfast table. During this time, we often read books, listen to music or drive places and Jackson talks.

One thing that Jackson talks about is John Millman. Like many other legendary figures in our history, no one is really sure where John Millman came from but he is responsible for an incredible number of things.

Here is what John Millman has accomplished so far:

• Authoring nearly every book we own
• Composing and performing every song we hear
• Building and fixing homes, likely all of them
• And if we aren't sure who did something, its John Millman

How does John Millman do all of these things? He has five arms, obviously. With those five arms, he has five thumbs. Where does John Millman live? St. Joesph's Home for Children, of course. These are statements of fact that are not up for discussion.

When John Millman is mentioned, it brings great joy to Jackson as he has a good laugh and smiles. It is clear that John Millman is a great and noble man.

And so goes the legend of John Millman...

Look Ma, TWO Hands!

I'm typing with two hands. Guess why?

Because Ryker's sleeping. Guess where?

In his room!!!!

Still!!!!

Those of you close to the Banjostrand household know that we've had an unplanned 7-12 month bout of cosleeping. Kitty, Daddy, Momma, Jack and for as long as he's been alive, Ryker, have all slept in "our" bed for portions of every single night. And until Thursday night it was moderately okay.

Friday morning Chuck and I began composing our Craigslist posting to sell the children. "Two slightly used children for sale. Very high-spirited, smart and cuddly. Come with all appropriate clothing, food and furniture. Must take both - sale is final. $25 OBO. "

After a day full of pep-talks, we embarked on Operation Get the *expletive deleted* Out of Our Bed. Jack's room is sporting a brand new anti-sleepwalking gate outside the door, for which I feel mildly guilty but also incredibly grateful. And Ryker went into his crib.

The first two hours of the night were peaceful. And I celebrated my new found freedom by eating Jell-O and watching This Old House. (By the way, am I the only person who didn't really know what Jell-O is made from? Gross.)

The next few hours were spent alternating between Ryker feedings and Jack coming to his gate, shaking the bars and stage-whispering "DA-DDYYYY!" until Chuck got up and told him that it's not time to get up yet and to go back to sleep. Ryker stayed on the 2-3 hour feeding schedule with one bout of crying that lasted over an hour. But from 3-6am it was quiet. And then Ryker slept again until 9:30, when I started this post. Of course now it's half an hour later and he's up and has had a bath and is sporting an outfit characteristic of a family that hasn't done laundry in two weeks. Chuck says he looks like a substitute teacher. No offense to any subs out there - I was once one of you.

Anyway, I'm rambling out of excitement for our progress. We'll let you know how it goes.