Daddy's Little Helper

We have an inordinate number of pictures of Guy standing by our washing machine. He loves it. And every Monday and Tuesday (when I do laundry) he spends a good bit of his time watching it go round and trekking behind me as I hang things up to dry.

This past week, while I was out, Jonathan was in charge of laundry duty. About 15 minutes after I left the house, Jonathan calls me on the phone and starts telling me about Guy's efforts to help him with the housework. Jonathan had pulled most of the clothes out of the washer, but left a few for Guy to pull out. Jonathan was in the next room hanging up the clothes when our son crawled in with the remainder of items. He proceeded to the drying rack and started spreading out what he had brought in on the nearest (and lowest) thing he could see to hang it on. I plan on having him in charge of all the laundry by the time he's two!

I can hardly believe he and I are heading for the States in about 48 hours. Sadly, Guy woke up this morning sneezing, coughing and with a runny nose. Perfect timing! Hurumph. Our itinerary takes us through London and into Chicago, where we will spend the night. We will fly to El Paso around noon on Sunday. A dear friend of mine here in Jordan challenged me yesterday to take the whole trip one moment at a time and try to think of the experience as a special adventure with my son. Since I'm guessing worrying and dreading won't make the travel any easier, I think I will try and take her advice.

Ready or Not, Here We Come!

Guy and I are flying to America one week from today! My super sweet (and generous) parents offered to fly us to El Paso for a few weeks, and after anxiously deliberating whether or not I could handle Guy alone for such a long trip, we decided to go for it! I've been praying fervently and daily for a smooth trip with the little wiggle-worm and asking everyone else to do the same. Poor Jonathan can't come with us because of work. However, he's already got plans in the works for a couple of crazy adventures while he's a temporary bachelor again. He's been recruiting his homies and brainstorming fun ideas. We'll see what they come up with!

Bonuses to my trip (besides three weeks of Mexican food and free babysitting): Two of my precious nephews will be in town at the same time! My brother and his wife will be on a babymoon (boy #3) and my parents are keeping their kids while they travel. AND, one of my dearest friends Meg, and her son Brennan, are flying into town for a few days to hang with us! Meg and I are both from El Paso and both went to Wheaton. Her son was born back in January, so our little lads aren't far apart in age and we're certain they'll be great friends :) She's a true blogger, unlike me who only posts every week or two, so you should check out her weblog: http://www.spicymagnolia.com/.

Here's a few shots of my little adventurer. We think he's so stinkin' cute. However, we're trying not to say it out loud as much since the boy's figuring out what words actually mean. If you think of it, please pray for our travel on Aug 22/23 and Sept 12/13. Thanks!

Summer Update

This morning I'm enjoying the most lovely (almost cold!) breeze blowing through our house. Though we've had some hot days, we've also had some unseasonably cool ones. We've actually had a couple of weeks where highs have been in the 80's! I think today it's only supposed to reach 86 F.

Jonathan just finished up an eight-week course at the English Center on Wednesday. Yesterday he spent the afternoon at the swimming pool with a few students. I think it's safe to say most Jordanians can't swim. Access to affordable swimming is pretty limited, so few people ever learn how. Jonathan, who would say of himself that he is a good swimmer, but not a super-strong one, said he looked like Greg Louganis. He and the students enjoyed themselves, and it was a pleasant way to wrap up the summer course.

And it's official, the Saudis have arrived. Every summer, when the Gulf heat and humidity become unbearable, scores of people from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states find their way to Jordan for a break from the weather. We know they're here solely by watching the traffic~the roads are packed, SUVs are everywhere, and there are no taxis available. This last fact is the most problematic for us. Sometimes we have to wait an hour for a taxi~not good when you have a baby. So Guy and I are pretty house-bound these days. Fortunately, now that Jonathan has a small break, we can trade off for a bit and I can get out of the house when I get stir-crazy.

Well, the little man just woke up early from his nap, so I'll close this brief post. Thanks for stopping by!

Guy tends to leave trails when he cruises throughout the house. So I just follow the markers if I can't find him.

Jonathan loves being able to give Guy a bottle these days.

Guy has very pretty dark blue eyes, but it's hard for our parents to see the actual color on Skype. I've been trying to get a close-up so that the color is more clear, however it's near impossible to get him to sit still when I've got a camera anywhere near him. Anyway, this one's not the best, but you can sort of see the blue.

Jonathan and I have been eating dinner on our patio more often these days. We decided to make a project of dinner last weekend and cook appetizers rather than a meal. It was delicious. But we both thought it was missing something~more people! The next time we'll definitely make a party out of it.

Catching My Breath

I've been meaning to write this post for about a week now. However, when you want to write about the calm after the storm, you really want to be sure the storm has actually passed. Sort of like I didn't want to tell anyone Guy was sleeping through the night until he did it for two weeks straight, lest he overhear me, suddenly change his mind, and decide he was perfectly content eating at 2 a.m. until he was 2 years old. My aunt always said, "Kids and dogs, they'll make liars out of you."

A couple of weeks ago, Guy was whammied with an ear infection and high fever. Now, I've read in books and heard from many people that high fevers regularly occur in babies, however when it's your first and only child, it's hard to look at the situation as "normal". Our parents kept telling us that when we were teething (like Guy is now), we'd predictably get ear infections and fevers around 104. Their reassurance was helpful, but we were still stressed. Guy wasn't his usual sweet self, he was waking up in the middle of the night, his fevers remained high, his antibiotic was tearing up his little tummy, and (weirdest of all, and perhaps most stressful for his mom) he went on a nursing strike that lasted over a week. Even now, he will only nurse briefly in the mornings. Poor little stinker. Poor mommy.

So, times are a-changin' for the Shireys. For me, who is slow to process change and finds it rather stressful, it's been a stretching two weeks trying to care for a sick baby, handle the changes in my own body from sudden weaning, and figure out exactly how much milk an almost-11-month-old (!) needs. I am happy to say that Guy seems to be back to "normal" now, if there actually is such a thing as normal when it comes to babies. Anyway, my point is that he's been super sweet recently, sleeping soundly, and acting like a busy toddler with a world to explore and conquer.

Here's a few pictures. Guy's got one rather large front tooth coming out. The twin just broke through this morning, so his smile will start to even out soon.