Mar. 16 - Jonathan

Jonathan woke up with a fever at 2:30 this morning. Thankfully it wasn't one of those Holy smoke, should we take him in? fevers, but to underscore how poorly he was feeling, he threw up all over himself, his blankets, his puppy, and me. In case I missed it, he told me, "Mommy, spill!" We were sitting on the rocking chair when it happened, though, and I guess it's easier to toss clothes and blankets in the wash than clean up suede and carpet. And considering the only thing in his stomach was the cup of water he had just chugged, it could have been worse.

It was an hour before he'd go back to bed, and then he was up every couple hours after that kind of complaining through the monitor. I checked on him once and pulled the covers he kicked off back around him. The next time he woke, he realized his puppy was missing and hollered, "Mom, puppy. Mommy, PUPPY!" The little brown pup was dry enough by then (having gone through the wash with everything else), so I gave it to him and he went right back to sleep. I was surprised he didn't need any more cuddles until he was up for the day around 9 a.m. He seems to be feeling a little better now, although he had an unusually screamy, whiny, red-faced meltdown when I changed his diaper before his nap.

Last Saturday we brought him to Christ Community Church in Rochester. That's where we would usually go before we moved out to the country. We've been having trouble making up our minds between First Lutheran in Lake City and Christ Community, but lately have felt kind of drawn back to CCC, even with the drive. Maybe part of it is expecting to see some familiar faces. We had gone the weekend before, and although I didn't expect Jonathan would want to be away from us, I asked him if he'd rather sit with Mom and Dad or play with the kids and toys. I tried to make it as clear as I could that playing with the kids would mean being without us, and he kept saying, "Kids! Toys!" and seemed very excited by the idea.

When we handed him off to the the lady coordinating the "lambs" room, though, a look of sheer horror swept across his face. I instinctively took a couple steps toward him, preparing to grab him back, but she assured me he'd be fine and whisked him off to the playroom. It was refreshing to be able to sit through a service and give it our undivided attention, but when we returned to pick up Jonathan, we learned that he had quite a hard time. Not hard enough to have his number flashed in the sanctuary to prompt one of us to go get him, but a tough time nonetheless.

So when we went last Saturday, I had to remind him again and again that he'd stay with us this time. "All done kids." He did fairly well and clapped along through the worship songs. When it was time to sit after greeting those around us, though, he thought that was the end, waved toward the front of the sanctuary and said, "Bye, church!" I half expected him to add, "See you later, alligator!" I told him we weren't leaving yet, and he behaved pretty well until about twenty minutes into the sermon. I tried to keep him busy with raisins (with a few chocolate-covered raisins mixed in), but then he kept saying, "Candy!" when he was ready for another one. Oh, good grief.

Chris ended up taking him out to the lobby, and once Chris thought he'd stay quiet, they came back. But as soon as Jonathan saw me, he pointed and exclaimed, "Mommy right there!" So I ended up keeping him company walking around the halls for the remainder of the service. Oh well. All in all, I'd say he did pretty well. We'll see how long he lasts next time.