the last couple days

We are finally home. We decided to go to Matt's parents in Florence on Saturday instead of fighting beach traffic and having to tube feed Jonah on the road. I liked being away and our moments of vacationing, but it was great to walk in the door and just be home. Jonah could feel it too. He was so excited to get home, and when he saw Deac, he said, "Deac. Deac. Deac." as clear as can be. He's also started saying "ball" this week, imitates saying "tickle," and I'm pretty sure he knows he's talking about/to Matt when he says "da-da" now.

He had another huge raw spot on his left leg, but down lower on the calf, so we were confident in our decision not to go in the pool. It ended up not mattering though, as it rained Friday morning.

Our last pool pics from Thursday.

On Thursday evening, we got to go on a short walk. It started thundering while we were out though, so we didn't go far. Too much to risk with the possibility of wet bandages. I think Jonah enjoyed it, but he was tired, so he was pretty solemn looking the whole time. I don't think he smiled once... but he didn't fuss either.

Like his mommy, he finds it hard to just sit back and relax.

The back of our beach house. It has eight bedrooms and lots of kitchen, dining, and living space, which is great for our group. We had 17 adults and 13 kids.

Okay, I'm fully aware that this sounds crazy, but I'll tell you anyway. Matt's parents and sister watched Jonah on Friday afternoon so that Matt and I could do a little shopping at the outlets. While we were out, Matt's mom called me. She said that Jonah had been watching an episode of Olivia and she was counting. She counted to seven, and before she could finish, Jonah said, "eight, nine, ten." !!!!!!! Yes, I know. He's been watching a Curious Buddies DVD (Let's Move) all week during dressing change, and there is a part where they rest and count to ten twice. I also counted the stairs every time we went up them at the beach this week (we were on the top floor). So he's definitely heard counting and likes the rhythm of it. Kim (Matt's sister) caught it on video twice, and they said he did it over 20 times. I don't necessarily think it sounds like "eight, nine, ten" but you can definitely tell he's trying.

Where did my BABY go???

Later that night, we went to eat at Chesapeake House with Matt's parents and Kim's family. There is an alligator that hangs out in a body of water just outside the restaurant. We went out afterwards to get a closer look. Matt reached his phone out over the fence to get a photo, and Abby, his niece, accidentally knocked it out of his hand. So there's the alligator right at the edge of water (people were feeding him), and Matt's phone halfway between the WRONG side of the fence and the water and, you know, the alligator. I was down at the other end of the fence trying to keep Jonah out of the middle of the crowd. All of a sudden the alligator JUMPS, hisses, and spins around out into the water. The crowd screams, and lo and behold, MY husband has jumped the fence, you know, IN with the alligator, to retrieve his phone. Thankfully, the alligator decided to go away from him instead of toward him. Matt was fast and back over that fence so quick, but what an idiot. And I mean that with love, of course. At first, Matt said, "Who's faster, me or the alligator? (as in I'm faster)," and I quickly said, "the alligator." The more he's thought about it, the more he realizes what could have happened. Now he keeps saying, "In hindsight, that was probably a poor decision." Um, yeah. Anyway, funny story to tell now, but holy cow, that could have been bad. So that was our drama for Friday. Counting and Alligators.

Jonah was AMAZING on the trip. I can't say enough about how wonderful he was. He only got fussy if he got overly tired. He was a little whiny and clingy the first couple days, but he soon snapped out of it, and was so much fun. He did not sleep a wink on the three hour trip home today, and he did not cry once. Just laughed and played and watched Gabba. He is so amazing. I'm honored to be his mommy and so thankful for all the memories I get to make with him... even the ones where his daddy almost gets eaten by an alligator. Yep, even those.