Dis and dat.

All that dancing around to "The Sopranos" theme has turned my little boy into a Joisey guy! Jonathan's on a noun kick and wants to know the name of everything. He sticks out his imperial hand and demands "Dis" or "Dat" and waits for the reply. His favorite book currently is "First Words" with pictures of common items. Over and over and over again, I tell him "That's a plane. . . that's a car. . . that's a banana. . . that's a bird." Sometimes he puts his hand on more than one item and I ask him "Which one are you pointing at?" That earns me an emphatic "Dat!" as he adjusts his finger.

Our bedtime rountine has settled down again since I got back from San Francisco. We say goodnight to the twelve fish and the turtle, then sit down to read our book. Jonathan throws a "Dis!" towards the lamp to remind me to turn it to low. When the book's done, he places it on the nightstand and reaches for his sippy cup of water. Then it's a "Dat!" at the lamp again, because it's time to turn it off. He drinks the water while leaning back against me. Bunny Bear usually comes out of the crib and Jonathan likes to give him a drink. He holds the bear's head to the spout and makes little drinking noises, and then kisses him. Then he throws him on the floor and shrieks with laughter. Finally, when he's done with the water, I hold him for a little cuddle. And that's when Chris usually sticks his head in, because there's a horrible noise coming from the nursery. Jonathan likes to end the evening by giving my lots of zerberts. He takes my chin in his hand and turns my head to position himself just right, then blows a huge raspberry on my cheekbone. Usually he cracks up halfway through. After my face is soaking wet, I put him down to go to sleep. He curls on his side, picks up his Bunny Bear, and giggles when I say goodnight and close the door.