Uh oh ... looks like I'm really blogging now! (*Not!*)

Jacob awoke this afternoon after about 2.25 hrs in a good mood -- I could hear him through the monitor singing Old MacDonald. Then he started asking to "hug eema"... eventually I heard him pull the chain on the light by his bed, then shortly after that he'd made his way to the door and went in search of eema (Jeanne)... I was across the hall so I called him into where I was... he came in asking for Jeanne, I told him she'd be back soon... anyway... the point is that this is the first time since he'd gotton his new firetruck bed that he's gotten himself out of bed and out of the room on his own. My biggest concern is when he starts doing this in the middle of the night... mostly because of the stairs in the dark.

Next... as in, a several minutes later... I hear him plaintiff with Krystle... I smell popcorn so it's probably another sample of Jacob not getting his way... either not saying please (with his voice as opposed to sign-language) or not saying thank you...

So I came to him, picked him up and explained that if he wants popcorn he has to say, "abba popcorn please". Which he did immediately. Then I gave him his popcorn and said to him, "Jacob, when someone gives you something you want you say, 'thank you'." And he said, "thank you".
For that he was rewarded with a big hug and kisses and "very good"s and "proud of you"s...
When his fist-full ran out I said, "if you want more, you have to say 'more popcorn please'." This time he signed *and* said "more popcorn please" which led to another handful reward.
I knew I was pushing it then when I reminded him about saying 'thank you' but I tried anyway. He was over that game by now and I didn't press him for it. But then again, he already had access to the bucket.

Jeanne made me do this...

If you read below, you'd see that I'm not the most avid blogger - - for good reason...
In relaying Jacob's bed-time performance to Jeanne, however, she insisted that I write it up as "my moment".

If you're reading this, you probably already read Jeanne's blog so you know all about Jacob's new "fire engine" bed.

Who ends up on duty to put Jacob to bed is rarely pre-determined -- unless I'm simply not home at all to be part of the process.

Last night I ended up being the one to see Jacob to bed. He was playing nicely... then he discovered the c l o s e t. A few months back we had a simple "wherrrrre's Jacob?" game when he would close himself in the closet then burst out (no jokes, please). So we started off with that game... Not wanting to encourage him to much to work up his adrenaline, I stopped playing... pretty soon he found other games... like taking stuff out of the closet and seeing what he can do with them in his room...

It was soon that he got to the stage where no single item held his attention for more than a few moments when I suggested that it might be time for bed.

The next sequence of events is why Jeanne wanted me to write it up:
- Jacob climbed into his bed on his own.
- I asked if he wanted to turn off the light (the real test of whether he's ready for bed)
- He got up in his bed reached over to the night table and turned off the light and got back prone in bed.
- I gave him his stuffies and blankets.
- And he started to sing Old MacDonald.
- When we got to the part, "and on his farm he had a ____" Jacob filled in what sounded like "pig"... so, at "with a..." Jacob made snorting sounds.... then at the next farm animal, I said "cow" and Jacob made appropriate "moo-moo" sounds...

Normally his bed-time routine of late has been fill bed with toys, turn off lights, hold up to shoulder & song, bed. With his new bed, he's ready to jump in and settle down on his own.

So that was "my bed time moment" -- we sang Old MacDonald.

Maybe someone will explain to me why that was so momentous.
:-)