Jameson gone crazy

I started to get hints of it Friday night, when he was fussy. But I tried to blame it on the fabulous boys-day-out-hiking.

But when he woke up early on Saturday morning (never a good sign, in my book), our toddler had turned into crazy-maniac-screaming-cling-to-Mama-baby. And let me tell you, it’s not pretty.

So I knew immediately, despite the fact that there were no classic symptoms (fever, tugging on ears) that he had an ear infection. And thank goodness, our doctor has Saturday office hours. I called and we got in pretty quickly.

But this was crazy-maniac-screaming-cling-to-Mama-baby who I took to the doctor, not Jameson. And he wanted none of the examinations or weighing or touching or poking. Nothing. It took four toys magically pulled from my big Mama-purse (thank goodness I don’t clean it out very often!) and a flavored tongue depressor to get the crying stopped long enough for the doctor to get a good look inside his ears.

And then, of course, because sick-Jameson is anything but predictable, he asked for “More-more” using our favorite sign, from the doctor. That’s right, he wanted MORE looking in his ear. I wonder if he loosened something up or felt good. Or he was just trying to confuse his mother.

So, hanging out with crazy-maniac-screaming-cling-to-Mama-baby was pretty much my weekend. Oh, and dealing with my own sore throat. And the sleet and snow, don’t forget that. So you can see I was clearly in need of a mood-raiser.
And, it came on Sunday afternoon, when we managed to get out as a family for an outing. Stefan led a hike from the LV cabin to the Science Center, and we all went along for the fun of it. Afterwards, Alex had lots of fun jumping on logs in the woods near the Argo canoe livery and Jameson had fun throwing rocks and chasing geese.

I’m starting to see a trait of strong determination in Jameson, and I don’t mean just the typical toddler tantrum determination. He saw Alex enter the woods, so he dragged me up a hill to go follow him. Then he found a rock, and it was a pretty big rock… at least a pound or two and about the size of his head. He had to pick up this rock, and show Daddy. Daddy said, “Nice rock, dude. Are you going to throw it in the river?”

And something just clicked. And in his little mind, he needed to throw that rock in the river. All by himself.

So you’re thinking, so what? A rock in the river. But when you are only 21 months old, walking out of the woods and continuing on the distance of about a football field to get to the dock, carrying something the size of your head. Well, it’s not easy. You might even drop it a few times and have to adjust your grip. So I offered several times to help out, but he said, “NO. Je-je.” Which I took to mean, back off Mama… Jameson is doing this himself!

And so I did. I followed and watched and kept him safe, but all the time, that bit of fluttery motherly pride was going off in my chest. This, THIS is what motherhood does to you. Make you obscenely proud that your son is so determined and so awesome. Even if he's just carrying a rock by himself.