Finding a voice

I never understood what my mother (and others of her generation) meant when she asked if Nicole had "found her voice yet". That really didn't make any sense to me. And then, one day, my mother declared that Nicole had finally found her voice. I still didn't really get it. Sure, Nicole was making noise, but it was little more than coos and jabbering.

Jake, however, gives meaning to that expression. He "found his voice" months ago, and had been letting all of us know that he knows that he has a voice ever since then. He doesn't really cry much - he really just yammers on and on and on such that between he and his sister, there is never ever any quiet.

I could have announced Jake's voice finding months ago, I know. But truth be told, it never really mattered that much. But last night - oh, it mattered. My darling son decided, at around 3am, that he was going to have a party with all of the critters in his crib. He talked, sang, and pounded on his mattress that I can only imagine was something akin to head-banging (I was hearing all of this over the monitor).

Finally, around 4am, I decided to try to feed him so that he'd return to sleep - he's been consistently eating around 5:30 for the past month. I had to wrestle Raggedy Ann away from him (he's quite fond of the Raggedy siblings), but eventually got him back to sleep. And that didn't last nearly long enough. By 7am, he was right back to announcing that he was awake, and the party with his crib-mates ensued.

Lord am I tired today.