There's Nothing Much Cuter

There's nothing much cuter than Jonathon referring to Nicholas as his brother.

Saturday was the first time I'd heard him actually use the word and today he said it again. Perhaps it's because usually he just refers to him as "Nicholas" but the other day he told someone "Don't hit my brother!" and it's the sense of possession and ownership that moved me.
Jonathon hasn't been feeling well of late so he's been rather difficult to deal with, but I think he's pulling out of it now and is allowing a touch of reason into his thought processes. In other words, he's willing to listen a touch and perhaps compromise? For a child so loving, friendly and out-going, he is such a handful compared to my other kids that I don't take for granted the easy days with him.
It actually seems that we've all been so very tired lately. I don't know what's going on, but even the kids are waking up exhausted, Rebecca especially. She's sleepy from the get-go and can barely focus by dinnertime. Last night she proclaimed that she was the most tired she had ever been before. She looks it too with circles under her eyes. Jonathon was so worn out that I put him to bed at 5:30 today. It's not at all uncommon at 6:30 while eating dinner that he'll either start to nod off at the table or just quit eating and ask me to put him to bed. This morning he wasn't up until 7 either, so he's either still working on getting over this runny nose he had or something else is up and he's not getting enough sleep overall. Yesterday he fell asleep in the car after church at 11:30 in the morning. He hasn't done that in a long while. By 8 p.m. I'm ready for bed. The boys are begging to be put down at 7 and Rebecca is tired when she gets off the school bus. Katherine has resumed Energizer Bunny status so she doesn't count.
Anyhow, all I'm trying to say is, we're tired! And I don't really know why. Is there something in the air?
[To my parents: We've started taking our vitamins again :) ]