Big tall standing up baby!

Jonathan is so proud of himself these days. He can stand for as long as ten seconds without support! It is very strange to come into his room and see him standing in the middle of his crib. He does tend to fall over, though, and so he's developed a new strategy. He crawls over to me or Chris and uses whatever he can grab to pull himself up to standing. He laughs and waves his hands in the air to make sure we are duly impressed. The hand waving gets more and more vigorous and he starts to sway. Then he bails out by pitching forward, confident that we will catch him every time.

It has turned to lovely fall weather these days and the nanny takes Jonathan and Cara for walks in the double stroller. Cara is quite a chatterbox and burbles to the cars, the squirrels and the clouds. In weeks past, Jonathan's been content to listen and occasionally hold her foot. Now, however, the conversation flies between them fast and furious. The nanny can't get a word in edgewise!

Jonathan's cut his seventh tooth, which always makes him a little bite-y. (I'm sorely tempted by the shark Halloween costume on Babystyle.com.) So after getting chomped on the arm, the leg and the cheek tonight, I retreated to the fainting couch and let Jonathan roam around the room. He went over to the coffee table to bang his plastic rings, and then pulled one of the small cushions off the couch. I looked up from my book a few minutes later to see why it was quiet. Jonathan had the cushion on the floor and was crawling back and forth, over the cushion, again and again. His head was down and he was actually sweating from the hard work. Every time he got over the cushion he would give a small triumphant smile. Back and forth he went, not looking up, for about three minutes (an eternity in baby time.) Eventually, he made it over the cushion one last time, turned left, and without stopping came over to see me. He stood next to me, fussed to be picked up, and nestled into my shoulder for a big yawn. Time for bed for a tired little boy.