A lovely weekend

Actually, the lovely part started once I got home from work on Saturday and turned my pager off for the first time in two weeks. Ahhhhhh. Jonathan was so happy to see me! We played together much of the afternoon. I got out the baby backpack and we had a nice walk to the park and back. Since this was our first time using it, it was a pleasant surprise to discover that Jonathan did NOT pull my hair even once! However, he has a definite preference for looking over my left shoulder, which has given me with a bit of a strain on my right side. Still, it was nice to walk someplace the stroller can't get to, and when he fell asleep, his face squished into the back of my neck and tickled me all the way home.

We went to the schnitzelhouse for dinner Saturday night to enjoy the Oktoberfest celebration. Jonathan was thrilled to receive a set of rubber duckies and alternated eating veggie puffs, chewing on the ducks, and trying to make friends with the table next to us. He was reasonably well behaved, considering he had been short on naps, but we did eat fast. Chris won one of the door prizes, a model beer truck that Jonathan should love in a year or two. When we got home, he was a little too excited to go to bed, so we let him roam around and around the coffee table. As a topper to the evening, he let go of the table and took two faltering steps on his own! We were so proud of him.

Today we dragged the playpen outside so Chris could wash the car while I went grocery shopping. We thought it was a good plan, but it turns out Jonathan is very scared of the garden hose when the water is on. Chris showed it to him, let him handle it, turned the water pressure down - nothing. Jonathan wailed every time. So only one car got washed today. We all went for a walk this afternoon, and then let Jonathan crawl around in the evening to stretch his legs a little. He hasn't walked again, because he's mastered a new skill - stairs! He can go all the way up to the landing in under a minute. Once he gets there, he's so excited he can barely stand it! He crawls back and forth, screaming with laughter. Chris blocked the stairs with a gate later this evening and Jonathan was furious! He wanted so much to practice more climbing that he just stood by the gate and fussed for ten minutes. He hasn't figured out how to go downstairs, though, so we both stood firm. Stairs only when one of us is right there.