Doat!

Jonathan's eighteen month checkup was fine and dandy. He's 32 3/4 inches long and weighs 28 pounds, 3 oz. His head circumference is 50th percentile, while he's 70th for height and 75th for weight. Developmentally, everything checks out as well. Apparently, sign language counts towards the total vocabulary, so he's on target in the verbal department, albeit nonverbally. He got one shot in his chunky little thigh. He didn't cry, but he looked at the nurse as though he was daring her to try that again.

We celebrated by going out to dinner at the local all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. Jonathan likes the pasta and the spinach pizza. On the way home, we stopped at the playground and found Sam playing with her mom. Jonathan and Sam have always gotten along well. They ran all over the playground and seemed to understand each other easily. They especially liked the little plastic fort. Jonathan would stamp his feet and Sam would jump up and down in response. At one point, they cracked each other up, and then gave each other a kiss. Cynthia and I almost fainted from the cuteness.

We all got together again on Sunday for a picnic. Once again, Jonathan and Sam were the dynamic duo. They especially liked the cinderblock building that houses the restrooms. They ran up and down the porch there, stepping carefully up and down over the curb. Jonathan shared some of his strawberries and bananas with Sam, and Sam told Jonathan how to ride on the little horsie. You can see a few pictures in our updated gallery.

Also on Sunday I took Jonathan to get his first MAN haircut. The mall didn't do a good job - they just snipped the scissors around his head a few times. So Sunday morning he and I went to an old-fashioned barbershop. Howie Long gets his hair cut there. There are five chairs, each staffed by a barber a little under a hundred, each with a big leather strap hanging off the side to sharpen the straight razors with. Jonathan did very well once I got in the chair to hold him, but he point-blank refused to wear a sheet. So we were both soon covered in a drift of hair as the clippers sheared my little lamb. He looks so grown-up! I was going to cry but I was so itchy I didn't have time. We drove straight home and hopped in the shower.

And after such an eventful weekend, with a first haircut and a first girlfriend, Jonathan's decided it's time to start talking. We were taking our evening walk Sunday and he was fascinated with the two small fishing boats our neighbor has parked at the end of the cul-de-sac. He spent a long time poking at them and asking me over and over again "Dis?" Today after work we went for a walk, but Jonathan didn't want to go up the hill to check the mail. I even jingled my keys (REAL keys, which usually grabs his attention) to no avail. Jonathan kept turning away from me and running down the hill. Finally, I asked him what he wanted to see. He pointed straight down the street and said "Doat!" We went over to see the "doats" and he was in heaven. I'm not sure he understood me when I told him his daddy and grandpa would take him on a boat in a few weeks, but that's going to be one happy little sailor.