Jonathan makes a mash-up.

Uh oh, slang in the title. The grandparents won't know what this entry's about.

We've accumulated an awful lot of singing plastic these days. The house from Uncle Sol and Aunt Chayong sings about forty different tunes alone. The rocking horse whinnys and plays the "Lone Ranger" theme when it's ridden, and the Little People farm chimes in with "Old MacDonald," complete with animal noises. So it can get pretty noisy in the living room.

Looking back on old entries, I came across one titled "The toys must be played with in the proper manner." HA! No longer. Jonathan finds the singing toys to be a challenge. It's far too boring to push a button or spin a chicken or ride a horsie to generate the tuneful rewards. Instead, he prefers to find little shortcuts. So he'll poke his fingers through a crack in the drainpipe to hit the trigger for "Itsy Bitsy Spider," or wiggle the rocking horse rather than actually ride it. His greatest triumph is the Little People Farm, a birthday present from Aunt Liz and Uncle Jim. There's a merry-go-round wheel that you need to spin to play a round of "Old MacDonald." Not Jonathan! Instead, he flips the entire farm up on its side. Then he's able to press the little lever that the wheel is supposed to trigger by turning, and voila! Music ensues.

So tonight, Jonathan took a break from teething to play with the toys. The farm was upended and Old MacDonald had oinks and moos and baa-baas going everywhere. Jonathan was doing a sort of squatting dance, with his finger near the trigger to keep the music coming. One arm got a little overenthusiastic and hit the nearby rocking horse, triggering "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain." Jonathan thought this was great! Two tunes are definitely better than one. So, for the next several minutes, he would carefully depress the farm trigger, then turn to keep the horsie moving. While the two songs played simultaneously (Mom and Dad, that's a mash-up) he grinned and got his baby groove on.

Grandma and Grandpa Save Thanksgiving

Nobody could blame us for having an underwhelming Thanksgiving last year. Jonathan was only a few weeks old, so the day passed by in a blur. However, this week it appeared that we were going to have two non-Thanksgivings in a row. I was scheduled to work all the way through the week, leaving Chris at home alone to take care of Jonathan. Not conducive to getting a large meal on the table.

Presto! Grandma and Grandpa Kwon call on Thursday morning to announce their imminent arrival, bearing turkey and gravy and all the fixings. I got out of the hospital just in time to take a shower before they got here. We were all hungry! So we pulled up the high chair to the table and all tucked in for a meal.

Grandma had already gotten in a few baby hugs (of course!) but Jonathan was a little hesitant, and kept leaning back over to me. Grandma is smart, though, and wasn't going to be discouraged. She sat next to Jonathan at the table and said she wasn't too hungry, so she'd feed the baby. We provided her with a bowl and spoon and told her everything on the table, except the corn, was fair game.

Jonathan then proceeded to have one of the best half hours of his life to date. His grin got wider and wider as he realized Grandma was thrilled to provide him with a never-ending series of delicious mouthfuls! First he fed himself some bites of turkey. When he realized the spoon was more efficient, though, he gave up trying to grab for himself and instead devoted his energies to smiling and flirting, the better to keep that food coming! He loved everything he tried - stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, and especially the sweet yams with marshmallow topping. While Chris and I take the sippy cup away from him when he bangs it on the tray, Grandma thought everything he did was darling. He beamed at us throughout the meal.

Afterwards, he charmed the grandparents with opening his presents (some terrific board books with removeable shapes) and dancing. He also displayed his sign language, including his new sign for "sleep." He's not yet using two hands for signs, so he's modified this one - he just puts one hand over his ear. And when, on occasion, attention wandered from the baby to the golf game on TV, he yowled and went behind Grandma to peek over her shoulder. We would all laugh and smile and, once again the center of attention, he was content.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Like a bowl full of jelly.

Whew! On-call months are no good for blogging. Apologies for the lack of updates. It doesn't mean Jonathan hasn't done anything new or exciting recently! He cut his ninth tooth (finally!) and loved Trick-or-Treating on UVA's Lawn. He walks just about everywhere now, preferring it to crawling, and his greatest goal in life is to be able to climb up on the couch. Also, he's had a few spots of temper, and tried to pinch us when we don't do what he wants. So he's also discovering what "time-outs" are in the playpen.

I had so much fun with Jonathan this weekend, though, that I had to take a break from my busy schedule to share a cute story. He was so glad to have both Mommy and Daddy home all weekend. Actually, there were times when it seemed he could do without Daddy. We like to get together for a "family hug" with Jonathan in the middle, and everyone gets a kiss on the cheek. Jonathan didn't want to share, however, so each time Chris came over, Jonathan slung an arm around my neck and pushed Chris away with the other hand. It didn't help that Chris and I both cracked up each time. Jonathan kept smiling, but he really meant it! Nobody hugs his mommy except him.

So Chris took some time to watch the football games on Sunday, and I lay down on the floor to boost Jonathan on to the couch, and to play with the Little People he got for his birthday. Jonathan likes to cruise around the living room and stops to check in with me every two or three times around the circuit. I guess he though I looked bored at one point, and he decided to cheer me up. He came right up to me, screwed up his face and pushed out his belly. Then he started bouncing up and down on his toes, grunting, and shaking his belly like a bowl full of jelly!

Well, it was so bizarre that I was kind of torn between laughing and taking him in for some sort of psychiatric evaluation. My next thought was actually that maybe he needed more fiber in his diet, but a diaper check was negative. He seemed fine, though, laughing and happy. So he tried it again, and it was so odd looking that I burst out laughing. That seems to have been the response he was hoping for! He started laughing too, and laughed so hard he fell backwards onto his butt, which made me laugh more. After the giggles subsided, he got up and did it again. That kept us amused for a few minutes, and then he went back to his circuit. If he saw I wasn't smiling, though, he made sure to come over and "belly dance" for me again.