Let's get ready to rumble!

Jonathan and I spent the evening roughhousing. He's getting so much easier to play with. He rarely gets wound up enough to bite, and when I put him in time-out for a scratch, he didn't cry, but rather took a little time in the playpen to catch his breath and calm down.

He's really enjoying climbing on me and Chris these days. One of his favorite games has been to come up behind me when I sit cross legged on the floor. He pushes on my back and I fall forward. He comes around to my shoulder, and looks at me with an intent frown, as though I'm a particularly difficult engineering challenge. Then he reaches down and tugs upwards on my shoulder. Whoosh! I sit back up. He giggles, and then it's back around again to push me over once more.

Tonight, instead of pulling me up again, he tried to hoist himself onto my back. I reached behind and gave him a little boost, and he wound up lying on my back, arms wrapped around my neck. It seemed like a perfect time to introduce the elephant game, invented over thirty years ago by my dad. Here are the lyrics:

BuhWump! BuhWump! BuhWump!
The elephant stood on his trunk! BuhWump!
The elephant stood up. . .
The elephant kneeled. . .
The elephant leaned. . .
And the elephant SQUEALED!

Jonathan held on tight, didn't fall off, and thought it was so great. The elephant strained her arm keeping him on during the "leaning," though, so we'll play that again in a couple weeks.

BuhWump!

Drain covers, Canadians, and the Dalai Lama

What are some of Jonathan's fondest memories of our recent Carribean vacation?

We spent most of our beautiful sunny days down by the pool. The four of us adults took it in turns to amuse Jonathan. He wasn't too crazy about going in the pool, but he sure did love walking around it again and again and again. He especially loved the circular covers over the numerous pool drains. He would run up to each one in turn and stomp on it in his little sandals. I think he enjoyed the sound it made. Other pool amusements included the live iguanas that would occasionally skitter onto the pool deck. These three-foot long lizards were spiny and ugly and prone to sticking out their tongues at us, but Jonathan thought they were fantastic. He ran towards them with no fear at all, giggling madly. Jonathan did enjoy one day in the water, sitting on the top step. He was playing with a bucket that another family shared with us. It was a hot day, and I guess Jonathan got thirsty. He filled the bucket, lifted it up to his mouth, and had a good swig of pool water! Who needs a swim-up bar when you're swimming IN the bar?

Jonathan served as pool social director as well. On his endless rounds, he made sure to stop and look at each person, often dispensing a smile or a wave. When we hit a patch with furniture but no people, he would amuse himself by dragging the chairs around. One day he came across a foursome of older Canadians and Chinese-Canadians. They were quite friendly (who could resist Jonathan?) and he decided to get to know them better. There was an empty chair at their table and Jonathan gestured to his grandpa to pick him up and put him in it. He settled in, one hand on the armrest, and proceeded to chat, complete with emphatic gestures. When Grandpa tried to interrupt him, he squalled. The Canadians were charmed and very gracious at his monopolizing of the conversation.

All good things must come to an end, and so it was even with our vacation. Unfortunately, the end didn't come quite as soon as we'd planned, as we got stuck in the San Juan airport for nine hours waiting on a delayed plane to arrive from Chicago. We left the airport for a very garlicky and delicious Cuban lunch, then returned for Jonathan to take a nap while Grandpa tracked down his laptop. (Thanks, security, for not blowing it up!) Even with those distractions, however, we were left with another five hours to kill. We walked Jonathan up and down the nearly empty concourse. We let him bang on the buttons of the video game. Finally, in desperation, we were browsing the (very small) exhibit of notable figures that have used the San Juan airport. One posterboard had a large closeup of the Dalai Lama at close to ground level. After ten minutes or so, Jonathan could run over and point to the Dalai Lama when we asked. He tried to pick His Graciousness' nose and to take off his glasses. And I never realized before that my little boy was a Buddhist, but on his own, Jonathan enjoyed giving the Lama a kiss or two.