Hanging Out

Jonas had a great day yesterday, getting picked up early from daycare so he could hang out with his Uncle Dan, who is in town for a few days. His Mima, Uncle Char and Aunt Sarah came over with his cousins Rachel and Ben, too, and we all had ourselves a nice weekday barbecue. Jonas' cousins made him crack up to no end, including Rachel, who enjoyed clapping with him...

Uncle Dan and Jonas' Mima took some other great shots of the Big Guy, including these of him doing his thing...

Adventure in the Park

Now that Jonas has this whole walking thing down (in doses anyway), he took out his new feet for a spin at the local park here yesterday with Mom and Dad. First, though, there was a momentary distraction by this crazy contraption he came across that featured a board and wheels (wheels!) that had Jonas looking at Mom as if to say, "Um, Mom, can I get one of these?"...

...then, as we went to practice more walking, Jonas found himself distracted by a football game that was taking place on one of the nearby fields...

...seeing something he liked there, too, he began using Mom as a tackling partner, practicing his push off the line of scrimmage...

...Dad picked him up after that, but soon Jonas was wanting down, repeating the word "walk," which appears to be his new favorite word...

...and walk he did. At first Dad held on around his waist...

...but in no time, Jonas was back in his walking groove, impressing several nearby folks who found the whole thing quite smile-inducing...

...and on and on he went, eventually offering a fist-pump to highlight his newfound skill.

At Last!

Well, we've been waiting a while for it to happen, but Jonas at long last has come to realize he can actually walk on his own without needing a finger to hold on to. This was him just the other day, still holding on for dear life as he trudged about...

...it was getting to the point where Mom and Dad were wondering what it would take to get him to let go. After all, we're just days away from his turning 18 months old, not to mention days away from the "after August" spot on our long-standing poll at the right for readers to guess the magic day. And yet, Dad had a suspicion it might be coming this weekend. When he picked Jonas up from daycare on Friday, it seemed that the Big Guy was trying to push away. So with some encouragement from Mom and Dad yesterday, Jonas finally figured it out. The first time came at his Mima's house, with all three of us encouraging him on (four if you count Mima's dog Moxie, who seems as proud as Jonas in this video...)

...but when we got home, Jonas showed us that what had happened was no fluke, taking another small trip, this time falling into Dad...

...but Jonas saved the best for last. Just a few minutes later, he showed us he was ready to cruise down the whole hallway. And oh was he proud of himself...

...Mom and Dad had a great night sleep knowing they were at last the parents of a boy who can walk. Now, as we've been warned over and over, comes the fun part.

Musical Inspiration

The other day we showed you how Jonas occasionally resembles famous musicians. Well, he's at it again. Just the other morning, Jonas was playing around with some sunglasses (which he finds most amusing) and to Dad at least, he saw a little Stevie Wonder...

Jonas' response, of course, had something to do with why can't I resemble someone from my generation? And so it was that he put on another pair, and morphed into Usher...

Speaking Out: The Movie

Jonas has been picking up words and phrases left and right these days, even if they're still in his half-English/half-Jonas language. One of his favorites is to exclaim the all-powerful "dessert puff" that he usually gets after dinner, a tasty, apple-flavored, wagon-wheel-shaped puff that excites him to no end. More important, he seems to have picked up the phrase "all done" and the sign language for "more," which naturally has become a favorite as well. Here's a little video montage of his progress, complete with subtitles for those viewers who are less fluent in the Jonas language.

Foot Hold

Jonas is always gleeful during and after a good meal. But lately, he's been enjoying the added bonus of playing with his feet when he's all done. Here's a sequence of the Big Guy having a blast after a recent bite to eat.

Fridge Fun

The vehicle-obsessed Jonas can spot the mere image of a car, truck or bus from miles away. And so it was recently that he became particularly enamored with a magnet on our refrigerator in the shape of a London double-decker bus. Despite a sea of magnets, the bus was all he seemed to see on the door. But after a while, the ceramic magnet began to chip as he picked it up, dropped it and picked it up again every time he approached the fridge. We decided he needed a new distraction. Enter the coolest magnets we could find: a series of plastic gears that he can connect, flick and drop to his heart's content. After a few weeks, he still looks for his bus, but seems fairly content to twirl the afternoon away.

Closer Inspection

We showed you the other week how Jonas likes to get down on the floor to inspect the wheels of his cars and trucks. Well, now those inspections have gotten a bit higher as they are occasionally done on the coffee table. But that hasn't seemed to stop him from getting the most horizontal view he possibly can.

Tight Fit

Jonas has been getting slightly more adventurous around the house, which has gotten him stuck on a few occasions. Here, he tries to navigate the treacherous area between two chairs, making sure he tries every direction he can think of.

Truck Stop

Mom and Dad have really been enjoying living in Castle Rock. It's the type of town where if you have a boy who's obsessed with trucks, the local fire department is more than happy to let him take a close look around its fire engines. So, the other morning while we were out and about, Mom saw the doors open on the downtown fire station and we made an impromptu stop...

...once inside, Jonas met a nice firefighter, who gave him a tour of all the engines and rigs. And as a bonus, Jonas even got to sit behind the wheel!...

...but the most fun was had while inspecting the outside the trucks, including the largest wheels Jonas had ever seen and lots of room to explore in the garage—as long as Dad held on tight...

...luckily for Jonas, we had just taken a book out of the library about fire trucks, which has quickly become a favorite of his...

...he even makes the sound of the siren (which the firefighter seemed to like...), even though Mom and Dad realized later he's probably never heard an actual siren, just the sound Mom and Dad make. Nonetheless, now that he's had a chance to experience the real thing, we're bracing for many more siren sounds to come.

Butting Out

Sometimes Jonas gets so into his cars and trucks, he doesn't need to be looking to know what's going on.

Dizzy Jonas

Over the last few days, Jonas has discovered a fun new toy: a paper towel roll. And he's been using it to his musical advantage, making all sorts of funny sounds and reminding us a bit of a certain jazz legend.

On the Road

Dad has been traveling for the last week, by far the longest stretch he's gone without seeing Jonas. Before he left, Dad went over the responsibilities that Jonas had as Man of the House. Mostly, those involved making life easy for Mom, continuing his work on such things as walking and talking, and having a good time with his cars and trucks. Mom reports that he seems to have listened. Jonas has apparently behaved himself well, a relief for Mom, who has done an amazing job holding down Fort Jonas by herself. While Jonas is still looking for a hand to hold when he decides to walk, he is making amazing progress on the talking front, sounding out words that he wasn't attempting before Dad left. (We hope to have some Bonus Jonas videos of that soon.) And as for the cars and trucks, here's a shot Mom took this morning of Jonas as his "fleet." Dad will be home tomorrow and can't wait to play, too.

Mall for One

We shared with you Jonas' experience at the mall pet store the other day, but there was another portion of the mall that Jonas was mesmerized by: the center fountain. At first, Jonas was content to prop himself up by the rocks and watch the water flow down...

...but of course it wasn't long until he wanted a closer look, getting up on his tippy toes to check it out...

...Dad obliged by getting him as close as he could without drawing alarm from any of the other parents at his son walking along the ledge...

...but like so many other things, sometimes the only satisfaction can come from taking someone's hand and taking a stroll around to get the full experience.

Tabled Decision

There was a time when our coffee table was so pristine and perfect that we had regular discussions about whether we wanted to have some potential child of ours dare ruin it. Our biggest concern at the time was the damage that we were convinced would be caused by a Sharpie that some potential child of ours would use to scribble something crazy, and then cover it with a magazine for us to discover in horror at a time uncertain. Well, 17 months or so with that potential child a reality, turns out we shouldn't have worried about a Sharpie. Instead, it's a constant barrage of cars and trucks that appears to have done our lovely table in. But the funny thing is that watching Jonas enjoy himself at our table's expense has been worth whatever collateral damage he may have helped inflict.

On the Rocks

Jonas was playing outside the other day when he discovered that it's not just Tupperware on the kitchen floor that makes for great sounds. Instead, Jonas started "rocking out" as it were, discovering the wonderful textures and music-making abilities in the strange objects right outside his door.

Good Stuff

Jonas showing off his patented two-hand cram.

Wuff Wuff

Mom grew up with a dog and Dad famously did not, which has led to all sorts of conjecture from even before Jonas was born as to which way he would fall on the whole getting a dog front. With one of Jonas' first words being "wuff wuff," it was becoming clear to Dad what the future likely holds. And after a side trip at the mall the other day, it became even more clear how this will likely be playing out as Jonas gets older.

Flooring It

While Jonas is definitely making progress on the walking front, he continues to engage in one daily routine that keeps him tied to the floor: a morning inspection of all his trucks. In amusing fashion, this includes the need to get cheek-down on the carpet to make sure all the wheels are in working order.

Plastic Rap

For several weeks now, we've let Jonas mess around with one cabinet in the kitchen in the hopes it would discourage him from wanting to mess with all of them. So far it seems to be working. But the one we chose has all the Tupperware products in it, so Jonas has been busy exploring the many wondrous sounds they can produce. Here's a little video of him enjoying his music-making the other morning. And as a Bonus Jonas feature, if you make it to the end, you can hear him not only attempt to say Dad, but you can catch his adorable tone when the toaster goes off as well. Too cute.

Morning With Mom

Jonas is back to normal this week, seemingly over his little bout with croup. And he woke up this morning all smiles, bringing all smiles to Mom as well.

Catching Up

That photo above is an actual real-life movie theater. On its own, that's not terribly significant. But in context, it played an important role for Mom and Dad this weekend. Jonas' ill-timed bout with croup put a slight damper on Mom and Dad's anniversary plans Friday night, which was to include an actual date to a movie—at an actual movie theater. How long had it been? The last film they saw together was Michael Jackson's "This Is It," release date: October 2009...

But on Saturday, thanks to the generosity of Jonas' Mima, who came by to watch the Big Guy in his recovery, Mom and Dad's plans were salvaged, allowing them to take in the final installment of the Harry Potter series, release date: July 2011...

As Harry's epic story came to end, so did our epic movie drought. Thanks again to Mima for making it happen.