We just had a HUGE snowstorm roll through! We had twenty inches of snow fall overnight. We couldn't get my car out of the driveway this morning because the snow was too deep and it got highcentered. This pile of snow that Jonathan is standing by came from our sidewalk and patio area.
Jonathan's favorite thing to do in the snow: eat it!
We bought a new video camera a week ago so that we might be better able to capture some of the funny things Jonathan does. Chris didn't really want me to post this video because he didn't know I was recording, but it shows one of the things that I had been hoping to catch. Jonathan has started saying yes or no to questions that we ask him. It's so cute because when the answer is yes, he says, "yah!"
On Saturday, we bought a little shelving unit with drawers to hold Jonathan's toys and books. We had to put it together and Jonathan was right in the middle of things, helping to hammer pegs and put in screws. He even had to try out the drawers himself before we could put the toys in! He was quite a helper!
Jonathan had a great Thanksgiving this year. He loved playing with his cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. He ate bites of lots of different things at dinner: turkey, cheesy potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, fruit salad, and a roll. For dessert, he was given a piece of pie with Cool Whip. He dipped his spoon into the Cool Whip and thought it was great so he gave up his spoon and dug in with his hand! These pictures above show Jonny "helping" make the rolls. He thought dipping his measuring spoon into flour was great fun and that eating dough wasn't bad either!
Jonathan loves Elmo! He says, "Emmo" and points to him on diapers, diaper boxes, books, and Sesame Street. Jonathan is usually still asleep when I leave for work in the morning, but this past week, he woke up super early every morning. One of the local TV stations has Sesame Street on early, so Chris and Jonathan would wrap up in blankets and watch for Elmo. Chris was convinced that Jonathan was waking up early just so he could watch Sesame Street! Probably not! :-)
When we were in Costco a month or so ago, we saw some animal puppets and decided to buy them. There was a set of zoo animals, some lizards, and some dogs. These puppets have become Jonathan's favorite toys by far--especially the puppies. He doesn't put his hand into the puppet part, but treats them more like stuffed animals. He carries the puppies around, makes barking and whimpering sounds and kisses them. He often has to carry one to bed, too. It's pretty cute.
"Nose"
Kisses for the puppy...mmm-mwa!
Jonathan was a monkey for Halloween this year. We hung his monkey in his bedroom and whenever he would see it, he would make the monkey sounds: "Oo, oo, oo!" 
We took him over to the church Saturday night for Trunk or Treat. Jonathan didn't really understand what it was all about. At first, I had to hold his bucket and his hand. After he got some candy in the bucket, he held the bucket on his own. He really got the hang of it after he got to reach into a few bowls of candy and pick out what he wanted.
We didn't make it around to everyone at Trunk or Treat because a huge hailstorm came rolling in. We made it to the car right as the downpour started. Jonathan wasn't going to let go of his candy bucket for anything so we ended up getting a little wet because we couldn't get into the car fast enough!
We let Jonathan have a couple of pieces of candy when we got home so he ate a sucker and a candy stick. When it stopped raining, Chris took Jonathan to a few houses in our neighborhood. First thing this morning, Jonathan saw his treat bucket sitting on the table and wanted to start in on the candy again. I didn't think that candy would be a good breakfast so he got fruit snacks and milk instead!
By far, one of Jonathan's favorite foods is raspberries. He noticed a bunch of ripe berries in Uncle Jack's patch and wouldn't leave them alone until he had picked all of them. He even tried eating the ones that weren't quite ripe. They don't come off of the bush as easily when they aren't ripe, so he resorted to chewing them off of the bush! We visited my mom's house this weekend and she has a HUGE patch of raspberries. They needed to be picked while we were there, so Jonathan and I helped. Well, let me explain Jonathan's "helping." He had a bucket and he followed behind us, putting dirt and rocks in his bucket. Occasionally, he would want raspberries, so we'd dump out his bucket and put some raspberries in it for him to eat. Other times, he would come to our buckets and grab berries one by one or by the handful. I thought he might make himself sick on raspberries, but he finally seemed to get enough by the time we were done picking!
Look at this big boy! Since he is a year and a half old now, he can go into the nursery class at church. Today was his first day. He went right in and started "talking" to the other kids. They played with Playdough, colored pictures, sang and blew bubbles. The nursery leader said he did well, although he was fascinated by the low sink in the little bathroom and he did try to eat a blob of pink Playdough! He didn't cry at all, but he was ready to go at the end because he came right over and took hold of my finger and walked out! 
Nice, soft kitty!
Jonathan is 18 months old today! Here are a couple of pictures from this week...a dirt mustache and eating an Otter Pop!
Here is a little video to let you hear Jonathan. You will be treated to a scream or two, monkey sounds, some laughing and jabbering and a couple of funny faces! Enjoy!
Jonathan has become quite a helper lately. He will pick up a few toys and put them back in the toy box and has started putting his diaper in the garbage can. He first started showing interest in feeding the cat a couple of weeks ago. He will go outside and pick up the dish, carry it to the utility room to get the food and then will carry it back outside. He can usually carry the dish without spilling it. The problem comes when he puts the dish down because that's when he'll try to steal a piece and eat it!
When we visited Grandma's house this weekend, Jonathan got his first horse rides...rocking and real! Uncle Philip brought his horse over for Uncle Brent to shoe and ended up giving all of the nieces and nephews horse rides. Jonathan thought it was great...as long as he was riding with Uncle Philip. He wouldn't ride with his cousins or by himself! Now, the rocking horse was another story! Jonathan couldn't reach the ground but it didn't take him long to figure out how to get it rocking by leaning forwards and backwards!
A few days ago, Jonathan started pointing at the counter and saying, "Bubba, bubba." We were confused until we held up the yellow container of bubbles and Jonathan got excited. He had never said "bubbles" before and it had been a couple of weeks since we had even used the bubbles so we were surprised! It's so fun to hear all of the new things he says. Here's a little list to give you an idea of some of the things he says:
Jonathan and I were in the store looking for a toy telephone one day (that's another story), when I saw one of those stacking ring toys. It was only $5 so I decided to buy it and see if Jonathan would enjoy it as much as he enjoys his cd case things. Well, as you can see, he does. He doesn't play with it on its own though--he uses it WITH the cd containers. He ends up with all kinds of stacks as he moves the rings back and forth between the wooden post and the cd container. It just happens to be Jonathan's favorite toy right now and he plays with it every day, several times a day. What a kid!
We love to go for a walk nearly every evening. We push Jonathan all around town in his stroller and he loves it. All we have to do is say, "Should we go for a walk?" and Jonathan goes to where we keep the stroller and tries to get it out. Lately, he's developed a passion for pushing the stroller all by himself. He can even control which way he wants it to turn and will push it all over the yard. He usually wants to push it when we go for a walk, so we let him push for a while (with a little guidance) and then he's willing to get in and be pushed!
My mom and sister came for a visit this weekend. Jonathan had a great time with his four cousins! We visited the playground a couple of times. Jonathan loved climbing the stairs on his own and going down the slide. He needed help the first couple of times, but after that he started going down by himself--head first! He liked it better that way because he could slow himself down with his hands.
The kids also spent a lot of time in Jonathan's little wading pool. Even baby Tucker got to go swimming for a little while. Jonathan's favorite thing to do in the pool now is splash.
Jonathan joined right in on eating watermelon and ice cream cones.
All that fun makes you tired!
Jonathan hasn't yet met a fruit or vegetable that he doesn't like. Just this week, Jonathan got his first taste of corn-on-the-cob and cucumbers. The first night, we cut him a piece off of one of the cobs and Jonathan did his best to chew the corn off. The next night, we cut the corn off of the cob and that worked much better. Chris picked this cucumber out of the garden and shared it with Jonthan. Jonathan ate his piece and then had to have the last little bit also! Jonathan already checks the strawberries and raspberries nearly every day and keeps them cleaned up. It looks like Jonathan might help Chris keep the cucumbers eaten, too!