New Year's Eats

Jonas has enjoyed celebrating Rosh Hashanah, especially the food part. While apples and honey are traditional, Jonas put his own spin on it the other night, feeding himself some apple sauce (left) while enjoying some challah bread (right) as well...

But Mom and Dad had it even better. While they made a mean brisket for themselves, Mom highlighted it with a pretty amazing and colorful kugel...

...and an even more amazing marble cake. Mmm, marble cake. Too bad we didn't leave any for Jonas. Maybe next year.

Cool Shirt

Jonas wore an ultra-hip retro-cool shirt yesterday that Mom had got him a while back. While Dad took a bunch of photos of his hipster son, he thought the occasion especially called for some black and white shots for some reason. So, here's a few shots of what Jonas would have looked like if he was born a few decades earlier.

Pat, Pat

Mom and Dad took Jonas to Old Navy this weekend to look for some winter coats. But Jonas appeared most enamored by the Old Navy mannequins, especially the dog, who seemed real enough.

Back of the Box

Is there any greater rite of passage for a little kid than dreaming big about the products made available on the back of the cereal box? In Jonas' case, he became quite interested the other day in the back of Dad's box of cereal when he saw (what else?) a bunch of his old friends from the movie "Cars." After studying the back of the box in earnest...

...he decided he simply couldn't live without the "Cars" screen saver, or the "Cars" spy pen, or, oh!, for eight codes, a "Cars" soccer ball, can I have one? Can I have one?! Just eight codes!!

New Jersey

Jonas, Mom and Dad had the unfortunate experience of watching Colorado's football team take on Ohio State yesterday. Let's just say it didn't turn out too great for the Buffs. But Jonas didn't seem to mind, starting the day off right in his new CU football jersey...

...like Mom and Dad, Jonas was into the game at the start...

...but soon, even he couldn't bare to watch...

...still, watching the Buffs' performance, Jonas seemed to get inspired to practice his own moves off the snap as a future linebacker, even if that burpee might be an NCAA violation...

...in fact, at one point, CU coach John Embree seemed to be talking directly to Jonas: "Listen buddy, keep drinking that milk and putting down that food and I got a scholarship here with your name on it. Hurry up and grow up kid..."

...Jonas, however, grew quickly distracted. At one point, the game got so bad that the Big Guy threatened to take off his new jersey and put it in the hamper, even venturing into Mom and Dad's room to make good on his promise...

...but we convinced him to keep it on and watch the rest like a true fan. But it didn't stop him from making his own fun courtesy of his belly and a car...

...by the fourth quarter, Jonas had seen enough, not only threatening to change the channel, but impressively making the first moves to do so...

...by the end, all he could do was cuddle up and wait for the final whistle to blow...

...but as with everything in sports, there's always another day. In fact, this morning, Jonas had forgotten all about it and was ready to cheer on his Sunday team...

C is for...

Why is this boy smiling (and drooling uncontrollably?)...

It's because he's watching one of his favorite things of late, Cookie Monster singing "C is for Cookie"...

Mom and Dad have been enjoying a few videos from Sesame Street they've been showing Jonas of late as well, including a Monsterpiece Theater production of "Fiddler on the Roof" featuring the hit song "Addition!" and a mildly annoying skit with Elmo (or "Melmo" as Jonas calls him) singing a song about walking with a remarkably unprepared Destiny's Child. But unfortunately, as was perhaps inevitable, we have both been awake at 3 a.m. singing Elmo's walk song and Cookie's spelling anthem. C, it would appear, is also for "Can't get to sleep."

Welcoming Fall

When Mom and Dad decided to move back to Colorado and raise Jonas here, one of the things we looked forward to most was experiencing the fall. Colorado is absolutely beautiful, but perhaps no more so than during the weeks and months to come. And there's nothing better than the crisp feel each morning, which is getting cooler each day now. In honor of fall, here are some colorful shots of sunrise the other morning from our front and back yards.

Sweet Spot

In recent days, Jonas has found himself a sweet spot of sorts, pulling up on a big chair in the living room, content just to run a Matchbox car back and forth for minutes and minutes on end.

On the Rocks

Here's a shot from a few weeks back when Mom and Dad took Jonas on a little trip up to Boulder, where Jonas enjoyed playing on the rocks along the Pearl Street Mall. With every day it seems, he is looking less like a toddler and more like a little boy.

Right at Home

Dad and Jonas paid Mom another visit at work the other day, and Jonas made himself right at home. In addition to having fun playing around in Mom's office...

...Jonas found himself a model room and proceeded to stretch out on the bed and all its glorious pillows, much to his delight.

Sticking Out

In the last few days, Jonas seems to have discovered his tongue, specifically his ability to stick it out and make Mom and Dad laugh. We wonder where he might have picked that one up...

High Roller

Dad has been traveling a bunch the last two weeks, which isn't fun for Jonas, Mom or Dad. But Jonas at least had some fun this morning when he discovered Dad's suitcase, which has all kinds of wheels to play with.

Playtime Decision

Watching Jonas play with his toys is fantastic, but sometimes watching him choose what he wants to play with is just as adorable.

Town and Country

Mom has been picking some spiffy clothes for Jonas this week. Yesterday, Jonas was all set and ready for a hard day at the office...

...and today, he was just a little bit country...

Cousin Ethan

Jonas, Mom and Dad got a pretty amazing treat yesterday when Jonas became an older cousin for the first time. Jonas' Uncle Eric and Aunt Debi in New York went and had themselves an adorable Ethan Joshua Gewirtz, weighing in at a healthy 6 pounds, 11 ounces. Ethan adds to a New York crew that also includes Jonas' older cousin Julia, making for fun times when we work our way back east. Now that Jonas is no longer the new kid on the block, Mom and Dad will start working with him on ways he can impart some of that battle-worn wisdom he's acquired over his long 18 months of experience.

Hard at Work

Jonas and Dad paid Mom a visit at her work last weekend and Jonas seemed perfectly at home with the senior set. Turns out being older is pretty darn fun. For starters, they have the coolest walkers Jonas had ever seen...

...but even cooler was this thing called exercise. That's Jonas in the middle on the floor taking over the class with a maraca that he found. Safe to say that Jonas was the hit of the class.

Dialed In

Mom and Dad are having a blast these days with Jonas, who has been taking excessive delight in experiences we otherwise take for granted as adults. Case in point: the phone. The other day, Mom put a phone up to Jonas' ear and he heard a dial tone for the first time. Suffice to say, it was among the most amusing things he had ever heard.

Nice Noggin

Jonas had his 18-month check-up the other day and he's still charting crazy big and tall. But it's the size of his head that is perhaps most impressive. He is now in the "above 97th percentile" for the size of that beautiful noggin, meaning not even three kids out of 100 his age can boast a head that large. As the weather cools down, we may need to get him some bigger hats.

Cousin Ben

Jonas got a cool treat this weekend when his Cousin Ben spent the night. Seems Ben's sister Rachel was having a bunch of yucky girls over their house and Ben needed some bonding time with his little cousin. Mom and Dad planned a bunch of fun activities for him, including Shrinky Dinks, which they assumed had been lost to history but were glad to find were still around for the youth of today...

...this morning, Jonas and Ben had a blast crawling around the Big Guy's room, seeing what they could find...

...then everyone got to share in a little story time from Mom...

...but Mom had to go to work shortly after, leaving all the guys alone to hang out. So they did what guys do, they went out to eat a big feast. Well, a feast that featured crayons at least...

...and Ben couldn't get enough of his cute cousin, the nice capper on a fun overnight trip...

Fun With Mom

Dad has been traveling this week (thus the lack of a few posts the last few days...) but Jonas has been behaving himself nicely with Mom. In honor of the two of them, here's some recent shots of our Big Guy with the No. 1 lady in his life.