Our weekend was delightfully simple. I actually slept in on Saturday, both Jason and I got to workout, and John Thomas had tons of fun hanging out with Momma and Daddy.
John Thomas was either helping Chester smile for the camera or following in his Dad's footsteps and doing his first oral examination. 
I know it's a short blog, but no news in good news. Everyone is healthy and happy and we simply have more blessings than we can count.
Friday night we headed out for some quick Mexican cuisine. Once again John Thomas was more interested in the people-watching than the food. He could not take his eyes off of a cute little girl with long blond hair that was sitting a few booths down. Is it really possible for a ten month old to be girl-crazy already?
I was so glad that John Thomas got a chance to spend some time with Grandma. They had lots of fun together. Everything was going great until last night. John Thomas didn't want to eat dinner, had a fever and was also pretty congested. We were all up most of the night. He is still feverish, and after calling our doctor, we'll be headed promptly to the pediatrician's at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. I was hoping to be home to celebrate his ten month old birthday, but not because he was miserable. 
On a lighter note, John Thomas has already learned to share. Chester is loving their new dinner arrangement. After John Thomas gets done eating, he starts giving what's left to Chester. There new favorite meal: Salmon patties, mac n'cheese and mixed vegetables. 
To add further proof that JT doesn't always work inside the lines, here is what his dinner time is starting to look like. On the menu: Bananas, steamed rice and edamame. Yummo!
The highlight of everyone's weekend was the handful of new toys we got for JT. Though, I think they were more for my sanity than his, because I'm a little tired of the same old stuff. One of the toys included an abacus. At this point, he really seems to prefer toys that aren't electronic with lots of lights and crazy noises. You won't hear me complaining about that. 
Around the house, I feel like a mother goose and JT is my gosling. He follows me everywhere I go and insists upon trying a bite of anything I put in my mouth. I've yet to find anything he doesn't like to eat. He has also started pulling up on the furniture and taking a few steps while holding on. He even let go a few times today, but no steps yet. Believe me, I'm in NO hurry to have him walking (i.e. getting into everything) around the house. 
I think he had a growing spurt this weekend, because he looks bigger in the last picture (taken today) than in the first (taken on Thursday). It could be due to the fact that we were all healthy at the same time for the first time all year. His dad must have made our bed seem irresistible, because John Thomas definitely ended up in our bed at 5:30 this morning. It may have been a major parenting no-no, but he was soooo snuggly I couldn't help it!
I cannot get enough of this lil guy! We even got to go for a family stroll at the park today because it was 65 degrees. I'm sure we'll be blanketed with snow again before winter bids farewell, but a day like this is a warm welcome (so to speak).
John Thomas actually got to explore the deck this weekend too. We have to watch him like a hawk, because he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. Even after I swept, he was able to find a minute speck of leaf that I had to emergently fish out. The tell-tale is the the "cat that got the canary" look he gets after he's put something inedible in his mouth. I can only hope that a speck of a leaf is the worst thing he's going to put in his mouth before he outgrows this phase.
Although I've learned so much over the last nine months, one of the biggest things I've learned is that I should NEVER say "never." Ever. The other thing I've learned is that it's really inconceivable how much I love JT and how much more I love his daddy. My heart is full.
Of course the blog wouldn't be complete if our ever-eager photog-dog wasn't enduring some mild form of infant abuse just to get some extra love. 
We also did lots of exploring around the house, including the library (i.e. the bookshelves in the dinning room). As you can tell, he's already taken a liking to Economics and his daddy couldn't be more excited. Although I'm a little tired, I couldn't imagine a better weekend with my baby boy.
I even braved church this morning as a single parent. He was incredibly good. In fact, it's the first service I've heard all the way through in a quite a while. Hopefully I won't be blogging about illness again for a very very long time.
If you're looking for something that will make you smile, I've uploaded onto Facebook a short video of John Thomas playing. You'll get just a taste of how much fun we had this weekend.
We had more snow days this week. How I love living in a county that comes to a virtual standstill with only a few inches of snow. It actually worked out great because we all got to recover from the variety of ailments we've been battling. Not to mention that we LOVE getting to stay home and have quality time together.
John Thomas has started pulling up on everything. Whenever we go get him out his crib, he's just standing there looking at us. I'm not sure how long it takes most kids to go from standing to walking, but I'll keep you posted.
Also in his ninth month, John Thomas is flashing a toothy grin. He's got four, yes FOUR, teeth. I'm sure it's no surprise that we brush them every night right before bath time. I wonder when his dad is going to make him start flossing? 