Patrick's Cage

As you may notice in the background of today's pictures, we got Patrick's cage/play area thing set up last night. It now takes residence in one corner of our living room. With any luck, it should contain the wreckage of baby toys and keep it from spreading throughout the house--at least for a few more weeks.

Patrick's not so sure what to think about it yet. It has his toys, so it isn't all bad. But it doesn't have Mommy, and I seriously wonder if he considers me just one of his toys during playtime. I kept hopping in and out of the pen all day, any time he was playing in there. I didn't want him to be too uncomfortable, and he needed to know I was nearby and would still play with him. He also had some playtime out of the pen when I could give him more undivided attention. I don't want him growing up in a cage.
On the bright side, the pen is located in a good spot for morning sun, so I got some pretty cool pictures. I'm thinking I can easily turn a corner of it into a place to take professional-looking pictures. That might be tomorrow's fun project, or maybe Monday's.
He has such a flair for the dramatic, doesn't he?

Bathtime was particularly fun today, at least for Patrick. I ended up being soaked from the waist up as a result of his splashing. Good thing it was clean water! Also, the more he splashed and agitated the water, the more soap bubbles formed. He had fun poking at the bubbles, too. He always seems surprised when they escape before he can pick them up.

Have I mentioned that we have a glass-top coffee table? It provides endless entertainment for Patrick, and Matt and me as we watch Patrick learn about the strange see-through top. Yesterday I was lying under the table while Patrick stood next to it and bammed on the top. He wanted so badly to touch my face that he could see, but he couldn't reach it through the glass. In the process, his still-too-large sweatpants fell right down around his ankles. I glanced over to see only Elmo on the front of his diaper. And he wasn't even embarrassed that he had pantsed himself!

Today he had more fun chasing after the box of Cheerios on the top of the coffee table. He'd been munching on some as a snack while he played on the floor, but when he got tired of sitting and eating, he crawled for the most interesting thing around. And he definitely knows the Cheerios box when he sees it. He never fails to get excited when I pull it out of the pantry. The only problem today was that when he got to the box, it was sitting on the table, but he had crawled under the table. He could see it and kept reaching up for it, but that silly glass kept getting in his way. That doesn't mean he stopped trying to get the Cheerios, though!
Matt went back to the dentist today for his follow-up appointment to check on his progress after getting his wisdom teeth out last week. Apparently he didn't see the doctor for more than about two minutes. It was just long enough to impress the dentist with his superior healing skills. Matt has been cleared to eat whatever foods he likes again. We celebrated with Sonic. Matt said he actually felt better after eating "real" food again. I do, too; it was getting difficult to find creative mushy meals for him.