Welcome to Stephen's home pages! As of today (22 November 2001) Stephen is 18 months old -- I can't believe it's already been a year and a half! (Wish I could tell that to the Jan of Stephen's first couple of months!) He babbles constantly, walks (since 16 July 2001, a day that will live in infamy...), and laughs a lot. He's still a lap baby, and sleeps on my lap for daytime naps (while I work on the computer), but plays by himself very well. We are still nursing, and he still sleeps with me at night (which is quite nice, and I wouldn't give it up for anything!). Everyone comments on what a sweet, happy, intelligent-looking boy he is, and I agree. He's not actually talking yet, though his grandmother says his father was a pretty late talker (and heck, so was Einstein) so I'm not worried. He's got 6 teeth, just had yet another haircut (his fourth), and has a great personality. We're running into some temper tantrums, but he's very good most of the time. And we love him no matter what :)

In the Month Eighteen pictures, you'll find a few from our visit to Washington, DC. We drove down to meet David on Halloween -- the drive was actually quite good, considering it was 8 hours; Stephen was excellent and hardly cried at all, even when there was traffic. We visited pretty much every museum on the National Mall, plus the National Zoo and Arboretum. He seemed to enjoy the museums; we bought a stroller just for the trip, and he was quite good about staying in it most of the time, though when he got bored, he'd get out and push, and of course, I had our sling for the times when neither walking nor stroller were desired. DC was great -- there were very few tourists, due to recent events in the US, so the museums were practically deserted. We were searched as we entered each one, and there were Jersey barriers in front of the museum steps, but that was about all we noticed in terms of extra security. He made friends with everyone on the Metro (subway), smiling and waving at the commuters, and never failed to get a smile or wave back. We nursed in more places than I can count, from the Washington National Cathedral (absolutely gorgeous), to the elephant exhibit at the zoo, to the Reflecting Pool, and weren't hassled even once. The drive back wasn't as good as the drive down, mostly because David had to share the driving time with his cow-orker (who extended an 8.5 hour trip into a 10.5 hour one by stopping too often), but all in all, it was a fantastic trip. I wish Stephen had been a little older, so he'd appreciate the museums more, but there's always next time.

New! At right is his first "drawing" -- made with washable markers, of course. Looks kind of like a housefly, doesn't it? Or maybe one of those landstriders from "The Dark Crystal"... either way, here it is in his virtual baby book!