On our way back from Columbia this March, we made a brief stop in Athens, Georgia, a place Kristina and I spent 4 years during law school and the pre-Borders layoff aftermath. It was a bittersweet time. Athens was great, especially the beautiful and trendy downtown area. Maybe that's why we spent more time there than in class?

It was fun to roll around town with Sean. Our favorite places to eat were still there, with not a McDonalds in sight. Corporate America is slowly intruding, in the form of Five Guys and Starbucks. But that's the kind of corporate intrusion I can get behind. The highlight of the trip was a foray to the Taco Stand. The Taco Stand is the nastiest, dirtiest, greasiest restaurant in the world. We ate there every week for four years. The best part of any Taco Stand meal was the chips and dip that is allegedly made of "cheese." Not sure what it actually contains, but it is heavenly. We will have to stop again next time we go home.

Kristina adds: I want a meal at East-West Bistro where they make the most heavenly grilled cheese served with homemade sweet potato chips. Jonathan didn't talk about Junkman's, but they have the most eclectic collection of merchandise I have ever seen. If you need a life size cut out of Darth Vader and the perfect silver stiletto heels in a man's size 13 for your drag party, they'll have 'em both. Guaranteed.

The Family Car

Sean has his own seat in the car. We, cleverly, refer to it as Sean's Seat. But, of course, he's quite interested in what happens in the mysterious world of the front seat. He can't quite reach the pedals to drive just yet, but when he was in Daddy's seat with Mommy by his side, he was loathe to give it back to me.

Kristina adds: Man, that is one serious dude!

When we go out to a "sitdown" restaurant and Sean is in a good mood, we will sit him in the booth with Mommy and Daddy. His big boy meal seating arrangement requires some big boy food. Of course the only big boy food he eats are French fries. Vive La France!

For quite awhile we were convinced that Sean was paranoid. Or some kind of enemy agent ridiculously obsessed with tradecraft and revealing tails. Because he was always looking over his shoulder when we were walking somewhere and holding hands. Turns out he isn't that curious about what is behind him. He is actually practicing the time-honored tradition of backwards walking.

He is an innovator in this field. Not only does he backwards walk through any and every parking lot, he also backwards walks up and down hills. He's branched out into blind walking too, closing his eyes and feeling his way around the room. Perhaps there is a future for him as he develops increasingly complicated walks? One day he may star in Cirque De Soleil. With his early start, the sky is truly the limit for him in the burgeoning field of weird walking. Who says that sidewalks are for regular walking? Fancy walking is where it's at.

Kristina adds: Jonathan is not kidding. We really thought Sean was worried about being followed until we figured out that he just really enjoys walking backwards. And the blind walking is very funny. He closes his eyes at one side of the living room and feels his way across to the opposite wall. Over and over again. He is a funny kid!

Our new routine involves going to the duck pond and playground everyday after work. Some days we like to spice it up a little bit. We already knew Sean loved bubbles. Who doesn't love bubbles? So we figured he would love big bubbles in a big way. These bubbles are roughly the size of the human head. And we all know the human head weighs 8 pounds. Luckily these bubbles are lighter than air. Sean, as yet, hasn't chased down any of these bubbles. He does his happy dance and watches them float away.

So, I have a new job. The less said the better, but at least I have my own office! Complete with 50" TV and 30" Apple monitor. And, of course, some of my favorite pictures to get me through the day. I have to spend eight lonely hours a day here, so at least it isn't in a cubicle. Now that I've said that, cue the move to cubicle...

Kristina adds: He may sound a little down, but when we first got here, Jonathan was stoked about the office and the equipment, especially that giant flat screen. And I've never seen a man so excited to go to Michael's to look for picture frames. Of course, we got him some that would hang and he later found out that his walls are cement blocks under that weird fabric wall covering. That football, that's signed by our close personal friend Hines Ward.

Mr. Mustache! Sean loves to eat Oreos. And he loves to regurgitate them, bit by bit. He never has these elaborate Oreo mustaches when he finishes eating. It's only later when he drools out his hidden stash of cookie goodness that the mustache appears. And it never fails to be hilarious.

Sean is still an incredibly stubborn eater. He likes mandarin oranges, yogurt, craisins, goldfish, cinnamon Toast Crunch, Oreos, and French Fries. I didn't get tired of typing. That is the list. The whole list. Needless to say, we are still in the business of carting his food around all the time!

Kristina adds: If you are wondering where Sean gets his picky eating habits, I have it on good authority that Jonathan refused to eat anywhere but McDonalds until he was 20.

In my current job, I was promised an opportunity to travel to exotic places and make amazing videos. Six months in, the only place I've been is Columbus, Georgia, and the most amazing thing I've seen is this two story Burger King.

Burger Kings are, and this is simply one man's opinion, the most ghetto and disgusting of all fast food restaurants. Nothing there ever quite tastes right and it just has an air of grease and filth that is nauseating to any normal human being. Not this Burger King.

Perhaps this was the Burger King corporate headquarters? Who can explain this magnificent two-story structure? A thematic fast food restaurant? You bet! The Burger King was intended to represent a train station, complete with a creepy old man to take your tickets. I choose to believe they imported the hobos and the homeless for authenticity's sake and I can appreciate that dedication to craft.

On our way back home from a nice visit in Columbia in February, we made a side trip to our law school alma mater-The University of Georgia. Athens has changed a bit, but for the better I think. The downtown area has maintained its local flavor while adding some mainstream businesses. They now have a Starbucks, Ben and Jerry's and a Five Guys Burgers, but they don't really affect the atmosphere of the area much-hey, it's better than a McDonalds.

We stopped at our favorite restaurant of all-time, The Taco Stand, and also let Sean roam about the campus. He attracted the eye of way more pretty co-eds than his Dad ever did! He may have to answer to some upperclassmen though! Freshman aren't allowed to walk under the arch!

There is a beautiful park down the road in Enterprise and we go there with Sean just about every evening. After walking by a mucky brown duck pond, we finally make our way to a state-of-the-art playground. Like with most things, Sean has a routine at the playground from which he won't vary. First he and I ride on one side of the teeter-totter while Mom occupies the other. It must be this way. Putting Sean and Mom together to counter my gargantuan gut is not acceptable.

From the teeter- totter, he's off to the races, on his way to the firetruck and the highlight of his evening-the pony. He rides the firetruck with Daddy, but the pony is all about Mommy. As she sings "Sean like to the ride pony, pony, poooo-ooony, Sean likes to ride the Pony every single day...." he grins like a banshee. When it's time for Sean to "ride it real fast, real fast, reee-aal fast" we get a bonafide squeal. One day he might grow too old to ride the pony with Mom. But for now it's not just the highlight of his day, it's the highlight of mine as well.

This sign was eye opening about what kind of town we're living in. This is rural America. Real rural. Poor Rufus Don Sinkfield. Not only is his name Rufus Don Sinkfield, but his financial failures are now common knowledge. Rufus Don is the kind of guy that lets you fix his appliances and then hands you a broken check. For shame Rufus Don, for shame. My favorite part about this sign, which brings me so much joy everyday when I pass by, is that it came down for a time. Then it popped back up. So either:

A. the owner took ANOTHER bad check from Rufus

or

B.He was just so furious he couldn't stop thinking about it. I can see him up at night ranting and raving "Rufus Don Sinkfield won't make a mockery of me! No sir! Honey, where are those magnetic letters?"

My favorite thing to happen in Alabama besides the guy at work telling me, as I prepare a cup of tea: "Not many menfolk drink tea around these parts. Men drink coffee." In other words, only sissies drink tea. He carried on so much, another guy felt the need to come to my aid and tell him "It's allright if he wants to drink tea. Everybody's different." How I laughed. Alabama will be an adjustment, that much is certain.

Last year, we took Sean to Ryan's Steakhouse. Ryan's was a tradition in my house growing up. It was right down the road from our apartment when we lived at FoxGlove Lane. And it was right next to Putt Putt golf, where one could play Double Dragon and smack the ball around a bit. In my family we tend to fall in ruts. For a time, we went to Ryan's pretty much every time we went out. It had steaks cooked to order (I always thought it was funny that my Dad would order a "petite" sirloin clearly marketed based on its name to women) but the true claim to fame was the all-you-can-eat salad bar.

Eventually we would move on to eating at Little Mexico once a week for like a decade, but back then, Ryan's was the stuff. So we took Sean to the Ryan's in Enterprise. And it was not good. But Sean was a complete sweetheart, seen here being all kissy kissy with his mama.

When we traveled to Gatlinburg last year right before making the perilous journey to Alabama, Sean was happy to take the opportunity to show off his new motor skills to Mamaw and Papaw Kendall. It seems, however, he overestimated his own strength pretty significantly. He would keep coming back to these pumpkins, or gourds, or whatever they were and try to lift them up. When he couldn't get the big one to budge, he showed unusual thoughtfulness by instead trying the little one. Too bad even that was too heavy for our little one.

We play a similar game when we go to Target. Target has giant red concrete balls outside their stores, kind of randomly place. Probably some post-9/11 defense against terrorists or some silliness, or maybe Dick Cheney has them stuffed with surveilance devices? He can't make them budge and finds it HILARIOUS when daddy can't make them move either. One day a giant pumpkin or a giant concrete red ball will budge and go rolling down the road causing chaos and mass panic. That is a day I can't wait to see.