Dirk got home and finished sanding the deck while Hendrik ate a lot of chicken soup, toast, and pears. He's been getting better and better with the spoon, and now every time we have soup he remembers that he can drink from the bowl and get the rest of the broth out. Sometimes he even gets ambitious with that and puts his whole face in the upturned bowl to get the noodles and carrots and whatnot. I know, it's a bummer to clean, but it's so darn cute to see his soup-slimy hands hold that bowl up for every last drop.
Finally Daddy finished and came inside for his own dinner, and then he took Hendrik for a walk outside. I sorted some clothes inside. I noticed it was getting later and later and they were still out there, so finally I went out... and saw them halfway down the street playing under a streetlight. I walked over to them and when Hendrik saw me he came dance-running toward me, arms flapping, feet moving as much up and down as forward.
When I got closer I noticed a kitten stalking Dirk and Hendrik, hanging about 15 feet back, darting from shadow to shadow. We walked together up the street, and Dirk told me about how they had gone down to an open grassy area and played. Hendrik was lagging behind a little, and in the dark he got a little panicky and yelled, "Daddy?" Dirk called out, "I'm over here!" Hendrik was so relieved to see him that he came running. When Hendrik got close, two kittens came out of nowhere and just stood by Dirk. Hendrik stopped in his tracks and got so excited he grunted and flapped his arms and could barely get out "Dog dog dog" (you know, they're both 4-legged and furry). They surveyed each other for a while before Dirk finally steered Hendrik back towards home.
Well, when I caught up to them one of the kittens was following. We walked up to the end of the street and the kitten came the whole way and even ducked into a neighbor's open garage. Then our neighbor came out for a chat-- we told her about the kitten and her eyes got big and worried and she told us she couldn't adopt any more cats. So we walked back down to the other end of the street again, and sure enough, the kitten followed us back. Happily we were able to reunite it with its mother, although it did follow us home again. That time we threw a stick at him to keep him away.
So Hendrik walked up and down the street three times all by himself, had a cat adventure, and was even awake enough when we went in to scream for a little while before going to sleep. He really hates missing out on anything Dirk and I are doing.
Happy 20 months to our curious and sweet little boy!