Dinnertime has been an an interesting example of Jason's development lately. On the one hand, he's becoming more adept with his utensils and his aim is also improving, which means that a much higher percentage of his food actually makes it into his mouth. On the other hand, he's more or less decided that he's done with bibs and knows how to remove them on his own. The net effect is that by the end of dinner every night his chest and lap are covered with food. We usually deal with that by just stripping him down after the meal, which is fine anyway because there's usually less than fifteen minutes to go until his bathtime.

Tonight went more or less as usual in that regard, though Jason did jump the gun a bit and started trying to get his shirt off before he was finished eating. After he was done and I took him out of the chair and got his pants off, he started complaining about his diaper. Juliette glanced down and, sure enough, it was sagging heavily between his legs. Still, he hadn't pooped and his bath was just a few minutes off--it seemed like a waste to put a brand new diaper on him at that point.

Of course, while we were discussing our options, Jason decided to take matters into his own hands. He managed to slide the diaper halfway down his butt before we noticed, and although we initially wanted him to leave it on, we quickly relented and helped him get it all the way off, leaving him naked except for his right sock.

"No wonder he wanted it off," said Juliette, hefting the diaper in one hand. "This is the heaviest diaper you've ever had, buddy."

"Is this a good idea?" I asked. "What if he starts peeing?"

"Well, we'll just have to wipe it up," she replied.

You can all see where this is going.

Jason was overjoyed about his newfound freedom and immediately scampered off to the living room with a shout of glee. Juliette peeked over the couch to find him digging around in his toybox. "Mike, look how cute!" she cried. "You have to take a picture of this."

I hemmed a bit about the light being bad but grabbed the camera anyway. I was just entering the living room when Juliette let out a little shriek.  "He's peeing!" she laughed. I glanced down and, sure enough, there was a little puddle growing by his feet. What's more, he managed to pee through the wicker of his toybox, spraying all the toys inside.

Being dog owners on top of being parents, we've gotten pretty good at cleaning up messes on our carpet. There's always a bottle of Nature's Miracle under our sink these days, and a mini-carpet shampooer in the closet. On balance, not really that big a deal. It certainly livened up the evening a bit, though. I just hope Jason isn't heading into a little nudist phase, or else this scene might become more common than I'd prefer.