Look at me, I am a busy bee!

Hello and happy holidays to everyone! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the frosty weather. I have been very good. I have mastered a new smile that seriously stretches from one of my ears to the other! It is great, and it gives me a chance to show off my eight teeth. Mom said she promises to post some pictures of it soon.

This is going to be my first Christmas and I have been having a lot of fun preparing. Dad put lights on our house and Mom has been busy baking cookies and decorating. We got to go out and cut down a tree too!! It is so tall and is currently being protected by my baby jail... if I could just figure out a way in now because there looks to be a lot of neat stuff for me to grab.

Other news.... I got my first ear infection, have had a couple play dates, met my Mom's friend Clara for the first time, and got to ride in my new bike trailor!!! We went to dinner at Margarets house and I got to test out my smile a lot! It has just been a lot of fun running all over. Here are some pictures of me in the trailor with my new helmet and hanging out with my friend Indy.

I have also been busy walking. I am up to 4 steps, which doesn't sound like much but let me tell you, it is hard!! I usually take a couple, get my balance, and take a few more before I fall. Today I was trying to walk all over the place!! Ok, it is bath time for me. Merry Christmas everyone!!!


 

A Big Adventure and San Diego Part 1

Hello, hello! This has been some week!! It all started on Thursday with my first Thanksgiving. We went to Kevin and Mary's house for dinner. Aunt Mary made me this very cute pilgrims hat in celebration. I had such a good time seeing everyone and getting to try all the yummy food. I got to sit in my new high chair that clips onto the table. I spent the whole time during dinner kicking and rocking the table. It made me laugh to see Mom, Dad and Mike jumping to try and catch spilling liquids. Because Mike's family lives far away he came with us, my great-grandpa liked him so much he invited him to come to Christmas too!

On Friday morning we got up very early and Grandpa Rick drove us to the airportso we could go to San Diego for Anne and Ben's wedding. I have never been to the airport and it was neat to see everyone running around with all their luggage. We ran into a couple of Mom's friends and then set off for the gate. Our first leg was to San Francisco and luckily the plane wasn't very full. I got to have my own seat. My parents were a little worried how I would react because I have a bit of a cold and have never done it before. I slept the whole way! They didn't need to worry at all!! I woke up after the plane landed and then got to play in SFO for a bit, until we loaded the next plane for San Diego. We arrived in San Diego, got our rental car, and were off to find Anne so Mom could get to the rehearsal in time. After the rehearsal, we all went to dinner on a big boat that went around the marina. After dinner we were all so tired it was off to bed at the big house on the beach!!

Saturday was all sorts of chaos! It was mom's birthday and Anne's wedding. I spent the morning with Mom and Dad, until Mom had to go off for wedding stuff. While she was away Dad and I met up with Danika and Ben. We went to Balboa Park and walked all over (I slept most of the time). Then it was off to La Jolla for the wedding. It was a very nice wedding and there were so many babies to play with!!! I had a very good time. After the reception, it was time to go back to the house to sleep.


My favorite day so far has definitely been Sunday! We went to the San Diego Zoo with Ben and Danika. As my friend Ben says it is way better than our zoo. I saw panda bears, giant gorillas, monkeys, polar bears, koalas, lions, bears, and so much more. Again the orangutans were my favorite, they even had a baby one!!! He was about my size but much better at getting around. I had so so so much fun at the zoo!!!!!

Today we are heading over to Coronado and Littly Italy to explore some more. It has been sunny until this morning when the rains came in. Oh, well... we are still going to get in as much of San Diego as we can!! Got to run, we are off for some pizza! 

Play Time Galore!

I have been having so much fun since my mom discovered UrbanMamas!! I went to play with my friend Indiana at Sydneys coffee house over in NW. It was so fun!!!! There are toys, loads of room to crawl, and good coffee for my mom. Indy and I chased each other, snacked on some crackers and then got to meet all sorts of new kids! Mom learned some tips to use when she takes all these pictures and I got to see what it looks like when little people walk!! Speaking of which.... I took my first steps!!!!!!! It ended with me falling into the table but not too shabby for the first try.

Here I am in my new hat. It is so warm and mom tries to find every opportunity for me to wear it. I also got some matching mittens but they are more like socks because there isn't a thumb hole. I like to try and eat them.







Yesterday I got to go play with my friend Violet. We went to Sip & Krantz (another one of our favorite new spots!). It was so great to see her. Both our mommies are busy, so we don't get together that often but when we do it is fun! Violet is learning to sit all by herself.... I can't wait until we can run around after each other, which won't be long! I am off to go christmas shopping with mom and get us ready for our trip to San Diego next week. Mom's friend Anne is getting married and we get to go see it!!!! This will be my first out of state trip and my first airplane ride! It is all so exciting. Happy Thanksgiving everyone and I promise to post lots of pictures from my trip when I return.
 

Moving Pictures - Kitchen Edition

Daddy was messing around with some video this weekend of me crawling and playing in the kitchen. It's not professional and not from an Apple, but it gets the job done.

How Big is Big?

Happy Sunday everyone! This was a wild week for me, it included my 9 mos well baby check-up and a trip to the neurosurgeon. My visit with Dr. Lydia went very well! Here are my current stats:

Height - 29"
Weight - 23.1 lbs
Head - 19.5"

I got the first half of a flu shot and was supposed to have blood drawn so they can check my lead levels. These two nice nurses tried and tried and tried to find a vein but had no luck! I will go back to try again next week when I get the second half of the flu vaccine. Dr. Lydia said I am doing great developmentally and that it is time for me to learn to put myself to sleep. Everything was fine, except.... My head is still big!! Friday mom and dad took me to see Dr. Wehby who specializes in baby heads. She checked me out, looked at my ct scan and then decided it was time to measure my parents' heads. Guess what?? We all have big heads!!!!!
Here are some pictures in my new cloths. Mom wanted to get some fun shots for the christmas cards. I tried to attack the tree and I would not sit at all! She may have got a couple pics but my guess is, we will be trying again soon. Today we are watching football with Ben, Danika, and Emily. Yippeee, so much fun!
 

Messes, A New Friend, and Teeth!

Hello! I finally got a moment to write in between all my crawling, climbing, teething, mess making, and yelling. I am fast approaching the 9 month mile mark and it seems like I am changing a lot. I am making more faces, have more interest in stuff I didn't care about before, and I love feeding myself cheerios!!

I had my first playdate a couple weeks ago with my new friend Indiana. He is a little older than me and so much fun to play with!! We ate yummy lentil soup that his mom, Shelby, made. Then we crawled all over and chased after each other. He is a happy guy like me and I can not wait for the next playdate!!

I am not a 100% at getting stuff in my mouth... it is easier with cheerios because I can grab them. Darwin hangs out underneath my highchair because he gets all the food I drop. I am good at spilling things, let me explain...

Yesterday I went to lunch with Mike, Emily and my mom. We had sushi, which is great because I get tofu and rice! I decided to play a trick on them, I started playing with the chopstick and when Mike tried to take it away, I dove for the very big and very full water glass!! I DUMPED IT ALL OVER!!! It was good everyone laughed because in another 3 years I don't know how funny they will think it is.

Uncle Greg is still living with us but not for much longer, he bought a house! It has been wonderful with him here. He even lets me play his guitar. He says that when I get a little bigger he is going to get me a motorcycle. That makes him the coolest uncle ever.

Ok, gotta run! I will post some updates after my 9 month well baby check-up next week!! Wish me luck, I think I have to get shots again :'(
 

Spreading the Good Word

Here I am modeling my new onesie! My good friend Margaret is off to Kathmandu to help out MercyCorps in their continuing effort to provide aid around the world... For more information check out their website!


 

8 Months and Counting

Hi Everyone, I hit the 8 month mark! Hard to believe that I am that old!! I have been spending a lot of time with my Uncle Greg, Dad, and honing my crawling/bouncing/standing skills. In this picture I am hanging out with Dad in my pen. Mom swears it is going to be the key to her getting through grad school! I like it because I can push it along the floor and it is big enough for me to crawl around in it.
I am eating more and more real food. Here I am trying to get some cheerios into my mouth! Spaghetti is one of my new favorites. Ice cream is pretty good too. My bottom two teeth are almost all the way in and my top two are just starting to show! This is going to help expand my food selection a bunch!!

Other cool new thing is how much air I can get in my johnny jump-up! I look kind of like a little river dancer bouncing ALL OVER!! I even bounce while holding onto the table.... It is soooooooo much fun! I can get the jump-up to swing around and around too. Dad tried to help me one morning but it made me a little woozie.

I crawl, climb, and get into everything!! I am getting to be pretty fast too. I can walk all around the coffee table and really enjoy climbing on the tv. My new game is to see how fast I can get up before Mom or Dad picks me up. This is me on the go! Speaking of which Mom is looking the other way, gotta run.... 

The Zoo Rocks!

Here are some pictures from my first trip to the zoo!! Mom just bought a membership, so we can go all the time! We went with Danika and Ben on Saturday. The weather was perfect zoo weather and we saw so many animals. My favorite was by far the Orangutan....

 

My New Milestone

So, it has been awhile and I have not been keeping up with my blog because it is BUSY around here!!! I have been to Eastern Oregon, several parties, a board meeting, and visiting all sorts of friends from here and afar!

I think my biggest news is that I can pull myself up to standing!!!!! Once I get to that point I like to let go and try to stand up all by myself... this part is still in need of lots of practice. I use the coffee table, the dining room chairs, Darwin's coat, and friends pant legs. I have had a couple spills and a few bruises to show for my efforts but all in all it seems to be going pretty well.

I am enjoying more and more solid food. Tofu is super yummy! Today I had a bowl of tofu with miso broth at lunch because we went to sushi with Grandma Pam. Mom dumped some water on the table for me to splash, it is probably one of my favorite things to do.

Mom and Dad have been very busy trying to baby proof the house. There was a lot of stuff that was just right for my height, so they had their work cut out for them. They keep saying the house hasn't been this clean in months.

Well, I will try to do a better job keeping updates coming and in the meantime back to crawling and climbing for me... I think I see some stuff they missed :-)

 

I almost forgot......

What is this you ask??? The emergence of my first teeth!!!!!! My appearance is about to change because I am getting my two bottom front teeth. It is very exciting and painful all at the same time. It makes me kind of cranky. I am really excited to be able to chew real food though....
 

How I Love the Beach!

The beach is simply a blast. I just got back from five days down at Lincoln City and it was gorgeous. The weather was perfect! Mom and I packed up the car on Wednesday after lunch with Margaret. She let me pull her hair and play with her bracelet, so so so fun!!! Gina was going to come too but she had a fever and didn't feel well, I really hope she is better!

The drive down south was pretty quick, I fell asleep as we were pulling away from the house and I woke up at the beach! It is like magic , poof there I am in a new spot.

Darwin and I played a lot this weekend. I have also been practicing doing the worm..... up on my knees, lurching forward on my tummy and back up to my knees! It looks really funny but it gets me where I need to go.

Some of the biggest highlights from the weekend were our morning walks with Darwin running around like a silly puppy, hanging out with Aunt Lindsey, playing with Grandpa Rick and Grandma Pam, visiting my great grandfathers highschool, and getting to spend so much time with my Dad!! I love my Dad so much!

I fell asleep this afternoon and woke up back at home... where it was 30 degrees warmer and bathtime was waiting. I am just loving summer time! 

Dog Days of Summer

I've got a lot to share about the last couple of weeks. I apologize for not writing sooner, but Mom has been hogging the laptop to finish up her summer classes. I kept reminding her that I want ALL of her attention but she insisted on squeezing in some time for a few papers and lots of reading. She did so well that she gets a month of vacation. Good job, Mom!
I have been busy learning to crawl this month. I shocked the 'rents by getting up on all fours the other day and somehow I fell into a sitting position. I'll be damned if I can't make that happen more often. I am so excited to do some exploring on my own. There is a ton of new stuff that looks like it is within reach and I plan on investigating in all in the coming weeks.
The picture of me crying was caught while Dad and Uncle Greg were having a little fun at my expense. Dad has this awful mooing sound that gets me all worked up. I am not sure if I hate cows or feel so bad for their plight, but I can't help crying my head off. At least I am entertaining.
On Sunday I was hanging out with Grandma Pam in my new Ergo. I swear it is hard to find a comfortable adult saddle. I've been in the Baby Bjorn, but my ride complains of a sore back after a little while. I get in the Hip Hammock every now and again, but that's a one trick pony. I tried a Sotemi briefly and that doesn't really allow me the freedom to look around too much, but it was comfortable. I get into a simple cloth sling once in a while but only briefly. I've got Mom sporting the oh-so-trendy Ergo and I think I like it. I can ride in front, in back, and even on the side, but not facing outwards. Nonetheless, I am gonna stick it out in this one for a while.

In the next few weeks I'll try to give Mom or Dad a chance to take a photo of me really crawling and post it up here. I'll be headed to the beach, to the Gorge, and back to the beach for some fishing before Mom heads back to school in late September. And, before I sign off... congratulations to Ginny and Sam! Also, good luck in Seattle, DF! (posted by Ed)