To Sedona and Back Again

Howdy Everyone,

You may be asking yourself "why were you in Sedona?" Excellent question, and I'd love to tell you :-)

Christmas, of course! Grandma and Grandpa have a great house there. We had a lot of folks from Mom's side of the family come to visit as well. I wasn't sure about this trip at first when it started with a 14 hour drive. Considering my considerable metabolism, sitting in a seat all day wasn't ideal. On the other hand, I was able to sneak in a number of naps :-). Not to worry, once I got to the house, I had no problems "running around" as usual.

During our 8-day stay, we had lots of fun playing Phase 10 (a card game) and visiting with each other. Dad had a great time doing some mountain biking and staying up until 1am playing Gears of War 2. Mom prepared the most delicious 23lb turkey. Many others helped to create our fabulous Christmas dinner.

I'm still a pinch too young to get super-excited about Christmas, but I'm starting to understand the concept of giving presents and unwrapping new presents for myself. Dad keeps saying that I "made out like a bandit." If that's true, bandits must really like Tonka trucks, clothes, and books.

Although there were many people at the house, there still weren't enough to keep me out of trouble ;-)



I found out that a toilet paper is really lite, long, and fun. Haha! To see more pictures from this visit, check out my new web album.

Until next time, Happy Holidays Everyone!

Fallidays

Howdy Folks,

A couple of my favorite, fall holidays just passed us by. I thought it would be fun to reflect on these great times :-)

I had tons of fun going ball-shopping this year (apparently they were called "pumpkins"). It was a little tough walking on the wavy dirt and flattened corn stalks. There were so many of them, it was tough to pick the best one!


Mom and Dad thought that it would be funny to dress me up as a three-eyed monster. Haha. It was actually pretty cool. Mom dressed up as the super-cool Kat Von D from L.A. Ink and Dad dressed up as Ulysses Everett McGill from O Brother, Where Art Thou?


Halloween was a lot of fun, but there was one thing missing: a nice, big, tasty meal. Thank goodness Thanksgiving rolled around to satisfy my round, little, belly. Mom and Dad were a little worried because I didn't each much the day before Thanksgiving. Likewise, I didn't each much the morning of Thanksgiving. Little did they know that I was just holding out :-). I ate soooo much for dinner, that I nearly went comatose.


Ooof. That was a tasty meal. Mom did an amazing job preparing the meal. Grandma, Grandpa, Nonna, and Papa were there as well. After dinner, everyone sat around (similarly, in a comatose state) and watched me run around and burn off my tasty calories.

That's it for now. Counting down the days till Christmas. TTFN!!

Has anyone seen my edamame?

I swear that it was just in my hand! I was peacefully eating my dinner. The food was a pleasant temperature and my spread was very colorful - full of greens, oranges, and browns. I recall getting a little excited. There's a chance I moved my hands enthusiastically, like someone trying to shake off a piece of plastic held by static cling. Mind you, my movement was very brief - a moment at best.

Anyway, if you've seen it, let me know.


On another note....I'm walking like crazy! I've been likened to Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean when he's frantically running. I can see the similarity, I suppose ;-). More to come on this exciting development...

Like the bunny, I keep going and going...

Howdy Folks,

It's update time! I just keep going and going and growing and...phew - it's a lot of work :-). I thought it'd be a great time to share some of my recent changes with you today:

Crawling
I've been crawling so fast recently that my little legs look like a blur. Apparently, my Dad had the same crawling style. It's fun when Dad and I race toward my favorite green ball, or my little blue squishy football.

Summersaults
You bet. Summersaults rock. All I have to do is crawl, stop, then burry by head into the ground. At that point, I just have to wait for Mom or Dad to come by, grab my legs, and swing me over. It's a ton of fun.

Toofers
I know, I know...My molars have been taking a while to come in. There were a few false alarms when my gums swelled up, and I made sure that everyone knew it hurt ;-). However, after all of this drama - nothing...UNTIL NOW! A molar has finally broken through. These teeth are significantly bigger and (as before) I made sure EVERYONE knew that this tooth hurt. Sunday and Monday of this week, few of us got much sleep (and my window was open so I'm sure I got a few neighbors as well). I also had a runny nose that made matters worse. Not to worry - I'm on the mend at this point and doing much better :-)

Bipedal
Well..not yet, but I'm close. The other day, Mom had a fantastic looking Blizzard (I'll admit it - I'm an ice cream fanatic). I crawled to her for a tasty bite, but the Blizzard was just too high. So, I climbed up on to my toes (all ten of them ;-) and reached with all I had. I was so focused on the Blizzard that I didn't realize I had been standing for 10 seconds. Of course, as soon as I realized what I was doing I lost my balance and sat back down. To show others my new talent, Mom entices me with other tasty treats like gram crackers. I can't really complain - I get to work on my balance and get a treat out of the deal :-)

Another baby?
Gotcha! We've actually been enjoying the company of my very good friend Claire (7 months old). Mom started watching her in the mornings while her Mom goes to work. It's fun watching Mom juggle both of us ;-). She's doing an awesome job and looks like a pro!

That should just about cover it for now. Catch ya later!

From Baby to Toddler

Phew. That was quite a change. Going from baby to toddler takes a lot of work! I'm one year old now, and boy have the responsibilities increased. Now I have to feed myself, hold my own sippy-cup, I even have to crawl everywhere I want to go! It's all good though :-). I'm enjoying the freedom, and it's a lot of fun to play with Mom and Dad. Dad likes to chase me and tackle me when I'm crawling really fast. I usually get a good belly laugh out of the deal :-)

What do you say we dive into the birthday?! On my actual birthday, the day started just right with PRESENTS. I got a sweet new fire truck and a very useful wagon/stroller umbrella. Afterwards, Mom and Dad took me up Estes Park. I got a caramel-toffy apple that was to-die-for. Later that evening, we went to Island Burgers where I had my FIRST kids meal. I enjoyed some delicious chicken tenders with applesauce, carrots, and a lemonade. That night, we went back home where Mom made a special cupcake just for me. You can see how enjoyable the cupcake was...



The following Saturday, we had my official birthday PARTY! It was really cool seeing all my friends and (ahem...crazy) family there. Dad grilled up some tasty hamburgers and chicken sausages. The patties were well seasoned and cooked a perfect Medium (my Dad made me say that last bit). Mom did a fantastic job organizing the event and taking care of everyone. Nana made a huge lemon and chocolate cake. It was fabulous and everybody enjoyed a slice. After the guests were full, everyone sat around me and watched me open MORE presents. We all had a great time and I'm so grateful to know so many wonderful people...no mater how crazy they might be :-)

I really like this Birthday thing. I'm definitely going to do this again next year!

Hmm...Where to go now?

True freedom is finally in my grasp. No longer are the days of enjoying a mellow ceiling while limited to laying on my back. So too are gone the days of turning sideways and rolling to where I want to go. Today, my friends, it's official - I can crawl!

In the video you can see Callie leave her toy on the ground. What you can't see is that she's expecting me to throw it! I'm certainly old enough and wise enough to crawl - yes. But I'm no where near the ripe old age in which I can throw a large toy. Dogs these days ;-).

Wake up Dad!

Now a days, after I get some morning milk (around 6:30am), Mom brings me to her bed for a little snuggle time. What's really cool, is that Dad is there too! One morning I woke up and was surprised to see Dad's face so close to mine. I started smiling at him, but he didn't smile back. His eyes were closed, so assumed he was still sleeping. Well, when I'm awake and ready to play - it's time to play :-). I reached over and started grabbing my Dad's nose. He stirred a little bit but still kept his eyes closed. I grabbed it again. This time it worked! Soon we, were both smiling and laughing.

Look Ma! No Hands!...almost

So I'm working on a few skills that I'd like to share with everyone. I've aquired the following skills in no particular order:

• Pulling myself up
• Eating Cheerios
  
• Lunging forward from a sitting position, then rolling around the room.
• Assisted walking
• One of my favorites...assisted standing! Watch the following video to see my latest attempt:
  

I'd like to say "Thanks" to Dad. His lighting-fast catching ability is unmatched. Well, I guess Mom is pretty fast too ;-).

Mowhawks are cool!

That's all I have to say.

Lions, and Tigers, and Bunnies?

As you all know, Easter 2008 has come and gone. This was a particularly cool Easter because...well...it was my first one :-). I had an awesome time coloring eggs with my Mom and Dad. We bought an egg-coloring package that came with three colors: blue, yellow, and red. However, Dad was able to dunk eggs in more than one color to get a whole new set of colors. I'm still trying to figure out how this magical process works. I'll let you all know when I get to the bottom of it.

Later that day, we went to Nonna and Papa's house. My Great Aunt and Uncle were there too, which was fun. Everyone feasted well on a four-course, traditional Italian/Kansas meal. I, of course, enjoyed a lovely array of liquefied squash, bananas, and rice cereal. I have to admit, I was a little envious of their sweet smelling spread. Maybe next year ;-).

So that was the "Bunnies" portion of this post. Regarding Lions and Tigers, I enjoyed my first trip to the zoo today. I gotta tell you, the Tropical Discovery portion of the zoo was amazing. They have the best assortment of ceiling fans I've ever seen. All you have to do is look up from all the watery, lizard, snake stuff, through the trees, and about 40 feet in the air you can see the spinning beauties in all their glory. I highly recommend visiting this section of the zoo.

I guess there were some other things their like lions, giraffes, and elephants at the zoo. They didn't move a whole lot and blended in well with their surroundings. It was kind of hard to see them. Perhaps this is some kind of survival mechanism that they're demonstrating - who knows. There were some neon fish, however, that we pretty cool to watch. A bunch of older kids kept screaming "There's Nemo!". Dad promised to clarify what the heck they're talking about when I'm older.

Until next time, keep counting those toes!

Well traveled

Hi Everyone. I'm officially a well traveled man. I've been on my first plane ride, and I'm only 7 months old! Where did I go you ask? Sedona, Arizona my friends. The place where the dirt is red, the ruins are sweet, and the rent is outrageous - so I've heard. Grandma and Grandpa just built a new house in Sedona, so we thought it'd be a good time to visit. Dad took off two weeks from work and off we went (although we only stayed in Sedona for a week). We visited ancient Native American ruins such as Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot. To see all the places we went and more pictures, click on any of the blue place marks in the map below.




Grandma and Grandpa's house is gorgeous. The backyard throwing distance from a rock formation called Cathedral Rock. Dad and Grandpa hiked all over it. Dad said that it was a bunch of fun, until he started to complain about his knees later in the day. He's such a baby ;-).

We also had plenty of visits from all of my Great-Grandparents and my Great-Aunt. Even the ones from St. George made the trek. Mom and Dad said that it was great to have so many hands around to entertain me. To be honest, I had no problem at all with the extra attention :-).

On a related note, I hit a rather huge milestone in Sedona. It's not that big of a deal to me, but everyone in the house seemed to love it. This milestone started off like many others - without warning and purely by accident. Mom was sleeping and Dad was changing my diaper. Dad noticed that I was in the process of going poo. On a whim, he picked my up and plopped me down on the toilet. Sure enough I finished my business and Dad was ecstatic. He woke up Mom to share in the experience. They're a little crazy if you ask me. So anyway, the next night rolls around and Mom is changing my diaper before a bath. Sure enough, I had to go poo again. Mom set me on the toilet and viola! The next night, I was showing no need to poo before my night time bath. Nonetheless, Mom and Dad put me on the porcelain again to see what would happen. What happened? I poo'd of course! Ever since then, I've been pooing every night on the toilet before bed and have only gone in my diaper once. I don't know why this is so astounding - would you rather poo in your shorts or in the toilet? I thought so ;-).

New Friends

Good morning everyone. I was in a typing mood today, so I thought it'd be a good time for another post. And quite frankly, a lot has happened!

I'd like to first introduce you to my new friend, Claire. She makes some strange sounds, but she's incredibly fascinating. I love to stare at her and watch. She's a lot smaller than I am right now, but Mom and Dad say that she won't that small for long. She eats for an hour at a time! I think that she was tired of being in her Mom's belly and wanted some real food. I know that was a strong motivator for me :-). We've had lots of fun visiting with Claire and I can't wait to teach her so many cool things - like how to find her feet, or sit up.

My other new friends are called rice cereal and puréed bananas. That's right - I'm eating solids baby! They aren't "solids" in the strictest sense of the word. They're more like goupy-goodness. And boy does it make a mess. It gets all over my mouth, chin, neck, and once it even landed in my eye brow. My Dad still can't figure out how. For those of you who are just starting solids, let me give you a little hint - don't exhale when the spoon is in your mouth. If you have to sneeze during this time period, hold it in, because the mess is incredible. If can't hold it in, sneeze with all you got because it's actually pretty funny.

Last but not least - my Dad is going to use his toes tomorrow and run in his first ever 5k running race. I'll be on the sidelines with Mom rooting for him. And when I can't see him, I plan on playing with my toes ;-).

Milestones

As this new year chugs ahead at full steam, I'm taking the opportunity to grow and learn as much as possible! I must say, this "Earth" place is pretty cool.

At this point in my life, I'm quite aware of the fact that everyone else has toes - just look at the name of this blog. However, you may not believe this, but I have toes too! They're close, they move, they tickle a little bit, and they feel cool. I'm glad I have toes. I was actually starting to worry that I may not have any. Alas, one day last week they popped up, and we've been good friends since.

Toes are just the beginning. I also rolled over from my back to my front. In all honesty, I was actually trying to get away. Mom was getting me ready for bed, and I wasn't terribly tired. Like I said, this Earth place is cool with lots of stuff to see and do. So I said to myself 'self, let's get out of here.' I made it on to my side and I noticed Mom and Dad freeze. I froze for a second as well. They didn't say a word. Perhaps I was caught. Was my number was up? I don't know. But they didn't move - they just stayed there. As I weigh my options, I figured it was now or never, so I committed. I now find myself joyfully on my stomach and clearly out of reach from the hands that wish to put me to bed. However, this is apparently a big deal because Mom and Dad broke from their frozen silence and started making loud noises with their hands and mouths. This outburst, of course, made me "soil my fresh diaper" and I started crying. Not to worry, Mom and Dad quickly consoled me and I was back to my ebullient self. When all is said and done, all the commotion took some energy. I, therefore, ended up going from bubbly to snoozing in no time.

Oh gosh. What else is there? Ah yes. No need for me to describe this milestone. I'll let this picture do the talking:

Grandparents are silly

First of all...sorry for the delay between posts. It's been pretty crazy around here since the start of the year. Not to worry, all is well :-).

So, this story starts out on a quite night at Grandma and Grandpa's. Everyone just finished dinner and I was kicking on the floor next to the table. I love to kick! Boom Boom! At this point in my life, I'm fairly indifferent to being clothed or naked. I rather enjoy both states of dress. After Grandma finished her meal, I could see that look in her eye - "my turn to hold the baby." As she carefully picked me up and held me in the air, I could detect the cool, familiar, sensation of nakedness. Grandma started laughing, and I looked down. 'Where are my pants?' I asked. Apparently, Grandma stepped on my pants before picking me up, thus rendering me without pants. Like I said, I'm cool with being naked, but all agreed that it was pretty dang funny.

A couple of days later, I went out to dinner with Nonna, Papa, Mom and Dad. They were enjoying some rather tasty looking Italian food when the topic of my teeth came up. Yes, my two bottom teeth have cut. Not the greatest feeling in the world (having teeth slowly push through gums), but I can manage. Papa, who at this time has more teeth than me but not for long, sticks out his bottom jaw and displays his pearly whites. I said to my self, 'self, I can do that.' So I responded to his gesture and stuck my bottom jaw as well. 'Ha. Take that!' Grandparents are silly, but we sure have fun :-).

I'd like to end this post with a shout out to my Great-Grandpa. I'm sorry we didn't get to spend too much time together, but we had fun too. You could always get me to smile. I'll miss you and I love you.

Sneaky Toes

So, a plan of mine that I have been working on for a while finally came in to fruition the other day. Oh sure, Mom and Dad will claim that it was all an accident. Dad mentioned something about a guy named Murphy. Rest assured, however, that I had the whole thing planned out.

It started in the car when Mom and Dad were waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive with their truck. They were going to pick up some new furniture. It was about 25 degrees outside so we were hunkered down in the car and I "happened" to have a dirty diaper. Since there was no other suitable surface for changing, Mom decided to do it in the front seat. After I was all situated, the diaper came off - commence step 1 - start peeing! See, I rarely pee during a diaper change so they weren't expecting it. Haha. This next step was tricky because I had to move fast. I knew Mom was going to quickly close my diaper as soon as she saw the dashboard get wet - commence step 2 - insert foot in to diaper before closing. Mom realized quickly that my foot was now trapped in the diaper, but she had to keep the diaper closed until the pee stopped. Once I was done, the diaper opened again and my sneaky foot emerged, completely covered in poo.

Although stunned from what had just happened, Mom and Dad were laughing pretty good. This little stunt cost 4 wipes, as opposed to the usual 1 - and it was totally worth it.

Happy New Year!