Camping!

The greatest toy ever

Why did nobody tell me about Legos before now?!

Lights off

I've been turning lights off like crazy at home, but it wasn't until I found some switches at my own height that I could figure out how to turn them back on as well.

Tongue tied

Daddy & I had some fun after my bath tonight.

What goes up must come down

I've been having such a good time since I recently figured out how to go up the stairs. At every opportunity I shoot up the steps then play upstairs.

My favorite game is closing and then opening the bedroom doors.

It only took a couple of days before I also figured out how to go back down the stairs. Really the only reason I would want to do this is so I can climb right back up!

Up, up and away

I climbed up to the second step on the stairs last night, as I often do. But much to Mommy's chagrin, this time I didn't stop once I got there. I just kept right on going to the third, then the fourth, and so on. I made it all the way to the top and kept right on going straight into the bathroom.

I had so much fun that I repeated this feat a few more times before going to bed. I have so much fun upstairs. There's all kinds of dangerous child-unprotected things to get into. For now, at least.

Uh oh

Wow, so many things have happened in the past few days.

Dad went out of town for work, so for a little bit it was just Mom and me here. Then Paw Paw and Gramma Nan came to visit. I have been having a blast. They took care of me while Mom was at work.

On the first day they were taking care of me, mom was upstairs getting ready for work and Gramma Nan was getting me my breakfast. I threw several of my cheerios on the floor, and then I looked at Gramma Nan and said "UH OH" just as plain as day. It was the first word I ever said.

Mom missed the whole thing, and she was a little sad. So I have been cheering her up by throwing my things on the ground and saying "Uh oh" hundreds of times since then. And I scored big points this evening when I grinned at her and said "Mama." She couldn't quite believe her ears and kept trying to get me to say it again, but I have decided to make her wait a little while for that one.

Let's see, what else happened?

Gramma Nan gave me a haircut. She is a professional hairdresser, so I got a great new look. I love it.

Also, my left upper molar has come in. That's probably why I have been in such a bad mood lately and why I have not been sleeping well. Or maybe not. Who knows.

I tried cabbage for the first time too. It was okay.

Here are some pictures of me from last week at daycare, making and eating some cookies.

Birthday party

Okay, so I'm not quite one year old yet (my birthday is on Thursday), but that didn't stop us from partying a few days early! Some friends and relatives came over for a good time.

When it came time for me to eat cake for the first time everyone stared at me while I sat in my high chair. Maybe it made me a little nervous because I didn't much feel like eating cake.

>

Well, today I gave the cake another try and this time I loved it!

Anyway, thanks so much to everyone, especially Mommy, for such a great birthday party! Can we have another one on Thursday?

361 days, 19 hours, 39 minutes old

I can totally crawl now

The past couple weeks I was almost crawling. Starting on Saturday, I took the plunge and crawled a few paces to nab Daddy's water bottle after he unwittingly set it on the floor. I continued doing short crawls over the next couple days, even showing off my new abilities to Grandma Barb and Grandpa Bruce. Last night I crawled halfway across the room. I'm getting the hang of this, despite the difficult hardwood floors.

In other news, I'm still adorable.

356 days, 7 hours, 1 minutes old

St. Louis

I've been to another new place: St. Louis. We visited last weekend. I had so much fun, I can't wait to visit again someday.

With Mom & Dad at the Arch

With Mommy at the Arch

Lunch at Forest park

Washington University

341 days, 21 hours, 11 minutes old

Great grandma and great cousins

Yesterday went to my great grandma's house to celebrate her birthday. Nana is 83 now. I'm still zero.

In addition to that, my cousins Caleb and Vivian who live in Texas were visiting too so I got to meet them for the first time.

We had so much fun playing together. Vivian had a box of Barbie band-aids that I just couldn't put down.

Here's Nana & Grampy with all three of their great grandchildren.

And here's Grandpa Bruce with all three of his grandchildren.

I can't wait to do this again. Hopefully we won't have to wait an entire year!

322 days, 21 hours, 53 minutes old

Swimming

Now that the family bike is set up and all ready to go, today we packed a picnic lunch and rode over to the swimming pool. It was my first time swimming and I really enjoyed it, especially the splashing.

I also really like grabbing the camera and throwing it down!

291 days, 19 hours, 35 minutes old

Family bike ride

I've been on a few bike rides with Daddy, but this afternoon we took our first full-fledged family bike ride. Mommy and Daddy hooked my chariot up to Big Red and we went to the park. It was a short ride (which was good because I was getting a little hungry), but still quite enjoyable.

I love how my chariot matches the bike. We looked pretty sharp.

289 days, 18 hours, 34 minutes old

I'll be quirky

This weekend was one of many firsts for me. Momma took the whole family with her to Albuquerque while she attended the annual meetings of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. I don't know what Albuquerque, Association, or Anthropologists mean, I was just glad to get out of the house. And boy did we ever get out of the house.

My first plane ride(s)

I don't understand what the big deal is about riding on a plane. Apparently I surprised my parents and all the other passengers with my good behavior. Or at least that's what they kept telling me after each flight.

I stayed in a hotel room for the first time.

At first I called the king size bed for myself, but Mom & Dad didn't go for that idea. Instead they stuck me in a drawer.

I spent a little bit of time at the meetings while Momma did her thing.

After the meetings we did all kinds of fun stuff. We walked along the Rio Grande river.

We went to the museum.

We went to the aquarium.

We went to the botanical gardens.

It was a whole lot of walking, but I didn't mind. Mom and Dad are pretty fit.

I wonder where we're going to go next weekend...

249 days, 22 hours, 43 minutes old