What is going on in this crazy house?

Mama and Daddy keep wrapping up boxes and putting them under the tree. What's up with that? What's in those boxes? Why are they being crazy? First this big tree shows up, then there's all this green and red stuff with snowmen and this crazy guy in red all over it, then they hang socks above our fireplace (socks, for crying out loud!), and now these wrapped up boxes!?! And the other night I swear I heard them putting together some big, loud toy but now it's nowhere to be seen. This whole "Christmas" thing is weird. I don't get it.

I love the Christmas Tree!

Today I discovered all the little shiny and/or pretty things on this huge tree in our house. I love them. I gave them all hugs today, and I carried this little starfish santa around and sang songs to it. Right now I think I'll go shake hands with the tree (this means shaking the branches so they make cool sounds). I just thought I'd share with all of you how much I love this tree. I wish we could have a tree in our house all year.

I forgot

Today Mama made me go visit Santa Claus again. This time we went with my friend Sara (who I call Seeya) and her mama, Janet. He was still a little scary, which is why you can see I'm sitting on Mama's lap in this picture. The best part of the whole day was playing wrestling with Sara. She's almost exactly my age, and we get along like two peas in a pod. We went down to the playground in the mall and chased each other around. Whenever I lost her I ran around yelling "Seeya" until I found her, and whenever she lost me she would run around yelling "Thena" until she found me. We're pretty much best friends, and the cutest two girls in the world. Mama took some pictures of us wrestling, so check out my photo website soon to see us.

December!

Sorry I'm not more creative with my title today, I'm only 20 months old after all. So November flew by. It all started off with my family moving into a new apartment. Mama and Daddy were a little bummed that we weren't moving into a house, but I think the apartment is pretty darn cool. I have a whole pond of ducks right outside my window, and a whole bathroom to myself. My new bedroom is gigantic so all of my toys fit in there. I spend a lot of time in there playing various imaginary games. Sometimes I let Mama play too, but other times I tell her to get out. Literally. I look at her, point out the door and say "Go!" It's pretty funny. After that we didn't really do very much for a while. We all just got used to the new apartment.

I went to spend Thanksgiving at my Auntie Joan and Uncle Craig's. I got to stay for the whole weekend with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Sue, and my Mama. Daddy had to work. Boo! We had a lot of fun. Grandma, Grandpa, Mama and I went on a train ride to the "Island of Misfit Toys" which was really just some parked train cars with toys and a big scary guy dressed in red. The actual train ride was the best part. I really liked watching out the windows at all the stuff going by. My other favorite part of the whole weekend was dancing with Auntie Sue. She's a really good dancer. I think she taught me all of my moves for the tambourine video. If you haven't seen the tambourine video jump over to my photo website to check it out. You just might pee your pants because I am so funny.

The other thing that happened this month is that Mama started taking me to Gymboree. It's this really cool place with lots of tumbling mats, things to climb on, balls to throw and catch, a fantastic rocking boat, and a lot of other cool stuff. Mama calls it a "gross motor wonderland" but I'm not sure I know what that means. Every week I get to go and learn some new things and play on all the toys. This week we learned about how some things are hard and some things are soft, so now I knock on everything I see and say "OW" if it's hard and hurts my hand. I'm pretty smart that way. My favorite thing at Gymboree is when they pile up a bunch of soft stuff like sleeping bags, inner tubes, and cloth parachutes, then we get to jump into it from one of the climbing toys. It's awesome. In fact, when I was at the YMCA yesterday I thought I would try jumping off of one of their climbing toys to see if the landing was as soft. It wasn't. It kinda hurt. I was sad. But then I tried again. Still not soft.

New things, new things. I now say a whole ton of words. Most recently I started saying "awesome" when I give someone high fives. Everyone thinks it's pretty funny. I also really like to say "go" whenever Mama or Daddy has to stop the car when we're driving somewhere. My favorite new thing to do is to tell people what to do. I tell everyone where they should sit, and what they should be doing at all times. I like to be in charge. They don't always do what I say, but it's really nice when they do. My other new favorite words are "Owa" (which is Lola, Mimi's dog), "bubbos" (bubbles), "bebe" (baby), and "patty cake." I can sing almost all of patty cake by myself now, which is pretty awesome. Overall I'm a pretty great kid, and I am so excited for Christmas. I have no idea what it is or what will happen, but from what I hear I should be excited, so I am.

Happy Halloween!

Yeah, so I'm a little late on this. Forgive me. I'm only 18 months old afterall.

So Halloween was fantastic. I ended up really liking my costume (which made Mama really happy). I got to go visit Daddy at work, but I was kinda scared because he had this red stuff all over his outfit and his face. He told me it was juice, but I'm not sure if I believe him. Then I went to pick up my Mimi, and she came with Mama and I to Ruby June's house. It was a girl explosion there with me, Ruby June, Presley, Baby Caroline and Baby Lucy. It was craziness. All the big girls got dressed up and ready to go out (after they made us sit still for like 400 pictures of course) then we all headed down to Edmonds to go trick-or-treating downtown. The closed all the streets so we didn't have to worry about cars and all the businesses gave us candy. It was awesome. I think every other person I saw on the street said that I had the best costume of the whole night. Some people even asked Mama if they could take a picture of me because I was so adorable. It was fun. There were a ton of people and I walked too much so I was exhausted. Then Daddy joined us for dinner, and we headed up to Eric and Renee's to visit them. They loved my costume too, but I was afraid of all the people in makeup. I danced in the kitchen so I felt better. Then I came home and fell asleep. It was a rather eventful night, and Mama hasn't even let me eat any of my candy yet. She says I'm too young. I think I'll come out here tonight and eat it all while she's asleep. I only have to figure out how to get out of my crib without her noticing, open the door (which I don't know how to do yet), and climb up on the counter to get the candy. This might take some more thoughtful planning.

Check my photo website for Halloween pictures soon. Or whenever Mama actually puts them up there, which might take a while.

Almost Halloween

I'm getting pretty excited about Halloween. One thing I am not excited about though is wearing my costume. Mama finished it a few days ago, and every time she takes it out to try it on I run away screaming. When she finally gets it on me I just stand there and cry until she takes it off. Apparently she thinks if she puts it on me every day for a few minutes I will eventually get used to it and not cry when I wear it on Halloween. I'll show her. She hasn't seen anything yet.

Pictures and Pumpkins

Mama finally posted the pictures. athenaluccio.myphotoalbum.com if you're interested. They're pretty darn cute.

Also, we carved pumpkins yesterday and it was great. OK, so I didn't actually do any carving, but Mama found me some faces for my pumpkin that are kinda like Mr. Potato Head. I had a blast making my Picasso pumpkin. Mama and Daddy's pumpkins turned out pretty cool too. Mimi's pumpkin has the cutest spider on it; I think it's my favorite. I had a great time playing at Mimi's house with Uncle Jared and Lola. Uncle Jared even pulled me all around the house in a wagon. It was awesome.

On behalf of my Mama

Daddy took the laptop to play video games with Uncle Jared, so she can't put the pictures on the website. She wanted me to let everyone know so that you all knew she didn't forget. I'm off to sleep now (except that I've really been asleep for 3 hours, but no one needs to know that).

Pumpkins Everywhere!!!!

So, this week the folks and I went down the old pumpkin patch. Actually it's a new one that we hadn't been to before, but I digress. It was flippin' awesome! I got to ride in the wheelbarrow and pick my own pumpkin and see some animals and run around in the mud and try to lift really heavy pumpkins and....and...I think that's it actually. Mama took lots of pictures, but she's lazy and hasn't put them on my photo website yet. I'll make her do it tonight. No sleep until the pictures are up. Who's with me?

Oh, by the way, my friend Ruby June has a new baby sister. I got to go see her when she was one day old, and she was fantastic. I got to sit next to her and check her out while she was waking up. She makes funny faces and I think she's cute.

Also, I have officially learned how to talk. Ok, so I can't say sentences or all words or anything yet but I can copy Mama and Daddy almost all the time. My favorite words are more (usually referring to food), up, night-night, draw, book, banana (which really means any kind of fruit), cracker, and no. Sometimes I say OK, but it's pretty rare. Usually I just say no whether I mean no or yes. Talking is hard, and I haven't quite figured it all out yet. I also can't wait for it to snow. Mama bought me some snow bibs because they were on sale and I spend all day trying to put them on and buckle them. I've even started saying buckle when I'm talking about them. Mama says it's pretty funny, but I think I'm just learning. Learning isn't funny, it's hard work. Overall life is pretty good. Although I would like a puppy to play with....

Did you know.......

Did you know that plums are delicious?

Did you know that it's easier to eat cereal with your hands then dump the milk down your shirt?

Did you know that if someone tells you that you're going to hurt yourself unless you stop they're probably right?

Did you know that there's a difference between hot and cold?

Did you know that a lion says "rawr"?

Did you know that sitting still to get your hair cut is really really hard?

Did you know that Mama will always come back to get you when she leaves you with someone else for a while?

Did you know that brushing your teeth is not only important, but is also really fun?

Did you know that jumping is much easier on your bed than it is on the floor?

Did you know that if you say "Hi" to every single person you see (even people driving by in their cars) most of them will stop and tell you that you are adorable?

These are some of the things that I learned recently and I wanted to make sure that everyone else knows them too.

Corn on the Cob!

I love corn on the cob! Not so much if you take it off the cob, but I really like tearing it off with my teeth and chewing on the cob.

Also, I should tell you that I got to have a sleepover with my Grandma and Grandpa Farrell the other day, and it was awesome. They took me to this really cool place called "Country Village" where I got to feed ducks, ride a train, and eat a ton of kettle corn. I apparently shoveled it in my mouth faster than they could believe. What can I say, it was tasty. The also took me to a cool new park that I had a lot of fun at. In the morning there was a pancake breakfast they took me to, and I loved it because everyone else there thought I was adorable. I really do love it when I get to be the center of attention. Overall it was a great sleepover. Who wants me next?

The end of September

September is pretty much done, which means I am pretty much 18 months old. Hooray! Not that I haven't been acting 18 months old for the last two months though....or that Mama hasn't been telling people I'm 18 months old already. Close enough. I have learned a lot of stuff over the past year and a half, but it's a little overwhelming how much more I still have to learn. I've mastered walking and running by now, but I'm still working on talking. I do say a few words though. I say Mama and Dada all the time, even when I'm not talking to them. I also say Potty, even though I don't have any idea how to use one yet. I've also started saying Go when we're getting ready to go somewhere. Mama says it makes me sound impatient when I stand at the door yelling Go Go Go while she's packing up our diaper bag. I think it's funny. I also started saying More when I do the sign, which I do all the time. More food. More music. More bubbles. More blanket forts. More. More. More. Speaking of bubbles and blanket forts, they are my two favorite things. Mimi really likes to blow bubbles with me, so now whenever I go over to her house I just keep saying Bubbles until she blows them for me. She even taught me how to blow them all by myself! Uncle Jared also taught me how to blow a whistle all by myself when I was over there. I love it, but Mama and Daddy hate it. The whistle seems to have mysteriously disappeared a few days ago though....I'll have to look for it. I also make Mama build blanket forts all over the apartment and dance in them with me. Then I tear them down and ask her to build more. If she doesn't build them fast enough I start to cry while signing and saying More over and over again. She always builds them right away when I start doing that. One more thing that Mama told me to write about, then I'm done. Yesterday when we went up to the YMCA so Mama could work out while I played in the Child Watch room I didn't even cry at all when she left. I walked right over to the play kitchen and start making food. Then she tried to give me a hug, which I rejected, and blew me a kiss before leaving. I didn't even really look at her because I knew she was going to come back when she was done and they have lots of cool toys to play with there. I thought Mama would be happy because I'm such a big girl, but she said it made her sad. Next time I'll have to cry a little bit so she feels better.

The Puyallup Fair

I went down to the Puyallup Fair with Mama and Daddy yesterday and it was quite exciting. I really liked watching all the people walking around and looking at all the stuffed animals, balloons, and other crap we could buy. I got to see cows, dogs, goats, chickens, rabbits, and a whole lot of other animals. I even got to go into the petting zoo. I wouldn't touch any of the animals though because I was scared. I was afraid of the horses too. Daddy kept saying that I was the first girl in history who doesn't like horses. I disagree. I'm sure there's someone else. We did get to watch the giant horses pull their wagons through the arena. They all wore bells and it sounded really cool. I was still afraid of them a little bit though. I guess I'm my Grandma Diane's granddaughter because I'm scared of so many things. It's really unfortunate because I really doubt my Daddy will sit in the car with me when I'm scared to go in places. I did really like riding the train through Sillyville (the little kid part of the fair). I didn't want to get off so I cried when we had to. The best part of the day was when Daddy won me a stuffed lizard by playing skee ball. She's really pretty, and I named her *pffft* but Mama says we're going to call her Raspberry because that's what I did (who knew it had a name!) and she's purple and red. She's awesome, and so is my Daddy because he won it for me.

My Fantabulous Weekend

Ok, so it wasn't really all that exciting. I did get to play in the water at the beach in Edmonds though. It was pretty exciting except that the sand kept washing away from under my feet and I got all off balance. I really liked returning the shells to their natural habitat (ie throwing them into the water) and climbing across the driftwood. Also, when we were out to lunch I tried calimari. It's fantastic. You should eat some.

Vegetables are bad!

Everyone should stop eating them in protest of them being gross. We should all ban together and only eat peaches, hot dogs, yogurt, and muffins. Solidarity sisters (and brothers)!

Play Dough

Today Mama made playdough for me to play with. It was too hot at first and I was afraid of it, but then I started playing with it and it's awesome! I like it when Mama makes snakes and I get to cut them into little pieces. I also got some stickers today to make art with. They're really fun, but it's more fun to stick them on myself than on the paper.

My awesome Tacoma playdate

I had a playdate with my friend Naomi (who just turned 8 months old a few days ago) in Tacoma yesterday. It was really fun, but I have decided that I never want to learn how to share. Life is so much more fun when I steal toys from others kids and won't let them read books with me.

I almost forgot!

I forgot to tell you in my last post that we had a really fun few days with Auntie Jenn (who is not really my Auntie, but is one of Mama and Daddy's best friends) this summer. We went to the childrens' museum and played in the grass at Seattle Center. The sad thing is that she came to visit because she left to go to South Korea for a whole year. I can't believe I won't get to see her for so long. She has a thing called a webcam that she says we can talk over the computer with and I can show her my sweet dance moves. I suppose that will be good enough. She says she's having a really good time so far, so I think that instead of being sad about not seeing her I'll just look forward to hearing all about her adventures.

I did it again

I can't believe I waited so long to post anything on here again. Blame Mama, she's the one who controls the computer. So much has happened in the past two months it's going to be difficult to put it all here.

After my last post Mama, Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa Farrell, and I went down to Utah for a visit. We drove all night...well, I didn't drive. I sat in the back and slept most of the time. I also watched cars drive past in the dark (headlights are cool!), and ran around a rest stop for a while. Everyone else drove...except Princess Daddy who slept in the front seat almost the whole way there. Our first few days down there were really sad because we had to go to Grandma Diane's cousin's funeral (which I behaved myself quite well at because I knew it was important to everyone). After that I got to meet my Grandpa Dean's family though. We had two different barbeques to go to. The first one had the best toy room EVER. Although I think Mama and Daddy enjoyed it more than I did. They also had a giant trampoline with a wrestling cage-type thing around it, so I got to jump around all I wanted. Daddy even jumped with me in the 102 degree heat. He got really hot and tired. At the second barbeque I got to go swimming just in my diaper. Daddy got in with me and we had a really good time. Everyone was really excited to meet me, and I was very well behaved (most of the time). And adorable. As usual. We did a lot of other fun stuff while we were there including going up to a giant ski jump that I really wanted to go down. I don't think they let babies do it though. Jerks. Daddy had to leave early to go back to work (boo) but Mama, me, and Grandma and Grandpa got to stay for a few more days. We stayed at this really cool place with lots of swimming pools and mineral baths. I swam three times in two days and had a blast. I saw lots of birdies flying in the sky, and now I sign "birdy" every time I hear or see a bird. I'm a little obsessed. At the end of the trip I got to meet one of Mama's friends from when she was little and play with her daughters Amelia and Grace. We had a fantastic time playing in the sprinkler and jumping on Amelia's big girl bed. Mama says we were getting into trouble just like she and Eryn used to do. Then we drove all the way home overnight again.

The day after we got to Raymond it was Henry's birthday party. His mama's whole family was there, so I got to meet them all. I guess I met them when he was born, but I don't remember. There was yummy food, cake, a swing, and lots of dancing, but the best part was Henry's little baby counsin. She was adorable and I just wanted to play with her the whole time. Once she was sleeping in her carseat and I accidentally fell on her while I was petting her hair. I felt really bad and cried about it, but she didn't even wake up. It was pretty funny. Henry got lots of really nice presents, and I really liked playing with all of them.

We also went camping this summer at Baker Lake. I had a really really good time. There was a big dog there for most of the week and I really liked him. I liked to play with the rocks at the shore, and drive my cozycoupe around the campsite. Henry was there for a while, and we really liked chasing each other around the trailer and giggling in the corner where no one could see us. He's a really funny kid and I absolutely love playing with him. I did have a lot of accidents while we were camping though, but overall it was really fun.

Just last weekend I went down to Raymond with my Mama to go to the fair. I got to see all sorts of animals, which was really cool. I even almost got kicked by a crazy cow in the cow barn. Mama was a little scared, but I thought it was funny. I really liked watching the cheerleaders dance, and danced along on my Grandpa's lap. I did real big-girl cheerleader moves, which makes Mama and Daddy worried that I'll be a cheerleader (neither of them know anything about cheerleading). After that we got to see a real rock concert at the fair. I danced the whole time we were there, and everyone thought I was really cute. People were taking pictures and trying to dance with me, but I was just grooving in my own world and didn't even notice. When they were all done playing I raised my hands and signed all done so that everyone would know that the concert was over. Then I clapped because they were really good. I got to play with Henry and my new friend Ruby June a lot in Raymond and we had a really good time.

Speaking of Ruby June, she and her family just moved up here and I really like going over to play with her. She's really fast and I like trying to keep up with her. Once when I was over there I even threw dirt in her hair and she liked it. She's awesome!

I have been working on learning more signs all summer and now I know a ton. I also have started saying more words. I finally learned how to say Mama, although it sounds surprisingly similar to how I say banana. I also know how to say car, dog, owl (because of Daddy's tattoo), up, down, no (which is a fantastic word by the way), and some more that I can't remember right now. I really try to repeat everything Mama and Daddy say to me, which ends up sounding pretty funny sometimes. I am so over walking by the way. Now I run. Everywhere. I run all the time. And I'm getting really fast. I still fall down a lot, but it's so much faster than walking. I also now have like 15 million teeth, including a whole gaggle of molars. They hurt a lot when they were coming in, but now it's nice to be able to chew things so well. Another big thing that happened this summer is that I now take a bath in the big bathtub so all my toys fit and I can flop around like a mermaid. It's really fun. Mama says that every day this summer I learned how to do something new, so perhaps I should be blogging more often so that I can keep you all updated. Isn't that the whole point of this thing anyhow? I'll try, I promise.

The Last Two Months

Holy guacamole I've been neglecting everyone. I've been pretty busy and just haven't found time to blog about it. This is going to be a long one, so settle in for a while.

May was pretty exciting. Mama, Daddy and I took a trip down to Portland to see some of their friends. I got to meet my new friend Flynn, and a new friend who won't be born until November, so that was pretty exciting. Everyone was amazed that I could run around as well as I did. We played in the park for an entire day on Memorial Day. It was sunny and really fun. I really liked the slides at the park, except that they made my hair stand up all funny when I went down them. Here's a picture of us at the park. I got to play with a camera, which I discovered was really good for hitting "Auntie" Jenn in the face with.




After that I got to go to the children's museum up in Everett with Mama, "Auntie" Renee, my friend Sara and her mom Janet. We had a lot of fun playing with everything there, including the water tables and the theater stage. It was really fun to play with a friend, since that is something I haven't gotten to do very much. Sara's really nice and she yells at me when I hit her on accident. I like that. It keeps me in line. They also had a really cool airplane I could pretend to fly, and big play structure on the roof. Auntie Renee took me down the really big slide (Mama was too scared), which was really awesome. Here's a picture of me and Sara playing with the ping pong ball plinko wall.




In June I went down to spend a week at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Raymond with Mama. Daddy had to work so he couldn't come, which made me sad. We did a lot of fun stuff, including tie dying a lot of clothes for everyone. Mama made me a few dresses, a coat, a hat, some socks, and some other stuff I forget right now. I didn't get to dye with them, but my new friend Jenna babysat me for the whole day. I really like her and I had a blast. I also got to play with my cousin Henry a whole lot while I was down there. He can't walk yet, but I'm determined to get him to walk. I grab his head and try to make him stand up and walk. Everyone thinks it's funny, but I'm doing him a favor by helping him. He really liked to chase me around. He can crawl almost as fast as I can run! He's super talented like that. One whole day we got to sit by the river at "Grandma" Carolyn's house. Everyone was worried that I wouldn't like the river because it would be too cold, but I really liked squatting in the water and throwing rocks. They even put a thing called a crawdad in my hand and I thought it was kinda cool. I think that that playing in the river was my very favorite thing I did the whole week. Mama says that I'm sure to enjoy some place called "Baker Lake," but I'm not sure what that is. Apparently I'll find out in a few weeks. Here's a picture of me playing in the river.







Oh, and the Penguins won the Stanley Cup. My Daddy and I were really, really happy about that. Here's a picture of us watching the final game.




So far in July I have done a ton of stuff. I spend the fourth of July on my Grandpa Gary's boat with some of his friends. It took me a while to get my sea legs, but I really liked it when the boat rocked. I ended up liking it when the boat rocked. The fireworks didn't start until very late, but I stayed up and watched them. They were really pretty, and the sound didn't even bother me at all. I also got to go swimming in my kiddie pool at my Mimi's house. Both Mama and Mimi sat in the water with me, and it was really fun. Then my friend Sara came to join me. We both had a great time playing in the water. Here's a picture of me in my Fourth of July dress making silly faces.

I've been learning lots of new things over the past two months too. Mama bought me some kid's sign language DVDs so I can start using my hands to ask for things instead of throwing temper tantrums, and I really like them. I can say lots of things now and Mama and Daddy always know what I'm asking for which makes me really happy. I've also started running pretty fast. I'm still a little clumsy, and I fall down a lot, but I'm still working on it. My new favorite things to do are play with Molly my dolly (I feed her and brush her hair a lot), play with my magnetic letters on the fridge, and draw with crayons. Mama even found me a great art table at a garage sale a few days ago, and it's just the right size for me to sit at to draw. I still really really like to dance, and expanded my catalog of moves quite a bit. I now spin around to some songs, and run in place to others. I even sing along with the songs sometimes, and make up my own songs other times. I don't say any real words yet, but why would I when I can sign everythign I need? I think that's about it for now, but I'll try to write more often than once every two months. My family and I are leaving in a few days to go on vacation to Utah, and I'll be sure to write all about that when it happens.

Alice's Restaurant

I think my grandparents will all appreciate this video.

My month of April

I know, I know. I said I'd write about my birthday party right after it happened. Obviously I didn't. I've been busy. Leave me alone.

Ok, so April started with my birthday party. It was awesome. My friends Reese, Branson, and Hayden helped me open all of my presents (which they thought was pretty fun). I got some fantastic stuff. Lots of new clothes, a "tent" from my Grandma and Grandpa, lots of FP Little People toys from Mimi and Great Grandma Pat, some crayons (which taste really good), a magnadoodle, books, stacking toys, stuffed animals, some awesome hats that Naomi's mommy made (thanks Maggie!), and a floaty swimsuit so I can swim on my own (sort of). It was awesome. Everybody paid attention to me the whole time, which I loved, and I got to play with some balloons. I also got to eat a cupcake, but I wasn't really all that interested in it. I just wanted to run around and go to the zoo. When we got to the zoo it was crazy. Mama says it was the first nice day all year, and everybody and their moms went to the zoo. We had to park in a semi-legal spot, and some people who came with us had to park out in a dirt field. We had a blast though. I really liked the aquarium animals because I could lean against the glass and yell at them. The elephant was pretty cool, and the penguins were swimming so fast I could barely keep up with watching them. Our whole group didn't stay together because it was so crowded, but it was fun to run into people every once in a while and have them say that they were having fun. When we got back into the car I fell asleep immediately and slept the whole way home. I was exhausted, but I had a great time. There were lots of videos and pictures, so I don't want to post all of them here. Go to my picture site to see them all. athenaluccio.myphotoalbum.com

After that was Easter. Easter was fun. I got to "hunt" eggs that Mama, Daddy, and Mimi put out on the floor. They made the mistake of putting out read (boiled) eggs, so I showed them and smashed them together to make a huge mess. Here's a picture of me with my eggs.
I'm gonna be a supermodel someday. Look at that face.

Since then I've been working on running really fast and eating lots of new foods. Did you know that raisins are the best food ever? And that smoothies are fantastic? You should try them. You'll like them. I've been spending lots of time outside when the sun is shining. Including a trip to play with Renee in her backyard. Mama and she sprayed me with a hose and I thought it was really fun. I didn't mind that I was all wet, so they're hoping I'll play in a sprinkler later this summer. I think it will be fun. I'm almost out of time for writing, but here are some new things I have been doing.

• Trying to put my socks on my feet, but rolling over on my back when I lift my foot up
• Laughing whenever someone chases me around barking like a rabid dog
• Dancing, dancing, and dancing some more (I have some new moves now, including running in place like in Flashdance)
• Poking everyone in the eyes (Mama hates that one)
• Calling every single person I see "dada"
• Having conversations with Mama even though I can't say real words yet
• Taking my diapers off when I'm walking around the house
• Leaning over in the bathtub to drink the water like a doggie, then laughing and looking rather proud of myself

I think that's about it. I hope May is as exciting as April has been.

I graduated from High School today!

Ok, so that's a bad April Fool's Day joke, but I couldn't resist.

I am going to be one year old in just two days though. It's pretty momentous. I'm really starting to act like a toddler now too. I face forward when I ride in the car, and I eat lots of new foods (I am currently eating pieces of mango with my lunch). I "sing" songs with my Mama and Daddy, and I really like to hide things around the house and watch everyone try to find them (when Mama washed the laundry yesterday she found lots of things in the hamper that I put there). I also like to climb on top of and into things around the house. I've fallen quite a few times, but I'm tough so I can take it. My new favorite things is to give hugs. I don't do it when someone asks me to, but I do it sometimes when I'm tired or when I'm really happy to see my Mama or Daddy. They say it's pretty darn cute.

I can hardly wait until my birthday party. So many fun people are coming! Even my grant grandma Pat came up from California to be there with me. Lots of Mama and Daddy's friends are coming, and even a few of my friends are coming. My "auntie" Jenn from Portland is coming up tomorrow to spend the whole weekend with us. We're going to have a great time at the zoo (it even looks like it won't be raining!). I really want to see the elephants and snakes. Alright, I am upset about something and throwing all of my food off of my highchair, so I suppose I should get Mama to take care of me. I'll let you all know how the party goes.

Three Weeks until the Big 0-1!

I feel so old.

Updates on my development:

Walking: I am a walking champion (so much so that Mama put me in a track suit today and laughed because it's so true). I do laps around the apartment all day. Sometimes Mama feels energetic and lets me chase her, but sometimes she gets tired after 30 minutes and lets me go on my own. I've started trying to run, but usually my body moves faster than my legs and I fall on my face. When Mama or Daddy takes me to story-time at the library I walk around the whole time and don't sing songs with them. It's my plan to make them look like idiots singing to themselves while I laugh in the corner. So far it's working.

Dancing: I love to dance. It's so much fun. Whenever Mama or Daddy sing silly songs to me (usually involving the words "shake your booty") I dance around and shake my butt up and down. I usually get so excited that I fall down, but even then I keep dancing. I dance when I'm eating in my high chair. I dance in the car when we're driving to the store. I dance when I wake up and play in my crib before Mama and Daddy come to get me. I am a dancing fool!

Talking: Nope, not yet. All I can say is "dadadadada" which is right when I'm looking at my Daddy, but not right when I look at Mama, dogs, books, food, trees, etc. I'll get there though. Every once in a while I copy what Mama and Daddy say. So far I've "said" up, boom, uh-oh, poop, quack, and ba (bottle).

Reading: So this one's a long time off, but I do like to flip through my books and point to stuff and mumble to myself. I call that "reading," don't you?

Eating: I am a garbage disposal! Sort of. I've started eating more "real" food lately, and so far it's working out pretty well. It took me a long time to eat foods that weren't totally pureed, but now I like pieces of cheese, chunky oatmeal, little soft pasta, and toast. I really really like blueberries still, and my new favorite food is little tiny pieces of deli turkey. It's delicious.

That's really about it as far as what I'm learning goes. I can't wait for my birthday party when I get to go to the zoo with my whole family (I think that even Uncle Jared is coming, which, for those of you who know him, is a really big deal and I'm really excited) and all my friends.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I officially have four teeth now. Two on the top and two on the bottom. They make eating things like toast much easier. And I need a haircut. Anyone willing to do it? Mama and Daddy are scared they'll poke my eyes out.

Holy Cow I've blogged a lot today

I thought I should fill everyone in on the new things I'm learning.

Walking: I've been taking more and more steps every day. I'm a little bit hesitant sometimes because I'm tired of falling, but I'm working on it. I like to walk on hard floors better than on carpet, but I'll get there eventually.

Talking: I haven't said any real words yet, but I really like to copy what my Mama and Daddy say. I try to say "Hi" a lot, but it doesn't come out quite right. I also like to scream still, but I'm working on turning it into singing. If Mama or Daddy sing something I like to try to sing it back to them. It's pretty fun.

Pointing: Did you know that pointing is really cool? I point to everything I see, especially if it makes noise or moves. I also like to point to pictures in the books I read with Mama and Daddy. They always tell me what I'm pointing at, so I'll keep learning new words I can't say quite yet.

Eating: I've been finding some pretty tasty things on the floor lately, including paper and wrappers. Mama and Daddy usually take it away before I can swallow it, but sometimes I am faster than they realize.

Musical Inclinations: My new favorite move is to roll my hands like when we sing "The Wheels on the Bus." I'm not quite there yet, but I do my best. I also really like to clap and dance when there's music playing.

That's about it.

My directorial debut

Someone handed me the camera. This is what I created.

My first airplane ride

Last week, Mama, Daddy, and I went all the way down to Florida to visit Daddy's grandparents and my Grandpa Gary and Grandma Vicky. It was quite the eventful trip. First we had to fly on an airplane, which I had never been on before so it was kinda scary. We left really late at night, so I just slept pretty much all the way there. While we were there we did all sorts of things. We rode on a boat over to a really pretty island, but I slept the whole time we were there. Mama and Daddy collected a bunch of shells for me to play with at home. They're really nice, but sand keeps falling out of them so I'm a little bit afraid of them. I played around with everyone a whole lot. They have a really good house for crawling and learning how to walk. They also have a fireplace and had fires going a few times so I got to stare at the fire, which I absolutely love to do. Everyone tells me that it's hot, but I just think it looks pretty. I think my favorite part of the whole trip was going swimming. Here's a video of me showing off my super fantastic swimming skills.



On the way home I decided that I wanted to stay awake for the whole plane ride. I really wanted to walk and crawl around, but there wasn't any room. I ended up just squirming around on Mama and Daddy's laps for the whole five hour flight. They were kind of annoyed, but I had a blast. Overall I think it was a fantastic trip and I am so glad I got meet my great-grandparents. They were really nice and Mama and Daddy say we might go visit them again somewhere called Maine. From what I hear it's colder than Florida.

Mama's going to put up more of my videos and all of my pictures from Florida on my photo website pretty soon, so be sure to check them out there.

I love to swing!

I am the smartest baby ever!

OK, so probably not, but I am pretty darn smart. First, my biggest news. I finally have a tooth...sort of. It's just barely sticking out of my gums, but it's there. It's sharp and it hurts but I'm glad it's finally here. Holy cow that was a long wait. Next, my second biggest news. I have a new best friend. Baby Lemon, whose name is officially Naomi James Roberts, was born on New Years Day (at 12:32 in the morning). I've already been to see her twice and she's awesome. She cries sometimes, but it doesn't bother me. I just scream at her. That's pretty much what I always do. It's not a mad scream, just a "hey look what I can do" scream. It's pretty funny. I did a really good job at being gentle with Naomi for the most part. She did have this awesome blanket I really wanted so I tried to grab it from her. Mama was scared that I had scratched her eye out, but I was careful to not hurt her. I just really wanted that blanket. After Mama and Daddy held Naomi they decided that I am growing too much. She weighs like 1/3 as much as I do so she apparently makes me feel gigantic. I think I'm going to ask her to marry me when we're 25. We're hoping that by then it'll be legal in this state.

My other biggest news (there's a lot this time huh?) is that I can officially crawl. I started about two days before Christmas because Grandpa Great Fiedler said I couldn't come down for Christmas unless I learned how to crawl. He's funny like that. I sure showed him though. Christmas morning was awesome by the way. I got tons of new presents and I got to play with my favorite cousin Henry. I got to crawl all around and everyone thought I was really funny. In the afternoon Mama, Daddy and I went over to Mimi's house for dinner. It was a little crazy getting to her house and we had to park at the bottom of her driveway because of the snow, but we made it there in one piece. I got more cool presents there too. I got a great activity table to play with when I go to visit her. I think that Uncle Jared liked it more than I did though. He found out that if he put it on Spanish and pushed the same button over and over again it really annoyed Mimi. We all thought that was funny. I also got a really fantastic White Tiger from Uncle Jared that is my new favorite toy. I need it to sleep in my crib every night or I cry and cry until I get it. When we were all done we had to try to get home and it was a bit of a disaster. I was tired and crying the whole time and we kept getting stuck in the snow. Mama even had to get out to push the car a few times. Eventually we got home so I could sleep though. Overall Christmas was great and I can't wait for next year.

Since then I've done a lot of standing and crawling at my house. I like to do crawling laps around the kitchen and hallway. I also like it when Mama chases me around the house. I love knocking down towers that Mama and Daddy build with my blocks and I've started to like playing by rolling a ball back and forth with them too. I think I'm going to work really hard on learning how to walk as my next trick.