Nana's Birthday

Today is my nana's birthday. She's in Arizona, but I was thinking of her today. I had so much fun with my daddy today that my cheeks hurt from smiling so much! Thanks for being my nana and for making my daddy.

I've been having fun with my parents. We went to a party yesterday and I got to stay up past my bed time. I fell asleep as soon as we got in the car. Today we went and played at the mall and I only took one long nap because I didn't want to miss out on anything. Daddy has tomorrow off too. Mommy has been coaching me with the stairs and since daddy was home, we were able to get it on video. She can't spot me and tape at the same time (as evidenced by my somersault tape). Prepare to be impressed.

Men!

Who needs them? Matthew stood me up yesterday afternoon (poor guy had a fever) and Daddy didn't come home last night because he had to stay at the hospital. I had a fantastic time anyway. I showed Mommy that I could look at books with paper pages without eating them.I love to look at photo albums. This one is from Daddy and Mommy's honeymoon cruise.Do you like my outfit? I wore it to show off to Matthew.I love to cuddle people and things.I started running around with the elephant and Mommy got a bunch of terrible shots of me. I'm fast!I told you that I had twelve teeth, but hadn't shown you much of a picture. It's impossible to see the top teeth, but you can see the bottoms. Don't I have gorgeous molars? I dare you to try to feel them.Mommy is starting to think I should get my hair cut. What do you think? Notice how crazy it is above my left ear.She likes how it looks in the back. The curls are wonderful.The mullet profile is pretty cool too.This is my problem area. BPSHS (Baby Pattern Short Hair Syndrome)! So do you think I should get the sides and back trimmed so the top can blend in a little? Mommy would probably cry her eyes out if my curls got chopped off, but the mullet is pretty out of control.Mommy was playing with the camera and got a good one of my eyes. Enjoy!

Up AND Down

I'm finally learning how to go down the stairs properly. I'm very good at going up stairs. I'm fast and sturdy and my parents chase me up them. It's a fun time. I've been scared to go down on my own because I didn't have good technique according to my parents. I tried to go down the stairs like them and ended up diving for Mommy half the time. She was always there to catch me (well, except the time she was video taping and I did a somersault). Anyway, I've figured out that it's much more fun to go down the stairs the way I went up. I can basically slide down the steps on my belly. I'm not really under control yet, but I went up and down the stairs with Daddy and Mommy a few times last night without any help. Mommy is looking forward to the day when I can be trusted on the stairs by myself.

Mommy and I have a new morning tradition. We have dance parties. She puts on The Groove and we disco dance. I really enjoy shaking my thang!

Happiness Personified

It was a fantastic weekend, as predicted. I enjoyed lots of daddy time! Mommy has finally put all the stuff away from my party. Can you believe she procrastinated? That's not like my mommy. Maybe it was because she was sick for a while. Anyway, the cleaning up means I got to play with my balloon. It's my bestest friend and I carried it all over the house. Once I started eating the weight, daddy tied it to one of my favorite tupperware containers and it was even better. I was a blur running around the house having fits of giggles.Mommy got the camera out to take some pictures of something other than me, but I decided to pose for her.Cheese! This is my impression of Aunt Claudia. I'm pretty much always happy and fun, but I've gotten so I tell Mommy when I want my nap. Pretty obvious, huh?Daddy really enjoyed my fits of sillies. I shake my entire body and make funny noises. It only got better after he gave me some donuts. There's nothing like a case of the sillies on a baby with powdered sugar lips.

3/5

I now have 12 of my 20 baby teeth. I told Mommy that means I have 3/5 of my teeth and she gave me a gold star. Maybe we'll get a break with teething before I start on my canines.

Nana and Papa came to see me today for a short visit. They're going to Arizona for a while so they had to see me one last time. We went out to eat at Boston's and then played at my house. Mommy ran some errands and when she came back I was ready for her to put me down for a nap.

Mommy has discovered that she can't wear any low-cut tops around me. It makes me hungry so I shove my hands right down her shirt. It's convenient at home and at night, but not so much in public.

I'm excited about this weekend. Daddy isn't going to be on call or working at all so we'll get to spend lots of time as a little family. I wonder what we'll do?! Have a great weekend everybody.

The Magic Spork

Mommy discovered that I'll eat anything if you stab it with my spork and put it in my hand. I love to feed myself! I'm getting good at spooning soft stuff up with a spoon also. Now that I'm not so frustrated, my appetite is much improved. I'm also drinking more milk. I drank two sippy cups today which is an all-time record. Mommy only nursed me three times since I had so much moo milk to drink and I didn't mind. She promises she isn't weaning me yet though (and isn't planning to for a while since there are so many advantages to breastfeeding even beyond a year).

We had a good time visiting family this weekend while Daddy was in Utah at a conference. Mommy didn't take very many pictures. On Friday I got to see Aunt Emily and fam when they came over for pizza. I spent much of Saturday at Papa and Nana's house. Nana makes awesome banana pancakes and I ate grapes without having them peeled first. I said Papa a couple of times too. I went to a basketball game on Saturday afternoon. Here I am in the stands.We're great cheerleaders.Anya had the coolest socks of all the players. Sorry about the picture quality.Aunt Claudia and fam came over on Saturday night and I tried my best to choke while eating supper. Uncle Matt was ready to save me, but I took care of it myself. He's a hero and had to help my cousin one time. I went to church on Sunday morning and got to see lots of nice people. A couple of boys blew kisses at me, but my heart still belongs to my daddy. I hung out with my grandparents most of Sunday and Aunt Emily's family came over for a little bit too. Grandma had to get in one final smooch before I left.Mommy and I came home on Monday and Daddy got home shortly after us. We were so glad to see him and missed him like crazy! We've been playing ball and chase.

Today we watched the inauguration until it was time for my late morning nap. After my nap I went over to see Matthew at his house. He didn't want to get out of his crib after his nap so I joined him in there. He was reading books and stuff. I showed him how I can throw things on the floor.I tried to grab his pacifier, but that boy has some suction!I was inspired by Anya and played some basketball.Matthew and I decided to give Jamie a break and both looked in the general direction of the camera at the same time.We had a fun time. Once we got home we had spaghetti for supper and I also ate a bunch of peas and cherries. I even ate a meatball! I showed Daddy what Matthew taught me today too. I'm now able to pick my nose just like him. Cool, huh?

Take That!

Daddy had to go to the hospital tonight because I threw his pager into the bathtub and broke it. He's on call so it was a problem. It was 14 below when he left. At least I played peek-a-boo with him and he got to hear lots of belly laughs.

I'm going to try to come visit family this weekend if the weather cooperates. Mommy hasn't been bringing me places and we have cabin fever. Daddy is going to Salt Lake City this weekend for a conference. I bet he'll wish I was on the plane with him since it was so fun last spring.