My First Shiner!

Yep, that's right - I had my first black eye this week, and I'm not even one year old yet! I was trying to pull myself up on a banister, and my hand slipped - before anyone could catch me, bam! My face hit, right on my nose! It didn't hurt that much, and I didn't even cry, but my eye and nose got pretty purple a couple days later. Mommy and Daddy tried to get pictures, but the camera couldn't really capture it. Here's a few pictures, anyway!


















It's sorta hard to see, but that shadow on my nose and under my eye is
actually my first black eye!


















I was pretty proud that I got a "shiner!" Mommy and Daddy said that I'm
so adventurous and active, it probably won't be my last!


















I don't actually drink Dr. Pepper, but I love stealing Daddy's and playing
with the bottle :)

I've also been learning how to move around a little better, and I even figured out how to climb the stairs! It makes Mommy really nervous, so she or Daddy usually follows me pretty closely.


















Here I am, climbing up our stairs from the living room - I can climb up
all four flights of stairs to my bedroom! That is, if I don't stop on the
second floor to play Daddy's drums :)


















This is just me and Daddy goofing around - I have so much fun when he
squishes me with pillows!

I gotta go take my after-dinner walk around the neighborhood now, then it's bathtime! Sweet dreams!

Rub-a-Dub Dub!

Guess what, readers - I got to take a bath in a big boy tub for the first time last night! Mommy and Daddy set me up with this really cool bathroom, and I even have an Elmo on the tub faucet! I really liked it - so much so that Mommy and Daddy felt compelled to take pictures... so enjoy!


















Sometimes I don't understand why Mommy and Daddy feel the need to
commemorate certain things on film....


















I felt like a grown-up in the big tub!


















The bumper in my tub has all kinds of letters and shapes on it - it figures
that Mommy and Daddy have to get an educational accessory for something
as fun as bath time!


















One of my favorite parts of bath time is the bubbles!


















Until next time... happy bathing!

On the Road Again... for the First Time!

Hi, All! I've been very busy lately, and had an especially exciting weekend! It was my first road trip, which I think means that you get in the car and drive for a looooong time, and I got to meet my friend, Zoey! I had seen pictures of her, and her parents, Ms. Trisha and Mr. John, but I finally got to spend some time with them at their house in Ohio and play for the weekend. I had a lot of fun, especially playtime with Zoey and chasing their two cats around the house :)

I was hoping to put more pictures up, but it turns out that Mommy and Daddy actually took more video than pictures, and they still haven't gotten the right stuff to post the videos online yet. But, as soon as they are able to do it, I'll put some footage of the weekend up here. Until then, here are a couple of pictures....



















Isn't Zoey pretty? She tried to teach me to say some words, like "Vroom!"
and "Moo!" I'm still practicing... :)



















Zoey and I were also practicing sticking our tongues out - Daddy got
her on camera while I read one of her books.


















I liked reading some of Zoey's books together - she even had a copy of
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" that Ms. Trisha read to us!


















I got to take some of my toys along on the trip, including one of my
favorites - my toy dumptruck driver!


















Zoey also has a "crazy face" she does when she's really happy (and on
command, which is really funny!) She's so much fun to hang out with -
I hope I get to visit her again soon!

I also had a recent visit from my great-grandparents, Mom-Mom and Pappy! I like spending time with them, and they loved watching my new trick - walking while I hold on to a grown-up's fingers :)


















I always have fun when Mom-Mom and Pappy come to visit!

Well, I should go practice walking some more - I'd like to be able to walk on my own by the time my birthday rolls around in August... until next time!

Happy Days...

Not much has been happening lately - I've just been honing my crawling skills (I can make it all the way across the living room in about 6 seconds!), and practicing standing and stepping around furniture. But, Mommy and Daddy have been taking lots of pictures lately, and wanted me to share some, so even though I don't have much to say, I thought I'd post some of the latest pics :)

















I really like crawling around the living room.

I like to practice standing and walking on
the coffee table - it's just the right height!

















Daddy put this gate up at the bottom of the steps so
I don't hurt myself - I still like to shake it and make
noise! One day, I'll be able to go up the steps myself...
every time I do this, Daddy says, "Attica! Attica!"
Not sure what that means, but he thinks it's funny :)

















I like to play with anything with wheels - I like to spin
them as fast as I can. This is Daddy's skateboard -
maybe one day I'll get to ride on it!

















Daddy cracks me up sometimes! This is me, laughing
at him while he puts my jammies on me before bed :)



















































I have to say goodnight to the monkey family
on my wall before bedtime :)

Maybe by my next post, I'll get to talk about walking around by myself... but I don't want to get ahead of myself, so if there are any other pictures to share before then, I'll post them. Until next time!

Dr. Seuss says...

So, I've pretty much loved books my whole life (all 9-and-a-half months of it), especially my Dr. Seuss board books. I recently became a fan of "The Tooth Book," because I have two teeth of my own now!! That's right - my two bottom teeth finally sprouted! Mommy sneaked some pictures while I was having fun in my jumper.




































You can see my two bottom teeth in these pictures - they help me chew
on my Cheerios and other yummy things!


And as you can see, I love my Dr. Seuss books :)



































Otherwise, I've been really busy pulling myself up on the furniture and practicing slowly side-stepping up and down the couch and coffee table. Mommy and Daddy say I'll be walking soon, and I can't wait! Then I can finally get to all that hard-to-reach stuff on top of tables. That stuff is much more interesting than my toys.

I had my latest 9-month check-up last week, and I'm 17 lbs, 9 oz! Mommy and Daddy say that their muscles are getting big from carrying me around because I'm getting bigger and heavier, so the way I figure it, it's really a win-win situation - they get a workout, and I get lots of attention and get to be carried around! Sometimes, though, I let them have short breaks while I play on the floor or in my pack-n-play. I gotta keep working on my crawling and walking muscles, after all!

Well, I need to go work up my dinner appetite - I see a water bottle on the coffee table that I'd like to knock over onto the floor and play with. Until next time!

Milestones!

What a month! It's been a long time since my last post, but believe me, I've been really busy! Not only have I learned how to CRAWL (yes, you read that right), but I've also become an expert at eating Cheerios :) But I thought that since I'm turning 9 months old tomorrow, I should take a few minutes to fill you in and share some pictures...


















I have the greatest rattles - they make all SORTS of noise!



















Pardon my drool :)















I still really like playing in my jumper!


So, I crawled for the first time on April 30th. Mommy and Daddy kept trying to hold me on their laps, but I knew that if I could get on the floor and try to crawl again, I could do it. So I squirmed enough that Daddy let me down on the floor, and I did it! I crawled about halfway across the living room - Mommy grabbed the video camera and got some footage, but we haven't figured out how to post it. Sorry, folks - I'll make sure Mommy and Daddy get video up here soon! In the meantime, here are some pictures :)
























































Crawling is really hard work! I have to take a breather every now and then...


Also, I got to try Cheerios! They're pretty fun to eat, and they feel really good on my gums. I've been concentrating so much on crawling that I haven't had much time to devote to my teething endeavors. So, I'm still all gums... for now :)






































Anyway, I should be getting to bed - using my muscles so much with all this crawling makes me really sleepy! Until next time!

The Joys of Teething...

Well, folks, I was officially 8 months old yesterday, and I suppose the only thing I have to say about that is that it HURTS! My teeth, or the things that are apparently supposed to "sprout" into teeth, hurt so badly that Mommy and Daddy had to break down and get me something to help with the pain. Luckily, Mommy's friend Miss Trisha (my online friend, Zoey's, mommy) recommended Hyland's teething tablets. They help me feel okay enough to get some sleep, thank goodness! And Mommy and Daddy let me try chewing on some frozen mango today, which felt pretty good. Usually all I can do is find the nearest thing that will fit in my mouth and CHOMP down - usually that's my own hand, but my blocks work pretty well, too.



















































I couldn't decide which color block was better to chew on... so I tried
all three!





















As you can see, teething is NOT fun. It does NOT make me happy.

Anyway, things have been pretty busy around here otherwise. I got to spend some more time with my cousin, TJ - he's still too little to play with me yet, but Daddy says someday he'll grow big enough to come over and play. I can't wait! I'm also still practicing being up on my hands and knees, but it's really hard work, so my practice sessions are pretty short. Mommy and Daddy took some videos of my practice, just in case I get the hang of it - then they can get it on film and post it up here! So... stay tuned, because it won't be long!


Until then, here's hoping there's some sunshine to break up this rainy April!