S-P-A-G-H-E-T-T-I

Spaghetti is definitely on of my favorite foods. Actually, I like spaghetti sauce on ALL kinds of pasta. My mommy usually uses penne or rotelle, but Aunt Terry made me some REAL spaghetti. It was very yummy. My mommy says spaghetti noodles are a little messier. Whaddya think?

My First Sentence...

"I GET DOWN!" - said at the home improvement store when I wanted to go exploring.

Christmas Dinner

We had a yummy Christmas Dinner with my mama's papa's family, a.k.a. Cousin Sharon's house. I had lots of fun crawling up and down the stairs. That's me sound asleep in my mommy's arms.

Christmas Walk to the Park

We took my new wheels out for a trip to the park.

Merry Christmas!!!

This is the photo that was suppose to go out with the Christmas cards and letter that mommy never sent.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Christmas. Some of the presents under the tree were the perfect size for sitting. Others were fun to climb on. On Christmas morning, I got to open lots of presents. I got a cool blanket, several new outfits & pajamas, books, tub toys, a shape sorter, squeezable train engines, and an RC car (that doesn't go in reverse so we have to take it back).

Mommy got me a mini-kitchen that was my favorite gift until they wheeled out my new wagon from Aunt Terry & Uncle Bill.

It's so cool. It's got a door, two seats, two cupholders, and a storage compartment in one of the seats. I was so excited, I didn't even wait till my parents put the wheels on it. It made a great see-saw. I kept shifting from side to side making it wobble. Even the box it came in was fun to play in. After the 'rents installed the wheels, we took it out for a stroll to the park once. I liked it so much, I wouldn't let them leave it outside when we got home. It resides in a place of honor in front of the TV. I like climbing in and out the door and sitting in the storage compartment. We took so long at the park that we were late to Christmas dinner at Cousin Sharon's. Actually, Mommy thought dinner was at 7PM, but really it was at 5PM. Luckily, we didn't miss the feast cuz the prime rib took longer to cook than expected. I got even more presents - some new books, a talking puppy, chocolate, and another blanket. The gifts didn't end. The next day, we went to the post office to pick up my gift from Papa Lum - a 50 piece Mr. Potatohead set complete with Mr, Mrs, and Baby Potato. Daddy was a little dismayed at all the little pieces he envisioned stepping on...Hmm, I wonder what happend to my Mr. Potatohead. We met up with the Petits for lunch. They got me a cool magnetic lap desk that I can draw on.

Word Explosion

I've been repeating several new words in the last couple days, like "cracker", "red", "yellow", "tickle", and "cheerio". My parents are quite proud of me.

bo-NA-na

So, I learned a new word this past weekend. When I say it, I get lots of attention, praise, and my favorite fruit. Mommy still slices it up; otherwise, I'll shove the whole thing in my mouth. I like it THAT much.

A Christmas Tree FINALLY!

We went to Lowe's to pick up an 9' Artificial Christmas Tree. I had fun riding in the racecar shopping cart. I helped Mommy set up the tree when we got home by climbing all over the box and trying to pull off the pine cones. Mommy only managed to get three sections up on Sunday. We put the top on after daycare today. It was like a mini-tree. I kept trying to look under it. I surprised Mommy by climbing up the ladder behind her. I only got up 2 steps cuz she was hogging the rest of the ladder. After she put the top on the tree, she let me climb all the way up to the top. I did it twice, climbing back down all by myself. The 2nd time I got to the top, I sat on the top step and leaped into Mommy's arm. To my protest, she folded up the ladder, ending my climbing fun.

4 New Teeth & Pneumonia for Thanksgiving

Saturday night before Thanksgiving, I got a really mild fever. It was still there in the morning, so Mommy gave me some Tylenol which lowered the fever. I like it. It's berry flavored. All day, I'd play a little, eat a little, and rest a little. Mommy figured I wasn't quite myself because all four of my canine teeth decided to make their appearance at the same time. Monday morning I still had a fever, so Daddy stayed home with me in the morning until Mommy came back from work. I played less, ate less, and slept more. Tuesday, the same routine. Mommy switched to Baby Advil since the Tylenol didn't seem to be working as well. I didn't want to sleep anywhere but on Mommy & Daddy. Wednesday morning, I hadn't gotten any better, so Daddy called the Advice Nurse and took me to the doctor's office. Mommy met us at the hospital. The doctor said I had a slight case of pneumonia in my lower right lung and prescribed a tasty antibiotic. My fever went away after the first dose, and I ate a whole can of chicken noodle soup over several hours. The soup gave me enough energy to play a little, but I still preferred resting in mommy's lap. Thanksgiving morning, I woke up with little red dots all over my body. The Advice Nurse said it was a reaction to the antibiotic, but since it seemed to be working I should continue taking it. Since we weren't able spend Thanksgiving in San Francisco with family, Daddy made a small feast for the three of us. I ate some yummy stuffing and mashed sweet potatoes. On Friday, the red dots had turned into blotches, so the Advice Nurse told us to see the doctor again. The congestion in my chest had worsened as expected. The 1st doc said it would get worse before it got better. They prescribed a new antibiotic. Over the weekend, I got steadily better. By Sunday, I was back to eating 4 meals a day, smaller portions, but I was eating regularly. By Monday, I'd recovered enough to go back to daycare. In fact, during the week, my appetite came back in full force and I've been demanding food in the morning before we head to daycare. Mommy's been making me toast with peanut butter & jelly. Yum.

Trick or Treat

Okay, got my costume, shoes, candy bucket...

Tigger is ready to Trick or Treat!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween 2007 started off with costumes daycare.

Here's Miss Arlene with the morning crew: Aidan, Kyle, Me, and Ava.

Both Miss Arlene & Miss Karla with the PM Posse: Anastasia, Sonya, Me, Natalie, Kyle, Erik, Aidan, & the Ari the Grim Reaper.

Pre-Halloween Festivities

Miss Arlene made cupcakes for us at daycare. It was my very first cupcake. Mommy let me eat the whole thing. Afterwards, we changed into our Halloween costumes. (And Mommy dropped her camera on the tile floor trying to show me the Tigger on my hood.)

Anastasia, Me, Natalie, Kyle

Mashed Potatoes Fun

Just being silly while I eat my mashed potatoes.

My New Slide

Kevin and Sara gave me their old slide. It's a lot of fun. Here I'm practicing sliding on my tummy.

Disco Baby!

Today, we went to Baby Loves Disco. Check out my moves on the dance floor.

Uesugi Farms Pumpkin Patch

Today, we took Papa Lum to Uesugi Farms to check out the Pumpkin Patch. There were tons of people there. We parked in a real cornfield. They had a huge inflatible pumpkin. When the wind blew, we were worried it would roll on top of us. They had a live band, a pumpkin pyramid, hay ride, tractor train, and two real trains. We waited in line for a long time so we could ride one of the trains. It was fun but too short a trip. We ate hot buttered corn on the cob. It was yummy. Most importantly, there were pumpkins EVERYWHERE, but it wasn't a real pumpkin patch. The pumpkins were all picked, sorted, priced, and placed in a mum field, but it was all very colorful. I took an fancy to this particular pumpkin. I tried and tried to pick it up, but it was just too heavy. After all that hard work, I discovered that pumpkins are the perfect sitting height.

Check out this guy...I could be a scarecrow, too!

This thing lies. The nurse said I was 31 inches tall not 29 inches.

Baskets & Boxes

Feeding Time

This is how I use to eat . . . sitting in Mommy's lap while she fed me.


But now, I'm sitting in my own chair and feeding myself. I'm even using utensils. If someone helps me stab the food with my fork, I can usually get it into my mouth. Here I'm eating sausage and scrambled eggs for breakfast.

12-Month Update

I had my 1-year check-up today. I weigh 24 lbs, I'm 31 inches long, and my head circumfrence is 19 inches. That puts me at 65th, 85th, and 92nd percentiles, respectively. I got 3 shots - one in each arm and one in my thigh. Mommy says I'm a real trooper cuz I only cried when they stuck the needles in me and quieted right down when they were done. I had to be tough cuz I didn't want my mommy to worry.

MOVEMENT: I'm pretty mobile these days walking all over the place. I especially like exploring the different terrain outdoors. I can maneuver over all sorts of obstacles - steps, curbs, lopsided pavers, grass, sand, hoses, pebbles, wood chips, etc. I'm getting quite quick. I like to climb stairs when given the opportunity as well as the toys at daycare eventhough that's not their purpose.

COMMUNICATION: I've started pointing to tell people what I want and where I want to go. My favorite non-verbal signing word is still "fan". I like spotting them whenever we go somewhere new. In addition to "uh oh", "ma ma", "da da", and "ki-kaa" (kitty cat), I've added "baw" (ball) and "ba-oon" (balloon) to my repetoire. Occasionally, I'll say "up".

EATING: The parents have added small tidbits of meat to my diet eventhough my molars haven't come in. I still only have 8 teeth. I recently found ham to be quite tasty. I still have yet to turn away any table food. Watermelon and pasta are probaby still my favorites. Cheerios come in close, though. The parents have finally started letting me feed myself. I can even manage to get the fork into my mouth if someone loads it up with food. I'm ready to give up baby food completely. I been giving daycare a difficult time when they try to give me pureed fruit for breakfast and pureed veggies for lunch, so Mommy is going to start packing my meals. I'll still get my cereal in the morning but now I'll get fresh fruit with it. And for lunch, I'll probably get pasta with mixed veggies until mommy can think of other foods. They're also gonna try switching me over to whole milk.

PLAYING: I like being outdoors best. Balls and balloons are still my favorite toys. The swing at the park doesn't frighten me as much. Still don't like going too high, but a nice sway can be quite pleasant. I enjoy riding toys - I can scoot along forward and backwards on them. I also like cars, trucks, and trains - I can push them along quite proficiently now. Mommy got me a wooden puzzle with big knobs that I've been trying to figure out how to fit the pieces back in. Lately, I like crawling into the laundry basket. Sometimes Mommy will push me around in it.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

With my birthday party a distant memory, we took the grandparents to Monterey to check out the Aquarium. We got there just in time watch this guy jump in the reef tank to feed the fish.