The Milo Morph

Or, how my Mommy avoided doing homework this afternoon:

T(of)urkey Trot

Just checking in after an afternoon at the library to post my highlight reel from yesterday.

Happy Leftovers!

view alternately on YouTube

Prince Valiant

Hippie no more: I had my first haircut today. So much did I enjoy it that I did not shed a tear until we left the salon, because I didn't want to leave a place so stupendous. Here's the multimedia recap:

P.S. It's a little bigger on YouTube, if you want to watch it there.

Big Boy Now

I've been tied up working on my mad big boy skills, and Mommy says it's that time of the semester, so I haven't had time to compose my updates, and she hasn't had time to help me post them. Plus, last weekend we made a quick trip to Chicago while both of my parents had two days off in a row. When you're a jet-setter like me, it's a whirlwind life; here's some of it:

• I am developing like crazy into a full-fledged toddler. For example, for the first of several times this week, I have had access to my own bowl or plate (and not just been fed or had my food dumped unceremoniously on the table or tray in front of me) and I HAVE NOT FLIPPED MY DISHES OVER, NOT EVEN ONCE. For those of you who have been eating civilly for years, you may not appreciate this milestone, but trust me - it is huge. It takes every ounce of my just barely emerging self-control to keep from flipping over a plate or waving a bowl around in the air. But I'm doing it. Because I'm big like that.
• My imagination is also in bloom. In the morning I like to spend some quality time with my baby (fondly known as "Baby"), patting him, talking to him, and trying to get him to take a sip from my overnight water cup. And I have taken possession of a box which formerly housed a trash can, has a hand-hold cut-out that makes a fine window, and is just big enough for me to crawl in and turn around a bit. It is now my personal space, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't knock while I'm busy playing fort, or I may have to reach out the window and scratch you.
• I try out - and discard, at least for now - new words daily, but I'm really excited about action sounds. I love to make motor sounds (which I apply happily to both actual 3-D toy vehicles as well as 1-D representations, like my Nonna's puzzle-o-vehicles) and animal sounds, namely the cow ("nnNNNNNnnnooo!"), the sheep ("aah-aah-aah-aahhhhhh") and the dog ("unhhh! unhhh!").
  
• As part of my increasing self-awareness, I've given myself a sign, or non-verbal name: I flap both my hands against my midriff to indicate that I wish to be the recipient of the action I've requested. A popular application is to hand a book up to my adult of choice, ask, "ook?," and flap my hands as previously described to request that person to read to me. The sign also has other uses, such as when my Daddy is eating an ice cream sandwich and I would like him to share it with me because it is so incredibly delicious I can hardly stand it and it is more than I can take to watch him eat one more bite without giving me a little and then a little more and more and more more more!!!! I do like a good ice cream sandwich.

While I go talk to Daddy about that ice cream sandwich, here are a few recent snaps of me, plus a rough movie of my Chicago trip:

I am finally old (and skilled) enough to play with the train table at Bela Dubby's. Mommy and I went there the other day while Daddy was sick so he could sleep in peace and she could do homework.



























A box of my own.

Peek-a-boo!


I've been focusing on bread quite a bit recently. Here, I was enjoying a nice chunk of whole wheat baguette with Nonna at Panera while Mommy sighed over my rejection of anything from any other food group.


Mommy and I bought me some frog boots the other day, so I can grind objects on the ground (as I dearly love to do) without getting my feet wet on rainy or snowy days. I'm still a little wobbly in them.


























Look at me! No debris!



I got to run free at Edgewater Park today. Mommy kept insisting I not put my pine cone in my mouth, so I asked Daddy to taste it for me.



























I was so enthralled by the mobile over the changing table in the family lounge at the mall that I insisted on immediately interrupting the diaper change in process to check it out. One of the nice things about being so big is that you can reach things like mobiles.


























The Chicago movie:

Director's Cut

I haven't stopped screaming since I got home from Puerto Rico. I just miss splashing with my cousin Johnny in the pool and having our yellfests while we're tearing it up. My mommy has (mostly) finished a highlight reel of our trip so I can keep reliving it. You can watch it, too, below, if you want; just be aware that there are six seconds of blackness in the middle because a certain uncle hasn't forwarded the underwater snorkeling photos to us yet.

Island Time

I'm back from my trip to Puerto Rico! Nonna, Aunt Lissa, Uncle John, Johnny, Uncle Jon, Daddy, Mommy and I went to San Juan for a night and then to the island of Vieques for three nights. The reason we went was to celebrate my Nonna's 65th birthday; it was a four-day party, and you better believe I made the most of it. It was awesome to be with my family and play with my cousin and swim every day and hang out barefoot and in my diaper.



On Wednesday night, Daddy's cousin Zack came to pick up my parents for dinner. I go to bed earlier than they do, so I didn't go out with them, but I got to visit with Zack and manipulate him into walking me around the parking lot about eleven times before he left with Mommy and Daddy.


Johnny and I did as much together as possible. Uncle Jon called us "The Gruesome Twosome" because we were always looking for trouble. Sometimes we screamed and yelled as loud as we could, but we were also sweet and gave each other hugs and kisses.


On Thursday morning, all of us (except for Uncle John, who wasn't feeling well) went to the old part of San Juan. We walked from one fort - San Cristobal - to the other - el Morro - where we posed for this picture (and the man who snapped it for us was really friendly to Nonna), and then we walked (and walked, and walked) around the cobblestone streets and had a snack with some pigeons at a sidewalk cafe. Then we raced back to our hotel, where Carlos and his mom, Blanca, met us. Carlos and Zack had arranged a carro publico to take us to Fajardo, and Carlos made sure we got off safely.


We flew in a tiny plane across the water from Fajardo to Vieques, and then a nice man named Alex met us and took us to the house where we all stayed the rest of the time. We were just a few steps from the water, plus we had our own pool, in which I spent as much time as possible. Here, Johnny and I were having a splash fight and screaming like a couple of cats, much to our Uncle Jon's delight:


My walking got much stronger while we were in Vieques. I was inspired by my older cousin, who knows that crawling is for babies. Also, it was easy to walk barefoot on the tiled floors. A week ago, I was whimpering if a big person wouldn't hold my hand to walk; by the time we left Vieques, I was giving anyone who offered me a hand the brush-off.


I had a great time with my whole family, but Johnny and I had an especially great time with our Uncle Jon, because he is one of us - one of the kids, just a little bit bigger.


There were all kinds of special activities on the island, like kayaking and snorkeling. My Nonna went kayaking and snorkeling for the first time and had a ton of fun.


Johnny and I were deemed too little to do some of that stuff, but we made up for it by having our own adventures. For example, while Mommy was supposed to be watching us and the others had gone snorkeling, Johnny and I sneaked into his parents' bedroom and enjoyed trampolining and rifling through their drawers:



On Friday night, we all went on a boat trip on the bio-luminescent bay on the southern shore of Vieques. It is one of only four such bays in the world, and it is considered the best of them. There are a bunch of tiny bugs in the water that flash little bits of light (kind of like fireflies) when they are disturbed. Daddy and Uncle Jon even climbed off the boat and swam in the bay, and when they swished their arms, the water around them glowed. I had to wear a lifevest and stay on the boat, but before we boarded we had dinner at the boat place and Johnny and I got to run off some of our excess energy.


We stayed on the north side of the island, near the town of Isabel Segunda, but we spent two afternoons on the other side, in Esperanza, where the good snorkeling and the restaurants that were open at lunchtime could be found. One afternoon our group ate brie and tomato jelly turnovers, red snapper nuggets, and plantain chips at Bili; later, we ate little cups of homemade ice cream (coconut, peanut butter, cherry, and fruta con leche) that Nonna bought for us from a woman in a blue house a few doors down from the kayak shop. Here, at Duffy's, we had fish tacos and waffle fries and talked to the house dog:


Saturday night, Uncle Jon made us kebobs on the grill and we all had cake for Nonna's birthday - even me! Johnny helped Nonna make sure she got all of the candles blown out:

In a few days, after Mommy has caught up with her schoolwork, and Uncle Jon has sent her the underwater photos he took, Mommy will finish a little movie of our trip and post it here so you can see more of my trip. I have to go unpack my sandals and my swimming trunks now and dig out some sweaters.