Bark Like a Dog

I think, therefore I can't

2008-09-18T13:56:00.004-04:00

Hi, it's me - Milo. You may have forgotten me, since I haven't blogged in 3 1/2 weeks, which may not seem like much to you, but it's about 3% of my total life so far. The reason why I haven't is complex, but it involves the return of Mommy to school as well as my mastery of climbing out of bed two days before her semester started, leading to chronic sleep deprivation among the members of our household. The good news is, I haven't gotten out of bed before going to sleep in FOUR WHOLE NIGHTS, so people are starting to get a little more sane around here. Of course, I still love to go running up to my parents' room at 5:30 each morning, so things aren't perfect yet.

Despite less than ideal conditions, my verbal skills have taken off (as my friend Joel noted) "like a rocket." I talk so, so much that my parents can't even keep track of all of the things I say, because I just talk about everything. A few themes they have noticed, though, include sentences beginning with "I think...," "I can't...," and "I LOVE...," as in, "I think it's time to watch Martha," "I can't go to the doctor," and "I LOVE cinnamon rolls!", to give just a few examples. I've also picked up some new adjectives, like crazy, funny, and fast, which I use liberally.

Because it's been so ridiculously long since I posted, I have more to show you than can really be digested in one post, so here are a couple of things, and then I'll catch up soon with some more.

I met my great-grandpa Lee who came to visit from Florida. I went to a party to see him, and there were a bunch of people I didn't know, so I was not very comfortable at first. But Great-Grandpa Lee was nice and gave me a hug and told me he had seen me on the computer, so I guess my fame has spread to South Florida. Then I found someone I know well - Aunt Terry! - and growled "I'm going to get you!" at her until she chased me around the room. Good times.

I've really enjoyed playing baseball this summer. Here's Nonna showing me how to bat.

One of the things I LOVE is CHOCOLATE PUDDING! Look how good I am at eating it with a spoon!

Mommy was doing this silly thing at Yearbook Yourself where she put my first birthday picture in their application and produced this picture of me looking like a high school kid back in the time when she was in high school. Pretty silly, huh?

Next time, I'll tell you about my family's retreat and my tour of the new buildings at the Cleveland Clinic!

The Summer of Milo™ Season Finale

2008-08-24T16:07:00.008-04:00

Welcome to the conclusion of The Summer of Milo™. There's so much to pack in, so let me get right to it.

When last I posted, I was in New York with my parents. Later that day, after Daddy finished his work stuff, we were going to walk around, but all of the sudden it started raining incredibly hard, so we ducked into a Borders, where I had a little nap, and then Daddy read me some books until it stopped raining.

The next day, I shocked my parents at the airport by pointing to a sign for a Ruby Tuesday's and saying "ruby." To the best of our collective knowledge, I have never visited a Ruby Tuesday's restaurant. We had to wait in the airport for a while, so I employed my new headphones to watch Lazytown on Mommy's laptop, then finally we flew to Pittsburgh and then on home to Cleveland.

I really like the days when Daddy doesn't have to go to work and all three of us are at home together. On Tuesday, we walked to the Dari Delite and I had a strawberry cone of my own.

On Wednesday we got out my new bat and ball and played my version of baseball in the yard, which was hysterical.

Later Wednesday, we drove out to Mentor Headlands State Park and walked on the beach. I picked up stones and told my parents what shapes they reminded me of, like, heart, or, triangle, and on the way back to the car, I saw a real deer, watching me back from the top of the dunes, which was cool.

On Thursday morning, when I woke up, I called for Daddy, and he came and got me and brought me up to my parents' bed, like we always do. But my parents went back to sleep, which was pretty boring, so I went downstairs, watched TV, and got myself some grapes for breakfast. When my parents woke up and realized I was gone, they kind of freaked out. They were relieved I was okay but a little surprised to see me eating grapes, which had been left on the kitchen counter the night before, waiting to be washed. They wondered how I had reached the grapes, so I showed them. It's really easy when you use a little creativity.

Since I was on a roll with freaking out my parents, I decided to stick with it by mastering the skill of crib escape this weekend. It's so liberating to be able to get up when I feel like it! My parents are happy that when I get out of my crib, the first thing I do is call them and go up to their room, but they are talking about going this week to buy something called bed rails. I'll let you know what that means when I figure it out.

I went to the marina at the Rocky River Reservation Thursday evening for a picnic with my friends Maggie, Matt and Sara. I was so happy to see Maggie and I tried to give her hugs and kisses, but Maggie is not really into my affection, so we mostly played on the swings and in the sandbox and with my bat and ball.

Yesterday, Oma and Ono came over and took me to a dog party at the park on my street. Mommy was doing face painting, but that didn't seem like a good idea to me, so I just played with the ball that was there for the dogs and ran around. There were so many really big dogs at the party, as I noted aloud several times. I also ate a hot dog and played on the playground with Oma and Ono.

After it was over, we were all wiped out, and I took a good long nap. When I woke up, Daddy was home, and we all went to Sokolowski's for pierogies with my friends Lynn and Joel, and then we sat out in the backyard under the moon, which I had never done in my pajamas before.

Tonight, I'm going to Oma and Ono's house for a family picnic, which will be the concluding event of The Summer of Milo™. Mommy goes back to school this week, and there will be no more days of all of us being home until December, which is pretty sad. Still, this summer was pretty amazing when you think about all of the things I did: picnics, cook-outs, swimming, library visits, a bridge, and more parks and playgrounds than I can count; three countries (all new) and six states (three of which were new); planes, trains, boats, taxis, wagons, carousels, and a mini van with a DVD player; museums and an orchestra concert (which I forgot to blog about because I had no pictures); friends, family and a few dogs; zoos, markets, drive-in movies, one movie in an actual theater, and a gazillion trips to Target; and my very own second birthday. I'm a really lucky guy.

Rumor has it that Mommy will stay at home with me next summer, too, given her school schedule. I'm going to start working on the list of things we can do then. It would be hard to top this summer, but I'm going to do my best.

Live from New York

2008-08-14T13:32:00.005-04:00

Taking a break from eating room service grilled cheese sandwiches in bed while watching cartoons to say "hi" to all my peoples. Daddy had to go on a little business trip this week, so Mommy and I tagged along.

listening to tunes in the hotel using my new headphones from Uncle
while wearing my new Cars PJs from Uncle Dan and Aunt Terry and GiGi

So pictures are a little thin from last week because Mommy went to Paris without me and took her camera with her, but I got my VERY OWN CAMERA while she was gone from Oma and Ono! When I went to stay at Oma's one night last week, she surprised me with a birthday party, for me! When I saw what was happening, I started shaking all over and told everyone, "I so excited!" Bailey and Spencer and their parents were all there, and I got cool presents, and my very own birthday cupcake. My life is very, very good.

Daddy and I did some serious hanging out while Mommy was gone and got some swimming in. When Mommy got back, she had a surprise for me: she showed me my VERY OWN POTTY. She also showed me some real underwear that I will wear when I'm ready to use the potty. I think it's pretty cool that I have my own potty, because I like looking at the big potties but they are scary to sit on. I know because sometimes before I get in the bathtub I try sitting on the big one and I don't like it at all. My own little potty has a seat that is just the right size for me, so I don't feel like I might fall in the potty. I'm still figuring out how to get on the potty; it's easiest if I climb up on it and then turn around and sit down, but Mommy told me that my feet aren't supposed to go in the red bowl. I've been practicing backing up to it and sitting down when I feel my heels hit the potty, but it might take me a little while to get it down.

I like sitting on the potty because it keeps my feet warm.

Last night, after Daddy finished work stuff, we rode the Staten Island Ferry and saw the real Statue of Liberty. It is just like on my placemat map, but bigger. And in the water.

family self-portrait on the ferry

Look! There she is! I waved back to her.

At the ferry terminal on the Staten Island side, I saw a bunch of fish in different colors.

me and Daddy in the ferry terminal

When I get home, I'll tell you what else I did in New York. Until then, as I like to say, HAVE FUN, PEOPLES!!!

TWO!

2008-08-04T07:55:00.005-04:00

Well, this week I've been busy TURNING TWO YEARS OLD! Can you believe it? I never thought I'd ever get to be so big. I can even tell you how old I am and hold up two fingers. Of course, I can't exactly make the big V with those two fingers yet, so I cross them like I'm making a wish. And speaking of wishes, I got to make birthday wishes not once but twice this week! Does it get any better than that?

Since I'm two now, I'm trying out some new, big-boy things, like using a fork to eat the Arthur macaroni and cheese I picked out at the grocery store the last time I went with Mommy. It takes much longer than picking it up with my hands, but I'm increasingly uncomfortable having slimy fingers, so it's worth the effort.

I'm also becoming more clever, like yesterday, when I had been in bed for about 30 minutes but did not feel like taking a nap, so I called to Mommy, and when she came in my room to check on me, I stood up and sang, "Good morning to you..." like she sings to me every morning when she comes to get me out of bed. I think I tricked her into thinking I had already slept, because she let me get back up for a little while...before I went back to bed and took a three-hour nap. I guess I did need a nap.

I also have this great joke I like to tell that goes like this: "Goot? Goot goot goooooooooot." My parents don't get it, but I get so tickled telling it, and my parents humor me by laughing along. I don't know if there's any hope for them.

Another intellectual development is my understanding of present participles. I demonstrated my understanding by coining a brand new present participle this week, "woofing." I heard some dogs go by, but I couldn't see them, and I pointed in the general direction from which I heard the noise and told Mommy, "Dogs woofing!"

Okay - let's get to the pictures!

Last Sunday night, I went to Legacy Village to hear my friend Greg play with his band, The Townsmen. I sat in the grass with Mommy and Dyan for a while, but then I got antsy, so Dyan took me for a walk, and then after the show I got to check out Greg's guitar.
On Monday, my parents and I flew to Knoxville to go see Grandpa! When we got to Pigeon Forge, where we stayed for a couple of days, Uncle Sean and Aunt Jillian and Bailey were already there - I was sooooooo happy! When we woke up in the morning, we got to eat breakfast together.

Grandpa had to go to work Tuesday, but the rest of us went to the aquarium in Gatlinburg.

The best part of the aquarium was the Shark Lagoon. It was a slow moving sidewalk that carried us under all of the various tanks, like being under the ocean without getting wet.

Not that I don't like getting wet - I had a bunch of fun going swimming that afternoon!

That night, I had an early birthday party. I had a chocolate cake and a "2" candle. Bailey and I got to eat the candy letters off the top! After the cake, I got to open a bag of Bob the Builder stuff, which was cool.

On Wednesday, Grandpa took me for the most amazing REAL train ride EVER! We drove to Dillsboro, North Carolina, to ride the Great Smokey Mountain Railways, and it was AMAZING!

On Thursday, I went with my parents to Knoxville. I rode the trolley around town and saw the biggest basketball I have ever seen in front of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. That night, I went to Grandpa's house in Norris and got to hang out with Marti and Kelly, whom I ADORE!

Friday was my actual birthday, and I flew back home with my parents. My neighbor Ron came outside while we were still getting unloaded from our taxi to give me a box that had been delivered to me while I was gone. Inside the box were birthday presents from my cousin Johnny and his parents, including these awesome Cars stickers.

For my birthday lunch, we went to my favorite taco restaurant, Chipotle, where eating with your hands is not only acceptable but expected.

On Saturday, I helped Mommy and Nonna put on a yard sale and also do yard work. I contributed by climbing under the big evergreen trees and retrieving the pine cones, then putting the cones - and myself - in the wheelbarrow. Then we picked up Daddy and went to Nuevo Acapulco for a second birthday party. I got to open a Thomas roundhouse and a bunch of trains and I couldn't eat any more rice or beans or even my beloved tortilla chips because I was soooooooo excited.

After dinner, we went to Nonna's and I had my second birthday cake and candles. This one was an ice cream cake, which is probably my favorite kind of cake. It was good enough that I could tear myself away from the trains for a few minutes to eat some.

I have to get on with my day, as my agenda is full:

play with trains
eat breakfast
play with the house Nonna gave me
take Daddy to work
come home and play with cars
take a nap
play with trains
eat lunch
play with trains some more
go to GiGi's house!
play with her trains and planes and helicopters
go to Oma's house!
play with Oma's toys
come home with Daddy

I guess my mom is going to be gone on a trip for a few days, because she says when Daddy comes to get me tonight, then he and I will have three whole days together. I'm not sure how Mommy being gone is going to work out, but Daddy takes excellent care of me plus we're going to do some fun stuff, like making pizza and having a play date with Bailey and Uncle Sean. I'll tell you about it next time.

Stuff [because I'm running out of titles]

2008-07-27T11:43:00.000-04:00

I'm back with a few photos, tales of adventure, and the new things I've been saying that will make your toes curl with their cuteness.

Let me start with Wednesday: first, I went down the street to go swimming in the neighborhood pool, and then my picnic at Wade Oval got rained out, but my friends Marixa and Jim came over to my house instead, and I got reacquainted with them. My parents told me they were coming, but I hadn't seen them in a while, so I felt weird when they arrived and I hid in my room. I could see that my parents liked them, though, and Marixa kept talking to me from the doorway, and in a few minutes it was like old times. We ate my current favorite food - pizza! - and then went for a ride in the wagon to Momocho to pick up guacamole and chips - maybe my second most favorite food! - and brought them back home. I knocked over a couple of bottles of beer in my urgent lunges for the chips, but it was otherwise an excellent evening. In fact, I can't stop thinking about Jim and Marixa - every time we get in the car, I ask, "Jim's house?" and when my parents tell me we're getting ready to see some person or another, I ask, "See Marixa?" I really, really dig them.

Thursday, I got my hair cut for the third time ever. I was feeling kind of out of sorts, so I wasn't as excited about the fun music and animal crackers and movies as in the past, but the stylist let me sit on Daddy's lap, which helped a little, and when it was over I got a prize - a duck in a soccer jersey with a soccer ball! Man, I love that soccer duck. After my haircut, we went to a park behind the Target in Fairview Park; it had a really cool playground plus big soccer fields and baseball diamonds. I had never been on a baseball field before, so that was cool; I stood on the pitcher's mound and threw a pretend ball to Mommy, and she pretended to hit it, then Daddy pitched to me while Mommy showed me how to hit. Some high school kids were playing in a marching band on the next field, and I loved running around the outfield and marching along with them!

Later, I went to Joel and Lynn's house and got to play outside with my neighbor Isaac. We played with my big green ball, but my neighbor Alta was too little to play, because she is maybe six or seven months old, so every once in a while I put the green ball in her lap for a few seconds, and I think she liked it. Isaac's mom, Danielle, brought brownies that were soooo delicious, and I would have eaten the whole container if the big people wouldn't have kept hiding them from me, which ticked me off. When I had worn myself out and was ready to go home, my parents just kept yakking away, so I finally had to throw my juicebox and then my green ball over Joel and Lynn's fence so they would get the message. Sheesh. Sometimes they are really, really dense.

Friday, I went to the Library and read a book about a little blue truck and then had a banana for lunch at Johnny Mango's. My friend Maggie was coming over, and Mommy asked me what I thought Maggie and I could do together. I thought about it and then told her, "Um, play cars, aaaaaand read books, aaaaaand ride wagon." When Maggie came over, we were happy to see each other and had a good time playing and eating peanut butter quesadillas, but when it was bedtime, Maggie got really sad and cried for her mommy. My mommy was holding her but she was still sad, so I climbed up with them and got in Maggie's face and told her, "Maggie, I come," in a comforting tone. She kept crying, but I think it secretly made her feel better that I was there.

Yesterday, I went to breakfast with Nonna and Mommy, but I didn't feel like eating. The booth we were sitting in had a curved top that was just the right width to be a rolling road for my cars, and I had a good time racing them down the hill, until I lost my cars in the tiny little gap between the booth and the wall. I was pretty upset and did not want Mommy and Nonna to keep talking while my cars were lost, so we all got up and Mommy tried to scoot them out with her knife, but she couldn't get them, so our server had to come over with a HUGE knife to get them out. It was pretty exciting.

Last evening, after we picked up Daddy from work, we went to Euclid Creek Reservation, a park I had never seen before, for a birthday party for my friend David. He is my friend Orson's daddy, and I was really, really happy to see Orson. He is a year old than me and knows how to do cool stuff like play catch with a baseball. I got to eat a ton of potato chips and some red birthday cake, and I drank from an actual water fountain. My parents forgot to take pictures, so you'll have to take my word for it, but below is a picture of me with Orson and his sister Zelda from last week when they came over.

Later today, I'm going to go see my friend Greg play in a band. Mommy told me yesterday that we were going, and asked if I remembered Greg and Dyan. I thought really hard, then told her, "Bidge," which is my way of saying, yes, I remember hanging out with them under the Detroit Superior Bridge a couple of months ago. I have to take my nap now, though, so I feel good when we go to the concert. Tomorrow, I'm going to Tennessee to see Grandpa. My parents have been telling me we're getting ready to go, but for some reason they won't just take me there now. They keep telling me about "tomorrow" and about it being after I sleep tonight, but I say, if we're going anyway, why wait? Sometimes, they drive me nuts.

P.S. I still have pictures to show you from Argentina and from Florida, but maybe this week I can get my mommy to just make a little movie of them, and then I'll post it here for you to see. And here are some pics of me going to the lake last week with Bailey:

Is this thing on?

2008-07-23T11:33:00.000-04:00

Hi, guys. I've been waiting for Mommy to download and sort my photos, but she says that every time she sits down to do it, I divert her attention to my wants and/or needs. So, for now, I'll just tell you about what I've been up to, and when she gets it together, I'll post the pics. OK? OK!

I should tell you first about my visit to Florida, to see my cousin Johnny. This time, I could play with him and converse with him way better than I ever could before now, so it made playing together so much cooler. One of my favorite things was to play cars with him, with his cars and racetrack from the "Cars" movie. My favorite car is Lightning McQueen ("NYT-nee MaKEEEE!") but I like the others, too, like Chick Hicks and the Sheriff. Johnny taught me how to run the racetrack this time, because I was too little last time I went to his house, and I was really, really proud to do it myself.

Another thing I liked doing was riding the carousel at the mall. I learned the word "carousel" the week before, when I rode the big carousel in Buenos Aires, and now I am a big fan. One time, Johnny rode a motorcycle while I rode in a car, and another time I rode in a duck. We also had a good time at home, in his backyard, hanging out with Nonna. This time, I was big enough to climb up on Johnny's slide by myself, and sliding is probably my favorite outdoor activity ever. We also played with some balls and did a little digging in the backyard, and one evening Uncle John even put on a little fireworks show for us, and I couldn't stop saying "wow!"

We took a little road trip while we were in Jacksonville to Orlando. We got to eat awesome ("awesome" being one of my new favorite words) snacks in the van, like Doritos and vanilla sandwich cookies, and watch "Caillou" over and over again on the DVD player. Johnny and I both love to watch "Caillou" and always agreed that we wanted it turned on whenever we got in the van.

When we got to Orlando, we went to the airport and picked up my daddy. I was happy to see him and sit by him in the van after not seeing him for almost a week! We put on my "No!" CD, and when the song "Fibber Island" came on, I turned to my daddy and smiled and said, "Good song!" Then we went to a condo where we could all stay together, and Uncle Jon came, too, and then Johnny and I were really happy, because Uncle is one of us boys! We had fun eating pizza together and watching Dora and Diego and going swimming with our daddys and taking baths in the giant jacuzzi tub. An extra treat was the arrival of Alex and Jessica and Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dave. We had lunch together, and they brought Johnny and me each our very own microphones. That evening, we put on a little concert for everyone, and they all cheered for us.

One other thing I wanted to tell you about was my last night in Jacksonville. Nonna and Aunt Lissa were hanging some pictures, and I saw some baby pictures in the hallway. I asked Nonna about them, and when she said they were of my brother, I said, "Hans." My parents talk to me about my brother sometimes, but they were surprised I put it all together. Listen, I pay attention to everything. Just because I don't always say so doesn't mean I don't know what's going on, people.

After being away from home for three weeks, I was happy to get back to my favorite place - home (or as I like to call it, "MY-no's houth!"). Mommy and I went to Target to get some fresh milk and stuff, and when we walked down one aisle, there were three big girls talking to other in Spanish. I surprised everyone when I turned to them, waved, and yelled, "HOLA!" But I had just spent a week and a half in places where everyone was speaking Spanish, even my parents sometimes, and I know Spanish when I hear it!

I've been having some good times since I've been home. One day, I went to a big outdoor mall with my parents where there was a different kid ride in front of almost every store. I got to ride a train and a bulldozer, but after that my parents walked me across the parking lot instead of down the sidewalks, because I was obsessed with riding those machines! After we shopped, I thought we were going to Oma's house because the road looked like the one going to her house. My parents explained that we were in Aurora and later Peninsula and not in North Olmsted, but now that I was thinking about going to Oma's house, I could talk about nothing else, so my mommy called Oma and then I talked to her one on the phone for almost eight minutes, which is a personal record. I felt a little better after we talked, and then we ate dinner in a restaurant next to a train station, where I saw a navy blue locomotive and an orange caboose, and after dinner (at which I ate four pickles and a few french fries but nothing else) the two big guys at the table next to us leaned over and complimented me on how amazingly well behaved I was, and my parents were extremely proud of me.

Another day, my friends Zelda and Orson and their parents David and Toni came over, and I got to eat pizza in the living room! I was thrilled to get to play with such big kids, and after dinner we three kids rode together in my wagon to the Gather Round Farm. The chickens were having a first birthday party, and we took them some beets as a present, and we got to run around between all the crops, and it was wonderful. When they got in their car to go home, I yelled, "Bye, friends!" and then "Thanks for your help!" which was a little confusing to my parents but I knew what I meant.

This week, Mommy and I went to the Natural History Museum, which was the coolest museum I think I have ever visited. There were all kinds of animals and fish, plus all of these HUGE dinosaur skeletons. Downstairs, there's a big room of stuff that kids can touch and do, which was my favorite part. I helped some big kids sift some sand to search for fossils, and I did some puzzles and also looked through microscopes. I can't wait to get back there!

Yesterday, I went to Maggie's house for dinner, and I got to play on the porch with Maggie, which was cool, because Maggie has started walking and we can do more stuff together. She has a fire hat, which I loved, and two dogs, who loved me.

I have been putting new words together into ever-more-complex sentences lately, and I'm grasping some new concepts, such as the fact that food and drinks need to be prepared before I can have them, and that the preparation takes time. When I was younger, I used to freak out if I asked for milk and it wasn't handed to me that very second, but now when someone is filling my cup or cutting my fruit or cooking my veggie sausages, I remind myself to be patient by saying "makin' it" or "cookin' it" and it makes it easier to hang on. I'm also toying with the concept of "you" and trying to sort out how to use it exactly. Sometimes I get it turned around, like when I ask my parents, "Carry you?" or "Read it to you?" or (my mommy's favorite) "Bring it to you?" - I'm asking to be carried or read to, not offering to put them on my back, but thank goodness my parents understand what I mean, or I would need to see a chiropractor. Other times, I get the "you" part right but get the word order turned around, like when I was saying good-bye to my daddy in Houston a couple of weeks ago, I held his face and said sadly, "Daddy miss you."

I'm also getting the whole birthday concept down. I'm still talking about the ice cream cake and singing "Happy Birthday" from my cousin Bailey's birthday in June, and I like to practice singing "Happy Birthday to Milo" all the time. When I was in Jacksonville, I got to help Uncle John blow out his birthday candles and eat his ice cream cake, which made me so happy, and I've been watching an episode of "Blue's Clues" about Joe's birthday over and over again. When my birthday comes, next week, I am going to be totally prepared!

Today, I'm going on a picnic, but I need to get a nap in before I go if I want to have a good time later, and I think I've at least covered the highlights of the last couple of weeks, so I will sign off for now, but I'll be back with pictures as soon as I can. I promise!

Still Traveling

2008-07-08T10:40:00.001-04:00

Checking in to let you know I am still on the road but am having so much fun I haven't had time to stop and blog. I'll write more about Argentina later, but when I arrived in Houston, Mommy and I said bye-bye to Daddy and came to Jacksonville to see my cousin Johnny. Below are some pictures to prove it! I'll write more later, when I've settled down a bit.

4 Countries in 40 Hours, And Other Vacation Highlights

2008-06-30T07:53:00.000-04:00

¡Hola, chicos! Greetings from Buenos Aires, where it's a sunny, er, brisk 55 degrees. Surprised to find me here? Well, I was surprised, too. For about three days, ever time I woke up, I was somewhere completely new! But such is the life of a stand-by jet-setter like me.

As of Monday night, we had planned to fly to Houston and from there to Quito or Panama City and then on to Quito. But at the airport Tuesday morning, the Houston flight had filled up, so we had breakfast and had some races up and down the concourse before flying to Newark. Then we spent all day in the Newark airport (which does not have a play area that I could find, like Cleveland does) before getting seats to Panama. I had successfully avoided taking a nap all day long, so when we got on that plane, I was not inclined to follow flight rules. I tried to sleep, but I couldn't get Daddy all the way out of his seat so I could stretch out, despite my best efforts, so when we arrived in Panama at 10 pm, I was wired. My parents favorite hotel didn't have any rooms, so we had to go to another hotel...in the end, it was all the way into the next day before I got to bed. I've never stayed up so late in my whole life since I started sleeping through the night!

The next day, we still couldn't get to Quito, or anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere, except for Montevideo, so that's where we went. Before we left Panama, we went to Plaza Bolivar, in Casco Viejo, for lunch outside, and I chased a bunch of pigeons and a cat and played with some big kids who had just gotten out of school. We had just enough time for ice cream at Graniclement (I had white chocolate!) before heading back to the airport.

In Plaza Bolivar

Mommy's paella, with a giant langosta on top!

I love me some french fries!

The flight to Montevideo was overnight, and this time, I slept a little better, if not all the way through. I had never been to Uruguay (or Panama, for that matter) before, so I was up for anything, but over breakfast at 4:30 am in the airport, my parents decided to go on to Buenos Aires and stay put for the rest of our vacation rather than splitting our time between Montevideo and Buenos Aires. So we got on one more plane, a commuter flight across the Río Plata, went to an office where we arranged for an apartment, and here we are!

I love Buenos Aires. Everyone here, big and small, stops on the street to talk to me. I am really good at saying "hola" and "ciao" which makes me extra popular. There are playgrounds everywhere, which makes me so happy. We go to a different one every day - and in the park we went to yesterday, Parque Lezama, there was even a merry-go-round, which I had never ridden before, because I was too little, but this time I got to ride it, twice! The first time, I drove a red car, and the second time I rode a white horse that went up and down.

The merry-go-round

We also take several snack breaks each day ("snack" is one of my favorite words!) at one of the many cafés here. I love snack time, because I usually get a warm milk (or sometimes a chocolate milk) and a medialuna, which is a small, sweet croissant. I am in heaven!

One of our café stops: a medialuna and a decorating magazine...

...coffee...

...and caprese bruschetta!

Of course, it's winter here, so I don't have much use for my sandals (or as I like to call them, "scandals") or my shorts, but I had some long pants and a jacket and a sweater packed for Quito nights, so I'm doing okay. My parents bought me a green scarf, in which I am even cuter, if such a thing is possible. I demonstrate this fact by shrugging my shoulders and tucking my chin against my chest and saying "too cute!" which is cheesy but also cute. My mommy, however, didn't have any long pants, so we went to Recoleta for some shopping and got her outfitted for the weather, and I got two books - one with the ABCs and the other with various forms of transport - which I read while we wait for our meals.

Looking for the playground in Plaza San Martín...

...there it is!

Apparently, my parents have been here twice before, but they had never really gotten out of their favorite neighborhood of Palermo and Palermo Viejo, so I've been dragging them out of their comfort zone to explore new places (and new playgrounds!). In addition to Recoleta, I've taken them to Centro, La Boca, and San Telmo. Yesterday was the big street market in San Telmo, and we walked past all the booths and street performers, which were so interesting. I especially liked a 10-piece orchestra which included four accordion players and a man who made a marionette dance out of a suitcase.

The marionette show

Today, we're going back to Recoleta to see the famous cemetery there, and later we're going to the zoo! I'll tell you about it next time I get online. ¡Ciao!

Famous Quotes

2008-06-22T20:10:00.000-04:00

Hi, it's me - Milo! Mommy is finally done laying around with that vertigo thing, and The Summer of Milo^TM has resumed. I'm getting ready to go on vacation, and since my secretary is back on the job, I thought I'd post a little update before I leave.

I have been talking up a storm the last few days, and not just that baby stuff I used to say. Here are some of my words of wisdom this week:

"Happy Birthday!" - Ever since I celebrated my cousin Bailey's birthday last week, I have been talking about birthdays and Bailey and my cousin Spencer and ice cream cake (wow, is that stuff great!). The other night, I was in Target with Mommy and Nonna, and after we paid for our stuff, I waved to the cashier and yelled "Happy Birthday!" to her. For some reason, Mommy and Nonna started laughing like I made a joke, but I think the cashier really liked that I was so nice, because she thanked me.
"Have fun!" - I love to tell people to have fun when they leave my house. I learned it from that book "Blue Train, Green Train" that I like so much.
"I drink it all." - I got this new kind of cup this week that has a straw in it and pictures of Diego playing soccer. It's a cup for bigger kids, and it holds more milk than any of my sippy cups. I used it for the first time today, and when I emptied it, I announced that I drank it all. Pretty complex sentence, huh?
"Read to?" - I ask this question when I hand a book to my parents. Sometimes, I'm more specific, as in, "Monkey George Milo read to?" (Sometimes word order is a little challenging.)
"Make a basket!" - I have a basketball at home that I like to bounce, but Nonna has a basketball hoop and three little basketballs that are made for the bathtub, and I got to play with them for the first time this week. The letter K is really hard to say, but the next morning, when I woke up, I was thinking about that basketball game, and I wanted to talk about it, so I concentrated soooo hard to tell Mommy, "Bas-KET-ball! MaKe a basKET!"
"It says 'Milo'!" - I now recognize my name when my parents write it for me. Does that count as reading? I also read "A-D-T" on a little sign in my neighbors' yard a couple of weeks ago. I can't wait to figure out all those groups of letters I see!
"Daddy working airport" - I came up with this gem just this morning in the car, after Mommy and I dropped Daddy off at work. I am an astute observer of daily life.

So that's it for my verbal highlights; here are some pictures:

For the first time ever, I got to squish some Play-Doh. Daddy showed me how to roll it so I could make a worm (whatever that is), and Mommy made me a dog, which I thought was cool.

When I was younger, I was legendary for my stellar behavior at the movies, but once I stopped nursing and started crawling really, really fast, I found it hard to concentrate on the screen. The last time I went to a theater, Mommy let me crawl up and down the ramp while she tried to watch the last of some movie, and by the time she gave up and carried me out, my shirt was so dirty we had to throw it away. That was about a year ago.

Lately, my parents have been talking to me about being old enough to watch a movie, if it was interesting enough, and if I went to a kids' movie, where there would be other kids making noise, and if we went to a matinee on a weekday, so maybe there wouldn't be anyone else there we would bother. When Mommy asked me this week if I wanted to go to a movie, I answered with a resounding "YES!" (when I say yes, I really mean it), so after my nap that day my parents took me to Tower City. I had a grilled cheese sandwich at the Greek restaurant, and then we went to see "Kung Fu Panda". It had a bear, and some geese, and a monkey, and two tigers. Sometimes they fell down, which I noted loudly to make sure everyone present understood it. There was also some cheering and clapping, which I really enjoyed.

According to my parents, the best part was that I didn't even think about doing anything other than watching the movie until it was about half over. At that point, my parents strapped me into my booster chair we brought from home, and I had some raisins, and then I wrote for a while on my doodle board, plus I watched the movie off and on, too. I was only really antsy, trying to get down to check out the floor and asking my parents to pass me back and forth, for the last ten minutes of the movie. My parents were frankly surprised at how well I did. They told me they were really proud of me. Here's a picture of Daddy and me watching the previews:

Today, Mommy and I dropped in at Oma's house to surprise her, and we were surprised to find Bailey already there! After I went out back to see Ono, I went in and watched some TV while Bailey finished her waffle, and then we played a bunch of stuff with Oma, liking cutting animal shapes out of Play-Doh and crawling inside of the tent she made over the kids' table. When we started to get worn out, she asked us to climb up on her two buckets, and then she read us a ton of good books.

Next time I post, I'll be on the road somewhere. I'm not sure where, exactly, but I've been practicing saying "hola" and "gracias" and I hope I get to use them.

Back on the Block

2008-06-17T11:54:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay in posting, but my mommy's been acting weird, like sleeping during the day and not wanting to pick me up and declining to take dictation for blog posts, which I have found shocking, frankly. Daddy and I took her to the doctor, who said she had positional vertigo; I don't know what that means, exactly, but I do know it means that I got to ride in a wheelchair, which was incredibly exciting.

Because Mommy was out of it, I spent most of the weekend at my nonna's place, which was cool, because we took walks and I got to pick up sticks. We also did stuff like taking the garbage out (I got to carry the empty pizza box to the big garbage cans!) and reading Nonna's picture encyclopedia, which has pictures of just about everything that you could ever want to know the name of, plus it has words that a grown-up can read to you so you now know the name of the thing! Amazing!

Sunday afternoon, Daddy came home from work and took me to Oma and Ono's house, where I got to eat lasagna and sing "Happy Birthday" to my cousin Bailey, who is two years old now. I also got to run around outside with Bailey and Spencer and to help Bailey blow out her candles and to eat ice cream cake, about which I cannot stop talking, even two days later.

Yesterday, I got to spend the day with G.G. and Aunt Terry, and we had a picnic of raisins and animal crackers, and then Oma picked me up and took me home and gave me my bath and gave me tons of kisses. The day was so exciting that I did not want to take a nap all day long, so I went to bed at 7 pm and didn't wake up until 8:00 this morning!

Mommy is finally doing better today, so we went to the West Side Market Diner, for a breakfast of my favorite hash browns ever in the history of the universe, and then to Target, where we bought me some diapers and my first ever Play-Doh, which I look forward to trying out soon. I have this book that I love to read over and over in which one of the things a girl in the book does when she is so mad that she wants to squeeze her cat is to squeeze some clay instead. I really like the part where I get to say, "squish, squish, squish!" I hope to get to do some real life squishing myself. I'm also looking forward to swimming all the time now that the pool is open down the street.

Before Mommy got sick, I did some other stuff, too. Here are some pictures of it:

My parents and I went to Edgewater Park for a picnic and a little soccer.

Our neighborhood club had its first Porch Night Out last week. Daddy couldn't be home for it, and Mommy had to do some walking around to say hi to people who were sitting out on their porches, so Nonna came over and had dinner with me on our front porch, which was fun but also difficult to do, because there are so many distracting things going on down our street that it makes it hard to just sit down and eat dinner.

Because Daddy had to work on Father's Day, Mommy and I took him out one night last week to Momocho. It's a little nicer - and slower - restaurant than the ones I usually frequent, but I behaved incredibly well. I did take off my shoes, but a boy has to do something to get comfortable, right? I had rice and green beans and ice cream, which I think is a pretty reasonable meal, but my parents must have lost their minds: my daddy had something called huitlecoche, which is mold that grows on corn, and my mommy had grasshoppers, which seems like something interesting to play with but I'm not sure about eating. I guess when she was pregnant with me, my parents went to the place in Mexico where they eat grasshoppers, and my daddy tried them but my mommy didn't want to take any chances, for my sake (thank you very much for that!), so now she wanted to make up for her missed opportunity. I think her curiosity is satisfied. Because we were celebrating, our server brought my daddy a dessert with a sparkler in it, which was a pretty cool way to end the night.

ICU (NUROK)

2008-06-07T13:14:00.000-04:00

Life is good. Hot, but good. This week I've been to the zoo, a birthday party, the library, the park, the West Side Market, the swimming pool, the taco restaurant, and the play area at the mall, plus I've gotten to visit with Maggie and her parents, Joel and Lynn, Grandpa (he's that man who looks like he's walking across Tennessee on my US map), and nearly all of my local family at one time or another. Dude, The Summer of Milo^TM rocks.

I'm also working on saying all kinds of new stuff. When I'm taking my nap (or rather, when I'm supposed to be taking my nap), and I lean over the top of my crib so I can look into the mirror in my room and see whomever is in the kitchen, I say "I see you!" (in a sing-songy voice, of course). I've figured out the concepts of "open" and "broken" and use those words all of the time. I'm also learning the states; I like to point out Ohio, where I live, and Florida, where I have noted that my cousins Johnny, Jessica, and Alex live, as well as a couple of my uncles. I love that there is always something new to learn.

So here are some of the pictures of me doing stuff:

Grandpa came to visit and we raced cars until I pooped out from the sheer thrill of it.

Grandpa slept in my future big boy bed in my room, and when I woke up in the morning, he got me up from my crib and let me crawl in with him.

Grandpa took me for a wagon ride and we played in the park and got all wet and dirty and it was awesome.

I stopped by to see my Oma and we read this cool magazine she had.

My cousin Lilli turned 1, and I got to go to her party. Outside the party, I got to play with Bella and Bailey.
Here's the birthday girl, with her Nona, who is my (great) Aunt Barb.

Lilli got a bubble machine that all of us bigger kids had fun with.

My parents and I went to the zoo, and I saw actual elephants, plus zebras, monkeys, giraffes, birds, a hippo, and a kangaroo. I also got to ride a train all around the zoo, which was the best.

I love to cook, but my mom was getting tired of me using stuff she needed, so she got out all of this play cook stuff that's just for me to use. I like all of it, but my favorite thing is the butter. My parents don't get why I love the butter so much, but they are parents, after all. I'm sure this is only the beginning of them not getting it.

Maggie came over for a potluck, and at first I scared her with my maniacal laughing, but then I chilled out and we played together.

I gotta go make some lunch now.

The Summer (???) of Milo Marches On

2008-05-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

I am love-love-loving The Summer of Milo^TM, but whether it's actually summer is highly debatable. I am still wearing fuzzy pajamas most nights, for pete's sake, and this morning I'm wearing my devastatingly stylish new sweater Daddy brought me back from Peru on top of my fuzzy pajamas (see picture at right). I don't want to complain; I hear that in another month (or two), even my ankles will be sweaty, but it's hard to imagine.

Despite the chill, I am making the most of The Summer of Milo^TM. I have been busy with trips to New Jersey and Michigan, visits to G.G., swimming, wagon rides, and adding about a hundred words to my vocabulary each day (or at least so it seems). Some of my newer, more complex, and frequently used constructions include "I coming!", "Where are you?", and (Mommy's favorite) "Hey! More juice!".

Since we've been so busy, I'm a little late on making this post, so there will be a ton of pictures. Mommy says she is busier now that the school year is over, which doesn't make much sense to me, since she is home all the time, plus she has me to help her. I think the real issue is that she is a little mopey now that this season of American Idol is over. Whatever the reason, she is helping me post now, so let's catch up, shall we?

My parents were folding laundry when I absconded with Daddy's soccer jersey. He graciously let me wear it.

In our hotel in New Jersey, I watched Curious George on TV, which is not uncommon - I just wanted you to see what I look like with my hair combed before I start tearing around and my hair starts to look like an old mop.

We rode the train to Manhattan for lunch. I slept through lunch, though, and when I woke up, my parents gave me my lunch in the park next to the Cathedral School, where I chased pigeons and a white peacock.

I got to go to Russ and Cory's wedding the next day, and Russ read me "Inside, Outside, Upside Down," one of my very most favorite books.

Back at home, I have gotten so tall that I can now see right into the knife drawer (yikes!) and can peek into the silverware drawer on the top. My parents did some rearranging, but I do like to explore, so they explained to me that the bottom drawer, the one with all the leftover containers, was my drawer. Since it was mine, I decided to make the most of it.

I have been super into my barn and animals lately. I also ask my parents, "What cow say?" and then I answer for them ("Moo!"). I also like to quiz them on sheep, pigs, chickens, and dogs. If I keep working with them, I'm sure they'll learn eventually.

Last Saturday, I met my friends Dyan and Greg under the Detroit-Superior Bridge to tour the lower bridge where the trains used to go. I wore my train engineer's hat and scarf that my grandpa gave me, although I prefer to take off my hat to show it off, so Mommy had to put it away for me. I loved it all - Greg, Dyan, trains, bridges, the river below, riding in the wagon. It was an awesome day.

I've been to Ikea a bunch of times, but my nonna had never been, so Mommy and I took her to the one near Detroit on Memorial Day. Toward the end of the day, I got really tired of shopping and screamed at the top of my lungs until I got them to get me out of there, but for most of the day I had fun hanging out with my girls and checking out the toy selection. Because I love to count, Mommy bought me my very own abacus, with which I love to play. On the way home, I got bored and started screaming again, so I was given a napkin, which I happily spent an hour tearing into hundreds of very tiny napkins.

I went to go see G.G. and my beloved Bailey was there. We were ecstatic to see each other and played drums together as loudly as we could.

Daddy got back from a little trip to Peru yesterday, and after we picked him up from the airport, we wanted to go play, but it was cold and windy outside, so instead we went to Great Northern Mall, where I played in the big corral they have for kids and climbed over the rides. Here, I was riding Bob the Builder's tractor and having a little chat with him. My parents thought I might be ready for an actual moving ride this time, so they put some quarters in the tractor and he rocked a little and sang the Bob the Builder theme, but I'm not sure what the big deal was. I just like climbing up and then off the rides.

It's library day, so I have to go take a nap now so that I feel good when I go. See you later.

Back In The Saddle

2008-05-16T10:48:00.000-04:00

Hello, my peeps! I'm happy to report that I am no longer sick and am, in fact, 100%. Maybe 110%, I'm so full of energy. If you see me coming, watch out, is all I'm saying.

The Summer of Milo^TM is officially in full swing. Here's how it commenced:

I got Mommy this chocolate sucker for Mother's Day. She thought I was so excited because I was giving it to her, but I was just excited to have this much chocolate in my possession! As soon as she unwrapped it, I went to town on it. I couldn't help myself. Hey, at least if you are what you eat, then I'm a guy who loves his mom!

To celebrate me getting well, we went to Edgewater Park to run around. We picked up some pizza (I liked the garlic sauce/fresh tomato kind best) and Nonna brought an apple cake and we had a breezy picnic by the lake. Then I got to run as hard as I could and also pick dandelions.

I am so into shoes; I guess I take after my parents that way. I have been trying for a while to put my parents' shoes on, but it's hard to do when your feet are so much smaller than the shoe. Finally, though, I've figured it out, and I've been stomping around in their shoes all week.

Now that the Summer of Milo^TM is here, I'm not going every Thursday to G.G.'s any more, and I've been missing her, and Bailey, too, so yesterday Mommy took me over for a visit, and I had sooooooooo much fun!

Mommy and Me

2008-05-11T10:16:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there! I'm being extra-sweet to my mommy today by giving her extra hugs and kisses, and tonight after Daddy gets home, we're going to take her out to dinner.

I'm feeling pretty good today, but I've been sick ever since I woke up Wednesday morning. I don't really like being sick. I've needed to be cuddled up to one or both of my parents 24/7 to help me feel better. I felt so bad, I would periodically sigh and tell my parents mournfully, "I sick!" So I haven't done too much this week, but I do have a couple of pictures for you:

I found the camera and wanted to take a picture, so Mommy helped me take this picture of Daddy:

I stopped by to see my Oma as she was getting off work, and she gave me some great kisses:

We went shopping for summer shoes, and I got these cool shark ("SHAKES!") sandals, and then Daddy found a hat with sharks on it, too, and thought I needed it. Here I am, in my shark hat (you can't see the sharks, but they're on the top) and my shark sandals (the sharks are on the soles) and my kukuxumusu shirt I bought in Barcelona a couple of years ago, when I was like four months old, with the oil chasing the tomato, and my snazzy plaid shorts, and my giraffe folding chair, all ready to go to a neighborhood cook-out:

G.G. informed my mommy while I was sick that Blue's Clues is my favorite TV show; my parents didn't know it, because we don't get that show on our TV at home. So yesterday I got a new DVD ("DDD!") with Blue and also Dora and Diego and some of my other favorites from G.G.'s house, and I love it so much. When I woke up this morning, I asked for milk, and then I asked for Blue:

Once I got a little Blue fix, I was ready for breakfast. Here I am, counting (!) my bananas. Really. I love, love, love to count!

Since it's Mother's Day, here are some pics of me and Mommy when I was younger:

I have to go get dressed now and brush my teeth and all that stuff. I felt too bad to brush my teeth for a couple of days this week, and - PEE-EW! - was my breath yucky! I have some catching up to do!

Getting All Old School On You

2008-05-04T14:57:00.000-04:00

People around here have been remiss in capturing my fabulousness in pictures this week. I don't want to name names - but I could if I wanted to, because this week I've learned my parents' names, the ones besides "Daddy" and "Mommy". But I digress. I just have a couple of new pictures this week, from my 24-hour jaunt to Newark and New York for Daddy's birthday. Daddy had a meeting there Thursday, and Friday was his birthday, so Mommy and I flew to meet him Thursday night to celebrate. My personal highlights were playing with some new animal toys in the hotel room and swinging in an amazing oversize swing at Riverside Park. Tune in after those pics for an explanation on how I'm going old school.

So the thing is, I started this blog when I was about 7 1/2 months old. My life ever since has been fairly well documented, but the early days are kind of hazy for me. My solution: feature occasional flashbacks of the original highlights here on this blog. Accordingly, I present "My First Bath(s)"!

The first sponge bath was terrifying! I was all exposed and cold, and I was getting dampened after I had just gotten dried out from being submerged for nine months. NOT cool.

Lucky for me, Nonna was nearby. She wrapped me up in this towel that I think used to be my cousin Johnny's, and things were a little better.

Then, just when I was getting to the point where I could at least tolerate the sponge baths, they put me back in a whole dishpan of water! I was visiting Nonna at her old place in Florida when my cord finally fell off, and this was my reward???

Oh, the indignity of the kitchen sink bath and the coffee cup shower!

I'm happy to report that baths have gotten much, much better.

*****

On a final note, I've posted a new poll (near the top of the sidebar to the left) for your consideration. I love musical instruments of all kinds, and my parents keep wondering aloud which one I might want to focus on and eventually start lessons for. I'd like to give my input, but I'm not sure myself. What do you think?

Pudding Picasso

2008-04-27T14:42:00.000-04:00

Everyone has been marveling at how much I've grown in the last, oh, twenty minutes or so. I can now see well over the kitchen table top and into many drawers in which I could only feel around just a week or so ago. I'm also experiencing a high rate of growth between my ears. I'm stringing more and more sentences together (today's top sentence: "I poop. Pee-eww!") and my diction is becoming clearer every day. I'm also crazy about counting; the other day, I took Daddy's hand and counted his fingers (he has five, in case you're wondering).

On to the pictures:

While I was helping Mommy cook, I decided to repurpose my mixing bowl.

I love to brush my teeth. I would brush them ten times a day if I could. When my parents don't remember to give me my toothbrush after I finish getting dressed, I remind them.

I am an excellent helper. The other day, I stole the mop and cleaned the living room floor. I did a good job, but it would have been even better if the mop had been wet.

Today, I cuddled up with my current favorite "blankie" to watch Elmo.

Nonna came over for lunch and we had some corn, except that I wasn't feeling the plate, or the spoon, for that matter.

After the corn, we moved on to pudding. Nonna helped me figure out the spoon angle...

...and I was getting it...

...but I had to incorporate my hand, too, and this is the end result:

I hear we're having something with barbecue sauce for dinner; I can't wait to figure out what I can paint with it!

Springtime in the (other) O.C.

2008-04-19T21:34:00.000-04:00

I am so digging the super weather meant for getting out of the house! We are taking walks with the wagon every day, and I am getting well-acquainted with the various playground apparatuses of the parks of Ohio City. I hope it lasts forever.

Here's what I've been up to:

Nonna came over to visit and we watched Kipper together, and then we told each other stories:

Daddy and I had a lunch date with Matt and Maggie. We walked up to Le Petit Triangle for crepes and fruit cups:

To celebrate Mommy turning in the last of a gazillion papers (only two left this semester!) as well as the nicest day of the year so far, we took the wagon up to Great Lakes and lunched al fresco:

I love to help. In fact, I am determined to help. At. All. Costs. So tonight Mommy let me shake the lentils (I'm not sure why lentils need to be shaken, but I derived a strong sense of accomplishment from it, so it must be important). Then I sat at the table with my new monkey potholders and the other implements I dragged from the cabinets, and I helped her cook:

And now, since I've been up since 5 am and only took one nap today, I'm off to bed.

Okay, Cool

2008-04-11T12:15:00.000-04:00

Greetings from the land of term papers and group projects. I don't know exactly what those things are, but they involve Mommy being gone all the time or dragging strange people through the house who want to huddle around the computer or just being preoccupied when I am trying to get pulled in my wagon. I'm told that if we make it through one more week, then we can pretty much coast through the rest of the semester and into the (drum roll) Summer of Milo! Yes, the Summer of Me is just around the corner. Mommy is going to take the summer off from school to become the full-time coordinator of this exciting event. There is going to be an intensive course of bike-riding offered, as well as seminars in wagon-pulling, swinging, swimming, and picnicking. Field trips will include the library, the West Side Market, the park, and the Y. It promises to be a summer to remember. If we can just get through the semester. I can't wait.

Developmental News: I figure out new ways to express myself daily. I am putting more and more words together to make sentences, which is exhilarating, because sentences get so much more done than just single words. I'm also focusing on conceptual words, like "back" (as in, "Put it back, Milo!"), which I use both to question whether I should be returning something I'm not supposed to touch to its rightful place as well as to indicate when I'm done with something that I want someone else to put back for me.

Another concept I'm learning is ownership: my favorite owner is me, so I like to point out what is mine by labeling it with "I". My parents traded in our old car this week for a new one, and when I get in I like to call dibs on it ("I car!"). Another day this week we cleaned out the front flower beds, and I found a big stick which I used to stir the leaf piles and otherwise cause mischief; when my parents tried to take it away from me, I had to make them see that it was not theirs to take by screaming "I STICK!" at the top of my lungs. Other useful phrases include "I cup," "I chip," "I book," and "I choo-choo!"

I'm not always contrary, though. I like to find consensus wherever I can, so I'm learning to use words to show my agreement or approval. I like "good" (as in "good job," a phrase my parents use when I accomplish something new, or "good boy," a phrase I tell my parents to sanction my antics) as well as "okay" (which is how I respond when they explain what we're going to do) and "cool" (which is how I indicate I really, really like what we're going to do). Another good word is "sad," but I'm not going to elaborate on it because it involves me getting into trouble, a topic on which I do not wish to dwell.

How about some pictures?

Tuesday night my parents and I went with my beloved friend Lynn ("NIN!") to Bar Cento for kids' pizza night. I got my very own chef's toque and Daddy and the chef helped me create my very own potato pizza.

I love to go to Wu's because they treat me like a rock star. This week, I got my very own private room, in which I could run around when I got bored with eating, a complimentary won ton soup, and a very special almond cookie - plus TWO fortune cookies! I was feeling so flush, I tried to pick up the check.

This morning Mommy and I watched a little "Clifford" together, and I demonstrated my advanced climbing skills, which strangely did not impress Mommy. She thinks the couch is for sitting only. How narrow-minded.

Playing Catch-Up

2008-04-01T20:34:00.000-04:00

The problem with everyone in my house being so busy is that the pictures of my fabulousness pile up until there are entirely too many to post at one time. But here are a few highlights of the last two weeks:

On our way home from our big Spring Break trip, we spent some quality time in the Orlando airport, where my parents found my beloved "Blue Train, Green Train" book I first discovered at the library. Once it was in my hands, I refused to be dragged through the airport until I sat down for a few minutes and read it again.
I discovered the listening station at the bookstore. Awesome!

The day before Easter, I went to Nonna's for my first egg hunt.

At Easter Dinner at G.G.'s, I caught up with my cousin Lili.

One unseasonably sunny day last week, we had a chilly picnic at Fairview Park.

Daddy and I met up with Matt and Maggie for coffee and trains at Bela Dubby, swinging and sliding at the park, and finally reading and book-slinging at the library.

Grandpa came to visit! We had lunch at the Westside Market where I got to eat falafel patties and ride on Grandpa's shoulders.

I found the first crocus to bloom in our yard this year. It's my favorite color: purple!

Maggie came over to play and we took my wagon out for a spin.

Let's just say we raised a pretty good ruckus.

Happy Bloggiversary To Me!

2008-03-25T23:06:00.000-04:00

Whoa! I just realized that today is my one year bloggiversary. Wow. Things have sure changed in a year. Not everything, though; a year ago today I posted a picture of myself being distracted by the webcam while Mommy cut my nails, and today Mommy had to watch a whole DVD of Bob the Builder with me in order to get enough cooperation from me to get my nails cut.

What's New and Cool

2008-03-24T20:28:00.000-04:00

Get this, peeps - I am taking my verbal communications to the next level: I am speaking in sentences! Granted, my audible sentences aren't nearly as complex as my written ones. But I'm going to catch the two up in no time. Some recent examples of my two-or-more-word constructions include:

"Where Daddy/Mommy/milk cup/other object with which I am familiar but whose whereabouts are unknown to me?" (said in a quizzical tone with tilted head, raised eyebrows, shrugged shoulders, and upturned palms)
"Nonna bye-bye." (said in a resigned tone after my Nonna walked out the door)
"Choo-choo all gone!" (cried out in most dramatic, mournful and emphatic tone after Daddy had to pry my cousin Alex's trains from my fists when it was time to leave his house)

Does it get any more awesome than that? I highly doubt it.

In other startling developments, after scoring a 1/15 (the 1 being for "walks and runs steadily") last week on the potty-training readiness assessment (with which my parents were totally fine), I have surprised them this week by greeting them with the name of the waste product most filling my diaper (i.e. "pee-pee" or "poo") and pointing to my pants when they come to get me out of bed (and in so doing have doubled my potty readiness score). Granted, I have a number of other steps to climb before I'm in the potty zone, but I'm going to get there eventually, and that must give several people (like my G.G., at whose house I always make sure to drop a deuce, twice) considerable hope.

Another announcement I have to make this week is that I have invited my parents to contribute to this blog. I won't need them to post for me forever, and sometimes they have stuff to tell about me that I don't even know myself, so it's time to do a little tweaking. I'll still be the primary poster - after all, it IS my blog - but maybe sometimes they'll give their side of the story. Just letting you know so you're not surprised if and when you see it happen.

No new pictures this time, because the big people are absorbed in work and school and other things that divert their attention from me, but I'll stay on them until they upload and post the pictures of me in my groovy Easter sweater and matching socks in a submarine theme.

Spring Break - The Movie

2008-03-21T20:00:00.000-04:00

As promised, I sat on my mommy until she finished and posted my spring break movie to YouTube. Sit back and enjoy:

Spring Break '08!

Jiggity Jig

2008-03-18T03:08:00.000-04:00

I'm home again (that's flight #55, for those of you keeping count) after a wild and crazy Spring Break '08 in Florida! My mommy and I are both sick, and my daddy is worn out from taking care of us, plus Mommy has mid-term exams all week, so I won't get to dictate and post my full-on multimedia extravaganza about my trip until later this week. But rest assured that my lip and gums have healed nicely and that I am safe and sound back in my own sweet crib. Here are a few pictures to hold you over for now:

The one shot out of 63 in which Johnny and I were looking up at the same time:

Hanging with my way-cool, in-no-way-geeky, first cousins-once-removed Jessica and Alex:

Look! I'm in a tree!
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...my first Peep, off the top of an extraordinary cupcake decorated like an Easter basket, courtesy of my great Aunt Norma:

(And isn't it nice to see me in shorts again? I love to go to Florida!)

Bathapalooza '08 and Other Adventures

2008-03-10T12:07:00.000-04:00

Hello from Jacksonville, where Mommy and I are hiding out from the crazy winter storm at home. We're here visiting my cousin Johnny ("JAH-JAH!"), Aunt Lissa and Uncle John, and Johnny and I are having the most fun ever, except for the part where I had to go to the hospital.

We have been playing with the most incredible train table and trains and tracks and bridges and all other things trainly that I have ever seen, right in Johnny's living room. I cannot think about anything else when I am in his house but the TRAINS. I never dreamed life could be this rich.

I have done a few other things besides play with trains, though. Uncle Jon came down for the day, and we went to an awesome kids' park where I climbed up the highest slide I have ever been on, all by myself, over and over again, while Uncle Jon kept me from falling off the top. What a thrill! We've also been out to Sierra Grille and to Moe's for quesadillas, and we played ball in the backyard, and we've been shopping, and Johnny and I took a bath together of tsunami proportions, and it's all been just great. Better still, I haven't worn a winter coat since Wednesday!

The only downer has been my trip to the emergency room. Last night when we got home from dinner, Johnny and I were running up the sidewalk to the front door when I tripped and banged headfirst into the concrete and then skidded into the flower bed. Boy, was I upset. Aunt Lissa cleaned me up and Uncle John got my carseat set up in Mommy's car while Mommy ran around in a tizzy, and then Mommy and I went to the hospital, which was kind of cool for a while, because I got to play with a HUGE bead table and there was plenty of room to run in the waiting room. But then it got to be way past my bedtime and I had had enough, so I slept first in Mommy's lap for an hour and then we both slept on an exam table for about three hours until the doctor came to see us. The arrival of the doctor messed up my groove, because he woke me up just to poke at me and squish my face around and shine bright lights in my eyes, and it was so not cool. At least I didn't have to have any stitches, but I have a big old fat lip, and my mouth is pretty sore. I did rip my Frenulum Labii Inferioris, which is a fancy way of saying the little part of my upper lip that attaches to my gums, but mine was already a little funky because it came all the way down to in between my front teeth, so the end result is that I gave myself a little surgery that I was probably going to need eventually anyway. I just did it without anesthesia. How tough am I?

I'm sleeping it off this morning while Johnny's at school, but this afternoon I'm looking forward to running wild with him again. More pictures later, when I have more time.

Primary Hangover

2008-03-05T12:13:00.001-05:00

I don't know about you, but the longer the presidential primary campaigns go, the more nights my parents stay up watching primary returns. Some mornings I wake up wondering, "What happened?" No, really, what did happen? I still don't get what the fuss is about.

My parents took me with them to vote yesterday, all excited about exposing me to the Democratic process, ready to take my picture in the polling booth. But when we got inside the elementary school library where my parents vote, there was a giant wooden train that I absolutely had to climb inside. If big trains are what democracy is all about, then I'm for it! I'm also for oranges and bananas for breakfast. Other than trains and fruit, I don't understand why anyone would get all worked up. It's all a mystery.

So, the other day I went to my Nonna's (her door is the one with the big green apples on it), and she brought out a big bucket of my Uncle Jon's old cars. I was in heaven.

She also gave me a box so I would have a smooth surface for the cars, but I thought it was even more fun to climb in the box with the cars!

I enjoy the independence of manual self-feeding, but I've come to realize that the big people eat almost exclusively with utensils, so I'm giving the silly things a try. They're harder to use than you may realize, but certain foods lend themselves to being speared, such as bananas. Yesterday, I speared my first banana successfully.

Today is another snow day, which is always fun, but I was getting a little cabin fever. I kept climbing on the boxes of new blinds which just arrived for our windows, which my parents had specifically asked me not to do. But climbing around on boxes is just plain fun, so my Mommy finally got smart enough to dig out an empty diaper box for me to play with. I immediately recognized its potential as a train: I put my little plastic baby and my Curious George doll in it and pushed them around the living room while yelling, "CHOO! CHOOOOOOOOO!" I've also been climbing in the box myself and getting my parents to push my train around. Good times.

I really want to watch some more of that dog that my great-Aunt Kathy sent me, so I have to go for now.

Haircut #2; also, Snow Day!

2008-02-26T12:47:00.000-05:00

I finally got another haircut last weekend, which is a good thing, because it was getting hard to see out from under my bangs. Here's the before picture, when my Oma came by to see me after work last week:
And here's the after picture, at breakfast Sunday morning (I was so soundly asleep when we got home Saturday that I slept all night in my clothes!):

**********

Today we're having a snow day. Daddy still had to report for jury duty, but Mommy can stay home all day because her classes were canceled to make room for the media vans swarming the Cleveland State campus today for the Democratic debate tonight. Here's what it looks like in my yard and up and down my street today:

I have learned that one of the snow day rules is that you get to stay in your footed pajamas all day if you want. So I am. This morning I rode on my car around the living room while I watched my beloved Bob the Builder DVD:

I wanted to play in the downstairs bathroom, but Mommy asked me to come out and play in the living room instead, so I brought one of my bathtub flutes out with me:

When I wear my sunglasses, I can see summer coming!

I didn't want to eat my lunch, but then I went back to the trashcan to dig out the mini veggie corn dogs and broccoli I had refused about ten minutes earlier.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...trash can broccoli is so tasty!

After I sat down for lunch a second time, I was ready to read, so I chose "The Snowy Day." Coincidence? Or freakishly smart boy wonder? Who knows?

The After-Party

2008-02-24T10:41:00.000-05:00

I know it's taken a while for me to post, but what can I say? My parents have selfishly put work and school before my blog. I do what I can, but they still have to push the buttons. One day, as soon as I learn to type, and to spell, and the alphabet, and all that, I will post my own material directly, and daily. Until then, I suppose parents will be parents.

So, last Sunday would have been birthday number 3 for my brother, Hans. Every year, we take a little trip. The first year, when I was about the size of a sardine and busy swimming in the maternal ocean, my parents went to New York and saw "Rent". Last year, we went to Troncones, Mexico, and I ate a couple of pounds of beach sand. This year, we went back to New York.

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt that's connected to Grand Central Terminal, and when it was raining I enjoyed running around the long halls and eating in the dining concourse, which had every kind of food I enjoy (quesadillas, naan, ice cream, bagels).

We finally met up with my buddy Adrian Milo and his parents, Amanda and Steve, for some shopping, brunch, and hot chocolate, which was really cool because we are nearly the same age and into the same things, like walking and banging on tabletops.

I played in all the good parks, and I helped my Mommy get a "3" candle for Hans's birthday cupcake. As we left the store, the security guard gave me the giant bunch of red, white, blue, and silver balloons that were flying at the store's entrance, which was more thrilling than I can even describe, but so many balloons were more than I could handle without bopping many fellow sidewalk walkers in the face, so Daddy cut a big, silver, mylar star off for me and Mommy tied it to my stroller, and it was perfect. They let the rest of the balloons float away; we watched them while they mozied down Broadway, then lost them when they turned right on 52nd. Later, I helped Daddy blow out the candle for Hans and then ate 2/3 of his giant chocolate cupcake, which was so good that I couldn't stop saying, "MMMMMMMMMM!!!"

We managed to eat a ton of great food all at restaurants we had never visited before this trip. I had an orange pancake at Jane, tofu skin wraps at Wild Ginger Kitchen, and veggie chicken tenders at ZenBurger, just to name a few culinary highlights. I would tell you more, but I need a nap, so for the rest of the details, watch this movie about my trip:

The Big 5-0

2008-02-15T10:24:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, we went to New York so Daddy could get a new passport. As our plane was taking off, Daddy asked Mommy how many flights I've taken. She didn't know, but they got out a pen and paper and started counting, and they realized that flight was my fiftieth. I don't know what the big deal is, because flying is old hat to me, plus I have no idea what "fiftieth" means, but my parents thought it was really cool.
While Daddy was at the passport office, Mommy put me in the portacrib and went to take a shower. Wasn't she surprised when I leaned over the side of the tub and greeted her with a cheery "Hello!" I didn't let on how I got out, but my parents suspect I jumped over on to their bed, which was closer to me than the floor, to which I say, maybe yes, maybe no.

Since Mommy was all wet, she didn't get any pictures of me climbing out, but she did catch me in the bathroom later, experimenting with the extremely loose toilet paper holders.

After Mommy and I got dressed, we went to Washington Square Park to wait for Daddy. I was promised a trip to the dog park, but much of the park is being remodeled or something, and Mommy felt it wasn't safe to take me through the construction zone to get to the temporary dog runs. We tried to at least see the dogs through the fence, but it was not working out, so we went to the construction-free end of the park and enjoyed a snack of peanut butter cracker sandwiches. Then I tried to share one of my sandwiches with a pigeon, but I didn't have enough for all the pigeons who wanted to hang out with me, so we moved on to the playground to avoid getting pecked to death. This slide was the perfect size for me to climb up and slide down by myself. I also discovered I could run down the slide, much to Mommy's dismay.

After Daddy met us, we had a yummy lunch at Red Bamboo, where I ate bamboo nuggets, basmati rice, broccoli, and chocolate fortune cookies! MMMMM, I love fortune cookies. Then we stopped in one of the nearby parks (I can't remember all their names), where I hugged this seal.

I'm getting tall enough to hold on to handrails and to take at least some stairs by myself. See?

We stopped at Jacques Torres to warm up with some cinnamon hot chocolate and some orange hot chocolate and, for me, chocolate milk. They had the biggest stuffed animals I have ever seen in my entire life in there!

After a whole day of playing and walking around, I was ready to unwind with some dinner and some funny face-making with Daddy.
The Holiday Inn Express on 29th has the best hotel breakfast ever, and on the first morning I sat at a table like a big boy and ate french toast and bananas, but the second morning we were all pooped, so Mommy brought our breakfast upstairs to us. The desk was too high for me to eat at - until we pulled out the lower desk drawer.
******

I don't really remember Valentine's Day from last year, but I have learned it is a great day. I got all this mail, addressed to ME, like a card from my Oma and Ono, and another one from my Grandma T. My Nonna gave me this cool backpack with my very own sleeping bag inside. Part of it is green and covered in frogs, and part of it is purple, which is currently my favorite color. Or at least, it's the color I can best recognize and pronounce thus far.
My parents gave me some Valentine-y Little People, and my very own DVDs of Elmo and Bob the Builder. I love Elmo and all that, but I am completely mezmerized by Bob the Builder. He can fix it, yes he can!

Hugs and Valentine Kisses to all!

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

2008-02-05T13:44:00.000-05:00

I have a little bit of the blues today, what with the rain and all, plus my upcoming 18-month-checkup shots coming later this week, so I'm looking back on fond memories from the last week to cheer myself up. You're welcome to cheer yourself up here, too.

It was good to finally be healthy and in town at the same time so I could catch up with Maggie and her dad Matt at Bela Dubby the other day. I was so happy to see Matt that I ran up to him and hugged him; he's always been a favorite of mine. Maggie has really grown up; I could tell because she was into the trains I shared with her. I expect she'll be hanging out with me at the train table in another month or so.

Boy, do I enjoy a good peanut butter-and-raspberry jam on crusty bread left over from the soup my parents got from the Souper Market and ate while I was asleep. It's lucky for them that I love bread and am not that into soup, and that they at least saved me some bread.

Finally, here I am relaxing in my monkey chair with a good book. Of late, I am obsessed with two categories of books: books about vehicles and books about potties.

The Grind

2008-01-30T19:45:00.001-05:00

I'm finally getting over my horrible cold and getting into the routine of the new year. Sometimes I go to my Grandma T's, and sometimes I go to my Nonna's, and sometimes I'm with one of my parents, but on the weekends I get to hang with both my parents.

In developmental news, I'm working on all things color-related, like practicing the names of the colors and learning to use crayons and markers. I've started to use the word "walk" and I am crazy, crazy, crazy about the word "eat" which gets an even better reaction than the sign for more or just general screaming.

Here I am playing at home last week, but the important thing about this picture is, how much do I look like my Uncle Sean???
I love, love, love to play with Legos and MegaBlocks!

My friend Marixa FINALLY got to come home a couple of weeks ago after working in Panama for eight months, and on Saturday Marixa and Jim came over for pizza. Here, I was showing Jim my groovy new monkey chair my Oma made me:

We listened to some cool music by Marixa's cousin's band, El Papo Vecino:

For Uncle Jon, another shot of me sporting the Tebow jersey he gave me:
I'll be back soon with new adventures I have planned!

Sick Day

2008-01-18T14:11:00.001-05:00

Greetings from the house of fever and phlegm! We are all sick at my house, and let me tell you, it is not cool. I have never felt so bad, but the upside is that I am getting to cuddle non-stop. I'm also getting extra baths, but why must they be so cold??? Here I am, having a bubble bath with Daddy (and the bubbles do kind of compensate for the coldness, I must say):

Yesterday, Daddy had to go to work, and Mommy and I were both pretty weak, so Daddy took us over to Nonna's, and I cuddled all day with Mommy while Nonna took care of us. Today, Daddy is sicker, and Mommy has the day off from school, so we can all stay home together. My fever has finally broken, and although my nose is a fountain of grossness, I feel well enough to play a little. Here I am, toting around my little people in my man bag:

I still feel like being snuggly, though. Here I am, snuggling into the afghan Aunt Terry made my parents when they got married, playing owl:

And here I am reading my Wiggles coloring book. When I was in Italy, I watched the Wiggles on the satellite TV in our apartment several times and enjoyed dancing with them:

*****

The other day, Mommy and I were looking at the hits I get on this blog and found some odd search terms that brought people here. Some make sense, sort of, like "grandmas blues" which would have matched my great-grandma blues post of last May. Someone with a TV star crush searched "laura prepon like and dislikes," which is a tiny bit creepy (and ungrammatical) and hit the post where my parents went to the Late Late Show taping and Laura Prepon was a guest. The weirdest one, though, was "moview [sic] where man crawled like a dog." I get why the person hit here, what with my crawling and and my movies and my dog theme, but I'm a little disturbed about the person who typed in that search.

*****

Before I got sick, I tried on the Tebow jersey Uncle Jon sent me for Christmas. To all my Buckeye friends, I want to say: Don't be haters!

Like a Big Pizza Pie

2008-01-18T13:27:00.000-05:00

I loved Italy so much, maybe because Italy loved ME: the bread, the biscotti, the beautiful women who stopped in the streets to rub my cheek and tell me how bello I was. I wish my parents had taken pictures of that. Anyway, here are the other highlights of my trip:

Holiday Highlights

2008-01-15T08:07:00.000-05:00

Since Daddy went back to work and Mommy went back to school, I can't get much help updating this blog. I would do it all myself, but since I can't read (I mean, I can read, but I can't read read), it's kind of hard to know which buttons to push to make this thing go (although I have had some success with the random button pushing method on remote controls). And speaking of reading, I guess I can read read a little: I have recently spontaneously identified the letter "O" and the number "2" on public signage, much to my parents' shock, so I suppose next week I'll be reading "War and Peace".

Anyway, I got my Mommy to finish the holiday season highlight reel, so here it is; next up, my Italy video!

World Weary

2008-01-13T10:21:00.000-05:00

Ciao, everyone. I'm home, and I'm tired. I slept over 14 hours when we got home, and I'm still a little off, but it was worth it. I had such a great time in Italy, getting to be with both of my parents 24/7, and I'll finish telling you all about it soon, but I need another nap right now.

I will close with the news that I am now referring to myself by name, i.e. "MONDO" - which is pretty appropriate for me, since I'm a mondo kind of guy, don't you think? - or sometimes "MINOT" (as in, the "Magic City" of North Dakota), depending on my self-perception on any given day. Or, if I repeat my name over and over, it morphs into "DAHDO" and then into something like the way I say Thank You. I like to go around the table and name everyone: DaDa, MaMa, and [insert self-selected name of day here]. It's pretty cool.

30 Seconds

2008-01-10T06:43:00.000-05:00

I am utilizing the laundromat computer to let you know I am alive and well in Rome and will update you with pictures of me at the Spanish Steps, me at the Colosseum, me at the finest playgrounds in Rome, etc, as soon as I get home, Friday or Saturday. I must also report that I have learned to say Ciao, sort of (it sounds like DAO when I say it), so on that note let me say, Ciao for now!

Italy, Continued

2008-01-06T14:25:00.001-05:00

Hello again from Spoleto! Here's my latest installment in my travelogue:

We end most nights at the Caffe Garibaldi, at the bottom of our street, where they give me perfectly warmed and frothy milk and always, always, an extra cookie. My parents drink cups of hot chocolate that remind them of Madrid, and I talk to everyone going by, which is one of the great things about Spoleto - everyone wants to talk to me and tell me how good-looking I am. I love this place. Anyway, the other night, while we waited for our treats, Mommy brought out the paper and crayons Nonna got me and I exercised my inner artiste:

Every time they bring out the plate of cookies, I gasp with pleasure. I especially like the ones dipped in chocolate!
Yesterday, we were very good tourists and saw a bunch of the sights. Here, I burned off all the energy I had built up in the stroller by running around like a madman in the piazza in front of the Duomo, a big, famous church:

I climbed ALL THESE STEPS up from the Duomo, with no assistance but holding Mommy's hand.

Here's the whole front of the Duomo, from those steps:

After the duomo, we walked on up to the Rocca, the big stone fortress that used to protect the town in, I don't know, days of yore or whatever. We walked all the way around it and found the Ponte di Torre bridge, which took our breath away.
Here's the bridge:

Daddy walked out on the bridge and found this spectacular view:

Mommy and I stayed on land and cheered Daddy on:
We went to lunch then at Osteria del Matto (Matto means MADMAN - how great is that!), and the owner was so nice to me: he showed me all of his Pinocchio puppets and gave me a ballpoint pen with which to mark up my brown paper placemat (and my hands, and my face, and my shirt), plus he had the best bread. My parents dined on pasta e fagoli soup and four kinds of bruschetta (garlic, arugula and radicchio, mushroom, and celery pesto), fried mozzarella, fried cauliflower, and potatoes cooked in olive oil and cider vinegar, but I only had eyes for the bread. For the record, I have been eating broccoli and cauliflower and cheese pizza and other things at our apartment, but when we go out, I can't keep my hands off the bread! I love that bread!

I have essentially ignored the time difference between Italy and the US. I wake up around 11:30 am or so, take a nap at about 3:00 pm, am put to bed in my pajamas at about 8:00 pm - but treat it as my afternoon nap, which means I get up about 10:00 pm and am ready to play until midnight or 1:00. The other night, when I woke up at night, I discovered my parents eating olive oil/tomato/basil potato chips, and I made clear the necessity of them sharing with me. In fact, I probably ate half the bag. Afterwards, I was a little chip-drunk. This is what a 1:00 am chip hangover looks like:

Today, shortly after we got up (very, very late), the power in our apartment went out, so we got dressed, buzzed our host extraordinaire Laurie and let him know about our problem, then headed out in search of lunch.

It was drizzling, so not to many people were out, and we strolled up and down the hilly streets until we landed at Trattoria del Festival, where I had a fantastic lunch of potatoes (cut like a potato chip but cooked like a French fry) and big brown beans in a tangy sweet glaze. My parents had soup - zuppa di farro, a lentil and bulghur soup that made my Daddy happy on a rainy day, and zuppa di whatever those brown beans were, which was sort of sweet like baked beans and from which my Mommy fished out all the beans I could eat, which was a large number. Then they ate an omelette with local black truffles and a pasta I can't name but which was 2" wide and 4" long (more or less) and flat, tossed with tomatoes and garlic and other things and a crazy amount of olive oil. Those dishes weren't my thing, but they loved them, so I guess that's what matters.

After lunch, we strolled and window-shopped a little more, and I got to watch this fountain in the Piazza di Mercato, but the rain was starting to pick up, so we headed home...

...to find that our electricity problem was solved! Ciao until next time!

The Winter 08 Travelogue, Parte Due

2008-01-03T14:11:00.000-05:00

Ciao, my pretties! I’m taking a break from living la vita here in Spoleto to update you on the last few days.
Monday morning, still in New York, I woke up bright and early, so we walked around the corner to EuroPan, had some French toast, and watched the neighborhood wake up.

Then we went back to the hotel for a shower, which was, frankly, a disaster. I had been enjoying walking into the (dry) shower and waving to my parents in the bedroom through the big window that made up the outside wall of the shower, and I’ve taken many a shower on the road in the past. But stepping into the running shower that day just freaked me out, even after Daddy got in with me and held me. It just took all of the fun out of shower windows.

We had lunch at Vegetarian Paradise 2, where I enjoyed broccoli and rice and not much else, then we picked up our takeout order from Red Bamboo for the plane. We also went shoe shopping, which was completely boring, because there were zero kids’ shoes, plus my parents each tried on about a hundred pairs of shoes and bought none of them. The only saving grace was the store cat, who didn’t seem to mind me yelling and waving at it.

I got to ride another train, this time back to the airport, and I was feeling pretty excited when we boarded the plane. A man stopped Mommy in the aisle, laughed, and asked her if she had given me any codeine. He turned out to be sitting right in front of me, so I got him back for that little comment by rasping the soles of my pajama feet on the tray table on the back of his seat, all night long.

I didn’t sleep so well on the plane, so I was glad to get off and take a couple of trains, first from the airport to the central train station, on which I got dressed for the day, and then on the second train, to Spoleto, on which I finally slept peacefully for an hour and a half.

When I woke up, I was in a parking lot looking at a man named Laurie, who took us in his car to the apartment that is our home for a week. I have a cozy room of my own, with a play yard nearly identical to the one I have at home, and a long, wide hallway in which I can run back and forth to my heart’s content. At the end of the hallway is the living room, which has a little table the perfect height for me to play at, a TV that has a channel of nothing but Teletubbies and Pingu and assorted other shows that only a kid my age could love, and big glass doors leading to a big terrace; when it’s nice, I can run around and around the terrace, and when it’s bleak, I can still see outside.

When we arrived Tuesday, we all took long naps, but when we woke up, we took a walk all around the town, and I climbed almost the whole way from our apartment (at the lower end of the upper town) to nearly the top.

Then we ate at a restaurant across the street from us, Osteria del Trivio, where I refused to eat anything but bread but my parents ate tiny savory tartlets, big slabs of creamy cheese, olive oil-soaked pieces of toast topped with creamy, lemony spinach and vinegary tomatoes, and little cups of melted cheese drizzled with balsamic syrup, with the rind of the cheese folded over the top so that they looked like little oysters. They also ate tagliatelle with porcini and tomatoes and spinach ravioli, but I was still exclusively interested in the bread basket. Since I wasn’t crazy about the food, the host picked me up and took me back to the kitchen for a tour, and then he gave me a wooden Santa ornament, which was pretty cool.

Yesterday, we all slept in, and then we walked out into the sunshine and had lunch at a bar in the Piazza Garibaldi. My parents ate a spinach and cabbage dish with olive oil and salt, and an eggplant parmesan baked into a toast cup, but I was still only feeling the bread, plus a few peanut butter crackers my parents offered me in desperation. After lunch, we walked all over the upper (old) town, peered down at the ancient Roman Theater from Piazza Liberta, and shopped at the grocery store.

At one intersection in town, there were two elevators, by themselves, that went somewhere underground, and we were feeling adventurous, so we went down, to find ourself in a long tunnel with many escalator ramps. We went all the way to one end, where there were elevators up to the street across from a hotel. Then we went all the way down to the other end - and found a parking garage. It was sort of strange.

Back up at street level, we found a slightly muddy playground, and I got out of the stroller and went nuts. I went down all the slides, and took a ride on the swings, and see-sawed, and climbed all over and through a play train, and gave my parents heart attacks when I ran right off the edge of one of the many terraces on the playground. I was fine, if a bit muddy, but my parents were all freaked out, so they dusted me off and put me back in the stroller and started the hike back home. Mommy made a frittata with broccoli and cauliflower in it for dinner, thinking I would be happy to eat my favorite foods, but I wasn’t interested, although I did finally eat something not made of bread: almost a whole, huge apple.

This morning, my parents tried to tempt me with croissants stuffed with jam and a panini stuffed with goat cheese and arugula from the bakery at the bottom of our street, but I wasn’t fooled - I knew it wasn’t just bread, and I wouldn’t touch the stuff. We decided to have a lazy day today, since it’s kind of bleak out and we're still not quite on the local schedule, and I’ve enjoyed just running around in my pajamas and reading books and eating apples and drinking milk - lots and lots of milk. I was finally tempted this afternoon by the pizza my Mommy made, and I didn’t even pick off the cheese or the tomatoes, like I usually do. Maybe tonight, I’ll branch out even further - we’re headed out for gelato now, so it seems like as good a time as any to eat something besides bread.

Ciao for now!

When in Rome, if I were actually in Rome

2007-12-31T00:15:00.000-05:00

Those of you who knew my parents finally decided to go to Italy for our after-Christmas trip were probably expecting this last post of 2007 to tell you all about my trans-Atlantic transit. Instead - surprise! - I'm hiding out at the Hudson in Manhattan with my parents.

It's a long story, people: first, we delayed leaving a day because we were all sick. Then, my Daddy's passport went mysteriously missing; after hours and hours and hours of searching (and missing the last possible flight of that day), my parents found it in the bookcase, between travel guides for Egypt and Chile. I wonder how it got there; maybe the mystery is related to the case of the missing "Happy Feet" rental DVD that turned up in the bookcase between the Scrabble Dictionary and the Sign Language Dictionary last week.

In a separate and completely unrelated note, I've recently developed an interest in helping. I like to put my toys in the big silver trash can in the kitchen, the one with the fascinating foot pedal, and I pitch in and take the silverware out of the dishwasher and set it on the floor for my parents to finish putting up, and after I finish reading I enjoy putting my books - and anything that remotely resembles a book - back in the bookcase. My altruism knows no bounds.

So, as I was saying, we had a couple of hiccups in taking off, and then when we were all ready to leave, there were no seats left on any flights to the greater New York area, because of all the flight cancellations due to weather earlier in the week, so we couldn't make the Saturday night flight to Rome or Milan, either, and my Daddy's airline doesn't fly to Rome on Sundays. But my parents felt that overall household morale was sinking, the longer we waited to leave, so we went ahead and took the very last flight to Newark last night, the only one with any seats, even though it was too late to connect anywhere else, and we're starting our vacation now.

Despite nothing about this trip going according to plan so far, we are having a splendid time together. First, at the Cleveland airport, the electric cart driver offered to take me and Mommy for a ride, and I have never been so excited in my whole entire life. Apparently, I rode in an electric cart one time when I was a baby and Mommy and I flew to see Nonna, but I can't remember it, and at any rate I was too young to appreciate the thrill. I squealed so loudly, the entire way down the concourse, that my Daddy heard me from five gates away. Then, everyone on the plane was so nice that I said "hi" and "bye" to someone in every single row as we went down the aisle, and I shook a few hands, too. Also, my Daddy's cousin Todd was on our plane, so we got to catch up with him when we landed in Newark.

Another cool thing last night was that I got to sleep with my parents! Again, I am told I did it often when I was little, but whatever - I haven't done it in months and it was so exciting. My Mommy said it was like going to bed with a puppy; maybe it was because I was wearing my puppy pajamas - I don't know. Anyway, Mommy had to go nuts on a shuttle driver and make a bunch of people that had jumped in the shuttle in front of us move in order to get us there, but we had a swell night together.

This morning, the fun just kept coming. First, I got to eat a DONUT, IN BED, while I watched THOMAS on TV, and then I got to ride TWO trains!!! Does it get any better than that? When we got to New York and dropped our bags at the hotel, we went out and did a bunch of fun stuff, like play on the swings at the Hell's Kitchen playground, and eat sweet yam fries at Zen Palate, and climb all over the brand-new playscape at Heckscher Playground, and eat a couple of donut holes while dancing in my stroller to the music of the people's boom box on the next bench in Columbus Circle, and then chill in the Hudson lobby with a nice cold cup of milk. After all that fun, I enthusiastically explored our hotel room and then settled in for a two-hour nap before heading back out for a cheese and bean quesadilla at Lime Jungle and a sprinkle cookie at the EuroPan outpost around the corner from our hotel.

I'm just about to drop off to sleep now, but when I wake up I'm going shoe shopping and then having lunch at our family's favorite place in the whole city, Red Bamboo, before I go back to the airport and finally GO TO ITALY as planned, just four days late. I leave you with a few photo highlights of my day:

Surveying the scene at the Hudson

Swinger

Catch me if you can!

I finished this apple juice you left on the table; let's open another one!

Milestone: Tonight I sat at an adult-height table on an adult-height banquette,
without use of highchair or booster seat, and ate my dinner like the big boy I am.

Happy New Year!

The Christmas Photo Spectacular

2007-12-25T19:02:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to all! Let me just say that if your holiday season has been half as stupendous as mine, you are very lucky indeed. In addition to the events about which I've already posted, I've had a two-day blowout with my friend Desmond, Christmas Eve dinner at my Oma's, Christmas Morning at home, and Christmas Dinner at my Grandma T's! It's been all Christmas, all the time here for the last week-and-a-half, and all I can say is, WOW! (which, by the way, I've been heard saying quite a bit lately).

Desmond and family's visit

Desmond's dad, Randy, played robots with me. He built a huge robot, and I took it apart.
Desmond really dug my activity center!

We got to go to a hockey game together. I screamed at the top of my lungs for the Lake Erie Monsters.

I enjoyed the soft pretzels in our suite, so I thought Desmond might want to try one, too.

We were all on pins and needles when the game went into overtime, but our team finally lost. Still, I had such a fantastic time at my first hockey game that I hardly cared.

Christmas Eve

Bailey and I couldn't wait to open our presents!

Uncle Sean and Oma helped me figure out the siren on my new FIRE TRUCK!

Boy, do I love my Oma!

Oma made Bailey and me our very own lounge chairs and a sleeping bag for Spencer.

After such an exciting night, it was soooo hard to go to sleep.

Christmas Morning

I'm still not sure about the paper being on the presents, but I was happy to have Daddy unwrap my presents for me. Ever since I hung out with my older cousin Johnny last month, I have been crazy for cars, and both my parents and Johnny and his family gave me little cars. Mommy was surprised that I knew the difference between emergency vehicles (WEE-oo! WEE-oo!) and passenger vehicles (Vroon! Vroon!).

Legos!!!

I gave Daddy a travel calendar. He showed me pictures in it of places he has been.

I gave Mommy a Lucinda Williams CD, and she LOVED it!

Santa brought me my very own table and chairs, which are my size. I got to eat my Christmas breakfast of raspberry scone and mozzarella string cheese at my new table.

Christmas Dinner

I was really happy to see my cousin Lilli.

My cousin Kyle makes me laugh and laugh and laugh!

Aunt Terry and I opened presents together.

Bailey and Lilli and I all got our very own WAGONS! When I walked out on to Grandma T's porch, where the wagons had been hiding, I let out a big "Woooooooowwwwwwww!!!"

I love to play with my cousin Austin. He even let me try on his cap.

I am pooped after all this celebrating, plus I'm working on another tooth or two, so I'm off to bed. I hope your dreams are as sweet as mine!

Christmas with Nonna

2007-12-22T15:13:00.001-05:00

Last night my parents and I went to my Nonna's to celebrate Christmas with her; she is going to see my cousin Johnny next week. I gave her some sock monkey pajamas so we can match when I have sleepovers with her, and she gave me some really cool stuff, including a Mega Blocks Noah's Ark, which has all of these cool animals on it, like penguins, and turtles (with which I slept last night because I refused to surrender them at bedtime). I ate delicious crackers, garlic bread, and raisins - to my mind, the perfect meal - but everyone else had to eat lasagna and pecan pie. I felt bad for them.

When I woke up this morning, I heard another kid in the house! It turns out Desmond and his parents Randy and Jenny had arrived after I went to sleep with the turtles, and we get to spend the whole weekend together. Next time, I'll tell you all about it.

Choo-Choo Dreams

2007-12-16T11:46:00.000-05:00

There is so much going on with me, it's a wonder I can even get out of bed. But I do, because I am the kind of guy who doesn't want to miss a thing. Grandpa came to see us this weekend, and I had a great time with him, which I will describe to you later in this post, and I am working overtime putting everything together. For example, the other day Mommy and I were shopping, and I was pointing out everything I saw to her, and she said to me, "Milo, you are just a delight!" I looked up and pointed to the light fixtures and then looked at Mommy to show her I understood she was talking about lights. I don't know why she said I was a light, but it must be one of those figurative things big people say that are nonsensical, like when they call my toes "piggies".

Another thing I've learned this week is about knocking on the door. I love to knock on doors and have people I love open them. I really like saying, "knock, knock!" I'm also known for my love of keys, and my interest in putting them in door locks, but this weekend when we were all going bye-bye, I went to the drawer where my parents put the keys, opened it, took them out, and tried to open the door for everyone so we could get going. I haven't quite figured out how to make the door open, but I'll keep working on it.

Talking and singing are some of my favorite things to do, and I'm getting better at them every day. This week I've started saying "wow" and "grandpa" (which sounds like "umph-ah"), and I've been making up tons of new songs in the car, as well as singing along to some of Daddy's favorite songs that have rhythmic vocals. And in my REALLY big developmental news, this morning I picked up my book Inside, Outside, Upside Down, opened it to the last page, and said, "Mama! Mama!" - which is how the text on that page starts. Does that count as reading? Mommy said that's how she learned to read, and she was really proud of me. I don't know if there's anything better in the whole world than reading, unless it's...

...playing with trains! "Choo-choo!" is one of my favorite words, and one of my Christmas presents from my Grandpa was my very own Thomas the Tank Engine. I can't get enough of it. I took my nap with it yesterday. I played with it all day long and took it everywhere I went. I took it to bed with me last night, and when I woke up in the middle of the night, instead of crying for my parents, I just played with Thomas in my crib. I can push it and it will go all the way across the room, or one of the stronger big people can push the engineer's head down, and it goes all by itself. You cannot imagine how amazing it is.

But really, the last two days have been non-stop amazing. First, Mommy finished the semester Thursday night, so Friday was the first day of ONE WHOLE MONTH we have together without any school interference. Then, when I got up from my morning nap, Grandpa arrived. I hadn't seen him in about two months, so I wasn't sure if it was okay to hug him at first. But I did recognize him, and I showed him by going over to the scooter he gave me for my birthday and pointing it out to him first thing.

In no time at all, though, we were two peas in a pod, and we read books and went on scooter rides and even did happy dances together. For lunch, we went to the West Side Market, and I got to sit up in the balcony to eat my zucchini empanada, and then Grandpa got an apricot pastry and shared it with me, and it was scrumptious. That evening, Bailey and Aunt Jillian and Uncle Sean came over, and we all went to Sokolowski's University Inn together. Bailey and I got to sit together, and we shared some rolls and banged our spoons on the table in time with each other.

After dinner, everyone came back to my house, and we opened PRESENTS! I'm still not sure about the paper on top of everything, but boy do I love the stuff inside all that paper! I had such a good time and loved everything, but I kept coming back to Thomas. I'm telling you, he is the best. My parents told me that this weekend was just the first of several Christmases I'm having this year, but I can't believe it.

Yesterday, I got to hang out with Grandpa, and we watched "Happy Feet" together, which Grandpa said reminded him of me, because I do a little running-in-place dance when I'm really excited. I even got to eat my lunch in the living room while we watched the movie. Last evening, we went to my Great-Aunt Barb and Great-Uncle John's house, and you would not believe all the trains: I had my Thomas, plus there was a toy one there that Uncle John helped me put together and another one that ran around the base of the Christmas tree that went really fast and flashed its lights and made a ton of noise - it was so exciting. After we came home, I had a little visit with our friend Jim and then I fell into bed with exhaustion.

I was supposed to have a Christmas brunch with my friend Maggie this morning, but I woke up with a fever, which is not fun at all, because I couldn't go out to breakfast or anything cool like that. But Mommy and I are staying home together, and we have been reading all my books that have trains in them, and listening to Christmas music, and drinking chocolate milk - I should be feeling better in no time at all.

Vive la difference

2007-12-11T10:24:00.000-05:00

What a difference a year makes: to the left is little old me one year ago yesterday, while below is me exactly one year later. Ah, so much has changed.

A year ago, I was toothless, virtually bald, and could barely hold my head up; now, I have about ten teeth (I'm not letting anyone in my mouth long enough for an accurate count), a luscious head of hair, and I can run and jump and dance and dive across my parents' bed. It's hard to believe I'm the same person!

A year ago, my big social achievements were crying for milk, perking up when I smelled milk, and occasionally smiling. Now, I have a developed sense of humor, I laugh like a hyena, and I can ask for exactly what I want to eat ("apple?", "cheese?", "bread?", "broccoli?"). My consistent spoken vocabulary also includes "Daddy," "ball," "star," "tree," "up," "down," "bye-bye," "hi," "dog," "button," "hat," and countless others, plus I try out new words daily and demonstrate my understanding of words I can't say yet. I can also recreate the sounds made by cows, ducks, sheep, bears, dogs, and monkeys, not to mention trains and cars, and I can give high-fives, wave hello and good-bye, and use the hand sign for "more." The world is my oyster! Not that I can say oyster, of course, but at least I can effectively communicate my desire for it.

My imagination is definitely on the rise. I've been putting on Daddy's hat and Mommy's shoes lately, and I spend ten or fifteen minutes at a time trying to put my toy keys in the front door lock and then pretending to open the door. And yesterday, at lunch, I scooted a french fry across the tabletop while saying, "Choo-choo!"

I've been enjoying the Christmas trees at Nonna's and Grandma T's, but Sunday morning when I woke up I found TWO Christmas trees in my own house! There's a big tree, with many of the balls that I love on it, and underneath are a bunch of packages in paper that looks like candy that I would really like to investigate. However, my parents have put my old corral around that tree, so all I can is look and point. There's a little tree, though, with stars and snowflakes, that I can touch all I want. And I do.

Sweet 16

2007-12-03T00:59:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, I was 16 months old yesterday! I know, I know, it seems ancient, but I know kids even older than me. It's true! We all just keep growing and stuff. At the bottom of this post is a celebratory morph of me, updated for my new mile-marker. I'll try to update it monthly.

Yesterday morning, my parents and I went to breakfast with Oma and Ono to celebrate Oma's birthday. I practiced saying, "Happy Birthday, Oma!" in the car, but it was a rather big pronouncement for me, and once we got to the restaurant, I was too overwhelmed to attempt it. I did, however, enjoy my french toast and throwing my Hot Wheels on the floor repeatedly (and quite obviously on purpose). Even better was getting both Oma and Ono to wear my owl glasses and say, "Hoo! Hoo!" You've never seen anything so hysterical. I could have watched that show all day.

The Milo Morph

2007-11-24T19:35:00.000-05:00

Or, how my Mommy avoided doing homework this afternoon:

T(of)urkey Trot

2007-11-23T23:55:00.000-05:00

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

Happy Leftovers!

view alternately on YouTube

Prince Valiant

2007-11-19T19:24:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-18T17:51:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-07T20:47:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-05T09:21:00.000-05:00

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.

Box Boy

2007-10-30T10:13:00.000-04:00

Hi, everybody! Just thought I'd give you a chance to see my latest cuteness:

I stopped by Oma's house for a little visit with her and Winston.

Oma read to me while I tried to put some square pegs in some round holes. I guess I'm a free thinker.

Is there anything cuter than a baby, er, rather, a BIG BOY in a box? My mommy put me in the box to distract me from pushing the buttons on the oven, which I feel compelled to do at every opportunity.

I stopped by Grandma T's house to show her my frog costume and play with her rubber elephant.

At the Rocktoberfest dinner, my friend Maggie came as a kangaroo. She even had her own baby kangaroo in her pouch!

Mommy distracted David Beckham (Orson) and Princess Zelda so I could steal their carrots.

My neighbors Lynn, Denise the Cat, and Joel got acquainted. Lynn and I had a good time playing together.

Dyan had a visit with Sara, Maggie and Matt.

Princess Zelda borrowed Dyan's zany costume to disguise herself from her many adoring subjects.

Daddy was a hula girl, but he had to change out of his coconut bra after I broke it. I just wanted to see what was going on in there.

David and I got in on the story Toni read to Orson and Zelda.

Yesterday, after Mommy came home from school, Daddy made us sandwiches and we went on a windy picnic at Greenwood Park. After we ate the sandwiches and peanut butter Rice Krispie treats, I took a crunchy walk in the leaves, and then I graduated from the baby slide to the big kid slide.

That's all for now - see you next time!

Party Animal

2007-10-19T10:15:00.000-04:00

Between all the partying and all the playing, it's a wonder I have time to sleep. But I must be getting at least enough sleep to be healthy, because my pediatrician was pleased with my growth and development at my almost-15 months checkup. At 14 months and 2 weeks, I weighed 23 lbs 9.6 oz (moving me up to the 40th percentile), and I was 2' 6.51" (the 38th percentile), while my head was 47.5 cm (the 60th percentile - it must be all those books I read making my brain expand).

At home, I've excited my parents by learning the opposite of my favorite word ("UP!"), which is down ("dah"). I've also been really into singing my original compositions about babies and milk, and into making fierce, funny faces for comic effect. My unassisted walking continues to blossom, a little at a time; I've figured out that it's easier for me to balance if I'm holding on to something, anything (like a Little People figurine or a puzzle piece or a sippy cup), even though it's not attached to anything holding me up.

Since I last posted, I've celebrated Mommy's 38th birthday and my great-uncle Dale's 50th birthday. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to live so long. Wow. Anyway, here are the pictures of my antics in the last week and a half:

Afternoon coffee with my bgf Maggie and her parents at Talkies in Ohio City.

Birthday brunch for my mommy, hosted by Nonna, attended by me, my Oma, and Grandma T.

Big enough to be trusted to sit on the bench in the fitting room and eat my snack and not get down on the floor and fling hangers around.

Uncle Dale's 50th Birthday Party at the Winking Lizard in Lakewood:
he really loved the pink Tinkerbell purse I helped pick out for him.

Visiting with the Trusko clan at the party.

I really dug Uncle Dale's pretty birthday necklace.

When I got really tired, my cousin Ashley let me snuggle up with her.
I am all about nooks and crannies lately. I love to play behind the small couch and under the big couch and anywhere there's a me-sized space.

While Daddy took Mommy to Cleveland Public Theatre to see "AtTENtion Span" and to the Flying Fig for dinner, I went to Oma and Ono's house and played with Oma's friend Vicky; we got along so well that I made the effort to say her name.
Also, Oma helped me make a handprint painting and framed it for me to give Mommy for her birthday; Mommy loved it, and put it on the shelf next to my handprints from last year, which are really small in comparison.

Doing some serious walking on the plaza in front of the eastside Trader Joe's.
I love that Trader Joe's has shopping carts in my size!
The eastside Trader Joe's also has sidewalk chess.
I played pretty well considering I had never played chess.

Drumsticks are great for drumming but also for chewing, pointing, and waving around like a magic wand.I like to help.

How handsome am I in my French-looking, chocolate Tofutti moustache?

Nonna came over for a sleepover when my parents went to the Uz Jsme Doma show, and she taught me how to blow on my pinwheel.

Have you ever seen feet cuter than these? I highly doubt it.

Sunday Stroll

2007-10-14T10:14:00.000-04:00

I did it! I did it! I took my first step! Then, I took a few more! I think it's great, but for some reason, my parents both started crying. I don't know what's wrong with them. When I took my first step, to Daddy, Mommy was right there ready to video it, since they kind of felt like it was coming. And then I did it, and there were hugs, and laughs (me) and tears (my silly parents), and then Mommy rushed to download the video to the computer - and realized she didn't press the button on the camera all the way and missed it. Doh! Fortunately, I felt like doing it a couple more times this morning, so she caught it on the third try:

Or if you prefer YouTube, you can watch my step here.

So Close

2007-10-12T21:48:00.001-04:00

I want to walk soooooo badly. I will grab anyone's hands if they will walk with me. I'm just not sure about walking without a big person's hand. It seems a little dicey. I've had a bunch of walking practice lately. My parents and I went to New York Sunday and Monday, and when I wasn't cruising in my stroller I did some good walking there. Tonight, Mommy and I went on the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood's Haunted House walk with our neighbors Lynn and Joel, and I walked as much as the big people could tolerate, and then just a little more. I can't speak for anyone else, but I had a great time.

Here I am, in my very own seat, en route to La Guardia. I took my new baby (AKA "Baby") for his first plane ride. I had to give him his pacifier to keep him quiet.

I loved watching the horses in Central Park, and for a little while, I was content to hang out in the grass with my parents.

But then I was ready to go already.

I gave Daddy a really intense workout, trying to keep up with me. By the time we left, I had a good bit of Central Park absorbed in the knees of my pants.

While I was off running around, Baby kicked back with a cold drink.

On Monday, I got my walking practice in at Columbus Park in Brooklyn, which was fitting, since it was Columbus Day.

Finally, it's gotten cool enough to wear my new, fuzzy, footed pajamas. I giggled at how soft they were when I put them on the first time. Sleeping in these jammies is some first class sleep, people.

I love books so much. One of my favorites is my Nonna's Rock-a-Bye Baby book. The button that plays the song is the first button I ever learned to push; now, pushing buttons is one of my favorite pasttimes, and in fact "button" ("but [pause] eh") is one of my latest vocabulary words.

Tonight I donned my frog Halloween costume for what I hope will be the first of several occasions. While I was waiting for Lynn and Joel to come over, I hung out in my costume and pulled a bunch of books off the shelves.

Here I am, waiting in line for the Haunted House tour, just before I got fed up with being stuck in the stroller.

Joel was really cool about walking with me and carrying me when I was getting super tired toward the end of the walk. After it was over, I got to meet our tour guide, Bruce.
I've had a big night, plus I wore myself out today playing with a couple of awesome big kids (Aunt Joyce's friends Liam and Noleen) at my Grandma T's, so I've got to go to bed now, before I fall over and bonk my head on the keyboard.

Go Tribe!

2007-10-06T18:57:00.000-04:00

Grandma T has been trying to teach me to say "Go Tribe!" to support our Cleveland Indians. I can't really say it, but I have learned to wave my arm when someone else says it, so that's progress. It's pretty amazing that not one but two Cleveland teams are in the playoffs this year. When I think about the previous seasons and this one, the one difference I can think of is my own presence in the city. I'm not saying I'm personally and solely responsible for Cleveland's successes, but you have to admit, when you consider the evidence, that it's possible that I'm the key.

Not much new to report, developmentally. I'm still building the confidence I need to take off and walk without holding on to anything, but I think October could be my month.

Since I last posted, I've gotten to see several of my very most favorite people in the world. Here are the pictures to prove it:

Grandma T is so lucky she has all of us big kids to lend her a hand with Lilliana. Bella and Bailey and I like to help. That's just the kind of kids we are.
The only thing I like better than taking off my shoes and socks is taking someone else's socks off. Here I am at Grandma T's with Uncle Sean and Bailey.

Grandpa came to visit last weekend, and I showed him the skeleton made of bells we have up for Halloween.

Grandpa took me for several figure-eights around the kitchen table and coffee table on the scooter he gave me for my birthday.

I had fun watching some football with Grandpa (Go Browns!), but even better still, he let me hold the remote control!

We watched the second half of the Browns' game at Aunt Jillian and Uncle Sean's house, and Uncle and Daddy gave Bailey and me the giggles flipping us upside down.

Today, Mommy and I stopped by Nonna's to pick up the stroller we left over there the other day. I was excited to see Nonna, but then I was so surprised that Oma was there, too! I got to play with both my grandmas at one time! What could be better than that???

This afternoon we went to Victorio's in Parma for a late lunch. I had an awesome grilled cheese, and then the nice man who owned the restaurant took me over to his aquarium to show me his turtles. I liked the turtles, but I couldn't figure out why there weren't any fish.

It's time to go pick up Daddy from work. I'm so glad that both of my parents will be off tomorrow and Monday and can spend all their time with me! Happy Columbus Day!

Long Time, No See

2007-09-26T12:46:00.000-04:00

Hey, everybody! I'm back from an extended stay at my Nonna's place and am ready to update you on all my new (mostly verbal) accomplishments. I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted, but I didn't want to advertise on the Internet that I and my family weren't at home and give anyone any ideas about breaking in and stealing my birthday loot. We moved back home last night, but we've been staying at my Nonna's for almost two weeks because we had a mouse in our house, and my mommy is completely freaked out by them and especially by this particular mouse which followed her up the stairs.
My daddy doesn't see what's so scary about a mouse, but on the other hand, he is disturbed by lizards, whereas Mommy thinks they're no big deal. I'm not sure about my own feelings about either creature at this point, but I think getting to play with Nonna's toys and waking up in the same room with my parents is fantastic. What else is fantastic? Well, how about me saying ABOUT A MILLION WORDS?

Chief among my new words is "UP!" I've figured out how to tell everyone that I want them to pick me up, and if it first it doesn't get results, I just keep saying it until my target capitulates. For example, while I was staying at my Nonna's, I would always wake up before my parents but I would be content to play by myself and sing to myself until my parents gave some sign of wakefulness, at which point I would chirp, "Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up? Up?" and so on until Mommy reached over and pulled me into bed with them (where I hugged each of my parents and then climbed up on the headboard and rattled it until they got up and gave me my breakfast). Because of the success of "UP!" I've been using it to mean "I want to get down," too, but we're working on the concept of down. Give me time.
My farewells have become more elaborate and consistent. I respond much more quickly (and more often) with a wave and a "bye bye" when so addressed, and I'm catching on to the whole blowing of kisses thing. My blown kiss involves putting my fingers in my mouth (or, in the last day or two, pressing the back of my fingers to my mouth) and making an "MMMn" sound. My hugs are becoming more intentional and squeezy, too (see pictures below).
I've been on a roll with new food words, the biggest one being "theeth" (cheese), which, as you may know, I adore. I'm also a big fan of "thooth" (juice) and "bed" (bread). And really, when you think about it, what other foods does a person need?
The really huge thing is that I've developed my first sentence: "AHdoot!" ("I do it!"). I've always been the independent sort, and that essence of my personal identity has manifested itself in this phrase. "Ahdoot" can mean either, "No thanks, I'll do it for myself," or, "Yes, I know you want me to do that, but I want to do this," or, "No, you need to do what I want you to do." I've also been heard saying, "It does!" in response to a statement ending in "...doesn't it?" but it was only once so until I've offered further corroboration of my understanding, that sentence will remain in the questionable category.

Some other cool developments are that I've stood on my own for 5+ seconds or so on several occasions (picture below), and my aided walking has become quite facile. I can tell you that my parents get extremely sappy when we walk down a hallway or sidewalk with me between them, holding one of each of their hands. I'm also enjoying singing and reading to myself a great deal.

Enough with the talk; let's get to the pictures!

I love that fall is here and I am getting to wear all kinds of new sweaters. Okay, to be honest, I don't really enjoy being pinned down to put on the extra clothes. But I do enjoy the compliments, and I appreciate getting to spend more time outdoors.

I had such a good time at my Nonna's. Some of the fun things I did there were: playing with Nonna's little farm animal figures, having her blow bubbles for me, standing on my own (I DO IT!) and watching "Arthur" in the morning while everyone else was getting ready:

I am such a sweetie-pie; here are some of the hugs I've been spontaneously offering:

Last Sunday Daddy ran in the Race for the Critters, and he wore the shirt with me on it that I gave him for Valentine's Day, so it was kind of like I was running with him. The two people right behind my daddy are my Uncle Bruno's dad, Carl, and his brother, Clete, whom we saw there. I enjoyed all the dogs there for the Pooch Walk.

On Sunday I also went to a lunch honoring my cousin Lilliana after her baptism. Here I am, visiting with Lilli, Grandma T and Daddy; my great-uncle Stash; and my great-aunt Barb:

I met up with my friend Maggie and her parents at East Coast Custard the other night. Look how much Maggie has grown up! We're are going to be getting into some serious trouble together, very, very soon.

**********

My friend Emma has a new little sister! Amelia was born last Friday. Isn't she cool?

The Dumps

2007-09-12T09:50:00.000-04:00

I don't have anything very exciting to report today - mainly because I've done absolutely nothing exciting. Why? Because I've been sick, and apparently no one wants to be around me when I'm spraying curdled milk or when I'm making toots that smell like they came from a very large dog or when liquid poo is pouring out of my shorts. Personally, I wouldn't hold it against you if you did any of those things, but apparently society still holds some prejudice against the emissions-challenged among us, so I've been under quarantine. The good news is that I'm now fully recovered and am no longer contagious per the pediatrician, so I can resume the adventurous life. The bad news (at least, according to my parents - it doesn't bother me) is that as a result of a week of the tummy-friendly BRAT diet (bananas/rice/applesauce/toast), I have decided that I should always have nothing but the BRAT diet and have rejected my formerly (and famously) catholic eating habits. I have permitted a few raisins, peas, and mandarin orange segments to pass my lips in the last 18 hours, but that's where I draw the line, people. I'll make a deal with you, though - you let me come be out and about, and you hold my hands to walk with me as often as I request, and maybe I'll eat some of those foods you want me to eat. I think that bargain is more than fair.

Since I haven't really been doing anything noteworthy, my pictures this time are of me hanging out, being sick, although I've spared you the ones showing any of the fluid substances I've produced, since everyone seems to be so squeamish about it. I'm also including a preview of what I might look like with eyeglasses, in case you've been wondering.

Cooked Out

2007-09-04T14:54:00.000-04:00

Happy Belated Labor Day! I think it's great that there's a day for celebrating the people who go through labor to give birth to us. I wonder who thought of it? Anyway, this Labor Day weekend, I went to several cook-outs; I haven't figured out the connection between grilling and the birthing process, but I'm sure it will make sense when I'm older. Whatever the reason, I have to say I really enjoyed all the fires and the sounds and the gatherings of people and the opportunities to crawl around in the grass (which I don't get to do at home - something about the neighborhood cats using our little yard for a litter box; I don't know about litter boxes, but I sure wish I could have some of those Tootsie Rolls in the yard). Last Labor Day, I did attend a picnic, but I was too little to really get into the spirit of things; I hear I spent the whole time sleeping or begging for a little milk already! Now that I know about all the perks, I'm really looking forward to the next one. I must remember to ask my parents how much longer until the next Labor Day.

Day 1 - Saturday: I drove with Mommy, Nonna and Grandma T to Aunt Joyce and Uncle Bruno's house in Clinton. I had just gotten up from a nap and was kind of antsy about being in the car for an hour, so everyone in the car sang to boost my spirits. My favorite was "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean" - I love to yell the "BACK!" part!

At the party, I spent as much time as I possibly could climbing. I climbed the steep stairs to the second floor (although Mommy was a party pooper about me climbing to the third floor). I climbed the porch steps. I climbed over landscaped hills of pine mulch chips. I climbed up and down the bricked levels of the back patio. I even crawled over gravel and concrete, so determined was I to locomote. It was utterly thrilling.

Here, Mommy was thinking how glad she was to have caught up with me. I was thinking about how to get back down on the ground.

Aunt Barb tried to corral all of us youngsters for a picture with Daddy's Cousin Zach, who was visiting from Puerto Rico. Bella, however, was not interested in holding her sister, Lilliana, nor in participating in the photo herself.

So then we tried with just Bailey and me, but I needed to get back to my ground reconnaissance.

Day 2 - Sunday: Our first stop was Dan and Meg's house on the lake. I loved being able to hear the waves lapping their deck on one side and Dan's band playing blues on the other side. I met Mia, whose parents used to be our neighbors, before we lived in our house; she is just about a month older than me, and she can walk unassisted, which I greatly admire. Mia also enjoys a good tortilla chip, like me, and we may end up going to the same school when we're older, like five years old, so we have much in common. Here you can see Meg in the foreground, and - if you squint - you can see Dan and his band in the background, playing on the upper deck.

After Dan and Meg's party, we went to the Casola party at Maria's. Maria is my Ono's niece plus she and Daddy used to be neighbors. I got to hang out with Bailey and Spencer plus the big Casola cousins like Bella (who let Bailey and me play with her fun puppy toys) and Anthony AKA Sonny, who was cool about hanging out with me, even though I'm much younger. Here, Aunt Christa and I were having a competition to see who could make the silliest face. I think it was a tie.

Day 3 - Monday: On the actual holiday, my parents and I met Nonna at Edgewater Park for a cookout. Daddy grilled Quorn "turkey", tomatoes, sweet peppers, onions, corn on the cob and garlic bread while Nonna and I played soccer and she blew bubbles for me.

After all this fun, I was asleep by 7:30 Monday night and slept until nearly 8:00 this morning, on which my parents complimented me. I'm off to go swimming with Daddy now, so maybe I'll sleep as much tonight.

The Routine

2007-08-31T10:27:00.001-04:00

We're all settled down at my house. Daddy starts working at his new position tomorrow, and Mommy started her fall semester this week. I've resumed my visits to my Grandma T's house while my parents are both occupied. We're done with trips until November. Perhaps this period of time is what I've heard called the Dog Days of August. I'm in favor of anything having to do with dogs, of course, but no dogs have shown up yet. I'm waiting.

Not too much is new with me. I've developed a hand sign of my own that involves pointing to my palm but no one has correctly interpreted it yet. Sometimes the big people are slow to catch up with me on these things. In eating news, I'm so over broccoli, but I can't get enough baked beans, and raisins are the new mandarin oranges.

A cool development is the rise of my sense of humor. I'm finding many of the things I see out the car window to be quite funny, and I laugh my way through many of my car rides. And this morning, Daddy and I made a little joke together: first, I put an apple slice in my ear, about which we all had a good laugh, and then I held a piece of egg up to my ear and Daddy said, "Hello?" Get it? An egg phone! Good one, huh?

And now it's time for the pictures:

The other afternoon I woke up from my nap with perfect glam/indie rocker hair. Just imagine a microphone where you see the bottle.
Before Uncle Jon left to move to Jacksonville, we bonded over French toast at Nick's.

My parents and I went to the Carnegie West library to load up on some new books, but I couldn't get enough of this thing - anyone know what it's called?

I love me some chocolate chip cookies!!!

My family went to the Rain Forest at the Cleveland Zoo (thanks for the passes, Denise!) and I got a kick out of watching this orangutan(?) shimmy up the ropes.

I got my first try at using crayons (mmmmm, so yummy!) when I wrote my birthday present thank you notes.

I am becoming quite adept at using chopsticks. I mean, I don't actually use them for food delivery, but I find them a great accessory to hand-feeding.

I love making a loop around the living room and kitchen on this scooter my Grandpa gave me for my birthday. And don't I look very suave in the shirt Jim and Marixa gave me?

I'm very interested in drinking from cups without sippy tops. I usually end up soaked, but my skills are improving daily, and I find a good gulp so refreshing.

The other evening I had a good visit with our neighbor Denise while Daddy mowed the yard. We helped him by keeping an eye on the veggie bratwursts on the grill.

I have big holiday weekend party plans, and I'm looking forward to two whole days of both of my parents not having to work or go to school. Hey, you have a good weekend, too!

London Bridge is still standing

2007-08-25T14:15:00.000-04:00

As promised, I'm back for an update on my 24 hours in London, but before I forget, let me update you on some of my recent developments:

I consistently use the ASL sign for "more" now. Since it gets such good results, I also use it for "I'd like some of that, please, even though I haven't yet had any," such as the other evening when I saw Mommy's plate with a few crumbs of leftover birthday cake on it; I pointed to it and signed "more" to indicate I'd like a sweet. How clever am I? When I'm tired, it looks more like the sign for "hurt" but the big people still get it.
I am this close to taking a step. I cruise like crazy, and when I want to cruise away from the furniture, I pat a big person's knee until they hold my hands and help me walk around. You know, my cousin Bailey walks, and it just looks like something I'd like to do.
Some new words that are shocking my parents: "bah-lee" (broccoli), "chee-wee" (Cheerios) and "shuss" (shoes). I've also said "beh-dee" (Bailey) several times. There are many other words but none my parents have been clever enough to understand.

*****

On to my travels. First, I've posed a new poll question, related to my future travels, in the sidebar to the left. Next, I've added a new feature - a map of the countries I've visited, also found to the left. The next territory I'll be adding is Puerto Rico, when we go to the island of Vieques in November for my Nonna's big birthday.

So, London. We wanted to get away for a few days before Mommy's fall semester started, and we were going to go to New York but we couldn't find a hotel we'd want to stay in for a price we'd want to pay. We considered some other US cities, and then, just for kicks, my parents took a look at London, where neither of them had been since 2001 (I'd never been, thanks for asking), and lo and behold, they found a great deal at the Hilton Isli ngton and flights coming and going with a zillion empty seats, so a few hours after my party, we headed to the airport. My parents took along my travel carseat, and I enjoyed having a comfy space of my own on the plane. I ate some of the veggie burger my mommy bought in the airport, drank a little milk, had a diaper change, and then I was out for several hours. When I woke up, the flight attendants were serving croissants, which I found most delicious.

After breakfast, I enjoyed perusing the in-flight magazine and my monkeys-jumping-on-the-bed book as well as playing with the new cell phone and car keys I had received for my birthday.

We took the Gatwick Express from the airport to Victoria Station, during which ride I partook of almost all the Cheerios my parents brought on the trip.

From Victoria, it was two quick segments on the Tube and then a short walk to our hotel, where I finally got to get down and crawl a bit before taking a short nap.

After my nap, we walked around the neighborhood, and my parents bought me a cool t-shirt with hippos on it at a little shop called Felix and Lillys. Then we had some Indian food at Gufaa; the chickpeas Mommy gave me made me scream because they were so hot, but I did enjoy the pilau and the naan. After lunch, Mommy and I went to Tesco for some snacks for me (since I had now consumed everything she had packed for me) while Daddy went back to the hotel for our sweaters, and then we met in the little park in the middle of the street.

We had planned to go to the natural history museum, but because of our midday nap and then extended lunch, it was kind of late, so we headed to the Charing Cross Tubestop instead. We hung out in Trafalgar Square, where there were several fountains (much to my delight) and many, many tourists and pigeons.

I thought about calling home but I couldn't reach the buttons.

We walked through St James Park and talked to the ducks in the ponds.

We saw Big Ben and Parliament, but I was more interested in the corn-and-potato sticks that I could dip in a little pot of cheese that Mommy had picked up for me at Tesco. I spread that cheese all around my stroller so I could keep on enjoying it later.

I decided to take a nap, so my parents rolled into a pub (I think it was called Clarence), where Daddy tried the local ale and Mommy got her caffeine fix with a mocha frappe. They also got some big steak fries, which the server called chips; I'm sure I would have enjoyed them greatly but by the time I woke up, the chips were long gone.

We strolled through the Ministry of Defence (I think), where I had a chat with a guard, and then down to Buckingham Palace.

After hitting all those high spots, we took the Tube back to Islington and found a vegetarian dim sum place just down the street from us. By this time, I had pretty much had it; I was so out of sorts I wasn't even interested in the broccoli, if you can imagine such a thing. So we called it a night and headed back to our hotel. I went to sleep to the tunes of one of at least three orchestra concerts playing on the five BBC channels available.

In the morning, we took a taxi back to the airport, and we played a game where Mommy said "Up!" everytime we hit a speedbump and "Down!" when we came off of it. It was some great entertainment, for my money. At the airport, we found a coffeeshop selling a traditional English breakfast (eggs, beans in tomato sauce, toast, potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, and sausages) with Quorn vegetarian sausages, so we chowed down on all that yumminess before we had to run to our gate.

On the plane, I did manage to sleep a little, but not nearly as much as I needed. Instead, I ate the crackers and cheese and apples my parents brought along, played with my baby, and read the SkyMall magazine.

All in all, it was a good trip. I mean, I didn't get an audience with the Queen or anything, but for such a short trip, I feel like I covered the bases pretty well.

The Party, Part II

2007-08-23T10:05:00.000-04:00

I'm back for another installment of "It's So Great To Be The Birthday Boy!" Starring me, Milo Z! Here are more highlights from the big bash last Sunday:

Grandma T visits with Aunt Barb, Bella and Lilli. While she's distracted, I try to sneak a sip of her coffee.

Oma and Jim contemplate life's mysteries, or something.

Bella and Aunt Terry check out my Granddad's elephant bank.

Uncle Jon explains to me how the present-opening works while Nonna and Ono look on.
The crowd gathers to watch the tearing of paper: Uncle Sean, Maresa, Chris, Uncle Bruno, and Uncle Dan.

Austin, Uncle Alex and Lilli hold down the fort on the other end of the living room.

I received so many cool clothes, such as this groovy cap I'm taking off so I can have a better look at it.

I loved looking at all the pretty cards everyone gave me.

Matt, Sara and Maggie watch from the stairwell.

Aunt Christa with Spencer, who's trying to see what's going on.

Bailey has some experience with this stuff, being seven weeks older than me, so she showed me how it's supposed to be done.

I love books so much, and I was lucky to receive a bunch of new ones (no duplicates!).

Finally, the unwrapping was over and I got to PLAY!

Daddy wonders, "Now, which cup was mine?"

Aunt Jillian, Bailey and Uncle Sean survey the cake carnage.

I was so sad when everyone had to go bye-bye, but a few hours later, I got to go bye-bye, too, on a plane to London - more on that adventure in the next post!

Party Part I

2007-08-22T07:40:00.000-04:00

The last few days were chock full of bloggable moments, so I'm breaking it down into manageable bits for your digestive enjoyment. This post will cover Friday evening through the devouring of my birthday cake, mid-party, Sunday afternoon; in subsequent posts I'll reflect on the rest of my party and then the quick trip I took to London Sunday evening through Tuesday.

*****

Friday evening I helped Nonna weed our thyme bed, which I love doing because it makes me belly laugh every time Nonna yanks another weed out by its roots. No one else knows why exactly this activity is always so amusing to me, and I'm not telling. Then while we were in the yard, Uncle Jon arrived from Florida; he drove all the way here to celebrate my birthday with me, and I was ecstatic to see him. We all sat down in the living room to visit, and I sat on the loveseat with Uncle and climbed all over him. I noticed something different about him and wanted to make sure Mommy and Nonna noticed, too, so I pointed to Uncle's chin and said, "Beer!" You see, Uncle had grown a little bit of a goatee while he was gone, and I recognized it as a form of beard. Mommy wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about, so she asked me where Uncle's beard was; I pointed to Uncle's chin and looked back at her and said, "Beer!" Everyone was surprised that "beard" would be one of my first words; my parents guess that my Daddy's beard must have made a big impression on me.

Saturday I got to spend the day with Mommy and Nonna, picking up my birthday cakes and balloons and putting away my toys that were taking over the living room. Saturday evening, Grandpa arrived from Tennessee, and I had a great time reading books with him. Uncle John and Aunt Barb came over for a visit, and then Uncle Sean and Aunt Jillian and Bailey came over, and I gave Bailey a tour of how to get around the living room. Later, I went to Sokolowski's University Inn with Grandpa and my parents and ate potato pierogies, broccoli, green beans, rolls, and applesauce - my idea of a perfect meal!

*****

Sunday morning, Daddy had to go into work for a little while, but Mommy picked up breakfast and brought it home, and I ate my egg mcmuffin (minus egg and bacon) with Grandpa. I wasn't sure he knew what breakfast was all about, so I pointed to mine and said, "Bagel!" It sounded like "bay-duhl" coming from me, but I knew what I was saying, and fortunately for me, so did Mommy; each time I was ready for more, I asked her, "bay-duhl?" and she gave me some. I love it when this talking thing works for me.

Mommy kept talking about my morning nap and how important it was, but something was up, and I knew it, and I did not want to miss whatever it was that was going on, so I resisted as long as I could, but I finally drifted off. The next thing I knew, Daddy was waking me up, which was really strange, but I was glad to see him. He gave me a bath upstairs in my parents' bathroom, where I used to take my baby baths, and then dressed me in a new onesie with white lines and dots on the front. He took me down to Mommy, who combed my hair, then Mommy took me out to the living room, and there was Nonna, Grandpa, and Oma and Ono!

In the living room was a cool vehicle that was just my size that my Grandpa gave me. Daddy put me in it and showed me how to rock back and forth, and I had so much fun pushing the buttons on it. As great as it was, it was only the beginning; soon, our house was full of my family, and they had all come to see ME! How great is that???

We all ate broccoli lasagna and eggplant parmesan and salad and garlic bread. I loved all the food, but what I really loved was the red balloon tied to the back of my chair. I could not get over how fun it was to yank on the ribbon over and over again and bounce the balloon off my forehead. I could have played that game all day, but it was time for the cake.

My parents brought me a little white cake with a red balloon and my name and a "1" on it, and it had a 1 candle that was burning! They helped me blow it out, thank goodness, and then everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me and clapped for me, and then I got to eat that cake all by myself. Man, was it good. I looooooooove me some frosting, people. Everyone else had a piece of the big cake, which was chocolate and vanilla marble with chocolate mousse; they all said it was yummy, but I can't imagine it was as cool as having your own cake and getting to eat it with your hands. Someone took a picture with my parents' camera of what was left of the big cake after it had been eaten, but my mommy is disappointed that she forgot to take a picture of the cake as a whole, so if any of my fam out there got a picture, Mommy would appreciate it if you'd forward it to her.

*****

Signing off now to go have breakfast with Uncle Jon before he heads back to Jacksonville. I'll be back later with all the details about opening my fabulous presents.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-08-19T15:54:00.000-04:00

My birthday party just ended, and I have to say: I can't believe how much fun it is to turn one! My great family, amazing toys and books and clothes, my very own first birthday cake, and the balloons - oh, the balloons! I didn't know it could be like this. I'm off now on a little trip with Mommy and Daddy, but I'll post much more about my party when I get back.

Ooo, Baby, Baby

2007-08-16T11:46:00.000-04:00

Hello to all my family and friends! I'm a bit behind on blogging because I've been so busy swimming at the Y, helping Daddy outside with the yard and with barbecuing, eating poo (a sad incident I won't recount except to say that my parents learned a valuable lesson about changing my diaper the second they're aware that I've filled it), screaming my way to getting what I want, resisting sleep, and SAYING MY NEW WORD, which sounds like this:

Bayyyyyyy [long pause here] BEE!

Yes, I've officially acquired the word "baby." Nonna told everyone last week that I said "baby" to her, but as there was no corroboration, certain parental figures were somewhat skeptical. Then Saturday afternoon, I was playing in my corral in the living room and Mommy asked me where the baby was; she was talking about my Cabbage Patch buddy (on which I was standing so I could clear the top of the corral), but I turned and pointed to the picture of me on the picture ledge, and then I said it, clear as a bell. She was so excited she carried me all over the house to look at every picture of me and/or my young cousins and friends, and each time I pointed at the picture and said "baby" again. Before I went to bed that night, I was playing on the love seat with my parents and I leaned over the back and pointed to the picture of me in my Cavs gear and said it again for my daddy's benefit, since he missed all the excitement earlier.

Now that I've learned it, I can't stop saying it. Since my parents obviously think it's fantastic when I say it, I've been trying out applying it to other things I like; I mean, if "baby" is so good, it must apply to good things generally, right? So when my Mommy's holding me and I pat her head, I say "baby," and when I get a bagel chip (oh, cinnamon raisin bagel chips, how I love you!), I say "baby." Please bear with me while I sort out the specific usage. And in the mean time, if I should call you "baby," please think of it as a great endearment and not as disrespectful, sexist, or otherwise demeaning.

In other developmental news, I am a cruising machine, and when my hands are held for walking, I practically dance, it's so exciting. I'm also in the habit of giving fives (both the low and the high kind) now and of reading myself to sleep at night (after I've stopped screaming to be picked back up from my crib).

*****

I had a good visit with Cousin Bella at Grandma T's house. Aunt Barb and Cousin Lili were there, too, but Lili is too little to play ball with me like Bella does, so Daddy had a little cuddle with Lili while the rest of us had fun. Later, we went to Angelo's for pizza with Grandma T and then for a strawberry cone at East Coast Custard - mmmmmmmm!!!

I love to feed myself. It allows me much opportunity for creative expression. And it gets me in the bathtub at least twice a day.

Tune in next week, when I'll have the details of my big birthday bash with (almost) all of my extended family!