Party Part I

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!

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

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!

Soul Man

I'm back with another installment of my highly unstructured life. I've also got a new poll that needs your vote, and in case you're wondering, the dressy fauxhawk edged out the messy casual look by one vote in last week's poll.




I've been out listening to some music this weekend. On Saturday night, my parents took me to Mocha Dreams to hear Greg and his brother Tim. They played some cool, sweet tunes while I kicked back with a nice, cold sippy cup of milk. Dyan gave me this antique block set that forms a different funny face with each turn of a block; I think I'll have fun checking it out if I can pry it away from Daddy.

Last night I went over to Barry's house to check out his kitchen remodel. He's not quite done with it, but what I saw looked pretty sharp. I mean, I'd fling mandarin oranges around it any day. I got to visit with Julie, and with Greg and Dyan, who were there, too. Barry and Greg played their guitars and didn't seem to mind too much when I sang along. Later, Greg gave me my first guitar lesson, so I can now add guitar to the list of instruments I play (drums, keyboards, concertina, and assorted rhythm instruments).

Life is good now that I get to ride in the car facing forward. The first day, I spent much of the time pointing at things out the window and yelling, "DAT!" Now, though, it's old hat.

Now That I'm One

Hi! Just taking a break from waving my sushi snack until rice flies around the living room to let you know what I've been up to since my birthday:

• I'm officially no longer a baby but a full-fledged toddler. Woo-hoo!

• I figured out cruising. Before I was one, I would pull-up, assess the situation, and if I wanted to be somewhere else, I would sit back down, scoot over, then pull-up again, assess the scene and see if I was where I wanted to be, then sit down again if I needed to fine tune my position. This week, I've been experimenting with scooting my foot over while standing up, but I hadn't figured out how to pull up my anchor foot. Then, this morning - ta da! I pulled up on the bathtub upstairs, and I just cruised right along it like I was meant for cruising. Cool, huh?

• Before I was one, my parents spent considerable effort trying to teach me the names for the parts of my body; I listened, but I wasn't interested in showing anyone what I was learning. Then yesterday morning Mommy said something about my tongue, and I decided to show it to her. She wanted to make sure I actually understood and it wasn't just a coincidence, so she asked, "Tongue?" I showed it to her again, an annoying number of times since she kept asking over and over again. She's not sure how I learned that particular word, since it's not one they've gone out of their way to show me. Most kids identify their nose, or their hands, or their feet first, but me - I'm a tongue guy. Ask me - I'll show you.

• I've become a fairly consistent high-fiver.

• I've decided to try out some of the big people words. I only started saying "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma" last weekend (much to Mommy's relief), but since I turned one I have started saying "Ma Ma!" when Mommy comes in my room to rescue me from my crib; I'd been saying "Da Da" for forever but I was using it for both my parents until now. I've also started saying "ba ba" for bottle (and for bye bye). Uncle Jon noticed me saying "wa wa" (for water) again, and when I woke up at my Nonna's the other day, I looked around and asked Mommy, "Na Na?" And finally, I've resumed saying "num num" when I'm hungry, and "ne ne" when I specifically want milk. Amazing, no?

*****

On to my birthday! Here are some pictures from the big day:

The night before my birthday, my parents took me to the Auto-Rama so they could see The Simpsons movie. I ate most of an apple before I conked out for the rest of the flick, so they let me sleep in my clothes. When I woke up the next morning, it surprised me that my parents came in singing to me. That "Happy Birthday" is a great song!



For lunch on my birthday, we had mongolian barbecue. I got to feed myself broccoli, pineapple, zucchini and tofu; I wasn't feeling the rice, but at least they had tortillas there. I also had milk in a special kid cup with aliens on it.



We stopped by my Nonna's office to say hi, and she let me play with her ID badge. Then we went to see my Oma, but I passed out on the way there and slept through my visit with her. When I woke up, I had this cool travel quilt she made me for my birthday, with travel-themed fabric squares and pictures of me on my travels. Oma also sewed a special message for me on the back, which I will love to read, as soon as I learn how.



The sad part of the day was that I had my 12 month check-up. It was all okay at first: I got weighed (21 lbs 7 oz) and measured (28.82" tall and 47 cm head circumference), and I had a good visit with Dr Roberts, who let me check out his stethoscope and gave me a new Clifford book. While he was examining me, I saw Nurse Sandy in the hall, and I waved excitedly to her, because she is really cool. But then she came in and gave me four shots and tried to draw blood from me in three places before she had to give up and give me a referral to go to the lab, and it was the worst experience of my whole entire life so far. I have never been so upset, or scared, or in pain. After it was done, I gave Daddy the cold shoulder for holding me down to be tortured.



But then I forgave Daddy when we went to East Coast Custard and I got my very own baby cone with Cherry Cheesecake custard. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!


Maggie and her parents met us at East Coast Custard to celebrate and Maggie has gotten so big that she smiled right at me. I can't wait until we're both big enough to run around the patio together with our custard!



Matt, Sara and Maggie gave me this really cool drum with musical instruments inside. I immediately took to banging on the drum...



...but what I really loved was playing with the sparkly tissue paper the drum was wrapped in!

Flashback

You know me as the fun and social guy I am today, but life wasn't always like this. I used to be a loner, hanging out inside of Mommy; sure, it was dark all the time, but I didn't have vision for a while anyway, plus I didn't know any differently. And there was the added benefit of getting to swim all the time and never having to get out of the pool.

Then one day, I was minding my own business when all of the sudden - Boink! - I felt something jabbing me. Curious, I swung my arms around to find what it was. Up until then, the worst thing that had ever happened in my world was that the pool was getting a little small for swimming laps; I had no idea what might cause me such pain. Then - Boink! - it got me again, right on the arm. Now I was really mad and started hitting that long, thin, pointy thing with all my might until it went away. I showed it who was boss! Finally I was free to kick back and take another nice nap and...Boink! It poked me in the arm again! It is really hard to sleep when your arm is getting scratched by a needle, let me tell you, but after the third time it finally left me alone, and everything got back to normal.

Then a little later, things started to get a little sketchy again. The walls started to push in on me, and I decided I had better get out while the getting was good. I swam as hard as I could toward the exit until someone came along and drained the pool, leaving me stuck. To add insult to injury, another one of those needle things jabbed me in the head, and this time it wouldn't go away. Once that happened, I got busy squeezing my way out so I could give someone a piece of my mind.

When I finally got to peek outside, there were these two giant people with dark curly hair looking back at me. One of them helped me get my shoulders unstuck and pulled me out of that crazy place that was caving in on me, and the other one (who turned out to be Daddy) cut the cord that attached me to Mommy. I was sad to be separated from Mommy until the first giant laid me on top of Mommy, and I was so relieved I relieved myself all over her.

That was one year ago today, at 8:33 am. The rest, as they say, is history.

New and Improved

Hidey-ho, everybody! Excitement is building as my first birthday approaches - two more days!!! - and I'm celebrating by adding some new features to this blog. You may have noticed my recent ad campaign (under "Go Ahead, Click It" in the left margin); it's a shame to sellout so young, but a young guy like me has to think about his future, so if you're interested in any of my advertisers, please feel free to click on them from my blog - every time you do, you add pennies to my educational fund. Cool, huh? Shopping for a cause!

And today I've introduced a new polling feature where you can share your opinions with me (in addition to leaving me comments, which more of you could do, frankly). This week's poll is "How do you like to see my hair?" and can be found also in the left margin. I look forward to your responses. A man's hair is his destiny, you know.

On to the highlights...

Upwardly Mobile: I climbed up the whole staircase in our house yesterday! I've done maybe a step at a time before, but this time I did the whole thing. Man, was it cool. When I was done, Nonna gave me a congratulatory cuddle.

Dry Run: Yesterday we also celebrated Uncle Jon's 25th birthday. We went bowling at the Corner Alley on East 4th, where Uncle kept me supplied with french fries when no one else was watching, and then we had dinner on the patio at House of Blues, where I had cheese grits, spinach and sweet potatoes - mmmmmm! Then we all went back to our house, where Uncle opened his presents from Nonna, my parents and me - I gave him the movie "Rudy", and when I get a little bigger and go to visit him, we can watch it together. I will miss Uncle when he moves back to Florida, but I am going to go spend the day with him today after I get up from my morning nap, and I'm sure we'll have fun.


Yogi: It's hard to take a nap sometimes when there is so much I want to do. The other day, I refused to lay down, so when I couldn't stay awake any more, I just fell forward.

Your turn: I went to see my Oma, and we played a great game of peek-a-boo.
Shopper: When Nonna and Mommy took me to Target with them, Nonna complained that my seatbelt was too tight and loosened it for me, despite Mommy's warning that it needed to be snug to prevent me from climbing out. Sure enough, once the seatbelt was loose enough I was free to check out Nonna's rug selection.


Brunch: Randy was in town for a couple of hours yesterday morning, and I enjoyed brunch together with Randy, Jim and my parents at Johnny Mango's.
Swinger: And finally, this morning I enjoyed a good swing at the playground on my street. Boy, do I love to swing!