Down Time

Wow, I'm having so much fun crawling that I haven't wanted to sit down and update my blog. But I know I need to -- everyone I love who's not here still wants to know how stuff is going. And the answer is "fast." I can get across the room easily now, which is good when I want to go pet Kucha. (Dad tries to stop me, but Kucha doesn't care. The other day when he went to pick up the phone, I leaned on her back to stand up, and she was fine with it. I love that dog.)

So let's see. What's happened since my last update? Last weekend we went to the Animal Kingdom, which was pretty fun. Mom and I rode the Triceratops Spin, and we saw lots of cool animals like meerkats, tigers, gorillas, bats, and naked mole rats. We got prime seats for the parade, too -- I bounced in my stroller and drummed along with the music, and a couple of the characters came over to say hi to me. Afterward we got to see Auntie Shene at dinner, but I was pretty tired by then so we didn't push it too hard.

Otherwise, we've mostly been hanging out at the house. Mom finished her night shift, and on the first week of this new rotation she got home before 2 for three of the five days. That ruled, because I love spending time with Mom. She and Dad are working on painting a toy box they picked out for me, which I got with my Christmas money from my grandparents and great-grandparents Moya. (Thanks, Grandpa, Grandma, Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma!) It should be done this week, and then I'll have another place to store all my stuff in my room.

Today I'm going to get my nine-month pictures taken. The photographers actually called a couple weeks ago and said that if we pose with the Valentine's Day prop, Mom and Dad would get a free picture and they would put it up in the studio. So basically I'm going to be a model. Don't worry, though, I'm not letting it go to my head; I'm still crawling around and getting dirty with the best of them.

I almost have a second tooth, too -- that one next to the first tooth on the bottom is gonna poke out any day. Yesterday, Dad said he saw something white on the top, too, but he hasn't been able to see it again. Of course I'm not cooperating with his trying to get his fingers in my mouth. Would you like it if some big dude was pulling on your lips and jaws all the time? He'll see the tooth when it's time.

That's probably it for this time. The next update will come before two weeks pass, I think.

Forward Progress, and Some Backward

First of all, if you haven't seen it yet even though Dad blogged it twice:



Yep -- I'm officially crawling. On the second, I rocked forward, brought my knees with me, and I haven't stopped since. We're all totally excited, too. Me more than the folks, because now I can get to the dogs or their toys or the magazines or junk on the floor with ease. (Yeah, Dad thought he'd babyproofed!)

The tooth is even more prominent this week, and its neighbor is threatening to join it. Today, Dad said I'm officially no longer allowed to chew on his nose (which has been sort of my fun, loving gesture with him) because it's starting to hurt him. Well, if he thinks he's hurting, let me tell him how I feel. Why does he think I keep putting everything in my mouth? Those frozen pacifiers are a godsend, even though they really only stay cold for a minute. I have a teething ring, too ... it might be time to stick that bad boy back in the fridge, assuming we can find it. My grandpa the doctor-hunter is all on my case to go to the dentist ("first tooth, first visit," he says), but we're going to talk to Dr. B first at our appointment in a few weeks and see if she can recommend someone.

Thanks to the new pain, though, I've slipped with the sleep so far this month. Dad tries to put me in the crib (which he had to lower today because I pulled up on the dishwasher), but I'm not falling for that nonsense anymore. No sir, the only way I'm going to sleep is lying next to him in the big bed. Plus it sort of hurts to eat, so I'm not getting as much out of my regular meals and wake up hungry twice in the night instead of just once (or not at all, which happened a couple of times in December). Since Mom's still working nights, none of us sleeps very well. Oh well ... luckily she goes back to a day shift next week. I think most of the problem is just that I miss her.

In terms of food, I'm trying all kinds of crazy new things. Dr. B said we could start introducing some protein-rich stuff at eight months, so we've tried yogurt (love it), lentils (they're OK), chicken (delicious) and turkey (nasty crap). Dad made edamame puree for me to try tomorrow (which will be three days since introducing chicken), and we're going to have black beans this weekend. We're also experimenting with herbs and spices -- when Dad made my food yesterday, he put oregano in my zucchini, cumin in my carrots, parsley in my peas, and (if you believe it) adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers in my sweet potatoes. I know, the spicy food thing seems like it's way too early, but I already ate some of the potatoes and they're great. Trust my dad to start serving me chile before I'm even a year old, though, right?

Speaking of food, it's just about dinner time, so I ought to sign off. See you next week!

Happy New Year

It's 2008 now, but I'm not sure what that means exactly. All I know is I have a lot to write for the last couple weeks.

On the 21st we went to Vancouver for a long weekend (including Christmas). Mostly we wanted to see Auntie Lourdess, who was stuck in the hospital thanks to a low blood pressure that they had to tend to and monitor. She still was happy to play with me -- we had a good time for most of it, and she only got too sick to play for one day. But I spent a lot of the time visiting with the rest of the family members. Pappy trotted me around a lot, showing me off to the nurses who had already heard so much about me. Auntie Georgette was thrilled to help me with my toys and show me new stuff. (In fact, she helped pick out that Santa suit I'm wearing.) I also got to meet my great-aunt Bernie for the first time, and she was super nice.

The other big thing: remember the tooth issue I first blogged about four months ago? Well, one finally busted out on the front bottom left. I know, it took forever! This evening I bit Dad on the nose with it to let him know it had finally broken through. It feels like the one next to it could come in any day, too, and I might have a top one soon as well. All I have to say is it's about time. Of course, now I'll have to get used to having teeth, but at least I'll be able to eat steak when the time comes.

Also, I'm starting to get more into playing on my own these days. Because of that, Dad's letting me have more practice crawling. Any day, I tell you. Today I did a little better with forward motion, but I've also figured out how to turn myself around and reach more stuff. It sort of makes the 'rents nervous, because now I can get to the tree, the dog, the magazine rack if they aren't too far away. How little they know. Before long they'll have to chase me! Bwahahahaha!

I hope you have a great 2008! Stay tuned, because I've got a lot to learn and write about in the year when I get digits on my age.