things i like:

• head-butting (koda, people, walls, the floor, anything…)
• turning things on and off (tv, baby monitor, lights, laptops…)
• plugging and unplugging mama’s laptop
• pulling things down from countertops that mama and daddy don’t know i can reach
• opening doors (i can just baaarely reach the door handles in our house when i stand on my tippy toes!)
• brushing (my hair, mama’s hair, my teeth — i think i have all of them now!)
• “touch” books that have different textures to feel on all the pages
• playing in water (ponds, fountains, ocean, sink, water works exhibit at CDM, koda’s water bowl… it doesn’t matter)
• collecting rocks at the percolation ponds (where we take koda to swim)
• playing my drums and xylophone (i’m still working on my aim with the drumsticks and mallots)
• helium balloons (i know i used to like them when i was younger, but now i looove making them bounce and dance along the ceiling!)
• “helping” mama and daddy — taking clean clothes out of the dryer, closing drawers and cabinets (after i’ve opened them), putting trash in the garbage can (after i’ve dumped it out)
• eating at the dining table with the family (so much better than eating by myself in my high chair.  after all, eating is supposed to be a social experience, right?)
• pumpkin pie!  (but how come i only get to eat a little bite when everyone else eats big giant pieces?)
• cereal (real grown-up cereal — no more baby puffs!)

things i don’t like:

• sharing mama with other babies (her arms are for holding ME and her lap is for ME to sit in!  i never want to have a little sister!!!)
• napping in my crib (i hate missing out on all the excitement going on just outside my door)

mama and daddy are so happy that i’m not a picky eater.  so far, i’ve eaten everything that they’ve put in front of me.  and lately — meals have been quite an adventure!

<– this is me eating my first blueberry waffle.  it was so delicious that i tried to stuff the entire thing in my mouth.  my taste buds were so happy that i coudn’t stop bouncing up and down and kicking my feet!

this is me eating my first frog leg –> can you tell how much i liked it?  mama didn’t even eat one, but she wanted me to try it just so that i could cross it off my bucket list.  umm… that wasn’t on the list, but thanks.

but that’s not all.  i’ve been eating all kinds of stuff lately:  curry chicken, vietnamese tamarind soup, cioppino, pho, meat jun, soondubu jighee, and lots of other things that i cannot pronounce.  hard to say, but good to eat   can you tell who shares their food with me?  where are the pizza and steaks that i keep hearing about?

mama said that after you turn 1, you no longer get to make a big deal of your month birthdays.  fine.  but there are still so many changes every month, so i’m gonna tell you about ‘em.

things i like:

• throwing my toys outside of my playpen (mama and daddy just LOVE it when i do this)
• washing my hands (mama and daddy used to think that i liked playing with koda’s food and water, but really, i just like washing my hands… which i always get to do after playing with koda’s food and water!)
• my new parking lot (daddy made it for me so i would have a place to park all my cool rides — 2 strollers, cozy coupe, 2 ride on cars)
• sign language (just when mama was about to give up on me, i started signing back to her.  i blame her for not being consistent and daddy for not even trying at all.)
• banging (knocking) on neighbor’s doors
• barrel rolls (i learned this in gym class)
• decorating the bathroom by unrolling rolls of toilet paper and dragging them all around
• PB&J
• riding in my forward-facing car seat
• nature walks around the neighborhood
• cruising around in my cozy coupe
• “reading” to myself (i really am reading and turning the pages of the book.  it’s not my fault that nobody understands me)
• trying to figure out how our porch light knows to turn on when i’m standing there and turn off when i leave (it’s like magic!)

things i don’t like:

• socks and shoes (as soon as i am out of sight/reach mama and daddy hear the sound of my shoes being un-velcro’d.  a few seconds later, i hold up my socks and shoes and beam with pride )
• the torture table in my doctor’s office (this is where the nurse always sticks me with needles)

being a kid, traveling by airplane is awesome.  you get to fly for free.  you get to bring drinks through the security checkpoint.  you get to gate-check your stuff instead of having to go to the baggage claim area.  you get priority boarding.  you don’t have to wear a seat belt on the plane.  the only bummer is that you have to check-in at the ticket counter — no mobile or web check-ins.  i guess most kids don’t have their own iphones like i do!

our family trip to socal was so much fun.  here are the highlights and lowlights from the weekend.

highlights:  staying up past 10pm two nights in a row!  freely opening dresser drawers (no child-safety latches).  eating grown-up food all weekend long (since mama couldn’t bring the special organic food that she usually makes for me).  petting sharks and stingrays with sierra at the aquarium of the pacific in long beach.  brunching at duke’s with auntie cindy and uncle tim.  but the highest highlight was having a big sis for the weekend — sierra was constantly checking to make sure i was okay, sharing her snacks with me (we even split a smoothie at bubba gump shrimp co.!), and picking up my crayons and juice cup every time i dropped/threw them on the floor.

lowlights:  southwest airlines breaking the wheel off my stroller

mama’s and daddy’s highlights:  daddy getting to see auntie jenny get married (where he also rubbed elbows with chuck “the iceman” lidell!).  mommy getting to spend quality time with auntie jo — two days in a row.  complimentary crib use and baby toiletries from the hotel.  free rental car upgrade with XM radio.

mama’s and daddy’s lowlights:  unforecasted cold weather (daddy had to go buy warm clothes).  daddy cutting his finger and having to go to the ER late at night.  delayed return flight causing us to miss uncle john’s wedding reception.

this socal weekend was sort of a trial run for our trip to hawaii next month.  these are some of the things we learned that we’ll keep in mind f0r future travels.

• airport check-in can take longer than you think.  airport lines on friday and sunday afternoons are long.  non-ticketed passengers (like me!) have to check in at the counter.  it could take a few tries to get through security (since i had so much stuff, the TSA guys dumped everything out of my bag and re-ran it through the x-ray machine).  strollers have to be collapsed and sent through the x-ray.  drinks have to be x-rayed and specially tested (the tests were different at SJC and LAX).
• schedule flights around nap times.  i sleep well during plane rides, except for when other kids scream loud and wake me up.
• bring/rent a booster or high chair whenever possible.  it’s nearly impossible to feed me when i’m not buckled into a chair.  i make mama and daddy chase me around with a spoon.
• i won’t sleep when mama is RIGHT THERE.  why would i want to go to bed when there are other people around to play with me?  mama had to hide out of my field of vision until i fell asleep.
• my sleep schedule is flexible.  mama and daddy have been dreading the hawaii time change because they just know that i’m gonna wake up at 4am every morning.  but i think if they let me stay up later, i’ll sleep in later.  we’re all crossing our fingers on that one

thanks to everyone who made our weekend so much fun — auntie jenny and uncle peter, auntie jo and sierra, auntie cindy and uncle tim, and of course… uncle henry and kiara for inviting koda over for a sleepover while we were away!  XOXO.

during the weekend of 10/10/10, daddy went out of town. so while daddy was away, mama and i played and played and played! here are 10 things that i did on the weekend of 10/10/10:

i taught zachary how to walk. (i know, i know, i didn’t really teach him, but i was there, so i’m gonna take credit for it .)

i cruised around the neighborhood in my super cool cozy coupe. (i even know how to open the door and climb into the car by myself!)

i had a tea party with jacey. (don’t worry, fake tea is caffeine-free.)

i painted a wall with a real paintbrush and paint. (i used my hands, too.)

i scaled a chest-high wall at u-me place. (uncle joe says that i’m ready to start adventure racing )

i visited bob the builder at his construction site. (i also ran into his bobble-head cat.)

i ate a grilled cheese sandwich and yam fries. (jacey was nice enough to share her yummy lunch with me. forget that healthy organic stuff that mommy makes me eat!)

i co-captained a ship with zachary. (we are not very good at steering, so we just kept sounding the airhorn to alert everyone to get outta the way.)

i went to uncle jamie’s gig at pedro’s. (well, i tried to go, but the 80′s cover band that he was playing with packed the house, and i wouldn’t have had a place to sit and eat. so we had to leave and eat at another restaurant. but i got to stay out past my bedtime anyway. hooray!)

i convinced mama that i’m left-handed. (she was in denial for a long time, but i think she has finally accepted it.)

for the past few months, i’ve been feeding myself magic puffs.  mommy and daddy have been reluctant to give me other finger foods because they knew what a huge mess i would make.  but now that i have demonstrated improvement in my fine motor skills (like high fiving and waving), they decided to let me try to eat more things by myself.  cool, huh?

it’s way more fun to feed myself than have someone else feed me!  here are some of my thoughts about self-feeding:

1. i can stuff way more than one spoonful of food into my mouth all at once.
2. even though i usually show clear signs of right-handedness, i eat with my left hand just as much as my right.  i am an equal opportunity face-stuffer.
3. meal times take 2x longer than they used to.  mommy and daddy think i’m a slow eater, but i’m really just stalling so that i can stay up later at night.  (my bedtime has recently shifted back an hour to 8:30pm.)
4. i know i’m not supposed to eat oatmeal with my hands, but i put it all over my face because i heard that it’s good for my skin.
5. mommy and daddy think that i accidentally drop food on the ground because i’m uncoordinated.  gung-gung says it’s the rule of thirds: 1/3 of my food lands on the ground, 1/3 ends up on me or somewhere in my chair, and 1/3 actually ends up in my mouth.  but i’ll let you in on a secret — i drop food on purpose because i like sharing my food with koda.
6. it’s not cool to take pictures of someone stuffing their face and chewing their food.  it’s just not cute.  just saying…

over the weekend, mommy and daddy went out without me — for the first time ever!  mommy felt a little anxious and guilty for leaving me, but i told her that it was about time.  it has been over 10 months, and she and daddy haven’t been out on a date night.  (and last weekend doesn’t really count because they went to a wedding.)  at first, i was mad that i wasn’t going to get to go with them, but then i realized what it could mean.  PAR-TAY at my house!

i invited miss denise to my party, and she agreed to come and bring her teenage daughter.  woohoo!  they couldn’t make it until an hour after mommy and daddy left, so gung-gung (who has been living at our house lately) and i pre-partied by ourselves.  mommy and daddy were a tiny bit concerned that gung-gung wouldn’t be able to keep up with me since i’m such a party animal, but i promised to take it easy on him.  we mostly just hung out and had some quality grandpa/grandson bonding time.

once the party got jumping, it was a huge success.  mommy made some special food and drinks for me just for that night: shredded sweet potato-infused chicken with avocado, fresh nectarines over cinnamon-spiced d’anjou pears, and virgin kahlua and breastmilk to drink.  i offered some to my guests, but they preferred to munch on the cookies that daddy made.  oh well.  more for me

i had such a good time at my party that i passed out while everyone was still at my house.  i guess i’m not a very good host.  but i had a lot of fun at home without mommy and daddy.  and from the looks of their photos, they had fun without me, too.  we should do this more often.

logan, next time our parents party together, we should party together too!

happy 10 month birthday to me

things i like:

• saying “mama” (sorry, no “dada”)
• wiggling my finger/hand across my lips to make funny noises.  buhwuhwuhwuhwuh.
• giving high 5′s
• blowing kisses (i can’t do this by myself yet, but it cracks me up every time)
• hanging upside down
• shoes (i like to put everything in my mouth, but shoes look especially tasty — especially mommy’s fuzzy slippers)
• taking the most direct route to my destination (even if that means climbing over koda or crawling under my exersaucer)
• sliding (not crawling — sliding) down the stairs on my tummy
• navigating the obstacle course that i have made for myself (army crawl through my exersaucer fort, exit at my bookshelf, pull books off the shelf to slide across the floor, climb onto my swing and take myself for a ride!)
• hanging out with my awesome aunties and uncles.  my stranger anxiety phase seems to have passed.  hooray!

things i don’t like:

• high-pitched whirring noises (hair dryer, blender, vacuum cleaner) — i think i have dog hearing
• heat (mommy says i am my father’s son.  duh, mommy.)
• walking (crawling is still much faster.  mommy and daddy can’t believe that i’m not walking by myself yet.)

happy 9 month birthday to me

things i like:

• magic puffs (they are magic because they always put me in a good mood — no matter how unhappy i am)
• beef stew (daddy got mad because mommy has never made beef stew for him)
• froyo!  (mommy shares her froyo with me and i looove it!  but don’t tell anyone because i’m not supposed to be eating that stuff yet)
• “diving” and swimming (stay tuned for the video!)
• watching things spin (especially my clothes in the dryer)
• crawling backwards down the stairs
• opening and closing things (doors, drawers, containers, anything)
• buttons on other people’s clothing (i play with them for a little while, then eventually try to eat them)
• being tickled
• making “brrrrrt” noises with my lips (like blowing raspberries but without sticking out my tongue)
• watching mommy dance

things i don’t like:

• walking (i always fall down — and crawling is much faster, anyway)
• loud machines (vacuum cleaner and electric food mill are scary, but koda’s barking doesn’t bother me)
• people who stick needles in me and take my blood
• going to sleep when there’s a party going on

happy 8 month birthday to me

things i like:

• climbing the stairs
• crawling around everywhere
• holding objects in my hand and sliding them along the ground as i crawl around
• standing up (still need to hold on to something for support)
• banging on everything
• having my tummy tickled
• chicken!  (i haven’t tried steak yet)
• biting and chewing real food like a big boy
• babbling (“ba ba ba”)
• shrieking in a high-pitched tone (mommy calls it my pterodactyl screech, daddy says it’s my normal talking voice)
• kiddie foam pit
• jumpy house

things i don’t like:

• strangers holding me (however, i have a very good memory and am perfectly happy with people that i’ve met before, even if i haven’t seen them in a very long time)
• when mommy or daddy leaves me (separation anxiety has definitely set in)
• sippy cups (still don’t get it)
• kiddie ball pit